Baltimore City pays for dry-weather sewage cleanup after long fight

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced on Wednesday that the city will expand its sewage backup aid program to cover dry-weather incidents. The change allows homeowners who experience raw sewage overflows in their homes to receive city funding for professional cleanup, regardless of whether heavy rain caused the problem.

Until now, Baltimore sent cleanup crews or provided financial aid primarily when backups resulted from heavy rainfall. Public works officials frequently denied requests from residents facing dry-weather backups, arguing those cases fell outside the city's obligations. This narrow approach drew criticism from local residents, City Council members, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA has monitored Baltimore's sewage system through a federal consent decree since 2002. Under that agreement, the Department of Public Works must budget $2 million annually to reimburse homeowners who experience backups. Scott launched a pilot program in 2021 to send crews to homes instead of just issuing checks. However, the city often paid out only a small fraction of that budget because officials deemed dry-weather applicants ineligible.

The EPA ordered the city to expand access to the program in 2023. Baltimore pushed back at the time, contending that the consent decree did not require aid for events not caused by storms. In January 2025, City Council members unanimously passed a resolution urging the Scott administration to broaden the cleanup support.

Scott's announcement came just hours before a council hearing where lawmakers planned to question the Department of Public Works on its handling of the program. West Baltimore Councilman Paris Gray, who initiated the hearing, welcomed the change. Gray said the expansion is a step toward making vulnerable families whole. He noted that a backup does not wait for a storm and neither should the help.

Scott stated in a news release that residents deserve to feel safe in their homes and know where to turn when a backup occurs. He described the expansion as an important step to help families access professional services. The public works department developed this new policy alongside the Maryland Department of the Environment, which has also urged the city to assist residents during dry-weather events.