A November 16 SoMdNews.com article discusses Charles County’s Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).  The Phase II WIP will describe how the County will meet its nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reduction goals under the federally mandated Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).  The deadline for counties to submit initial draft strategies for their Phase to WIPs to the Maryland Department of the Environment is November 18.  The article also discusses County Commissioner reaction to a proposal to increase the time Maryland will comply with the TMDL from 2020 to 2025 (the District of Columbia and all other states subject tot the Bay TMDL are using the 2025 deadline).

The draft plan states the county will upgrade municipal wastewater treatment plants, upgrade septic systems and retrofit stormwater systems to provide additional nutrient reductions.  …

At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners’ Vice President Reuben B. Collins II (D) asked whether county planning staff would request an extension to meet goals by 2025 instead of 2020, as Maryland Association of Counties representatives had recommended.

County planning staff developed the additional dates and cost information in response to concerns commissioners’ President Candice Quinn Kelly and Collins (D) expressed at a commissioners’ meeting Nov. 8.

Kelly (D) said she wanted to know more information about the timeline of the plan, as “this will have serious ramifications in terms of budget proposals.”

Kelly said the board needed to know the timeframe and cost of the plan so that it could plan accordingly.

“Jurisdictions are reaching the conclusion that costs are formidable to the point where it is impossible to implement the plan,” Collins said.