So Maryland News, Maryland Governor Moore’s New Budget Includes Several Chesapeake Bay Restoration Priorities
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s newly released state budget includes funding for several high priority initiatives to improve Chesapeake Bay.
The Fiscal Year 2024 budget provides 43 new positions and $3.7 million in funding for the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to enable the agency to close the extensive backlog of administratively continued pollution discharge permits.
CBF along with other environmental organizations have called on the state to review these so-called “zombie permits” because their pollution limits are often outdated and poorly enforced. The new MDE inspectors will help ensure that industrial and other types of facilities that are permitted to pump polluted water directly into the state’s waterways are complying with environmental regulations, which could reverse the state’s 20-year decline in clean water enforcement activities.
This seems reasonable. No point in not having enough inspectors to enforce the laws.
Gov. Moore’s budget also includes $15 million to implement the Tree Solutions Now Act of 2022, which requires the state to plant 5 million trees by 2030, including 500,000 in underserved urban areas. The funding will support farmers and community-based organizations interested in planting trees. Planting new trees is one of the most cost-effective ways to limit Chesapeake Bay pollutants and mitigate climate change in cities and on agricultural lands.
Trees are nice, but most of the land in Maryland that is not in agriculture has tree cover. If you ignore land here for any length of time, a forest pops up. Also, I suspect the planting trees in "underserved urban areas" will prove to be a waste of time. They may get them planted, but the chance that they will get the care they need in such areas is slim.
The budget also allocates $2 million for a new Chesapeake Bay bottom geological survey, which aims to overhaul maps last updated in the 1970s and 1980s that are used to make decisions about oyster management and other issues. CBF has previously urged officials to conduct the survey to better understand where potential oyster restoration projects could have the most success.
This seems a reasonable use of $2 million. I would be surprised if it could be done for so little.
Gov. Moore’s first budget also allocates significant funding to helping the state meet requirements of the newly established Climate Solutions Now law. This includes a $13.8 million increase for state renewable energy programs and a $15.7 million increase in the state’s energy efficiency grants program.
People should be able to achieve their own energy efficiency. I have the feeling a great deal of this money will go into more studies,
Taken together, these initiatives will help Maryland accelerate progress to reach the 2025 Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint during a time when cleanup efforts are struggling. CBF’s State of the Bay report graded the overall health of the Bay as a D+, marking the third time in a row the grade in the biennial report has not changed.
Other than the additional pollution inspectors, I don't see these programs making a whole lot of difference, but then, they don't cost a lot on the scale of the $25 billion 'Bay Diet.' Cynically, I expect the Bay to be awarded a C- in 2025, just so it looks like it all wasn't a waste of time and money.
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