County Executive Pittman Announces First Interagency Environmental Subcabinet

County Executive Steuart Pittman has formed the county’s first environmental subcabinet, bringing together staff from across Anne Arundel County government to collaborate on various local environmentally focused initiatives.

"I am thrilled to announce the creation of the Environmental Subcabinet," Pittman said. “This group will ensure that progress continues on each of our environmental initiatives and that every relevant agency is doing its part.”

The group is facilitated by Anne Arundel County's senior environmental policy advisor, Erik Michelsen, and will meet on a bimonthly basis. During the first meeting, staff from the departments of central services, public works, inspections and permits, recreation and parks, planning and zoning, and emergency management met with the executive director of the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, Matt Fleming, to discuss issues such as tree planting, invasive control and preservation efforts across the county.

“Anne Arundel County is doing tremendous work to protect and enhance the environment locally and manage the challenges associated with increasingly intense weather events,” Michelsen said. “Regular communication between county agencies is critical to ensuring that this work moves forward efficiently and smoothly, and to identifying opportunities to collaborate and coordinate early in the process.”

The group will also work closely with the Resilience Authority on climate resilience projects like sea-level-rise adaptation planning, flood mitigation, refining stormwater standards for new development, improving energy efficiency, and expanding renewable energy efforts locally.