CUMBERLAND — The county’s plan for cutting back on toxins entering the Chesapeake Bay will be among the subjects discussed during Allegany County commission meetings today. A work session is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the county office building on Kelly Road, followed by a 5 p.m. business meeting, according to the official agenda.
Land Development and Planning Engineer Angela R. Patterson will discuss nutrient loading offsets with commissioners at the work session. Nutrient loading offsets play a role in the state’s oversight of county plans to help the bay. The offsets are a way of crediting the county for positive actions it takes to reduce pollution from Allegany County entering the bay.
The trouble is, for a long time it’s been up in the air what steps the county can take to get state credit for pollution-fighting measures and how much credit is available.
That’s important because conceivably the county can both reduce the chance of state enforcement actions and the cost of taking increased measures to help save the bay.
Allegany County’s plan to help clean up the Chesapeake Bay have been sent to state officials in Annapolis. However, most of the commitments in the plan have an important caveat — they’ll only be implemented if funding is available.
Patterson is the county’s point person on Chesapeake Bay matters.
Part of Patterson’s charge is coordinating Allegany County’s response to and implementation of the total daily maximum load requirements issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Maryland Department of the Environment. She works with a committee, including county and municipal officials along with other members.
The deadline for full implementation of the plan was recently pushed back from 2020 to 2025, Patterson has said. The county also has been doing substantial stream restoration and the credits that county gets for that have increased.
TMDLs are “an estimate of the maximum amount of an impairing substance or stressor (pollutant) that a water body can assimilate without violating water quality standards,” according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
In other business, commissioners are expected to approve a contract with county roads employees at their business meeting.
Commissioners are also expected to recognize the county’s finance department for their 20th straight year as recipient of the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the county’s Comprehensive An-nual Finance Report.
Local News
Chesapeake toxins subject of county’s next meeting
The trouble is, for a long time it’s been up in the air what steps the county can take to get state credit for pollution-fighting measures and how much credit is available.
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