ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland’s 2024 General Assembly session yielded what one activist called “a mixed bag” of legislation dealing with the Chesapeake Bay, climate change and environmental justice.
During their 90-day session, lawmakers okayed a reboot for Bay restoration efforts, gave boosts to solar and offshore wind projects and renamed the invasive snakehead fish. They also put $90 million toward fighting climate change.
But legislators also killed or simply passed over other measures environmentalists backed. Bills failed that would have stopped subsidizing trash incineration as a form of green energy, further protected shorelines and made it easier to deny permits for projects that pollute disadvantaged communities. The final straw for many: a “dark-of-night” budget amendment that held up new rules to reduce climate pollution from buildings.
“We accomplished, actually, a lot,” said Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. “And yet I think the losses, while not as many, were probably more significant than we had anticipated.”
Winners
The main Bay-related legislation to pass was the Whole Watershed Act, which would pump $20 million over five years into coordinated efforts to reduce polluted runoff and improve fish and wildlife habitat in five Chesapeake tributaries. It is an attempt to remedy shortcomings in the long-running Bay restoration campaign that were spelled out last year in a sobering scientific report.
“We’ve been at this work for [41] years and we’re seeing only limited results,” said Democratic state Sen. Sarah K. Elfreth at a hearing on the bill, which she cosponsored. She said the measure would direct the state to focus on reducing pollution and improving habitat in shallow waters, which are more important to fish and people than the “dead zone” in the Bay’s deepest waters.
Lawmakers left it to state agencies to select rivers for the five pilot projects but specified that at least two must flow through underserved communities.
Included in the bill are new guardrails on stream restoration projects, which aim to curb sediment and nutrient pollution but have sparked complaints over the clearing of streamside trees.
Poultry “sludge:” Farmers planning to store or use “food processing residuals” would have to get a permit and face fines of up to $5,000 per day for violations of new rules. An influx of feathers and semi-solid waste from chicken processing plants has sparked an outcry in rural communities over odors and flies.
“Clean Water Justice:” Residents and community groups would have the right to go to court to enforce state laws protecting inland wetlands and headwaters streams after a U.S. Supreme Court decision removed federal protection.
Energy efficiency: Maryland’s EmPOWER program to help residents lower their energy bills was retooled to emphasize greenhouse gas reductions. It also provides incentives for homeowners to switch from natural gas to electricity for heating and cooking.
Climate: Lawmakers stripped an exemption for manufacturers from limits on carbon emissions. They provided tax credits and other financial incentives for community solar projects and solar panels on nonresidential rooftops and parking lots. They also opened the door for additional state subsidies to an offshore wind project planned off Ocean City. The money Gov. Wes Moore proposed for climate efforts in the budget goes to electrifying community buildings, installing more electric vehicle chargers and buying more electric school buses.
Snakeheads: Hoping to make Northern snakeheads more palatable to consumers, lawmakers decided to give the invasive fish from Asia the new name of Chesapeake Channa.
Losers
Data centers: Lawmakers streamlined regulatory review of proposed data centers after one was denied an air quality waiver, leading to the project’s cancellation. Environmentalists resisted the bill but withdrew their opposition after it was amended to allocate some data center tax revenue to emission reductions.
Environmental justice: A bill died in the Senate that would have authorized the Department of the Environment to deny permits for certain projects because of their impacts on overburdened and disadvantaged communities. The measure divided environmentalists, with some groups objecting that it didn’t go far enough.
Solar: Legislation aimed at settling disputes over siting of large-scale solar projects on farms or in forests never got out of committee.
Living shorelines: A bill aimed at nudging more waterfront property owners to install “living shorelines” failed to get out of committee. It would have required MDE to give greater scrutiny to requests to replace failing bulkheads or riprap with more armoring rather than using a living shoreline.
Incineration: For the third time since 2021, lawmakers refused to strip renewable energy subsidies from “waste-to-energy” trash incineration.
Fossil fuel fees: A bill proposing stiff one-time fees on the world’s biggest fossil fuel producers would have raised $9 billion to help carry out the state’s climate pollution reduction plan, estimated to cost $1 billion a year. The legislation died in committee.
Building energy: A last-minute provision slipped into the state’s budget bill blocks MDE from finalizing new building energy performance standards until it performs additional studies. Under the 2022 Climate Solutions Now Act, private building owners must reduce their carbon emissions to net zero by 2040. MDE spokesman Jay Apperson said the budget amendment may delay rollout of the building standards but doesn’t change the requirement.
Jamie DeMarco, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, accused the legislature of not just delaying but weakening the 2022 climate solutions law. He also lamented that Moore, after vowing to shift Maryland to 100% clean energy by 2035, did not list any climate measures among his legislative priorities.
“I think people are noticing that our leaders in Maryland are not taking action on climate at the scale of the crisis,” DeMarco said, “and we are calling on them to show increased commitment.”
MDE’s Apperson countered that the legislative session “laid a solid foundation” for the administration’s climate and environmental agenda, and he predicted the governor would include them among his priorities next year.
“We are confident we will meet our climate goals,” Apperson added, “and we remain committed to them.”