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Maryland Department of Commerce

Supporting Installation Resilience in Maryland

Maryland’s 20 military facilities generate more than $61 billion in economic impact, making their long-term viability critical to both national defense and local prosperity.

The Maryland Department of Commerce’s Office of Military & Federal Affairs (OMFA) leads statewide efforts to protect the economic impact of Maryland’s military installations by promoting resilient defense communities and ensuring compatible civilian development.

Vulnerabilities in community assets—such as roads, energy, and water—caused by hazards like severe weather or stressors such as increased demand and aging infrastructure can threaten an installation’s ability to fulfill its mission.

Similarly, incompatible civilian development—such as projects that affect an installation’s airspace—can jeopardize its mission. Conversely, military operations may negatively impact surrounding communities through noise or other nuisance factors.

As a best practice, military installations and surrounding defense communities should coordinate resilience planning and development to ensure mission assurance.

The installation readiness projects outlined below are led by OMFA with grant funding from the Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC).

Resilient Maryland Defense Communities Project (2024-2026)

The Maryland Department of Commerce, Office of Military and Federal Affairs (OMFA), in partnership with the Maryland Department of Planning and the Office of Resilience within the Maryland Department of Emergency Management, is leading the Resilient Maryland Defense Communities Project - PDF, with a $1.06 million grant from the Department of Defense, Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation. 

The University of Maryland Center for Cyber, Health, and Hazard Strategies is the vendor supporting OMFA in implementing the project. 

This project aims to assess resilience risks, identify interdependencies and vulnerabilities, and develop a “One Community” framework that aligns federal, state, and local planning efforts.

This project is in response to eight (8) military communities in Maryland who have engaged, or will be engaging, in a Military Installation Resiliency Review - PDF (MIRR) or similar planning effort in their communities with a goal to identify and make recommendations to protect vulnerable assets within the civilian community which, if threatened, would negatively impact the operations of the base. 

These communities include:

  • Naval Support Facility Indian Head in partnership with Charles County
  • Joint Base Andrews in partnership with Prince George’s County
  • Naval Support Activity Annapolis in partnership with City of Annapolis 
  • Naval Support Activity Bethesda in partnership with Montgomery County
  • Naval Air Station Patuxent River in partnership with St. Mary’s County
  • Fort Meade in partnership with Anne Arundel County
  • Fort Detrick in partnership with Frederick County, and 
  • Aberdeen Proving Ground in partnership with Harford County

The goal of this project is to improve collaboration with and among military installations and local defense communities in Maryland to address whole community resilience, hazard mitigation, critical infrastructure, and services in support of installation readiness. The project team will achieve this goal by: 

  • Aligning local collaborative resiliency planning efforts with the state’s resilience planning initiatives, identifying gaps in support and alignment with military communities’ resilience planning efforts. 
  • Maintaining momentum and support for local and regional military resilience planning, including guiding implementation and funding opportunities.
  • Ensuring cross-jurisdictional and regional collaboration.

The final project deliverable—the Collaborative Framework for Resilience in Maryland’s Defense Communities—will provide recommendations on how to respond as "One Community, One Maryland" to address shared resiliency challenges at the federal, state, and local levels, and support military readiness in local defense communities. The intent of this framework is to help guide local defense communities to assess the level of man-made and nature-based resilience risks facing crucial infrastructure within their community that have an impact on base readiness, exploring interdependencies, vulnerabilities, and investments and solutions to mitigate these issues.  Additionally, this project will help the state to define its role in supporting local governments with planning and implementation activities to protect military readiness.

Project Activities

The success of the Resilient Maryland Defense Communities Project relies on strong, inclusive partnerships across military installations, all levels of government, and private and non-profit organizations. To foster collaboration and ensure meaningful input, the project team will implement a comprehensive engagement strategy that includes:

  • Technical Working Groups: Convening subject matter experts to address key resilience challenges and develop actionable recommendations in five sectors of resilience, including energy, water, transportation, housing, and intergovernmental coordination.
  • Surveys and Interviews: Gathering insights through targeted surveys and one-on-one or small group interviews with partners to identify priorities and gaps.
  • Collaboration Forums: Engaging OLDCC Installation Readiness grantees from across the Mid-Atlantic region to share challenges, best practices, and lessons learned from grant-funded efforts.
  • Regional Resiliency Planning Exercises: Hosting interactive sessions within the respective defense communities to assess the region’s response ecosystem and strengthen local preparedness and coordination.
  • Statewide Convening: Bringing together partners from across Maryland for a collaborative forum to align efforts and share best practices.

These activities are designed to build consensus, leverage expertise, and ensure that the resulting “One Community, One Maryland” framework reflects the diverse needs and perspectives of Maryland’s defense communities.

