MDE takes every complaint or concern it receives from the public regarding alleged environmental violations very seriously.  It is in the best interest of all citizens of Maryland to provide anonymity or confidentiality of persons alleging a concern and is  monumental in preserving the integrity of compliance assurance responsibilities to protect the environment and human health of Marylanders.

MDE recognizes not every alleged concern will result in finding an actual violation that warrants enforcement action, however each administration accepts, responds and takes appropriate action for all complaints/concerns. MDE responds to well over a thousand complaints annually in addition to meeting the commitment to routinely evaluate permitted sites/facilities. As a result, complaints are “triaged” to decide the extent and timing of an appropriate response.  Administration;s  may refer a complaint to a county or municipality (e.g, County Code and Enforcement, SCD’s, Dept of Health), state (e.g, MDA, DNR, SHA, OAG-ECU) or federal (e.g, NRCS, USEPA, USACOE) agencies and may request a report of any response and findings accordingly.  To preserve the public’s trust in response to alleged violations, MDE  provides transparency on the status of responses to citizen complaints within agency program areas.​