The Environment

Maryland is a beautiful state and we need to continue to prioritize keeping her that way. The work to protect our environment include combatting climate change, mitigating stormwater runoff, getting rid of toxic chemicals, reducing single-use plastics, protecting and expanding our forests and trees, ensuring the health of our waters, and managing our aquatic species.

The Chesapeake Bay is one of Maryland’s most precious natural resources. It is of significant importance to District 16, as the Potomac River is a major tributary of the Bay and supplies much of our drinking water. 

I have been an environmental leader in the legislature and am committed to ensuring we have a healthy Bay, clean air and beautiful open spaces for all to enjoy.

Worked on a package of bills aimed at advancing clean energy, improving water quality, and supporting our agricultural partners, especially considering Trump’s EPA actively working to roll

back dozens of environmental regulations:

Next Generation Energy Act (HB 1035)

○ Accelerates Maryland’s clean energy transition and provides rate relief by deploying 150 megawatts of distribution-connected energy storage

○ Reforms how utilities propose multi-year rate plans, as it only permits them when they improve service predictability, maintain quality, and protect consumers from retroactive charges

○ Fast-tracks the procurement of new energy generation while excluding coal and oil

○ Strengthens oversight of gas utilities by reforming the STRIDE program, which ensures that infrastructure projects prioritize safety, provide customer value, and consider low-cost alternatives like leap repair, with communities notified ahead of construction

○ Aims to ensure Maryland’s energy system is affordable, transparent, and equitable

Renewable Energy Certainty Act (HB 1036)

○ Makes the siting of solar and other renewables easier to manage

Building Energy Performance Standards - Alterations and Analysis (HB 49)

○ Alters Maryland’s Building Energy Performance Standards ("BEPS" - a policy to reduce emissions from the building sector) from the Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022)

○ Ensure that Montgomery County buildings only need to comply with Montgomery County’s more flexible local law

Coal Combustion By-Products - Fees, Coordinating Committee, and Regulations (SB 425)

○ Strengthens oversight of coal ash storage and cleanup by aligning with federal rules, expanding monitoring, creating a coordination committee, and updating fees to fund enforcement

○ Key to safeguarding public health, drinking water, and the Chesapeake Bay

Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation - Total Assessed Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Study and Reports (SB 149)

○ Directs the Comptroller, in coordination with key state agencies, to study and report the full cost of greenhouse gas emissions in Maryland

○ Study will quantify the economic and environmental damage caused by climate change — impacts to public health, infrastructure, and agriculture — and assess the costs already borne by the state and its residents (Vetoed by Governor Moore)

Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act (HB 506)

○ Establishes the Maryland Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming (LEEF) program

○ Protects our waterways that feed the Chesapeake Bay by promoting regenerative farming on public lands—farming practices that restore soil health, reduce nutrient pollution, and sequester carbon

○ Establishes a comprehensive Water Quality Monitoring Program within the Department of Natural Resources, ensuring our Bay cleanup efforts are guided by strong science and transparent data

○ Incorporates in large part my Nearshore Farming and Finance Act bill that I sponsored this session

Packaging and Paper Products - Producer Responsibility Plans (SB 901)

○ Follows legislation Senator Augustine and I sponsored in 2023, creating an advisory committe to conduct a needs assessment and provide advice on establishing a Producer Responsibility Program (PRP)

* This bill enacts the PRP, which incentivizes companies to create more sustainable packaging by shfting the burden of packaging waste and disposal costs from the taxpayer to the producer. 

Water Bottle Filling Stations - Requirement (SB 96/HB 277)

○ Requires water bottle filling stations to be included in certain new construction projects to reduce single-use plastic pollution