ANNAPOLIS, MD (May 6, 2010) – The Congressional Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has ranked Maryland 1st out of 50 States and the District of Columbia for implementing American Recovery and Reinvestment Act clean water infrastructure funding. The ranking is based on monthly State progress reports. Governor O'Malley issued this statement:

“Maryland has tremendous water infrastructure needs, even as we increase our efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and local waterways. Together, we’ve put American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars to work quickly and efficiently to reduce pollution, protect drinking water, and create jobs across Maryland.

“Each one of these 82 projects, and each job they create, will have tangible benefits for the people of our State. These funds will implement Enhanced Nutrient Removal at the Patapsco wastewater plant in Baltimore City, a new drinking water system on Smith Island, new sewer mains in Prince George's County and emergency dam repairs in Allegany County.

“As we continue to strategically invest, delivering results for the people of Maryland, I want to thank President Obama and Maryland's Congressional delegation for working so hard to secure these critical Recovery and Reinvestment funds.”

Under President Barack Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, in June 2009 the Maryland Department of the Environment received $121.6 million for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund projects. MDE received an unprecedented $3.7 billion in requests for this funding from across the State. Funds were allocated based on readiness to proceed, as well as maximum environmental and health benefits. A list of each project's status can be found here.

For the past two years, Maryland has been ranked #1-in-the-nation for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act monitoring and reporting by Good Jobs First, a non-profit research center based in Washington, DC. Maryland’s nationally recognized Recovery website tracks every dollar received and spent in an interactive, GIS-driven map for visitors to browse.

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