ACTION NEEDED

   ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY

   CALVERT COUNTY

Update on Sign Regulations

The Calvert County Planning Commission reviewed the new draft sign regulations at its meeting on December 14, 2016. The Planning Commission directed staff to distribute the draft regulations for agency review.  The Planning Commission will review agency comments at its meeting on Wed., Jan. 18, 2017.

 CHARLES COUNTY

Charles County Planning Commission to hold a Second Public Hearing on the Watershed Conservation District

On January 9, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. in the Charles County Government Building, the Charles County Planning Board will hold a Second Public Hearing on the Watershed Conservation District.  We encourage you and your colleagues to attend this very important hearing and register your opposition to this proposal.  This is your opportunity to have your voice heard, please sign up to speak.  At issue is 37,000 acres being downzoned to 1 unit per 20 acres, which will affect 9,500 property owners in the county.  
Register your opposition here >>>

   MONTGOMERY COUNTY

  PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Appointment Procedures for Commissioner to the Planning Commission

In January, the Prince George's County Delegation will be considering a bill that would repeal certain provisions of law establishing the appointment procedures for a member of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.  If this bill were to pass, it would allow the Prince George's County Council to appoint all five commissioners to the Planning Board.  Those appointees selected would then be subject to the approval of the County Executive. 

  WICOMICO COUNTY

Comprehensive Plan

The Wicomico County Council will hold a Public Hearing on Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 10:00 am on their Comprehensive Plan.  The Public Hearing has been moved to February as the Council is waiting for the response from the Maryland Department of Planning on their draft Tier Map.  The plan includes a revised draft map of the State's Tier Map.  This map would give the county the ability to move property's from Tier Four to Tier Three and from Tier Two to Tier Three.  Also, the County has decided to leave transition areas around towns and municipalities in the plan so that there would not be any down zoning on these properties.  The County has included a priority preservation area in their plan.  In addition, the one in three cluster has been maintained.  Once the Comprehensive Plan is adopted they will start work on the County Zoning Map.

  WORCESTER COUNTY

Coastal Bays Rural Legacy 

The Worcester County Commissioners have approved preserving, under a Coastal Bays Rural Legacy easement, 300 acres of farmland near Girdletree.  The County has already set aside roughly 9,000 acres for conservation by paying landowners to keep their properties undeveloped in perpetuity.  The county will pay the owners approximately $512,000 for the property, with all of the money coming from a state grant. 

 

Tax Differential

The Town of Ocean City has written a letter to the Worcester County Commissioners requesting a series of sit-down meetings to discuss the long-standing issue of tax differential.  Both Worcester County Commissioners and the Town of Ocean City have conducted independent studies on the issue.  If the Ocean City tax differential is lowered the county's tax differential would have to be increased to make up the difference. 

 

Enterprise Zone

The Maryland Department of Commerce renewed Berlin's designation as an enterprise zone.  The enterprise zone program, which was created in 1982, provides real property and state income tax credits to businesses that bring jobs and make capital investments in designated areas.  Berlin's enterprise zone includes the majority of the town's commercial district.

Snow Hill Comprehensive Rezoning Plan

The Town of Snow Hill has passed a Comprehensive Rezoning Plan that makes changes to its R-3 rezoning area.  The R-3 zoning area is the only area in town where multi-family dwellings-including apartments and condos-are allowed.  The new zoning ordinance limits the number of units allowed in the building, lowering it from 12 to 8 per acre.  In addition, the R-3 zone itself was also reduced in size, or sectioned off partially into areas R-1 and R-2.

 

Worcester Economic Summit

Worcester County held an economic summit on December 14, 2016.  Economist Anirban Basu of Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group noted that there is a growing interest in new industry in the county.  Specifically in Berlin, Electronic Transaction Services new locale spells a promising future for the tech industry, as well as the approval of OC Botanicals to operate medical marijuana manufacturing in Worcester County; both will bring both new jobs and economic benefits.

Legislative Luncheon

The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce held a Legislative Luncheon for the Eastern Shore Delegation.  The most pressing issue, according to the delegation, will be the budget.  They explained that 66 percent of the budget is mandated so they will only have input to 34 percent of the budget.  Bills they see being introduced are:  zoning bills, prevailing wage bill, taxation, pension reform, substance abuse treatment, infrastructure technology, sprinkler legislation, preserving the BAT legislation and transportation scoring bill repeal.  They will also be working to preserve capital projects.

Chapter Meeting 

The Eastern Shore Builders will hold a Chapter Meeting on Monday, February 6, 2017 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Ocean Pines Library, 11107 Cathell Road, Berlin.  Please RSVP to Joan Strang at jstrang@marylandbuilders.org or call 410-845-0132.

  OTHER INDUSTRY NEWS

EPA's Final Formaldehyde Rule

The final rule for formaldehyde emission standards for composite wood products was published in the Dec. 12, 2016 Federal Register .  The rule establishes formaldehyde emission standards as well as product testing and tracking requirements for composite wood products. The rule is effective February 10, 2017, but the majority of requirements do not go into effect until Dec. 12, 2017. Click here for an EPA Fact Sheet.

