You Deserve a Surcharge Today: A Comprehensive Approach to Surcharging Food Service Establishments

All recipients of U. S. EPA Construction Grants are required, as a condition of grant acceptance to implement a User Charge system which incorporates a High strength Surcharge to be applied to dischargers who discharge higher than normal strength effluent. Howard County Maryland implemented a User Charge system for Food service establishments (FSEs) in the 1980s. The subsequent decades have realized a large growth, including a substantial increase in meals outside the home. The complexity and level of water reclamation required far exceeds the basis of removal, in both cost components and effluent standards, originally incorporated in surcharge calculations. Howard County addressed the complexity by considering costs of removal for TN & FOG, along with the traditional BOD, TSS, & TP. (See Appendix A – Acronyms) Two methodologies were studied: determining treatment costs & calculating surcharges for FSEs.