Protecting our environment has been a strong concern for Senator Bobby Zirkin in his three Legislative terms. Over the years, Zirkin has been the lead sponsor of bills targeting the chemical industry in areas of security and pollution. Zirkin's legislation to increase standards of security at chemical plants was adopted by the Administration and has been a valuable first step toward meaningful reform. In addition, Zirkin has introduced legislation relating to the use of cleaner and safer alternatives to chlorine in the water treatment process. These efforts continue.
In the 2005 Legislative Session, major strides were taken on protecting our natural resources. The Legislature, under the leadership of House Chairs Maggie MacIntosh and Norm Conway, restored approximately $75 million to Project Open Space. The result is that in Fiscal Year 2006, POS is set to receive app. $120 million for land projects and recreational areas. This is a substantial increase to that proposed by the Administration. Still more needs to be done in this vital area.
The General Assembly acted decisively in the area of state-owned land, requiring Legislative approval for the Administration to sell any state lands bought with conservation funding. In addition the Legislature acted to prohibit the sale of state-owned recreation, open space, conservation, preservation, forest, or other park land without legislative oversight. The need for these bills was brought on by a well-publicized attempt by the Administration to sell off state-owned lands in Southern Maryland. The issue will go before the voters in 2006 in the form of a referendum.
Senator Zirkin was proud to support his 11th District colleagues Dan Morhaim and Jon Cardin in their environmental legislation. Bills included tax credits for hybrid vehicles, a ground-breaking pilot program for computer recycling, and a procurement commitment to environmentally preferable products and high performance buildings.
In 2007, Bobby helped push the Clean Cars Act, investments in solar and wind energy, a ban on clam and oyster dredging in the coastal bays, commitments to green building technology, and greater energy efficiency standards for several products were just a few of the legislative successes.
Senator Zirkin is proud that he has consistently received high scores from environmental groups like the League of Conservation Voters and the League of Environmental Voters. He continues to work for the protection of our environment and our natural resources.
The Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is America’s largest and most productive estuary. Unfortunately, its health has declined significantly over the past several decades due to nutrient and sediment pollution. In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified the bay as an impaired water body. In 2000, the Chesapeake Bay partners (the bay states, the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and EPA) negotiated the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement (C2K), which specified restoration goals to improve the bay and remove it from the EPA’s List of Impaired Waters. As part of C2K, specific pollution reduction goals have been allocated to the various bay states.
While numerous efforts to restore the bay’s water quality are underway, at this time Maryland is not well positioned to achieve its C2K commitments. According to a draft Chesapeake Tributary Strategy Statewide Implementation Plan funding analysis, Maryland’s existing funding sources will cover only 39 percent of the estimated $10 billion needed to implement the State’s implementation plan through 2010. Another challenge in meeting and maintaining the nutrient and sediment reductions is the anticipated increase in Maryland’s population. It is essential that we fund these important initiatives.
Progress on important environmental matters was made during the 2007 Session. Senate Bill 573 and House Bill 588 were both passed into law. These bills alter the definition of “net tract area” to include the forested areas within a floodplain or wetland if a perpetual conservation easement is placed on the forested areas at the time the plat of tract is
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