![[photo, Skyline, townhouses, and marinas on Patapsco River (view from Canton), Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/images/5458-7-036b.jpg)
In Maryland, environmental protection is the responsibility of the Department of the Environment. Implementation of "smart growth" policies, which affect the environment, is conducted by the Department of Planning.
Skyline, townhouses & marinas on Patapsco River (view from Canton), Baltimore, Maryland, May 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
The Maryland Environmental Service provides water supply systems and manages liquid, solid and hazardous wastes for private industry and federal, State and local governments.
Additional executive commissions and committees monitor environmental conditions and advise government agencies on environmental protection. These boards are as diverse as the Bay Restoration Fund Advisory Committee; the Cox Creek Citizens Oversight Committee; the Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays; the Executive Committee for Dredged Material Management Plans; the Environmental Noise Advisory Council; the Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities; the Hart-Miller-Pleasure Island Citizens Oversight Committee; the Patuxent River Commission; and the Interagency Technical Assistance Committee on Wastewater Treatment Systems.
Based in Cambridge, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science is affiliated with the Maryland Sea Grant College.
Some county and municipal governments also oversee local agencies concerned with the environment. Montgomery County, for example, has a Department of Environmental Protection, while the Land Use and Environment Office in Anne Arundel County also oversees planning functions.
In addition, the General Assembly addresses environmental concerns through the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, and the House Environmental Matters Committee.
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