House Bill 649, which is sponsored by six other delegates, would prohibit state regulators from extending a discharge permit for more than three years starting this summer, and lowering it to one year starting in 2027. This raised questions of whether other plants in the state could be running on zombie permits. The plant was operating on a discharge permit that had expired in 2006, despite federal law requiring discharge permits to be renewed every five years. Last year, a plant in Dorchester County that breaks down chicken carcasses for pet food shut down after state inspectors found a slew of pollution violations, including the release of untreated waste and sludge into a stream. The goal of the bill is to ensure that the Department of Environment “gets a handle on zombies,” she continued.

Sara Love, (D-Montgomery), the lead sponsor of the bill, told the House Environment and Transportation Committee. “Some entities have not had inspections for years, operating continually without oversight,” said Del. Maryland is currently facing a backlog of more than 200 zombie permits, according to the Department of the Environment. Gaines.įollowing recent pollution violations by a chicken rendering facility operating under an expired discharge permit, lawmakers are introducing a bill that would limit how long the Maryland Department of the Environment can allow facilities to operate under so-called “zombie permits.”Įxpired discharge permits sometimes earn the moniker, referring to the period after a permit expires and before a new one is issued.

Zombie spend money and trash it