Maryland Agricultural Cost Share (MACS) Program

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments
      Policy Type:  Subsidies, Grants & Incentive Payments
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: The Agricultural Cost Share (MACS) Program in Maryland (United States) provides farmers with payments to cover up to 87.5% of the cost to install best management practices on their farms. Currently, there are 30 BMPs that are eligible for payments. Examples of eligible BMPs include grassed waterways constructed to prevent gully erosion in farm fields, streamside buffers of grasses and trees planted to filter sediment and farm runoff, and animal waste management systems constructed to help farmers safely handle and store manure resources.
      Outcome:  The MACS program prevents soil erosion, manages nutrients and safeguards water quality in streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.

      Reference:  Maryland Agricultural Water Quality Cost-Share Program

      Maryland Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fees

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments
      Policy Type:  Taxes, Fees, Levies
      Sector:  Wastewater
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: Maryland (United States) charges a fee to homes and businesses in order to fund enhanced nutrient removal (ENR) technology upgrades for major publicly owned wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharging to the Chesapeake Bay. A $5 monthly fee is collected from each home and commercial/idustrial dwelling served by a WWTP. A $60 annual fee is collected from each user served by an onsite disposal system (OSDS). In addition, some funds collected under this program will be used to fund septic system upgrades (with priority given to failing septic systems in critical areas) and agricultural cover crops.
      Outcome:  The ENR technologies are capable of reducing nitrogen concentrations in wastewater discharge to 3 mg/l and phosphorus concentrations to 0.3 mg/l. The OSDS upgrades and planting of cover crops could reduce nitrogen levels in the state's groundwater as well as nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay.

      Reference:  Maryland Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fee

      Maryland Cover Crops Program

      Category:  Price-Based Instruments
      Policy Type:  Subsidies, Grants & Incentive Payments
      Sector:  Agriculture
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: The Maryland Cover Crops Program provides money for seed, equipment, and labor to farmers who want to plant cover crops to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries and increase the productivity of their farmland. Applicants for Cover Crops Program must be in compliance with Maryland's nutrient management requirements which require farmers to plant cover crops when organic nutrient sources are applied to fields.
      Outcome:  Maryland Cover Crops Program provides economic incentives for farms to plant a cover crop to reduce nutrient and soil loss from arable land.

      Reference:  Maryland Cover Crops Program

      Maryland Lawn Fertilizer Law

      Category:  Regulatory Approaches
      Policy Type:  Environmental Standards; Environmental Bans & Restrictions
      Sector:  Urban
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: Lawn Fertilizer Law in Maryland (United States) limits the amount of nutrients that can be applied to lawns or turf by ensuring 20% of the nitrogen is slow release to minimize losses to the environment, requring everyone to apply fertilizer based on recommendations, and restricting application rates, times of the year, and land cover types. It requires lawn care professionals to be licensed and certified by Maryland Department of Agriculture to apply turf fertilizer to properties that they manage or work under the direct supervision of someone who is certified.
      Outcome:  Maryland's Lawn Fertilizer Law helps protect the Chesapeake Bay from excess nutrients entering its waters from a wide range of non-agricultural sources, including golf courses, parks, recreation areas, athletic fields, businesses and hundreds, of thousands of urban and suburban lawns.

      Reference:  Maryland's Lawn Fertilizer Law (US)

      Maryland Nutrient Trading Program

      Category:  Market-Based Instruments
      Policy Type:  Regulatory Environmental Markets
      Sector:  Wastewater, Agriculture
      Region:  North America
      Country:  United States
      Description: The Maryland (United States) Nutrient Trading Program operates under a mandatory cap on the combined pollution loads from multiple sources. The cap does not allow for additional nutrient loads. Trading is conducted to offset new or expanding nutrient loads. To facilitate trading, a web-based calculation tool, marketplace, and trading registry have been established. The calculation tool assesses credit generating capacity while the marketplace and trading registry approves credits and transactions and provide a means for the public to track the progress of Maryland's trading program.
      Outcome:  The Maryland Nutrient Trading Program is able to offset new or increased discharges, and achieve greater envrionmental benefits than existing regulatory programs through the use of a retirment ratio. It provides a mechanism for accomodating growth without compromosing water quality.

      Reference:  Maryland Nutrient Trading Program