Stand up for Clean water

Baltimore City has released its Revised Phase II Plan of the Modified Sanitary Sewer Consent Decree which includes a major extension of its deadline to 2046. This agreement was established in 2002 to get our City’s sewage spills and overflows under control for the benefit of our entire ecosystem.

Baltimore City’s Consent Decree is not just a legal document – it’s a promise to its people.  A city that still experiences chronic sewage overflows twenty years later has not fulfilled that promise. 

We urge DPW, MDE, and EPA to adopt a transparent, equitable, and science-based Phase II Plan that ends sewage pollution once and for all:

• Hold zero tolerance for sewage overflows in sensitive areas.
• Accelerate projects at high-impact sites instead of deferring them to 2046.
• Publish details of the City’s hydraulic model online, along with the required data as it’s captured.
• Commission independent technical review of the City’s hydraulic model and SSO reporting.
• Use updated rainfall and climate data.
• Prioritize projects in communities most affected by sewage backups.
• Pursue state and federal infrastructure funds before passing additional costs to households.
• Utilize 311 data to account for the frequency of residential backups and prioritize work.
• Require that one unified hydraulic model be developed and utilized for both Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
• Establish adequate cost-sharing so that City ratepayers are not forced to subsidize County noncompliance.
• Maintain the 2030 deadline for construction project completion unless formally modified through a transparent public process.

Contact the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, Maryland Department of the Environment, and Environmental Protection Agency and tell them that the Phase II plan needs much more review.

From raw sewage backing up into peoples’ basements during heavy rain to the urban heat island effect exacerbating hot temperatures, climate change poses significant risks to Baltimore’s communities, waterways, and environment.

Last year, we worked with coalition partners and Councilman Mark Conway to pass Ordinance 21-0161 requiring City government operations to be net-zero by 2045. You can learn more about that bill and the strengthening amendments we advocated for in this blog post.

The Baltimore City Council is still considering two additional bills in Councilman Conway’s “climate package” to help mitigate some of the worst effects of climate change and move the City toward a more sustainable future:

• Procurement – Zero-Emission Vehicles (Ordinance 21-0159) requires the City’s fleet of vehicles to be zero-emission (plug-in hybrids and battery electric cars) by 2040. Watch the January 18th, 2022 hearing here.
• Building Code – Cool Roofs (Ordinance 21-0160) requires reflective, solar, or green roofs on new buildings and additions to existing buildings. Watch the January 13th, 2022 hearing here.

Every time it rains, trash, bacteria, heavy metals, and other pollutants are washed from city streets and roofs into local streams and the harbor. Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) is a cost-effective way to improve water quality and combat flooding and stormwater runoff. GSI also improves air quality and makes cities cooler during hot summer months. Despite its many benefits, GSI is not implemented widely in Baltimore, particularly in Black neighborhoods.

• If you’ve experienced flooding, we want to hear from you! Report through our confidential form here.
• Learn more about GSI by watching this short video. 
• Read our 2019 GSI report outlining several recommendations to improve the process for permitting voluntary GSI projects in the City, including updating the City Code and increasing the portion of Stormwater Fee revenue that supports GSI. Stay tuned for opportunities to advocate for these recommended changes!

Trees clean our air and water, reduce flooding, lower temperatures and energy bills, improve public health and social cohesion, and beautify our neighborhoods. A healthy city of Baltimore’s size should have a tree canopy of at least 40%, but Baltimore City’s canopy is currently only 27.4%. And what canopy we do have is distributed inequitably, with far fewer trees in formerly redlined neighborhoods across the city.

In order to continue to grow our city’s tree canopy, we must plant more trees — particularly in Black and low-wealth neighborhoods with less tree cover — AND protect our existing trees. We’re working with our nonprofit and government partners on local legislation to increase funding for tree maintenance and to strengthen protections for trees on public and private property in Baltimore City — stay tuned for more updates and information on how to support these efforts in the coming months.