The Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Protection Program and the Baltimore Central Light Rail Line

by Sallye E. Perrin, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade &, Douglas, Inc, Baltimore, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Water Resources Planning and Management and Urban Water Resources

Abstract:

This paper discusses Maryland's Critical Area Law, statewide guidelines and criteria, the Baltimore Central Light Rail Line, resource conservation areas, and other aspects of the subject. In response to a seven-year study by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which designated the Chesapeake Bay as a 'toxic hot spot', the EPA, the states of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia joined together in an unprecedented multijurisdictional partnership to formulate a policy and implement resource protection programs to improve water quality and maintain natural habitat within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. To address the problems, policies and programs were developed by each jurisdiction to uniformly address land use, zoning, and development guidelines along the entire shoreline. While these issues have traditionally been the purview of the individual counties and cities, a unique cooperative effort between the states and the local jurisdictions was forged to achieve the required uniformity.

Subject Headings: Rail transportation | Water resources | Light rail transit | Bays | Water quality | Zoning | Watersheds | United States | Maryland | Baltimore | Virginia | Pennsylvania | District of Columbia

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