The Sage Report - What Will it Cost to Clean Up the Bay

What will it cost to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and more importantly, will it work?

Most people have now heard that the Chesapeake Bay TMDL is the law of the land in six States and DC. Many new laws, policies, regulations and initiatives are being developed and are all memorialized in the State Watershed Implementation Plans or WIPS.

The Sage Policy Group has evaluated the WIP in Maryland and has issued a very informative report. The highlights:

1. It will cost $11 billion between 2012 and 2017 for Maryland alone (conservatively).
2. The cost does not include broader impacts to the State economy, including the loss of 65,000 jobs in Maryland and the associated $2.8 billion in lost wages.
3. The target score for the Bay is 70 (with 100 being a pre-colonization Bay condition). In 2010 the score was 31, better than the 2008 score of 28 (the worst Bay score in the early 1980s and was 23).
4. New development will be responsible for 70.6% of the costs, New emissions rules will account for 26.7% of the cost and changes to agricultural rules and policies will account for 2.5% of the cost.

It is clear that the Chesapeake Bay TMDL will bring significant costs and may not come close to achieving the goals of cleaning up the Bay. It is imperative that we set the goals and then let the free market system address the issue in order to reduce costs.

We can clean up the Bay and we can do it a lot cheaper than what is being proposed.

Transportation Trust Fund

The TTF Task Force submitted its report to the Governor and General Assembly on the 31st. The report provided over 90 different revenue options to be considered to fully fund the shortfall in revenue needed to address all projects identified in the current Capital Transportation Plan.

New Wetland Guidance Coming

The new guidance for Federal Jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act is expected to be released soon. It is expected that this guidance will greatly increase the acreage of jurisdictional lands. For details see:

http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20110311-federal-jurisdiction-over-wetlands

but:

A lawsuit was just decided in which the courts gave less weight to agency guidance, see details here:

http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20110311-cwa-jurisdiction-dispute

NAHB Research Center Announces 2,000th Certified Project

The NAHB Research Center announced last week their 2,000th Green Certified Project in the Nation. Certified projects are almost all single family homes, but they also include remodeling, multifamily projects and site certifications such as this one. Congrats to the NAHB Research Center and the developer of this project in Cecil County Maryland. The link to the article is below.

We are happy to see the National Green Building Certification Program explode, a worthy accomplishment which is helping to support the housing economy. Of course here in Delaware, we have a lot of green to brag about. Our HBADE created the Green for Green homebuyer rebate program in conjunction with State DNREC officials. Delaware ranks #1 on a per-capita basis for the number of certified green homes in the nation. And while our many fine builders and clients in Delaware are embracing green, just last April Bestfield Homes in Delaware achieved the 1,000th certified green home project in the nation.

LandmarkJCM is happy to help all our clients build green, we are the most experienced Accredited Verifiers in Delaware. We're always happy to tell you about it, call Howard Fortunato at 302-323-9377 for information.

2,000th Green Certified Project link: http://www.nahbrc.com/news/pressreleases/rc_20110214.aspx

Delaware's First Certified EMERALD Home!

Our friend and client Lance Manlove of Zero Energy Homes just completed the first home in Delaware to receive the highest green home certification possible - Emerald!

The custom home in Lewes, Delaware, certified under the ANSI approved National Green Building Certification program, was awarded Emerald certification for including numerous green features. Not only is this home energy efficient, it received an eye-popping HERS score of 35 (the lower the better, 100 is code, 80 is energy star), it contains a partial green vegetated roof, solar electric and hot water heating panels, a rooftop rainwater collection and distribution system, and many other features. LandmarkJCM's Joe Gordon was the Accredited Verifier of record.

Our congratulations go out to Lance once again, and we are pleased to have partnered with Lance to build the first Certified Emerald home in Delaware!

Delaware Leads the Way in Green Certified Homes!

According to just published statistics by the Research Center of the National Association of Home Builders, Delaware has the largest number of green certified NGBS new homes in the nation, 123, based on a per-capita basis. Although North Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana have more certified homes on an absolute basis, we are proud of our per-capita accomplishment considering we are a small state!

We at LandmarkJCM are pleased to help Delaware be a national leader in green certified new homes. Our experienced staff has verified 90% of all green certified homes in Delaware. If you would like any further details, please call Howard Fortunato at 302-323-9377.

Delaware's Kevin Kelly Elected to NAHB

Kevin Kelly, President of Leon N. Weiner & Associates, was elected last week as Third Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Home Builders. In this position, Kevin will serve on a multi-year leadship ladder, becoming the Chairman of NAHB's Board of Directors in 2014.

This is a huge accomplishment for Kevin, his firm, and Delaware. NAHB, with nearly 200,000 members, is the voice of housing for our nation.

We at LandmarkJCM are pleased to congratulate our client Kevin on this much deserved honor. We wish him the best of luck!