- Funding Applications Accepted December thru January Annually
Executive Order 01.01.2002.24, issued in 2002, establishes a policy to ensure Maryland will achieve the nutrient reductions necessary to restore the Chesapeake Bay and fulfill Maryland's commitment to the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement.
The policy calls for Enhanced Nutrient Removal (ENR) at wastewater treatment plants in Maryland. ENR establishes nutrient removal goals of 3 milligrams per liter (mg/l) total nitrogen and 0.3 mg/l total phosphorus in discharges from major wastewater treatment plants, where feasible. Implementation of the policy will reduce nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay by an additional 7.5 million pounds per year and phosphorus by an additional 220,000 pounds per year from wastewater treatment plants in Maryland.
During the 2015 legislative session, Senate Bill 133 passed which expanded the uses of the BRF Wastewater Fund to include combined sewer overflow abatement, rehabilitation of existing sewers, and upgrading conveyance systems, including pumping stations. Starting in FY 2018, once ENR upgrades at the 67 significant WWTPs are complete, funding will first be allocated to minor WWTPs for ENR upgrades. Then, the remaining funds will be allocated based on project prority ranking to any of the following types of projects:
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Improvements to existing wastewater systems (e.g., CSO/SSO abatement and sewer rehabilitation);
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Sewer extensions to connect homes on septics to a BNR/ENR WWTP;
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Nitrogen reduction using best available technology at shared community septic systems; and
- Stormwater (MS4) projects undertaken by local governments with a system of charges.
Contact
For more information, please contact Elaine Dietz at (410) 537-3908.
