Sewer Capacity Moratorium: Information & Updates

 It is a temporary pause on all new construction projects and land use approvals, specifically within the Baltimore City SSA.

The primary goal is to prevent overburdening existing water and sewer infrastructure. This ensures the long-term sustainability of the system and protects public health and safety.
 

The moratorium was declared via a formal press release and an "Orange Notice" posted on the Department of Public Works (DPW) website.

To provide immediate transparency to the development community once it was determined that in order to comply with our interjurisdictional agreements, DPW could not issue additional allocations at this time.
 

DPW is committed to regular updates. Please monitor this webpage for future updates as milestones are met. 

The moratorium is effective immediately as of March 2, 2026. The county is exploring all options to allow for additional allocations to keep projects moving forward and to lift this moratorium as soon as possible.

In order to lift or modify the moratorium, we must ensure we have the sewer capacity needed to approve new connections. This can be achieved through agreements with neighboring jurisdictions, and/or constructing new capacity.

The discovery followed a methodology shift. Historically, capacity was modeled using Average Daily Flow (ADF). However, a recent internal audit required a shift to Peak Flow metrics to comply with regional Consent Decrees and a 1976 Interjurisdictional Agreement.
 

Under these stricter Peak Flow parameters, several connection points to Baltimore County were identified as operating at their maximum agreed-upon peak capacity.
 

In February 2026, regional partners (Baltimore City and County) denied Anne Arundel County’s request for more capacity because they are facing their own significant infrastructure pressures.
 

The system relies on complex, 50-year-old agreements between Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Howard Counties. All wastewater flow in this network ultimately moves to the Baltimore City Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Any residential, commercial, or industrial development that does not currently hold a formal allocation is suspended until further notice. 

View Current Impacted Projects
 

Yes. The following may still move forward:

• Tenant fit-out permits that require no additional sewer capacity.
• Residential properties with failing septic systems that need to connect to the public system.
   

No. The scope of this moratorium does not affect existing utility customers or projects that have already received their formal sewer allocation.
 

By limiting new flow, we significantly reduce the risk of Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) and hazardous basement backups.
 

Our capacity analysis of the existing flow is based on monitored actual flows rather than projections based on flow factors. Since both this analysis and the flow factor study are independently based on observed flow data, the reduction in residential flow factors aligns with our findings. No separate adjustment is necessary because the actual flow measurements already reflect current residential usage patterns that the updated flow factors are designed to represent.

This can be done only in accordance with Orange Notice #26-01. If a residential project has received an allocation prior to January 1, 2026, but has not received final plan or site development plan approval prior to January 1, 2026, a revised EDU worksheet may be submitted for review and allocations may be adjusted. For any residential projects that have received final plan or site development plan approval prior to January 1, 2026, no adjustments would be made unless the approval process starts over, which would require losing the allocation and reallocation when capacity is available.

Unless the project pertains to a residential property with a failing septic system or a tenant fit-out project requiring no additional EDUs, at this time we are unable to permit allocations for projects that are currently under review but have not yet been allocated due to capacity limitations.

Developers can continue to submit plans and permits for review and to follow the established process. These projects and permits will be placed on a waiting list for allocations. Once capacity becomes available, we will approve projects on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, we are exploring other options to remove projects from the waiting list as additional capacity becomes available.

For tenant improvements, we encourage property owners who have potential tenants to contact the Department of Public Works (DPW) before signing a lease to determine the number of existing and available EDUs so we can ensure we have the capacity needed for a new tenant. 

The allocation must be approved as “allocation eligible” to go on the waiting list. For a subdivision or site development plan, the allocation eligible date is determined when OPZ identifies that a project cannot receive a favorable recommendation for approval due to the lack of sewer capacity, even though all other conditions for approval have been met. Specifically, once the OPZ Planner initiates the Allocation Letter process via LUN, DPW will regard that assignment date as when the project is considered "allocation eligible."

For a building permit, the allocation eligible date will be determined when I&P through coordination with DPW identifies that a permit cannot receive favorable recommendation for approval due to the sewer capacity.  DPW will use the Allocation Review Status date as when the project is considered “allocation eligible”.