Effluent tax refers to the fee paid by a company to discharge to a sewer. As originally proposed, the fee would have been paid for the privilege of discharging to the environment. However, there is presently no fee structure which allows a company, municipality, or person to contaminate the environment above the levels set by water quality criteria and effluent permits, unless fines levied by a regulatory agency could be deemed to be such fees.

Fees are now charged on the bases of simply being connected to a sewer and the types and levels of materials discharged to the sewer. For example, a municipality might charge all sewer customers the same rate for domestic sewage discharges below a certain flowrate. Customers discharging wastewater at a higher strength and/or flowrate would be assessed an incremental fee proportional to the increased amount of contaminants and/or flow...