BALTIMORE, MD (December 3, 2015) —The Baltimore City Department of Public Works is now accepting comments on its proposed Trash TMDL Implementation Plan (IP) to reduce the amount of trash in the Middle Branch and Northwest Branch of the Patapsco (Inner Harbor).

A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is a regulatory term in the U.S. Clean Water Act, describing the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards. In this case the pollutant is trash. The TMDL Implementation Plan outlines how the TMDL reduction goal will be met.

The following is a quick summary of the Trash TMDL, which was approved by the EPA January 5, 2015.

• The TMDL requires that the City remove 100 percent of the baseline load, which is 228,371 pounds per year.
• The TMDL is for the Middle Branch and Northwest Portions of the Patapsco River, which is roughly from Harbor Hospital in the south to Ferry Bar Park (Middle Branch) and Tide Point to Canton Waterfront Park (Northwest Portion). This is what is considered the impaired area.
• The TMDL recognizes that trash comes from upstream, so portions of the Baltimore Harbor, Jones Falls, and Gwynns Falls watersheds are included. This compromises only 60 percent of the City.

To meet the TMDL, the City will employ a two-part strategy. The first part will employ projects and programs to capture trash as a stopgap measure. Project installation and program expansion will occur over a 10-year period, with another 10 years of operations and data collection to validate trash loading rates.

The second part of the plan will be concurrent with the first, employing partnerships as a sustainable method for compliance with the trash TMDL. The initial 5-year phase will initiate education and outreach pilots, while creating and testing anti-litter campaigns. The pilot programs will be expanded over the next 5 years. After 10 years, the education and outreach programs would be modified based on data collected from surveys and collection data.  

Comments on the Trash TMDL Implementation Plan are due by January 2, 2016, at 11:59 p.m.

The draft plan, “Implementation Plan for the Middle Branch/Northwest Branch Trash TMDL in Baltimore City” and TMDL Decision Letter are available online atwww.cleanwaterbaltimore.org. The document is located on the Stormwater tab under Stormwater News.

To request a hard copy of the document, please contact the Watershed Liaison at 410-396-0732 or e-mail publicworks@baltimorecity.gov (Subject line: Trash TMDL).

Comments can also be e-mailed to publicworks@baltimorecity.gov (Subject line: Trash TMDL Comments).

In addition, comments can be mailed to:
Trash TMDL Implementation Plan
Baltimore City Department of Public Works
Office of Compliance and Laboratories
3001 Druid Park Drive, Rm 229
Baltimore, MD 21215