Proposed Changes to Maryland's Nutrient Management Regulations
The following presentation outlines the proposed update for Maryland’s Nutrient Management Regulations. In crafting these updates, Maryland has considered recommendations of a University of Maryland scientific panel as well as concerns raised by environmental, agricultural and municipal stakeholders. These regulations strike a balance between maximizing water quality benefits and practical needs of implementing requirements in the field and assuring economic impacts are manageable. Read more...
Welcome to BayStat
We created BayStat in 2007 to assess, coordinate and target Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay restoration programs and to provide citizens with a way to track our progress. BayStat has served us well over the past five years, helping us identify strategies, actions and short-term milestones to restore the world’s greatest estuary.
A healthy Bay benefits Maryland's tourism, recreation, agriculture and fisheries industries; improves the value of our homes, farms and businesses; and creates green jobs.
The Bay’s problems are manmade. So too are its solutions. Thank you for visiting BayStat and for your commitment to creating a smarter, greener, more sustainable Maryland that includes a restored Chesapeake Bay at its heart.
Martin O’Malley
Governor
What is BayStat?
- BayStat is a team, led by Governor O’Malley, that includes the Secretaries of Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources, and Planning, scientists from the University of Maryland and other key staff.
- BayStat is a process through which Maryland State agencies develop restoration goals and strategies, and assess their effectiveness and adjust actions as necessary.
- BayStat is a tool that allows Marylanders to track — and most importantly — participate in — Bay restoration.
Causes of the ProblemsWater pollution comes from our land — urban and rural, farms and towns, houses and schools, parks and playgrounds — traveling through the watershed’s rivers and streams into the Bay. |
Get InvolvedAll Marylanders play a role in implementing at least some of these actions, and we all must work together if we are to be successful. |
SolutionsTo return the Bay to good health, Maryland must reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the Bay each year by about 21% from 2009 levels. We have identified the 10 most significant actions — such as planting cover crops and upgrading sewage treatment plants — that will help us reduce pollution, restore natural habitats and foster smarter, greener growth. The Environmental Protection Agency has required that the Bay jurisdictions submit Watershed Implementation Plans — detailed, specific plans to reduce our Total Daily Maximum Load — the amount of pollution we send into the Bay. |
2-Year MilestonesIn 2009, the Bay jurisdictions committed to accelerating restoration actions over 2-year cycles. As of December 31, 2011 Maryland exceeded our first 2-year milestone — implementing best farming practices, upgrading wastewater treatment plants and restoring natural filters on public lands, to achieve a 3,750,000 pound reduction in the amount of Nitrogen flowing into the Bay. Current HealthWe measure the results of our actions by monitoring water quality and living resources — the health and abundance of our fish, crab and oyster populations. |
2012 Maryland General Assembly Now in Session
Legislative updates coming soon...
BayStat in the News
- Governor Martin O’Malley Announces
Chesapeake Bay Juvenile Blue Crab Population Highest on Record - DNR 4/19/12 - Notification Of Public Comment Period For Draft Maryland Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan - MDE 1/26/12
- DNR, ORP And Midatlantic Restaurants Partner To Help Rebuild Oyster Population - DNR/ORP 1/23/12
- Board of Public Works Approves $19 Million in Grants for Clean Water and the Chesapeake Bay - MDE 1/4/12
- DNR Offers Workshops For Marinas And Boatyards - DNR 12/7/11
- Board of Public Works Approves $125,129 in Agricultural Cost-Share Grants - MDA 11/16/11
- DNR Releases Preliminary Oyster Mortality Rates For The Upper Bay - DNR 11/9/11
- Board of Public Works Approves More Than $47 Million in Grants for Clean Water and the Chesapeake Bay - MDE 11/2/11
- Board of Public Works Approves $355,330 in Agricultural Cost-Share Grants - MDA 10/19/11
Related Links
From the desk of
Governor Martin O'Malley
During the next few weeks the Maryland General Assembly will make decisions that will determine whether we keep moving forward to restore the Bay we all love, or fall backward. This session, we are proposing two measures that are essential to reducing the nutrient pollution coming from septic systems and wastewater treatment plants.