Filter By:
Type
State
Priority
Posted On
Search Results
How local governments help with sewage backups
Last year, over 5,000 basement backups were reported to 311 in Baltimore City. The number of basement backups has increased over the years with such a large number of people having to deal with the issue. Baltimore City’s Emergency Response Plan does not require the city to clean up after a basement backup, forcing many homeowners to spend thousands of dollars and expose themselves to an unhealthy environment. Basement backups occur in many places across the United States, and their responses to cleanup and financial plans are described below.
Baltimore City’s Emergency Response Plan (ERP)
Stormwater, sewage, sediment, and train derailments
Yesterday the city of Baltimore experienced a severe wet weather event that resulted in flood warnings throughout the DMV area, coupled with a water main break downtown. While the water main break is responsible for the day’s increase in train delays and a strong flow of murky brown water into the inner harbor near Howard and Pratt, an infrastructure failure may not be necessary for the same problem to occur in the near future.
Can you report that the brown water was sediment and not human waste in the inner harbor.
— Craig “Sunsun” Allen (@just2muchfunfun) July 9, 2019One of the main effects
Senate, Save the Land and Water Conservation Fund!
Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and Clean Water Action's Baltimore team traveled to the hearing to stand up for public lands. Armed with leaflets about the importance of LWCF - a popular, bipartisan program to ensure that we all have access to the outdoors - we rallied outside the Capitol then attended the hearing as Department of the Interior staff, representatives of state officials who utilize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and advocacy organizations agreed about the critical importance of LWCF but
Fund the Trust
This morning, the Baltimore City Council's Taxation, Finance, and Economic Development Committee held a hearing on Bill 18-0221 – Recordation and Transfer Taxes – Surtax – Dedicating Proceeds to Affordable Housing Trust Fund - more popularly known as the Fund the Trust Act. This bill would raise $13 million for the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund per year by slighly increasing fees on property transfers above $1 million, making it possible for Baltimore to fill a gap in housing availability that the housing market cannot meet by creating deeply affordable housing in Baltimore.
Housing
Moving Baltimore toward cleaner air and zero waste
On September 21, the Maryland Department of the Environment held a public hearing to conclude a nearly two-year process to update air pollution regulations for municipal waste incinerators in Maryland: the BRESCO facility in Baltimore, and the Dickerson facility in Curtis Bay. While Dickerson's nitrogen oxides emissions are relatively low, BRESCO emits more nitrogen oxides per unit of energy generated than any of the state's coal plants - and has not reduced its emissions in the past decade, when the coal plants have either closed or significantly cut their emissions. The regulations the state