Department of Environmental Protection 2021 Year in Review

The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released its 2021 Year in Review video with department highlights!

The video features DEP’s Acting Director Adriana Hochberg and staff members describing 2021 accomplishments and innovative programs.

Highlights of the video include:

• Climate Action Plan: Released in June and is one of the most ambitious climate plans in the nation for a local government.
• Building Energy Performance Standards: Expanded the number of buildings covered by benchmarking and requiring those buildings to meet an energy performance standard in line with County climate goals.
• Removing No. 6 Polystyrene Food Service Products and Plastic Straws: Proposed and oversaw the passing of bills to remove these non-recyclable materials from the environment and reduce waste.
• Tree Montgomery: Planted more than 2,000 shade trees in 2021 and recommended the Black Tupelo as the new County tree.
• Expanded Outreach to Front-Line Communities: Worked with community-based organizations, to build a new community engagement process, to co-design and co-create policies and programs.
• 

  Marbled Salamander

  Plogging Campaign: Volunteers picked up more than 12,000 pounds of trash before it entered waterways.

• “Critters in Crisis”: Launched list of stream bugs, amphibians and fish at risk due to poor water quality.
• RainScapes: Highest demand for projects in 2021.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Developed equity map to assist in evaluating processes to address innovation and equity in program delivery and community engagement

“Every day, the DEP staff is working hard for the County to increase recycling, manage stormwater and save energy,” said Acting Director Hochberg. “We accomplished a lot in 2021, and our work for 2022 includes planning upgrades to the recycling facility, legislation to address bacteria contamination by septic systems, legislation concerning gas powered leaf blowers, planting more trees and installing green infrastructure, continuing our partnering with the community, implementing the Climate Action Plan and more. We hope residents follow our work on social media and on our website.”

DEP created its first department-wide year in review video in 2020 to share the work of the department and help residents and businesses understand how DEP is making the County a cleaner and greener place.