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How many times have you wanted to become active in an environmental cause? Saving the Earth has become a multi-million dollar business. Membership in environmental organizations satisfies many peoples’ desires to do something about “environmental problems.” As professionals working for the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), many of us hold degrees in environmental disciplines, and strive to clarify environmental regulations for our clients. Most corporations have environmental staff. Federal, state and local governments have entire departments devoted to protecting our air, water and land. Consultants take up where governments and businesses leave off with staff to fill needed expertise. But, how can a citizen participate when they feel that they are being affected by MDE’s decisions?
“The Department tries to make our permitting processes as transparent as possible,” said MDE Secretary Kendl P. Philbrick. “In this way everybody is on a level playing field and, frankly, we are able to develop permits that address most of the issues that are important to those affected by our decisions.”
Many of MDE’s permitting programs allow opportunities for public involvement.
These include:
- public informational meetings when a permit application is received,
- public hearings once a permit has been proposed, and
- contested case hearings prior to permit issuance after the final determination for a permit has been made.
Citizens can participate and register their concerns during the informational meeting and place themselves officially on the record when a public hearing is held.
Step One
The first step in getting involved is to get on the interest list for a particular permit. Once you are on this list, you will be notified of a permit’s progression through the department when:
- the application is received,
- there is opportunity for a public informational meeting,
- there is opportunity to comment on a “tentative decision” about a permit,
- there is opportunity to request a public hearing on a tentative decision, and finally,
- when the permit has been issued.
Most programs have these opportunities for citizens to comment. Citizens can also get information about a particular permit by contacting MDE’s Customer Service Center.
“In my experience, MDE bends over backwards to keep citizens informed about our procedures and decisions,” said Edwal Stone, Program Manager, in MDE’s Wastewater Permits Program.
Maximize Involvement
The various permitting programs at MDE are set up to maximize involvement by the permittees, stakeholders and citizens. The permitting process, however, for the most part, is a legislated process. As long as a permittee submits a completed application, pays any associated fees, proves to MDE that they have the responsibility to run their business properly and fulfills the permit’s requirements - the department is generally obligated to issue the permit. Once the permit is issued, citizens have no recourse but to monitor the compliance status of the permittee. If the permittee does not fulfill the permit’s requirements, the department pursues enforcement actions.
Our website says it best:
“MDE routinely seeks broad stakeholder review and comment on reports it plans to publish, on permit applications, and on specific environmental concerns affecting the State. Through public hearings and meetings, MDE engages a wide range of stakeholders, including environmental and public health advocacy groups, citizen groups, elected officials, agency advisory groups, business leaders, educators, scientists, natural resources users, among many others. MDE makes its reports and publications available to the citizens of Maryland using a variety of outreach tools, which include direct mailings, an agency Internet site, public libraries, and organization newsletters, among others.”
To learn about opportunities for public involvement in our permitting processes, please contact the Customer Service Center
at 410-537-3772.
For more information about citizen participation, visit:http://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Permits/Pages/index.aspx
To read MDE’s Business Guide to Environmental Permits and Approval, visit:
http://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Permits/Pages/index.aspx
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