Maryland Clean Marina Reports Proposed No Discharge Zones

The Maryland Clean Marina Initiative has reported that two new No Discharge Zones are being proposed in Maryland. A No Discharge Zone (NDZ) is an area of water where the discharge of all boat sewage is prohibited anywhere within a three-mile limit. It does not restrict gray water discharge.

The first proposal is to designate the Chester River and its tributaries a NDZ. This proposal was first submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2016 and a Receipt of Petition appeared in the Federal Register in March 2017. After considerable delay at the federal level, a final Notice of Determination could occur this summer.

The second proposal, by the Severn River Association with support from the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, asks to designate all waters in Anne Arundel County as NDZ. The proposal may be submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency by the end of the year and then could be finalized in 2020. Public meetings are being planned for August.

The Clean Marina group also reported results of the shrinkwrap recycling program that was kicked off this year in partnership with the Marine Trades Association of Maryland (MTAM) and Chesapeake Materials. Shrinkwrap was collected from 850 boats at 29 marinas to a total of approximately 30,000 pound of wrap, which was diverted from landfills.

MTAM sells and distributes bags that hold up to 40 pounds of clean shrinkwrap to marinas and boatyards at a cost of $15 per bag. The cost includes pickup, transport and recycling of the filled bag. Chesapeake Materials schedules pickup dates with participating marinas.