By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
The Bay Restoration Fund “is arguably one of the single most important successful efforts that the state of Maryland, or really any state that I know of, [has used] to fund major environmental improvements.” - Del. Dylan Behler (D-Anne Arundel), on the “flush tax,” a monthly surcharge on water bills that funds wastewater treatment plant upgrades, but is set to be cut in half by 2030 unless advocates can head that off.
You may not give much thought to where those aluminum products you use come from, or where the wastewater from your sink and toilet goes, but we have news on both today. Welcome back to the working week.
Environmental advocates hail the success of the Bay Restoration Fund, better knonow as the “flush tax,” a monthly surcharge on your water bill — or an annual fee on septic systems — that has funded billions in improvements to wastewater treatment plants. That’s why some advocates are looking to step in next year and begin the work of extending the fee, which is set to be cut in half in 2030. Christine Condon has that story.
The trade war with Canada will likely be felt in Maryland, which did $5 billion in business with our neighbor to the north in 2025. It’s the state’s biggest export market, buying $2.2 billion in Maryland goods, and one of our biggest import partners, sending $2.8 billion to the state last year, as Capital News Service’s Zephan Matteson reports.
Those stories and other news, including the approval of a sharp increase in health insurance premiums next year, are below, along with a review of headlines from the past week to get you going for this week. Enjoy!
The filtration system at the Back River wastewater treatment plant in Baltimore County. (Photo by Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters)
By Christine Condon
Since its enactment in 2004, Maryland's “flush tax” has raised $2.3 billion from property owners, funding pollution-saving upgrades at scores of wastewater treatment plants in the state and keeping hundreds of millions of pounds of nutrients out of the Chesapeake Bay.
The fee for the Bay Restoration Fund is set to be cut in half in 2030, but a group of state legislators and Chesapeake Bay advocates want to step and head that off, possibly making it a subject of discussion in the 2027 legislative session.
The fund, established in 2004, has paid for upgraded technology at 66 of the state’s 67 major sewage treatment plants, and another 17 minor plants, according to data from the Maryland Department of the Environment. Sixteen other minor plants are in the planning phase for upgrades. It’s estimated that the upgrades to the major facilities alone, over a 20-year lifespan, will prevent 200 million pounds of nitrogen and another 10 million pounds of phosphorus from flowing into the bay, where those nutrients spur low-oxygen summer “dead zones” that kill underwater life.
Containers wait to be offloaded at the Port of Baltimore in this 2021 file photo. The port last year received 160,500 tons of aluminum from Canada worth more than $400 million. (Photo by Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters)
By Zephan Matteson
The escalating trade war between the United States and Canada also means an escalating trade war with one of Maryland’s biggest trading partners.
Canada is Maryland’s top export market and one of its largest import partners as well, according to data from the International Trade Administration. The state sent $2.2 billion in goods north in 2025, with its biggest export by far being tractors, with $221 million in sales that year, according to data from the Canadian Embassy. While tractors are not on the list of goods subject to the retaliatory Canadian tariffs, some individual engine parts and other farm equipment are subject to retaliatory tariffs.
Maryland imported around $2.8 billion in goods from Canada in 2025, making it the state’s fourth-largest source of imports, behind Germany, Japan and Mexico. Aluminum and aluminum products made up more than 15% of Maryland’s imports from Canada. Maryland bought over $400 million of Canadian aluminum in 2025. The current levy on aluminum coming into the United States sits at 50%.
IN OTHER NEWS
Could win for utilities be win for ratepayers?: Maryland’s energy companies are getting a $250 million sales tax refund after a Supreme Court of Maryland ruling in their favor, the state comptroller said, urging them to give the “windfall” to their customers.
Making power lines work harder: The U.S. Department of Energy is poised to spend nearly $2 billion on grid improvement projects in 26 states — but not Maryland — that aim to wring more capacity out of existing power lines to meet surging electricity demand.
A long shot bid for fed pay raise: Facing a short calendar, Democrats see government spending negotiations as their best shot at getting a federal pay raise for 2027 across the finish line, after the Trump administration denied raises to most civilian federal workers.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Health insurance increase OK’d: Marylanders who buy individual healthcare plans on the state's insurance marketplace will see a second year of double-digit increases in costs, after state insurance officials approved a 14.6% average premium increase for 2027.
The push for Question 3: Democratic lawmakers, labor officials and nonprofit leaders rallied in Baltimore to drum up support for ballot Question 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would remove state standards for drawing congressional districts.
A vow to push for port modernization: Two and a half years after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, members of Maryland’s congressional delegation are vowing to keep pursuing investments into the Port of Baltimore.
Detention center waste: Government auditors said the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities.
MOST-READ STORIES OF THE WEEK
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