Due to NAHB's efforts, the final rule clarifies certain terms to exclude renovation and construction activities. Specifically, the final rule contains language clarifying that remodelers are not subject to compliance under the definition of "fabricators." Construction built on site will not be subject to the regulation, but the rule may still apply to mobile home manufacturing and prefabricated wood building manufacturing, such as decorative particleboard and plywood.

 

Maryland Adopts Federal Confined Space Rule

Maryland has adopted the federal Confined Spaces in Construction Rule by reference (12/23/2016 and 1/22/2016 MD Register) with an effective date of Jan. 2, 2017. OSHA's Frequently Asked Questions document  , issued as part of the settlement with NAHB, should apply in Maryland. The vast majority of the Standard's requirements only apply to permit-required confined spaces, and attics, basements, and crawl spaces in a residential home will not typically trigger these requirements.

The rule requires employers to determine what kinds of spaces their workers are in, what hazards could be there, how those hazards should be made safe, what training workers should receive, and how to rescue those workers if anything goes wrong.

NAHB has taped a webinar on the rule and made it available on its replay page. Just log in and order at no charge.

Maryland Amends Rules for Employee Injury and Illness Records and Reports

Maryland has adopted by reference recent amendments to the federal OSHA Final Rule on Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements -  NAICS Update and Reporting Revisions with an effective date of Jan. 2, 2017 ( For details on the OSHA record keeping, click here. ). This action also clarifies the requirements for the reporting of amputations to those involving loss of bone or cartilage. (Ref. MD Register 10/28/2016 and 12/23/2016)  

All employers must report the following to Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH)  : 

Firms with 10 or fewer employees in the previous year are still exempt from keeping MOSH records but are NOT exempt from the new reporting requirements.

   

WSSC Proposes Increases to Fees and Charges

On December 21, the WSSC Commissioners voted to transmit the WSSC FY 2018 Preliminary Proposed Capital and Operating Budget for public hearings. The agenda budget item contains FY'18 Preliminary Budget information, including Table XI, Miscellaneous Fees and Charges. 

Overall, most fees and charges in Table XI have been increased approximately 9 percent. The reason given: "Recent review of the costs required to provide these services indicates a need to change the amounts charged for some of the services." There were no new fees added, a few did not change, and one was removed. The current FY'17 budget contained an approximately 10 percent increase for most fees and charges.

The opportunity for comment on the budget, including Table XI, is at the public hearings scheduled for:

Montgomery County - 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at the Stella B. Werner Office Building, 7th Floor Council Hearing Room, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville 20850

Prince George's County - 7:30 p.m., Thursday, February 2, 2017 at the RMS Building, Room 308, 1400 McCormick Drive, Largo, MD 20774

 

District of Columbia - Draft MS4 Permit Available for Comment

EPA plans to reissue the MS4 Permit for the District of Columbia and has made the draft permit and a Fact Sheet available for comment. EPA's proposed MS4 permit will replace the District's 2011 permit, which was modified in 2012 and was scheduled to expire on Oct. 7, 2016. The proposed permit retains many of the provisions of the 2011 permit, but also proposes a number of new enforceable milestones and adaptive management benchmarks that may make new development efforts in the District more complex and costly. The Fact Sheet contains an explanation for proposed permit provisions, especially those that have changed since the prior permit.

Comments on the draft permit and Fact Sheet will be accepted in writing or by e-mail until Tuesday, January 17, 2017 to the attention of Ms. Elizabeth Ottinger (3WP41), NPDES Permits Branch, U.S. EPA, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA  19103, or ottinger.elizabeth@epa.gov. All comments must include the name, address, and telephone number of the writer and concise statement of the basis for any comment and any relevant facts on which it is based.

Voting Results for the 2018 Edition of the Building Codes

The voting results are in for the 2018 Edition of the Building Codes. These results still need to be finalized by a January audit and confirmed by the International Code Council's (ICC) Board of Directors.

NAHB and BIA members' efforts have paid off!  Overall, the results for the 2018 Building Codes reflect the point of view of the code officials rather than product manufacturers.

 

The following were among the successes:

• Defeated an amendment that would have increased the stringency of the commercial performance path by 5 percent and the prescriptive path by 5 percent.
• Defeated an amendment that would have required air-tightness testing (blower door tests) for most commercial and multifamily buildings. Estimated Savings: $2,000-$10,000 per multifamily building.
• Defeated an amendment that would have added requirements to facilitate possible future energy metering and monitoring of all circuits and systems.
• Approved an amendment that brings the Energy Rating Index values more in line with the Energy Code's prescriptive path.
• Defeated an amendment that would have increased live load for balconies and decks. Estimated Savings: $75-$154 per house.
• Defeated amendments that would have required special inspection of wood framing. Estimated Savings: $750-$1,125 per small multifamily building.

However, among the amendments that did not pass are the following:

• Removal the mandatory 3 and 5 Air Exchanges Per Hour at 50 Pascals building tightness requirements to allow for trade-offs in the performance path without reducing the stringency of the code.
• Create an energy neutral performance tradeoff for equipment efficiency, along with a reasonable thermal envelope and a UA backstop. Potential savings per house would have been $217- $1,425.

View more of the building code results >>>