Expanding Baltimore City’s Sewage Backup

Unlike the ERP, under which the impacted resident must take the first step of seeking out information about the program and submitting an application, it is DPW’s responsibility to inform the resident and take the initial steps in the SOS program. [...] Additionally, the study shows that the number of ERP applications fluctuates over time, but it consistently underrepresents the number of people who likely could have benefitted from the program.16 DPW attributes a short-term decline in ERP applications to the launch of the SOS program,17 but the number of ERP applications ticked up again in FY22. [...] Regardless of the rationale, the low number of cleanups offered through the SOS program makes it clear that the SOS is not providing assistance to all residents in need and is therefore not an adequate replacement of the ERP. [...] To assess the feasibility of expanding the ERP and SOS programs, DPW estimated the costs associated with expanding the two programs based on the average annual number of sewage backups over the past six years, distinguishing between those caused solely by conditions in the mainline (public system), those caused solely by conditions in the lateral (private system), and those caused by conditions in. [...] In this plan, DPW proposes replacing the ERP with the SOS program, arguing that the SOS is more effective.30 While we agree that the SOS program is on the whole a better solution than the ERP, we have significant concerns about getting rid of the ERP based on the findings in the feasibility study and from firsthand accounts from residents.