This ordinance extends the registration requirements for non-owner-occupied dwelling units to encompass vacant structures; modifies the information required for registration statements; modifies the fees for registration; modifies or repeals certain registration fee exceptions; modifies the civil penalty for violation of these registration requirements; repeals the license fee for multiple-family dwellings and rooming houses; creates provisions relating to the registration of non-owner- occupied dwellings and vacant structures and to the licensing of multiple-family dwellings and rooming houses.

This ordinance requires that new residential building construction projects and building addition projects to meet specific energy performance standards. The ordinance creates energy performance standards for the areas of cooling equipment, heating equipment, duct work, windows, water heaters, and lighting. Homeowners should be provided with an owner's manual that includes information on the house's green features. The ordinance also establishes ventilation standards to limit people's exposure to contaminants. In addition, the ordinance creates a plan to divert construction, demolition, and land clearing materials from landfill disposal by requiring the waste to be salvaged, reused, or recycled.

Reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is vital to mitigate climate change. To date reduction efforts have primarily focused on minimizing the production of carbon dioxide during electricity generation, transport, and other activities. Going forward, to the extent that carbon dioxide continues to be produced, it will need to be captured before release. Research is currently being undertaken into the possibility of injecting carbon dioxide into the seabed. One study aims to identify possible injection sites in the seabed along the northeast coast of the U.S. It is anticipated that, following identification of suitable sites, a demonstration project will be undertaken to assess the feasibility of offshore CCS. This paper outlines key regulatory requirements for the demonstration project and any subsequent commercial operations.

This ordinance enacts a temporary moratorium on big box store applications and hearings to allow time for residents and town officials to consider the impacts of large-scale retail and amends the town zoning law accordingly.

The City of Baltimore commissioned the Center for Community Progress to evaluate the City's the Vacants to Value (V2V) program and make recommendations for future program directions. The V2V program is a multifaceted strategy to use code enforcement and related tools to reduce the number of vacant properties in the city and put them back into productive use; or, as stated in the City’s Request for Proposals, “to address conditions of blight and abandonment and to help realize Mayor Rawlings Blake’s 10 Year Plan to grow the city by 10,000 households by 2020.” It was designed to be “a market-based and data driven, geographically focused program that employs seven strategies to eliminate blight and strengthen neighborhoods.”

This report identifies the root causes of Baltimore’s failed and inequitable waste system, and how its impacts intersect with racial and economic justice. The Baltimore Sustainability Plan will enable the city to move towards a new system of fair development aligned with human rights principles anchored to a Zero Waste framework. This plan recognizes the challenges and opportunities towards meeting Baltimore’s Zero Waste goal and includes several initiatives to have a major shift towards expanding composting, making the city’s recycling program reliably and coventiently to all, while emphasizing Zero Waste opportunities to create local jobs.

Maryland is taking bold steps to increase the number of workers who possess a post-secondary education credential. In particular, Skills2Compete Maryland (S2C Maryland) is a campaign aimed at increasing post-secondary success to strengthen the skills of Maryland’s workforce. This report offers a summary of S2C’s history, including its strategies and processes, and provides further recommendations and actions needed to reach their goal of increasing the number of Marylanders who attain post-secondary credentials by 20 percent.

This report lays out 29 priority goals of the Baltimore Sustainability Plan within seven theme chapters: Cleanliness, Pollution Prevention, Resource Conservation, Greening, Transportation, Education and Awareness, and Green Economy. Each of the 29 goals is accompanied by a set of recommended strategies. The Cleanliness chapter includes goals addressing litter, maintenance, and vacant lots, recognizing that the upkeep of a city acts as an indicator of its overall health. Goals in the Pollution Prevention chapter directly address public health with a focus on greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, water quality, hazardous materials, and health of indoor environments. The Resource Conservation chapter addresses the efficient use of energy, water, and materials. The Greening chapter underscores the importance of the City's living infrastructure with goals targeting trees, sustainable food systems, recreational space, and ecological health. Transportation goals offer ways to reduce dependence on automobiles through improving public transportation, making Baltimore more bicycle and pedestrian friendly, facilitating shared vehicle usage, improving transportation equity, and increasing funding for sustainable transportation. Goals in the Education & Awareness chapter address green schools, youth involvement, community environmental awareness, and informational resources. The final chapter, Green Economy, articulates goals around creating and training for green jobs, supporting green and local business, and increasing Baltimore's green profile nationally.

In 2009, with the economic crisis still ravaging the nation, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley put in place a bold new economic indicator, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), to begin to assess more precisely what has gone right — and wrong — in his state’s economy. The GPI provides a much more holistic view of how the Maryland state economy is faring for all Maryland residents than the standard state economic measure, the Gross State Product. The Genuine Progress Indicator now in place in Maryland has income inequality as one of its 26 prime indicators. This study zeroes in on inequality, in the context of the GPI, to answer the question: How has inequality affected the overall economic, social, and environmental fabric of Maryland, and what can be done about it? This study compares the current Maryland income inequality situation with the income picture back in 1968, the year that saw the narrowest overall income inequality divide in modern U.S. history. The authors then pose the question: How different would our current GPI indicators be — what quality of life would Marylanders enjoy today — had we kept the level of Maryland inequality at 1968 levels? The paper ends with recommendations on how to close the inequality divide in Maryland.

This ordinance requires that new commercial and residential buildings or 'substantially improved' buildings to meet specific energy performance standards. The ordinance requires commercial and high rise residential structures between 10,000 and 50,000 square feet to meet basic LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition, buildings equal to or larger than 50,000 square feet must meet the LEED Silver certification.