Planning in Progress

Maryland House Bill 1427 (Chapter 442 of the Laws of 2019) requires that “[o]n or before October 1, 2020, a local jurisdiction that experiences nuisance flooding shall develop a plan to address nuisance flooding.” The law further requires that, “[a] local jurisdiction that develops a plan to address nuisance flooding shall submit a copy of the nuisance flooding plan to the Maryland Department of Planning.” Nuisance flooding is defined as “high tide flooding that causes public inconvenience.”

To assist local jurisdictions in assessing their nuisance flooding risks and to publish guidelines on ways to complete the plan requirement, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with assistance from the Department of Planning (Planning) and a workgroup of other state and local partners, developed a guidance document for jurisdictions to use when developing nuisance flooding plans. The guidance provides general direction and assistance with a local jurisdiction’s decision-making process in meeting the requirement.

While each jurisdiction may meet the requirement in a different way, the workgroup recommends that nuisance plans include three critical components:  

• Inventory of known flood hazard areas where tidal nuisance flooding occurs
• Identification of flood thresholds/water levels/conditions that lead to tidal nuisance flooding
• A mechanism to document tidal nuisance flood events and response activities from 2020–2025

DNR and Planning understand that some prefer to learn in a class setting, where they can engage with colleagues and partners and ask follow-up questions. To this end, the departments have scheduled the following four workshops for those interested in learning more about nuisance flooding and how they can best meet the requirements of House Bill 1427. Please join us for one of these sessions!

All Sessions will be 10:30am-12:30pm and include the same information

Session 1:  December 10-Eastern Shore Higher Education Center, Chesapeake College, HEC 201:  Wye Mills, MD

Session 2:  December 11-Marshy Hope Nature Center, Auditorium, 7130 Marshy Point Rd, Baltimore, MD

Session 3: December 12 –Tri-County Council for the Lower Eastern Shore, Worcester Room, 31901 Tri-County Way, Salisbury, MD

Session 4:  December 19– Calvert Library Prince Frederick, Rooms 1 & 2, 850 Costley Way, Prince Frederick, MD

To learn more about the state’s nuisance flooding plan guidance or the workshops, please contact Sasha Land at sasha.land@maryland.gov