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List of State Officials - Robert Ehrlich, Governor; Michael Steele, Lt. Governor; Kendal Philbrick, MDE Secretary 

Volume I, Number 2

April - May 2005

eMDE is a monthly publication of the Maryland Department of the Environment. It covers articles on current environmental issues and events in the state. Additional monthly features include: MDE public meetings and hearings schedule, enforcement and compliance notes, and permitting activity.​

Legislative Session Made Some Environmental Points

By Richard McIntire and Henry Falwell

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Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., recently touted his Administration's achievements during the legislation session that concluded April 22. The majority of the Governor's legislative package, including some key environmental provisions, has been signed into law, and the vast majority of the Governor's budget priorities won bipartisan support in the legislature.

"The Ehrlich Administration achieved real results for the citizens of Maryland," said Governor Ehrlich. "The majority of my legislative package will be signed into law, benefiting children, families and commuters while promoting economic growth. Despite these successes, the legislature killed a bipartisan plan to provide tax relief to 46,000 veterans when our nation is at war. I want to thank those lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who defied partisan politics to work with the Ehrlich Administration to make Maryland a better place to live, work and raise a family."

The Governor's budget included $39 million for his landmark Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund to reduce harmful nutrient pollution in the Bay. More than $7.1 million was collected in the first quarter of 2005, representing revenue collections from 175 owners of wastewater treatment facilities towards the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund, according to figures from the state Comptroller’s Office.

The Bay Restoration Fund, administered by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), is the most innovative environmental legislation in the past two and a half decades and has the potential to improve nitrogen removal from wastewater treatment plant effluent to state-of-the-art levels. When all 66 of the state's major wastewater plants are upgraded with use of the fund, the impact will be a 7.5 million pound annual reduction in nitrogen. Excess nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, lead to degraded water quality, which negatively impact the ecology of the Bay and its tributaries. 

Collected in $7.50 per quarter increments from wastewater system customers, the fund is estimated to generate $60 million per year to help finance approximately $750 million in capital improvements. Beginning October 1, 2005, septic system or other on-site sewage disposal owners will begin paying their $30 annual fee to the fund, which is projected to bring in another $12 million per year to upgrade septic systems and provide funding for cover crops.

The General Assembly also adopted the governor’s plan to end lead paint poisoning in Maryland's children by the year 2010. House Bill 251 passed both houses unanimously. It does 4 things:

  • reduces the blood lead level that triggers lead hazard reduction treatments for a rental property from 15 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) to 10 µg/dL and initiates medical care and safe housing for children pursuant to a qualified offer from 20 to 15 µg/dL.
  • strengthens MDE’s enforcement authority against non-compliant landlords by eliminating the 20-day grace period for outstanding violations and authorizing MDE to seek immediate administrative penalties.
  • amends Maryland’s law to include exterior structures to be consistent with federal laws and regulations.
  • clarifies that once a rental property owner obtains a risk reduction certificate, that certificate satisfies any prior notice of defect or elevated blood lead level. 

MDE did oppose two bills that ultimately failed. Senate Bill 744 required affected facilities to impose specific annual emission rate limits for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and specified percentage reductions of annual emissions of mercury and carbon dioxide (CO2). More stringent CO2 reductions would have been required by 2021. The bill would have allowed facilities to meet the CO2 cap by trading emission credits under specified conditions. 

Maryland’s air quality is significantly affected by pollutants from out-of-state sources, particularly coal-fired power plants. The process, known as air pollution transport, causes 70 percent of Maryland’s air quality problems. Much of that pollution transport comes from Midwestern power plants. Maryland needs to focus first on regional, and preferably, national solutions to our pollution transport problem, rather than adopt a Maryland only program that addresses only the minor local part of our pollution problem. 

Senate Bill 366, the Maryland Clean Cars Act of 2005 was also opposed by the agency. The bill would have had MDE and the Motor Vehicle Administration adopt regulations implementing California’s motor vehicle emissions standards in the state by June 1, 2006. MDE feels that industry initiatives to develop advanced technologies—like battery electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, super low-emitting gasoline vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles--along with consumer interest and demand will ensure nationwide availability of the cleanest and most fuel-efficient vehicles when the market is ready for them.
Additionally, all of this will come with a relatively low cost should Maryland continue in the federal program. A California style program, in contrast, could raise the price of a vehicle nearly $400, in the short term, to as much as $1,200 to $1,350 by 2016. And such a complex program could not be implemented in the time allotted and would provide little incremental air quality benefit for Maryland to meet federal clean air deadlines.

Other actions

House Bill 710 - Ballast Water Management—repealed specified ballast water management provisions that require the reporting of vessel ballast water management activities by specified ships entering Maryland waters. The bill passed both chambers unanimously. Maryland’s current law duplicates recently passed U.S. Coast Guard regulations, making our law unnecessary. 

Two other environmental bills were returned to committee effectively killing them during the session. HB 612 - Water Appropriation Permits - was recommitted to committee in the Senate after passing the House 135-0. The bill would have created an exemption from the existing water appropriation and use permit process for minimal groundwater users (under 5,000 gallons per day on an annual average), requiring users to file a letter of exempt use with the department. It also would have established civil penalties to provide an incentive for compliance with existing law, increasing the existing criminal penalty fine and eliminating the existing criminal penalty cap of $25,000. 

HB 154 - Wetlands and Waterways Program Fees - was sent back to committee on the final day of session after enjoying broad bipartisan legislative support, passing Environmental Matters by a vote of 20-0, passing the House of Delegates by a vote of 134-1, and passing Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs by a vote of 9-2. It would have established specified application fees for applications related to activities in wetlands and waterways. MDE’s Wetlands and Waterway Program has seen a 40 percent decline in staff over the last 14 years. The bill would have provide the department with much needed funds to restore the program to historical staffing levels improving customer service and ensuring better protection of Maryland’s wetlands.

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©2005 Copyright MDE

 
Editorial Board
Maryland Department of the Environment
1800 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21230
http://mde.maryland.gov/
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