Maryland lawmakers took modest first steps toward limiting “forever chemical” in farm fertilizer and regulating energy-guzzling data centers. They made it easier for homeowners and renters to install solar panels, and they even found time to reach back into the state’s prehistoric past to name the long-extinct megalodon as the state shark.
Those were a few bright spots in the meager crop of environmental measures that survived the 90-day legislative gauntlet of the Maryland General Assembly.
With Maryland facing a severe budget crunch and lawmakers worried about voter anger over soaring electricity bills, environmental advocates didn’t expect a lot out of this year’s session, which began Jan. 14 and ended April 13.
Sensing the mood in Annapolis, green groups pared down their legislative wish lists. They concentrated on a relative handful of bills only to see most fail to make it across the finish line.
“The environment, the Chesapeake Bay [and] climate were very far down the priority list,” said Josh Tulkin, director of the Maryland Sierra Club.
“We definitely got less than what we were working to obtain,” agreed Kim Coble, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters.
Even so, environmental leaders say they managed to eke out some victories amid their discouragement and frustration. The biggest was perhaps the budget, though in a backhanded way and still with some setbacks.
Climate funds diverted
Gov. Wes Moore and the legislature’s Democratic leaders figured out how to fill a $1.5 billion budget gap without making major cuts to environmental agencies. That was a relief to environmental advocates, who saw agency operating funds trimmed by about 25% last year.
Budget results were mixed elsewhere. Two pots of money dedicated to pollution control and land preservation that got raided last year — the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays Trust Fund and Program Open Space — escaped new diversions this year. But Program Open Space, which buys land for parks and natural areas, had already been raided; lawmakers decided in 2025 to take $25 million from it annually for three years.
The big loser was the Strategic Energy Investment Fund, a major underwriter of efforts to achieve the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. Created in 2008, it provides grants and loans to install solar and other clean energy projects. The fund draws revenues from two sources: payments from fossil-fueled power plants for exceeding carbon emission limits and payments from utilities for not supplying enough clean energy to their customers.
After raiding the fund in 2025, Moore proposed taking nearly $300 million more from it this session to help balance the budget in fiscal year 2027. He called for diverting another $100 million to give residential energy customers a small one-time refund on their power bills.
“It’s very unfortunate,” said Brittany Baker, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “We’ve got to find a way to raise revenues in the near term. Otherwise, our special revenue funds have no integrity.”
On the plus side, environmental advocates successfully lobbied the legislature to put nearly $100 million more from the fund toward climate efforts, and the Sierra Club’s Tulkin noted that the budget included funding to provide high-efficiency heat pumps for low- and moderate-income families.
But with more fiscal woes expected next year, advocates failed to get lawmakers to formally pledge at least $365 million of the fund every year for clean energy.
“We knew we were going to lose money,” Coble said. “We were glad they didn’t take more.”
Oyster reef funding cut
Funding for efforts to improve the Chesapeake Bay survived largely unscathed, with one exception.
Moore proposed, and lawmakers approved, a 41% cut in capital funds for oyster restoration, one of the shining achievements so far in the long-running effort to restore the Bay’s water quality and fish populations.
The cut comes just as the Department of Natural Resources finished large restoration projects in five of its Bay tributaries. But the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement revised in December commits Maryland to restore or conserve at least 1,000 additional acres of oyster habitat by 2040.
Lawmakers specified that the funding would be restored in future years. But Allison Colden, Maryland director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said she was concerned that even a temporary decline could cost the reef-rebuilding effort momentum it might not easily regain.
Bills that passed
Energy: The Moore administration and legislative leaders focused on improving “affordability” for Marylanders, especially to offset rising energy bills. They labored until the final day to cobble together the 100-plus page Utility RELIEF Act (short for Reducing Energy Load Inflation for Everyday Families). Combining least 18 other energy bills introduced during the session, or parts of them, the act’s signature provision promises to lower Maryland households’ energy bills by about $150 a year.
That savings, though, came in part by reducing the monthly fee households pay to fund the state’s EmPOWER energy efficiency program. Environmental advocates cited a study showing that households save more in the long run by using EmPOWER funds to get free or discounted energy audits, weatherization and efficient appliances. The program is also one of the state’s best tools for curbing climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions, they argued.
But lawmakers felt compelled to do something now to lower constituents’ power bills. And with EmPOWER funding slashed, they also scaled back the program’s goals for achieving greenhouse gas reductions.
But environmental advocates praised other parts of the massive bill. It streamlined permitting for installing rooftop solar and authorized — just behind Virginia – the deployment of “balcony solar.” Under that provision, homeowners and renters can buy small portable panels that can be plugged into an electrical outlet to generate power to the grid and reduce monthly electric bills.
