Maryland audit: the environment department had a backlog of 120 wastewater permit applications, with 19 facilities on continued permits for 3 to 9 years
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What happened
An April 2026 Maryland Office of Legislative Audits report on the Maryland Department of the Environment found the department did not review and approve wastewater discharge permits timely. As of April 2025 it had a backlog of 120 permit applications (24 major and 96 minor facilities) whose existing permits were administratively continued; 69 had been continued for more than a year, including 19 facilities for between 3 and 9 years. A 2022 law required the department to clear the backlog by December 2026. Auditors also found inspections of 224 facilities were between 7 months and more than 5 years overdue, that the department had no documented process to verify 13,516 lead-free certificates issued by inspectors hired by property owners, and that certain radiation machines were not inspected timely. The department agreed with the wastewater permit recommendations and said it is on pace to eliminate the original backlog by December 2026.
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Response
We are on pace to eliminate the original backlog by December 2026 and eliminate the backlog of more-recently extended permits by summer 2026.
What happened next (0)
No outcome recorded yet.