New Chesapeake Bay license plate adds Coastal Bays

ASSATEAGUE — District 38 State Senator Mary Beth Carozza, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA), Maryland Coastal Bays Program, and Chesapeake Bay Trust revealed an updated design for the Maryland bay license plate here at Assateague State Park.

Funds from the Chesapeake Bay license plate have long been invested in both the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays; now the new design will reflect that emphasis on the Coastal Bays as well.

“Today [Tuesday, July 23] is all about partnerships with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and the Chesapeake Bay Trust stepping up to include the Coastal Bays in the updated design of the Maryland bay license plate,” said Sen. Carozza whose district includes Maryland’s five coastal bays.

“With the new bay plates, I expect more Marylanders and beyond will support, explore, protect and enjoy our stunning coastal bays along with our beautiful Chesapeake Bay and multiple scenic waterways across the great State of Maryland.”

The first bay license plate was launched in 1990 and was one of the first specialty license plates in the country. In 2004, a second design was unveiled, and in 2018, the third design was unveiled, which won an international design award from the American Association of License Plate Collectors ( https://www.alpca.org/bestplate/2018/ ).

Building on the 2018 redesign, this modification emphasizes the importance of the Coastal Bays. Today, 7% of Maryland vehicles sport a bay license plate.

“The Maryland Coastal Bays Program is thrilled that the Coastal Bays will be acknowledged on the Bay Plate,” shared Kevin Smith, executive director of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. “The environmental role of the Coastal Bays is an important part of Maryland’s myriad natural resource landscape as is the significance of its overall economic contribution to Maryland.”

The majority of the revenue from the license plate, after a portion is retained by the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration (MDOT MVA) to administer the program, flows through the Chesapeake Bay Trust to hundreds of not-for-profit community-based grantees every year who want to lead and own their own projects such as wildlife habitat improvement work, water quality restoration projects, education and awareness projects. The Chesapeake Bay Trust uses this funding to empower communities who want to play a role in protecting and restoring natural resources to take local, on-the-ground action to protect the environment.

“From the Coastal Bays to the Chesapeake and even to the Youghigheny watershed in far western Maryland, our goal is to empower people all over our state to take on a meaningful and measurable role in restoring our natural resources,” said Jana Davis, Ph.D., president of the Chesapeake Bay Trust. “This updated license plate will support even more community-driven initiatives to improve and protect forests, streams, rivers, wildlife, and ultimately, our bays.”

“The efforts and passion of the automotive industry in our state helped to drive the success of this initiative,” shared Beth Caro, president of Auto Tag Connect and NIVTA: National Independent Vehicle Title Agents Organization. “Each license plate that an automotive dealership or a tag & title agency helps to put on a car means native trees are planted in our communities and school children can explore nature and have the opportunity to study the environment and how to protect it.”

The “Protect the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays” license plate can be purchased for $20 through an MDOT MVA branch, car dealerships, tag and title agencies, and online at https://cbtrust.org/purchase-a-bay-plate/ .

“Over the last 30 years, the partnership between MVA and the Chesapeake Bay Trust has provided funding to expand education and resources to protect the Bay watershed,” said Motor Vehicle Administrator Chrissy Nizer. “More than 370,000 of our customers have bay plates which shows our customer’s commitment to environmental sustainability and we’re proud to be able to provide this opportunity for them to do so.”