Funding $5 billion in Chesapeake Bay cleanup projects may not happen this year if state lawmakers fail to arrive at a consensus.
“If this doesn?t happen in the next few days, it?s not going to happen at all,” said Del. Maggie McIntosh, chairwoman of the House Environmental Means Committee.
“When we come back in January, no one is going to stomach another revenue bill.”
At Friday?s House committee hearing, state officials and environmentalists expressed the urgentneed to increase funding for a multibillion backlog of Bay restoration projects.
“What people fail to realize is that we are under a federal deadline to clean up the Bay,” said committee member Del. Pam Beidle, D-Anne Arundel.
If the green fund fails, McIntosh, D-Baltimore City, said it would “rest on the backs of the [Senate], not ours.”
Senate President Thomas Miller said Friday the Senate could pass a green fund, but it would be differ from the House version and would bring in $35 million less.
The Senate did not pass the green fund last session, though the House supported an earlier version of the bill.
Testimony during the hearing saw a split in support for a 1-cent fee per square foot of impervious surface on existing development. The money would be used to help stormwater-management projects and agricultural improvements.
Officials from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Home Builders Association of Maryland, Maryland Municipal League and the state?s farming industry supported the green fund.
“This needs to be addressed now, and this needs to be a priority,” said Kim Coble, Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “If not now, when?”
But groups such as the Maryland Association of Counties oppose the bill because of the fee structure, and representatives suggested doubling the Bay Restoration fee, or flush tax, to pay for the Bay cleanup.
Staff Writer Len Lazarick contributed to this story.
