March 2023

Your monthly SM news & updates
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

USEPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grants

More info


Maryland Energy Administration OPEN Energy grants

(proposals due March 15)

More Info


Preservation Maryland Heritage Fund

(proposals due March 31)

More info


MEA Clean Fuels Technical Assistance Program

More info


MEA Public Solar Facility Grant

More info


Montgomery County Green Bank

More info


Montgomery County Energy Efficiency Program

More info


Prince George's County Sustainable Energy grants

More info


Prince George's County Green Energy Loan program

More info


Maryland Urban & Community Forestry Grants

(Maryland DNR)

Deadline: semi-annual

More info


Charles County Forestry Grant Program (Chesapeake Bay Trust)

Deadline: Rolling

More info


Community Engagement & Restoration Mini-grants (Chesapeake Bay Trust)

Deadline: Rolling

More info


Prince Georges County Rain Check Rebate (Chesapeake Bay Trust)

Deadline: Rolling

More info



EVENTS

See Earth Month Events in newsletter




No Mow April Kickoff - City of Laurel

Date: March 20

Location: Laurel Municipal Center

Info


US National Arboretum Native Plant Symposium

Date: March 25

Location: Washington, DC

Info


Rockville Earth Hour

Date: March 25

Info



March National Bike Summit

Dates: March 26-29

Location: Washington DC

Info


Let's Be Smart about Winter Salt

Date: April 1

Location: Gaithersburg

Info


ACEEE - Introduction to Community-Driven Planning Webinar

Date: April 10

Info


ACEEE - Accesssing Funding Sources for Affordable Housing and Equity-Eligible Commercial Building Retrofits Webinar

Date: April 12

Info


ACEEE - Energy Efficiency Programs 101 Webinar

Date: April 13

Info


Earth Day

Date: April 22

Info


ACEEE - Drivers of Energy Efficiency in Affordable Housing Webinar

Date: April 28

Info


Maryland Day at UMD

Date: April 29

Location: College Park

Info

(Stop by the SM table on McKeldin Mall)


Maryland Municipal League Summer Conference

Dates: June 25-28

Location: Ocean City

Info


Maryland Land Conservation Conference

Dates: Oct. 4-5

Location: Annapolis

Info



Maryland Municipal League Fall Conference (and SM Awards)

Dates: October 15-17

Location: College Park




SM COMMUNITIES IN THE NEWS

State lawmakers want local governments to prepare climate action plans

More



College Park bans single-use plastic bags

More



Partners continue restoring oysters in Southern Maryland

More



More discussion on dealing with seal level rise in Cambridge

More



How Route 1 got even more food truck-friendly

More



Bill banning plastic carry-out bags passes in Baltimore County

More



MD bill keeps farming alive in minority communities

More

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT FOR HOMEOWNERS AND CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 6:30-8:30PM

Learn more about how your Prince George's County homeowner or civic association can organize itself to become a more sustainable community. Hear from Green Teams from across the County about their efforts to address stormwater management; become more energy efficient; create safer streets; foster greater community engagement, and more!


Learn how your community can organize a Green Team and receive assistance to create a customized Sustainability Action Plan.


Date: Thursday, March 30


Time: 6:30-8:30pm


Location: Zoom


Join us for this FREE virtual event!


REGISTER NOW!

EARTH MONTH EVENTS ACROSS MARYLAND

Check out one of these Earth Month/Earth Day/Arbor Day events in April and May:


WEBINAR: 2023 SM CERTIFICATION, APRIL 5

Join Sustainable Maryland staff on Wednesday, April 5 from 2:00 - 3:00pm for an overview of the 2023 Sustainable Maryland certification process.


If you are re-certifying, or this is your first time applying, we have some exciting new additions to our program and the certification process in the last year, including:


  • More than 20 new SM Actions
  • New SM Action Categories: Historic Preservation and Transportation


So whether your municipality will be applying for certification or re-certification this year, you are looking for inspiration for new Actions, or updating your Action Plan, please join us on April 5!


Click here to register and for Zoom link/password.

TOUR OF STORMWATER RETROFIT INTERSECTION, COLMAR MANOR, APRIL 17

Join SM staff on Monday, April 17 from 6:30-7:30pm for a guided tour of a stormwater retrofit of an intersection in Colmar Manor. This project was funded by the Town with federal and state grants. It features the heavy-duty, low maintenance PaveDrain system of permeable pavement as the roadway. Ernest Maier staff, who manufactures the product in Bladensburg, MD, will explain how a low-maintenance project like this can make your community more stormwater-friendly and minimize flooding, and the resources and funding available to implement it. Check out this short video of a Pave Drain installation.


Click here to register.

SM VIRTUAL SPRING HAPPY HOUR

APRIL 14, 4-5PM

Join the SM Team on Friday, April 14, 4:00-5:00PM for our first virtual Happy Hour of 2023.

 

Please join us for an informal check-in to share your local projects, challenges and questions about the SM program and resources.

 

All are welcome - Green Teams, Elected Officials, Government Staff, and State/Nonprofit representatives. 

 

Click here to log into the Zoom meeting

QUOTE


"The eastern half [of the US] is so much further ahead of schedule in terms of spring. Almost everyone I speak to about this has this existential anxiety that we are seeing climate change playing out in real time."


- Teresa Crimmins, director of the National Phenology Network and an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona, on the Network's report that parts of Ohio, Maryland, and New York are all recording their earliest spring conditions on record.




Sustainable Maryland is an initiative of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland. It is a free and voluntary program designed to help Maryland communities choose a direction for their sustainability efforts, improve access to resources needed to implement action, and recognize their accomplishments. Our sponsors include the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Municipal League. Sustainable Maryland is a proud founding member of the national Sustainable States Network.


For more information about how your municipality can register in the Sustainable Maryland program, plus customized Green Team training and access to student resources that are available to provide consultancy services for municipal planning, please contact 301-405-7956 or [email protected]


Mike Hunninghake

Program Manager 

Sustainable Maryland


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