Lawmakers moved closer Thursday to creating a dedicated trust fund for the Chesapeake Bay and other environmental initiatives, though some opponents cautioned the source of the funding remains problematic.
Legislators are considering directing $51 million from open space funds and other unspecified avenues to a new “Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund,” replacing repeatedly unsuccessful efforts to establish a “green fund” by taxing construction.
Senators debated the merits of funneling proposed new, dedicated revenues to the state transportation trust fund ? including an increase to the vehicle titling tax ? to environmental projects.
“This amendment is dangerous, because it?s destroying nexus between transportation,” said Sen. E.J. Pipkin, a conservative from the Eastern Shore. “This undermines our commitment to transportation.”
Environmentalists earlier this year pitched the green fund as a tax on new construction and an annual $10 fee for homeowners. Del. Maggie McIntosh, the Democratic chairwoman of the House?s Environmental Matters Committee, said that proposal gained little traction in the Senate.
McIntosh is sponsoring a bill that also establishes an environmental trust fund, but said the committee is studying alternative sources of funding, possibly a tax on rental vehicles. Differences between the bills in each chamber are expected to be resolved in a conference committee, McIntosh said.
“It?s not adequate, but it?s a great beginning,” McIntosh said.
The committee is considering directing at least 30 percent of funds to the state?s agriculture department to reduce nitrogen runoff and a yet-unspecified amount to governments for stormwater management.
McIntosh said the committee is expected to vote on a final bill this morning.
