Exploring Permitting Problems and Priorities at #MACoCon

Evolving permitting processes in Maryland are shaping the future of environmental health, expert panelists explored the challenges and opportunities in ensuring community safety and compliance.

In MACo’s “What the Well? Exploring Permitting Problems and Priorities,” expert panelists discuss specifically how well and septic permitting is done across Maryland at both the state and local levels. There are significant and growing demands in the environmental health profession, necessitating more resources to meet those needs. Panelists discussed the challenges, areas of greatest growth, and how the profession can modernize to meet 21st century needs. Workforce was a common challenge brought up by panelists:

“There is a limited number of Licensed Environmental Health Specialists to cover the entire State (520). Many counties have more inexperienced staff than experienced staff. Well trained experienced staff are an advantage for efficient decision making. You can not replace historical knowledge.” – Don Curtian, Director, Environmental Health, Anne Arundel County

However, Curtian also shared several successes referencing the advantages of local well and septic permitting authority based on surveys performed by the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE). The results showed the advantages are:

  • Quick response and understanding of local conditions
  • Well and on-site sewage disposal systems depend on local knowledge
  • Knowledge of the local area challenges
  • Knowledgeable and practical staff
  • Quicker response times
  • Local legal accessibility and timeliness
  • 71% rated communication with the local permitting process as excellent
  • 71.4% rated overall customer service with the local permitting process as excellent

Description: Permits are a vital safeguard for making sure residents are protected, ensuring the compliance of projects happening around them and their families. When it comes to potable water, wastewater, and human by-product, proper handling can be a matter of life and death. Over the years, the process for issuing permits and performing inspections from an environmental health division has evolved, as have the market dynamics around those procedures. These changes represent challenges and opportunities. Join this expert panel to hear from state and local officials about how exactly this process is going, what recent findings in Maryland say about the role of local and state actors, as well as what the future looks like for modernization.

Speakers:

  • Don Curtain – President, Maryland Conference of Local Environmental Health Directors, Director of Environmental Health, Anne Arundel County
  • Stephen J. O’Connor – Director, Land Use and Development Services, Cecil County
  • Naomi R. Howell – Manager, Wastewater Permits Program, Maryland Department of the Environment

Moderator: MC Keegan-Ayer, Council Member, Frederick County

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