Environmental Rules in Maryland (2026)

The Maryland Stormwater Management Act of 2007, codified at Environment Article 4-201 through 4-215, mandates…

Projects disturbing 5,000+ sq ft require a stormwater plan from MoCo DEP under Code Chapter 19. ESD techniques…

Harford County requires stormwater management measures on virtually every new development or redevelopment project…

Prince George's County bars anyone from developing or redeveloping land without meeting the Stormwater Management…

New development and redevelopment in unincorporated Wicomico County cannot get a grading or building permit without an…

Any residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional development in Annapolis must include a Department of Public…

Anne Arundel County requires an approved stormwater management plan before any development that disturbs 5,000 or more…

Baltimore County bars developing or redeveloping any site without stormwater management measures that control runoff…

Carroll County regulates stormwater runoff from new development under Chapter 151, adopted pursuant to Maryland's…

Cecil County's stormwater management ordinance, Code Chapter 325, applies to development in the unincorporated area and…

Charles County regulates stormwater under Chapter 274 of the County Code, requiring an approved stormwater management…

Frederick requires an approved stormwater management plan before any grading or building permit is issued for new…

Gaithersburg requires city-approved stormwater management for nearly all new development and redevelopment inside city…

Howard County Code § 18.502 makes it unlawful to discharge any pollutant into a storm drain or waterway, or to build or…

Any Rockville project disturbing 5,000+ square feet, or adding as little as 250 square feet of new pavement on…

Washington County requires stormwater management measures for any development disturbing 5,000 square feet or more of…

Maryland Environment Article 4-101 through 4-116 requires erosion and sediment control plans approved by soil…

Gaithersburg requires grading permits for land-disturbing activities and enforces drainage standards to protect…

Carroll County requires a District-approved erosion and sediment control plan and a county grading permit before any…

Any land-disturbing project in unincorporated Cecil County that moves 100 or more cubic yards of earth or disturbs…

Frederick requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan before any grading or building permit issues for land…

No one may grade, disturb land, or connect to a drainage system in Prince George's County without a permit from the…

Annapolis requires a grading permit before disturbing land, plus an erosion and sediment control plan approved by the…

A grading permit from the Department of Inspections and Permits is required before clearing or grading any site in Anne…

Baltimore County requires a grading permit before anyone changes natural ground level in a way that could redirect…

Charles County requires an approved erosion and sediment control plan and a development services permit before any…

Grading land in unincorporated Harford County without an approved erosion and sediment control plan is illegal under §…

Howard County requires a grading permit from the Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits before anyone clears…

Montgomery County bars land-disturbing activity, including grading, without a permit from the Department of Permitting…

Rockville requires an approved sediment control plan and permit before any land-disturbing construction of 5,000 or…

Washington County bars land disturbance without approved erosion and sediment controls under its Stormwater Management…

Grading more than 5,000 square feet or 100 cubic yards of earth in unincorporated Wicomico County requires an erosion…

Carroll County prohibits new fill, grading for buildable lots, and new residential, commercial, institutional, or…

Anne Arundel County bans basements, floodway construction, and fill placement in mapped flood hazard areas, and…

Any development inside, touching, or partly within a Frederick flood hazard area, from grading and fill to new…

No one may fill, grade, build, or place a manufactured home within, partially within, or touching a special flood…

Montgomery County requires a floodplain district permit for any land-disturbing activity within the mapped floodplain…

Prince George's County has regulated construction in its 100-year floodplain since joining the National Flood Insurance…

Any filling, grading, new construction, or substantial improvement inside a FEMA-mapped special flood hazard area in…

Washington County bans any filling, grading, new construction, substantial improvement or manufactured-home work within…

It's unlawful to build, fill, grade or place a manufactured home in a special flood hazard area of unincorporated…

Any development or construction in a special flood hazard area within Annapolis requires a floodplain permit from the…

Baltimore County bans grading, filling, new construction, substantial improvement, and manufactured-home placement…

Construction within a mapped flood hazard area in unincorporated Cecil County must comply with the Floodplain District…

It is unlawful in Charles County to begin any development, grading, new construction, substantial improvement…

Gaithersburg bars any grading, filling, new construction, substantial improvement, or watercourse alteration inside a…

Charles County regulates piers, docks and launching ramps inside the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Buffer under §…

In the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area buffer, Prince George's County caps community pier and marina slip counts by…

Building a pier, dock, mooring pile or other permanent waterway structure in Annapolis requires a City building permit…

Private piers and boat docks in Anne Arundel County must sit at least 15 feet from side lot lines, extend no more than…

Baltimore County requires a permit before any pier, dock, bulkhead, or mooring pile is built beyond mean low tide under…

In unincorporated Harford County, private piers, docks, boat lifts, wharves and bulkheads built by riparian landowners…

Howard County bans new residential and commercial construction inside a designated floodplain, but carves out a…

In unincorporated Wicomico County, individual private piers, docks and boathouses are permitted in the Chesapeake Bay…

Warehousing, distribution and local delivery centers up to 150,000 square feet in Harford County's CI, LI and GI…

Substantially improved homes and buildings in a Howard County floodplain must raise their lowest floor, including any…

New or substantially improved buildings in the Prince George's County floodplain must have their lowest floor at or…

New and substantially improved residential structures in Washington County flood hazard areas must have their lowest…

Wicomico County defines the flood protection elevation as the base flood elevation plus two feet of freeboard, requires…

Annapolis requires new construction and substantially improved buildings in flood hazard areas to elevate the lowest…

New construction and substantial improvements in Anne Arundel County's floodplain district must have the lowest floor…

Baltimore County requires new and substantially improved buildings in flood hazard areas to raise their lowest floor to…

Carroll County requires the lowest floor of every new or substantially improved building in the floodplain to sit three…

Charles County defines the 'flood protection elevation' that new and substantially improved buildings must meet as the…

New and substantially improved homes in Frederick's flood hazard areas must have their lowest floor built at or above…

New and substantially improved homes in a Gaithersburg special flood hazard area must have their lowest floor at least…

New and substantially improved homes in Harford County's mapped flood hazard areas must sit above the flood protection…

New and substantially improved structures in Montgomery County's Floodplain District must set the lowest floor at least…

New and substantially improved residential structures in Rockville's flood hazard areas must have their lowest floor at…