The Utility RELIEF Act also took a step toward regulating the data centers proposed across Maryland. It expanded the number of such supercomputing facilities that have to pay a special tariff for the large amounts of energy they use. And it offered to streamline permitting for centers powered by renewable energy.
PFAS in sludge: Maryland joined Virginia in regulating the fertilization of farm fields with sewage sludge, called biosolids, contaminated with toxic “forever chemicals.” Officially called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, the chemicals are highly persistent in the environment and in human bodies. They have been widely detected in the treated biosolids generated by municipal wastewater treatment plants.
The bill sets limits on PFAS concentrations in sewage sludge, requires utilities to search for sources of the chemicals in their wastewater inflows, and reinforces utilities’ authority to crack down on industrial dischargers of PFAS that may be impacting their sludge.
The legislation also mandates that farmers be notified when the biosolids to be spread on their fields contain elevated levels of PFAS.
Environmental advocates have mixed feelings about the bill. The PFAS limits set are well above the levels that studies suggest pose a risk to farmers and consumers of produce grown on sludge-treated fields. The limits also are too high to alter current practices of spreading sludge on farmland, they pointed out.
“The [upper] limit is not tight enough to genuinely be protective of public health, but it is still a limit,” said Betsy Nicholas, executive director of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, which has campaigned to curb the use of PFAS-treated biosolids on farms in Maryland and Virginia. “The hope is we can tighten that limit,” she added, as utilities identify and remove sources of PFAS that wind up in their sewage sludge.
Vernal pools: Lawmakers passed a bill that will require state environmental and natural resource agencies to improve their processes for identifying and protecting vernal pools, freshwater wetlands that are wet only part of the year. State surveys have tallied more than 57,000 such pools across Maryland, with the highest concentration on the Eastern Shore. In testimony supporting the bill, Sassafras Riverkeeper Zack Kelleher said, “vernal pools play an important but often forgotten role in local water quality and are under increasing threat from climate change.”
Living shorelines: Southern Maryland lawmakers introduced a bill to let local officials rather than state regulators decide whether a waterfront property owner can get an exemption from the law requiring a living shoreline to control erosion. Proponents argued that creating a waterfront marsh wouldn’t protect land from waves. The Bay Foundation and other advocates, though, persuaded lawmakers to leave the state in control of waivers but direct it to consider a variety of other shoreline protection practices in addition to living shorelines.
Megalodon: Lawmakers designated the megalodon, a giant extinct shark that grew to nearly 80 feet in length and had teeth as big as a human hand, as Maryland’s state shark. Proponents say the megalodon, which roamed the oceans from 23 million to 4 million years ago, was the largest and most iconic of more than 60 extinct shark species whose fossilized teeth have been found in the state.
Bills that didn’t
PFAS reduction: While lawmakers agreed to begin regulating PFAS in sewage sludge used as farm fertilizer, they didn’t act on a related bill that would have begun to squeeze forever chemicals out of circulation by banning the sale of a variety of consumer products containing them.
CHERISH Act: Legislation again failed to advance that would have authorized the Department of the Environment to assess the cumulative impact of all nearby pollution sources when deciding whether to permit a new or expanded one. A priority for environmental groups, the measure had the support of the agency, but Coble said it faltered under intense opposition from industry and a lack of consensus among advocates over its scope.
Septic inspections: The House passed a bill that would have required household septic systems to be inspected and pumped out before a property changes hands or a new tenant moves in. It did not pass in the Senate. Maryland has more than 420,000 septic systems, and proponents cite evidence that failing systems cause water contamination, but there are no requirements to inspect and repair them.Opponents, including builders and real estate agents, argued it would increase housing costs, especially in rural areas. Emily Ranson of Clean Water Action attributed the measure’s failure to confusion over its provisions and vowed to bring it back next year.
Transportation: Environmental groups also prioritized the passage of a bill that would have required the state to weigh the climate impacts of major new highway construction and develop mitigating measures. It passed the House but failed in the Senate.
Bottle recycling: For at least the fourth straight year, legislation to create a beverage container recycling program in Maryland failed, this time without even getting a hearing.
Baltimore state park: Legislation never moved that would have converted Baltimore’s Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park into a state park, with the Department of Natural Resources and the city partnering on its management. Lawmakers had called for a study of the issue in 2024 to help cover maintenance and staffing costs for the city’s 1,200-acre urban wilderness park. But the price tag in a bad budget year may have given legislators pause. Though it didn’t call for any state expenditure in fiscal year 2027, the legislation would have required $4 million to upgrade the park facilities in fiscal year 2028 and another $2.8 million to operate it.