New Chesapeake Bay license plate gives nod to Maryland Coastal Bays

BALTIMORE -- Soon you will start to see new Chesapeake Bay license plates on the road.

For just $20, you can get one of the new Chesapeake Bay Plates. The majority of the money from the purchase of the license plates will go toward the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

The plates are known for their blue background that showcases one of Maryland's iconic treasures.

"It's 7% of our Maryland license plates," Motor Vehicle Administrator Chrissy Nizer said. "So, you can tell that Maryland residents really love the environment and want to be able to give back to it and the Bay plates are a great way to do that."

The plates first debuted in 1990 and have been updated twice since then, most recently in 2018, with a design that features the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and a Maryland blue crab.

That design will remain but the wording on the plate will change.

Before, the plate read "Protect the Chesapeake." Now it says "Protect the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays," paying tribute to Maryland's five coastal bays.

"I think, importantly, with this one incorporating the coastal bay, we're really speaking to the people who live on the Eastern Shore," Nizer said. "Coastal bays are a part of their everyday life."

Over the past three decades, the plates have helped support Maryland's waterways.

The Chesapeake Bay Trust gives revenue from the plates to community-based nonprofits that use the money for projects such as wildlife habitat improvement, water quality restoration and education and awareness of the bay

WJZ showed the upgraded designs to drivers, who are excited to see them on the roads.

"I grew up here in Baltimore and the Bay is just like so important," said Becky Cottrell, from Towson. "So, I just think anything that we can do support that, I'm part of."

You can purchase one of the new plates here .