The Charles County Department of Health’s Environmental Services Division administers the Bay Restoration Fund. This fund provides grant monies for property owners to replace their home septic systems with nitrogen-reducing systems, which help reduce the amount of nitrogen released into our groundwater, waterways and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Properties with failing septic systems in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area – the area within 1,000 feet of the tidal waters and tidal wetlands of the bay and its tributaries – receive the highest priority for funding, followed by properties with failing septic systems outside of the Critical Area. Any system that uses a metal septic tank is considered to have failed. All property owners throughout the county may apply for the grant but funding is limited.