Project Resources

Project Contact

For further information on the below projects, please contact: 

  • Jennifer Chiasson, Grant Program Manager
    Office of Military & Federal Affairs
    Maryland Department of Commerce
    [email protected]
    (443) 388-6245

Previous Projects

​​Civilian activities and uses that are incompatible with military missions in the state could potentially mean a loss of that mission or even the closure of the base, a blow to the local economy from loss of revenue and jobs generated by that installation. The Department of Defense defines incompatible civilian development as land use activity and civilian development activity that adversely affects the utility or training and readiness missions of a military installation. To prevent adverse effects, it is important that communities and military collaborate on compatible land use planning. Compatible use ensures that civilian regions can grow and develop while protecting the military’s mission.

Phase 1: Plan
 

Maryland’s Statewide Joint Land Use Response Implementation Strategy (SJRIS)

To promote compatible civilian development in Maryland that supports long-term military sustainability and continued regional community development around MD installations, Commerce received a $178K grant from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) in 2017 to fund an effort that would provide the state with a strategic approach, in coordination with local governments, to address compatibility issues at a state level. The deliverable for this project was the Statewide Joint Land Use Response Implementation Strategy (SJRIS) - PDF, completed in 2019. 

Additionally, six fact sheets were created on compatible use issues, including: 

Joint Land Use Studies

A Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) is a strategic planning process undertaken by state or local government in partnership with the military installation to preserve and protect military readiness and defense capabilities, seek ways to reduce the operational impacts on adjacent lands, and support community growth and economic development. A JLUS is a key tool for compatible land use planning. Five Maryland installations and facilities have completed Joint Land Use Studies – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Blossom Point Research Facility, Joint Base Andrews, NAS Patuxent River, and NSF Indian Head - the outcomes of these studies informed the development of the SJRIS. 

To view these studies, please see the links below:

Phase 2: Implement

The SJRIS includes 7 recommendation focus areas and 33 implementation activities. To implement some of the recommendations, Commerce, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Planning (Planning) applied for and received a $1.12M grant from the OLDCC in 2020 to fund the implementation of key focus areas: strengthening communication and coordination between the state, military, and community; technical guidance/assistance for local communities on best practices for land use; facilitating compatible renewable energy siting; and exploring legislative initiatives to address compatible use issues. This project was completed in December 2022 and details and links to the tools and resources created under this grant can be found below.

Compatible Use Website & Handbook

The Compatible Use website and technical handbook - PDF educates, informs, and guides state and local leaders, members of the military and military communities, and the general public on compatible use issues and solutions. To complete the website and technical handbook, Maryland Department of Planning hired a Compatible Use Community Planning Liaison who directed an outreach effort, including the formation of two stakeholder groups. 

Stakeholder Groups: 

SJRIS Implementation Workgroup for implementing the SJRIS recommendations. This group includes state, military, and local representatives and focused on the tools, communication methods, and educational and funding resources proposed in the SJRIS.

Compatible Use Policy Committee explored and developed model local legislation to improve compatible use in Maryland and considering any needed new or modified state legislation. This group included state, military, and local representatives.

The outreach effort also engaged the public using surveys, public forums and meetings, and other methods. Please visit this page for upcoming events and opportunities through which you can provide input. 

Renewable Energy Compatible Siting Project

In an effort to enhance compatible use between the military and civilian communities, Commerce conducted a Renewable Energy Compatible Siting Project. The goal of this project was to help the renewable energy industry coordinate with the military when identifying areas for development of solar and wind energy projects in the state and make recommendations to improve coordination processes with the military for siting renewable energy projects. This goal not only serves to protect the economic impact from Maryland's military installations by preventing potential adverse impacts from incompatible development, but also helps the state meet its goals for renewable energy generation through smart siting guidance. 

Project activities included the creation of military and coordination map layers incorporated into Maryland Department of Natural Resource’s Smart DG+ screening tool to inform renewable energy developers of military operations in the state and provide them with contact information with military representatives for coordination purposes when siting a wind or solar energy project. The project further included a study, the Military Assets and Considerations for Renewable Energy Development report - PDF, which characterizes military operations in the state and explains those operations in relation to renewable energy development and provides recommendations to improve existing coordination processes between energy developers and the military for compatible siting of renewable energy projects.

Renewable Energy Compatible Siting Project Steering Committee 

A steering committee made up of members representing the state, military, federal agencies, the renewable energy industry, and local communities, guided and supported the execution of the project activities.

For more information about this project, please see the brochure below. If you would like more information, please contact Jennifer Chiasson at Maryland Department of Commerce at [email protected].