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With the 2010 General Assembly looming, the top priorities for environmental interests will be transit-oriented projects and creating county fees for stormwater management.

Environmental groups, including the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and Environment Maryland, held previews of green legislative priorities for the upcoming session last week in Baltimore and in Easton.

Lawmakers will wrestle with a $2 billion budget gap when they return to Annapolis in January.

The deficit has the potential to "suck a lot of the oxygen out of the room," said Cindy Schwartz, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters' executive director.

But legislators can advance environmental goals even while facing the deficit, she said.

"If all they did was cut spending out of the budget and they forgot that there are other ways to improve the environment, then that would be a huge shame," Schwartz said.

Environmental interests will push lawmakers to take a fresh look at transportation funding and transit projects such as the Purple Line, which would link either end of Metrorail's Red Line in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

Legislation regarding transit is in reaction to the ongoing construction of highway projects such as the Intercounty Connector, an 18-mile toll road that will connect Interstate 370 in Gaithersburg to Route 1 in Laurel, Schwartz said.

"It's really about how money is spent and less about spending more money," she said.

The aim is to develop criteria to promote transit and transit-oriented development projects that meet smart-growth principles, said Brad Heavner, state director for Environment Maryland.

A smart-growth approach seeks to target development around more densely populated areas with access to transit and other amenities in a quest to reduce sprawl, traffic and pollution.

"Transportation dollars can make those good projects happen," Heavner said.

Environmental advocates are meeting with the state Department of Transportation, local government representatives and developers to work on legislation, he said.

Green interests also plan to revive a bill that would require counties and municipalities to establish a stormwater user charge on impervious surfaces, such as driveways and parking lots. The charge would be a flat fee for homeowners and would be based on the area of paved surface on commercial property.

Jamie B. Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park sponsored the legislation in the Senate this year and will be the lead sponsor again in 2010, along with Del. Jon S. Cardin (D-Dist. 11) of Owings Mills. In March, the Senate rejected the bill on a 29-18 vote.

"The Chesapeake Bay fund created a user fee for wastewater. This will create a user fee for stormwater," said Jen Brock-Cancellieri, deputy director of the League of Conservation Voters.

Stormwater presents the greatest source of pollution of the Bay. It is also "the hardest source to tackle," Brock-Cancellieri said.

In 2002, Montgomery County instituted a $12.75 annual stormwater user fee per home, bringing in about $4 million a year for stormwater projects.

That tax has since grown to $45.50 per year for single-family homes and $15.02 per year per town house.

Local public works departments estimate a backlog of stormwater management projects totaling more than $20 billion statewide, Brock-Cancellieri said.

"The reason to bring it up even in challenging economic times is that's $20 billion that we don't have," she said.