Maryland tweaks popular Chesapeake Bay plates

Maryland's updated Bay license plate now references both the Chesapeake and the state's coastal bays. By adding emphasis to coastal bays, officials hope the plates will appeal to Eastern Shore residents who may have more connection to to those waters. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.

For more than three decades, the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration has issued special Chesapeake Bay license plates that come with a surcharge that has raised millions to improve waterways around the state.

State officials hope a tweak to the plates will draw even more environmentally conscious drivers to shell out for the special plates — especially those who have connections to the bays overshadowed by the Chesapeake Bay.

The new plate unveiled Tuesday continues the design that was rolled out in 2018, but it now includes a clear reference to the shore’s five coastal bays.

Jody Palmisano, owner of two Eastern Shore tag and title services, said the state’s bay plates — which feature a crab and rendering of the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge — have been popular with local residents.

“But there always was a small hesitation about the tag saying, ‘Protect the Chesapeake,'” he said. “We’re Eastern Shore people. We love the Chesapeake. We love the crab. But it didn’t mention the Eastern Shore.”

The new plate continues the design rolled out in 2018 — the third since the plates were first offered — but now includes a clear reference to the shore’s five coastal bays.

“I do believe that the new design saying Coastal Bays will greatly increase the sales of the bay tag on the Eastern Shore,” said Palmisano said at the event to unveil the new plates on the shores of the Sinepuxent Bay near Assateague Island.

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The first bay plate was issued in 1990. Since then, there have been three designs. The most recent was released in 2018.

Motorists pony up an initial $20 for the privilege of having the plate, plus another $20 every two years to continue its use. The fees, an addition to the state’s standard vehicle registration, help fund waterway projects around the state.

Currently, about 7% of all vehicles in the state have a Bay license plate. This year, the state issued 40,000 bay plates, according to state Motor Vehicle Administration Administrator Christine Nizer.

Nizer said money raised by the plates has “been used and will continue to be used for education, environmental restoration projects and community engagement resources to protect and maintain the state’s natural resources”

The state splits the initial $20 plate fee with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, which gets all the fees from renewals. The nonprofit uses the money for grants to organizations around the state and to leverage federal dollars for some projects.

In the last five years, fees from the plates have generated $20 million. Jana Davis, president of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, said the money raised by the plates has funded waterway, stormwater and habitat projects from the coastal bays to Maryland sections of the Youghiogheny River in Western Maryland.

“We’re absolutely thrilled we’ve funded, as I mentioned, tons of projects in the coastal bays already, and can’t wait to fund more and send more of these dollars back into the coastal bays,” Davis said.

The addition of a nod to the state’s coastal bays started when Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (D-Eastern Shore) bought a new car.

Carozza already sported a vanity license plate referencing the Eastern Shore bays. She said the dealership offered her the opportunity to move to a bay plate.

It was then that she learned there was no option for coastal bays.

“I said, ‘Well, maybe we need to do something about that,'” Carozza said Tuesday.

“I serve on the Maryland Senate Education, Energy and Environment Committee,” she said. “I spend a lot of time ensuring that my colleagues know that not only do we need to focus on protecting the Chesapeake Bay, but we have the Maryland coastal bays to protect as well.

“This was a way that we could raise the visibility of Maryland’s coastal bays and really have it highlighted on the bay license plate itself,” she said of the tweaked plate design.

Carozza said she hopes the updates will increase the number of vehicles sporting the new plates.

That would mean more money for bay-related projects and maybe “an increase for the Maryland coastal bays as well,” she said.

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