Currey named to head Science Services at MDE
D. Lee Currey, manager of MDE’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program since 2010, has been appointed director of MDE’s Science Services Administration.
As manager of the TMDL program, Currey has played a key role in the development of Maryland’s Watershed Implementation Plan to restore local waterways and meet the requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “pollution diet” for the Chesapeake Bay.
“Lee is a widely respected leader of Maryland’s scientific and technical work with the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, the other watershed states and Maryland Bay Cabinet agencies,” Secretary Summers said in announcing the appointment.
The Science Services Administration (SSA) develops solutions to multi-media problems affecting human health and the environment and provides technical analyses and scientific guidance to MDE programs. SSA’s functions include: developing and maintaining water quality standards; assessing actual or potential health risks and cumulative impacts to the environment from human activities associated with the release of toxic or otherwise harmful substances; developing and maintaining fish consumption advisories and monitoring shellfish waters for contamination; and investigating fish kills.
“I am thrilled to accept the role as Science Services Administration director and look forward to working with MDE’s senior leadership to develop innovative solutions to today’s water quality and other environmental challenges,” Currey said. “I have been part of SSA for over 12 years and I am eager to continue working with such a dedicated group of people. We will continue to integrate new science used to support decision making for the protection of public health and aquatic life, especially as we face challenges surrounding population growth, climate change and Bay Restoration.
Currey succeeds Richard Eskin, who retired in July as director of the Science Services Administration. Marie Halka, deputy director of the Administration, has been serving as acting director with plans to retire from State service in early 2013.
A licensed professional engineer, Currey received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Delaware in 1993 and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Old Dominion University in 1998. He left the private engineering sector to join MDE in 2000. In his new position, he will be responsible for leadership and oversight of a staff of about 100.
Accounting for Growth
As required by Maryland’s Watershed Implementation Plan, Maryland is developing an Accounting for Growth (AfG) policy that will address the increase in the State’s pollution load from increased population growth and new development.
To restore the Bay, Maryland, along with other Bay states, not only needs to reduce its nutrient load but must also hold the line against new pollution. Maryland is expected to add an estimated 478,000 households by 2035, which is predicted to add more than two million pounds of new nitrogen pollution to the Bay per year if not offset.
Maryland’s plan for addressing pollution loads from new development centers on the strategic future allotment of nutrient loads to large wastewater treatment plants and the requirement that all other new loads be offset by additional reductions. To ensure that additional reductions are available, the State is designing its AfG policy to induce a robust nutrient trading market in Maryland. This would, in turn, lower pollution reduction costs, especially for local government, developers and tax and rate payers, and accelerate the Bay’s restoration.
Last summer, MDE, the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Maryland Department of Planning conducted seven regional meetings to discuss the AfG concept and solicit stakeholder ideas about the AfG policy. More information, including public comments and transcripts of each outreach meeting, is available on the MDE website.
During the fall, MDE and other state agencies will review and refine draft regulations to incorporate relevant comments provided by the public. The public comment period closed on October 1 and all comments have been posted on the MDE website. Under the requirements of Senate Bill 236, the Department must propose a regulation to legislative committees by December 2012 for the Tier III areas of the State. Tier III areas are locally designated growth areas within priority funding areas in each county. In the Watershed Implementation Plan, Maryland committed to completing the Accounting for Growth policy by the end of 2013. Immediate next steps include presenting the policy to the General Assembly and then finalizing the growth policy in 2013.
New sites open for radiation disposal, funds available
Maryland medical, industrial and research entities with radioactive material licenses that possess unwanted radioactive material are encouraged to look into the Source Collection and Threat Reduction (SCATR) Program. The SCATR program was developed by the Department of Energy along with the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) to reduce the amount of unused radioactive material stored by licensees.
Recognizing that proper disposal availability is limited and expensive, the SCATR program registers radioactive materials, locates outlets for the material, as well as packages, transports and disposes of it.
Funds are available from various sources, including MDE and are dependent upon financial need. Vist the CRCPD website for more information.
Catoctin Creek Watershed benefits from USDA funding
MDE is helping Frederick County’s Catoctin Creek watershed benefit from accelerated funding provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). As part of the NRCS’s National Water Quality Initiative, approximately $30,000 in federal funds has been allotted to MDE to conduct water quality monitoring in an effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of accelerated implementation of agricultural best management practices in this important tributary to the Middle Potomac.
MDE helps tackle multiple nonpoint source implementation efforts
As lead agency for the State’s Nonpoint Source Management Program, MDE secured Maryland’s share of federal Fiscal Year 2012 Sec. 319 implementation grant funds totaling $2.09 million. These funds are targeted to design and implement stream restoration, urban stormwater controls, remediation of acidic discharges from legacy mining in Western Maryland and monitoring to demonstrate progress. This federal source complements sources of state capital funding such as the Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund. The money can be used to demonstrate the value of investing in efforts to address sources of pollution that have long challenged the States due to their diffuse nature. It is considered critical in helping MDE and the Department’s local partners document the effectiveness of the range of methods employed to bring about water quality improvement, especially in small watersheds such as the Eastern Shore’s Corsica River.
MDE, MDA and the University of Maryland team in targeting latest round of federal Chesapeake Bay Regulatory & Accountability Program funds
Third-year grant funding totaling $2.85 million from the federal Chesapeake Bay Regulatory and Accountability Program will help to ensure that Chesapeake Bay restoration stays on course in Maryland.
Approximately half of the funds will go to the Maryland Department of Agriculture and its principal partner, the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Maryland, to help the farming community develop effective nutrient management plans. In addition, MDE will use about half of the funds for regulatory efforts focused on waste water, stormwater and concentrated animal feeding operations permitting. In addition, MDE will use funds to carry out federally-required Bay progress accounting tasks and to manage the State’s overall Watershed Implementation Plan process.
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