MD Transportation Undergoes EPA Checks

Highways, airports, and ports in the state of Maryland will undergo environmental checks after six agencies signed an agreement with the EPA. Photo Credits: www.mdot.state.md.us

Maryland transportation agencies are kicking it up a notch as they signed an agreement in early October to have 168 of their transportation facilities, including the airport, highways and port in the state, undergo thorough environmental checks. Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreement, the state agencies will conduct their own environmental assessments and disclose violations they may find.

The six agencies that signed the agreement are the Maryland: State Highway Administration, Port Administration, Aviation Administration, Motor Vehicle Administration, Transportation Authority, and the Secretary’s Office in the Department of Transportation.

“This agreement solidifies Maryland’s approach for optimizing its resources so that all its transportation facilities state-wide achieve full environmental compliance,” said Donald S. Welsh, EPA’s mid-Atlantic regional administrator.

“Companies, manufacturers and other facilities have significantly improved their environmental management thanks to these self-audit agreements. We’re pleased that Maryland is the first state to sign on to this approach,” said Welsh.

Maryland’s transportation agencies will assess their compliance with seven federal environmental statutes, with the obligation of identifying problems and disclosing violations to EPA. The agencies can train their own staff to perform the audits or work with third-party professional auditors whose credentials must be verified by EPA. The agencies must correct all violations.

The 168 compliance audits are expected to be completed by 2011.

For information about EPA’s audit policy: www.epa.gov/compliance/incentives/auditing/auditpolicy.html.

Source: yosemite.epa.gov/opa.