House Speaker Michael E. Busch and the O'Malley administration have thrown their support behind legislation that would impose a fee on all new development in Maryland to pay for programs to stop farm runoff pollution from entering the Chesapeake Bay.
The Chesapeake Bay Green Fund bill also is designed to discourage suburban sprawl by charging a higher fee for projects in rural areas than in designated growth zones.
Supporters say the new fee would generate $130 million a year - twice the amount raised annually by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s "flush tax," which helps finance improvements to sewage treatment plants.
"This is about saving the greatest estuary in the Western Hemisphere," Busch said at a news conference yesterday, flanked by a dozen lawmakers and environmental activists who support the Green Fund bill.
"It's not only about us and our children, but future generations," Busch said. "The bay is in dire need."
The new fee would be collected from developers by local governments and sent to the state to help farmers pay for anti-pollution measures, such as cover crops, buffer strips between fields and waterways, manure sheds and other efforts to prevent runoff into the bay.
Busch said the fund would strengthen Maryland's 1997 Smart Growth law by adding financial incentives to build within priority areas chosen by local governments.
Gov. Martin O'Malley's nominee for agriculture secretary, Roger L. Richardson, also attended the event. O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said the new fund would work well with the governor's planned BayStat program, which will analyze data on pollution entering the estuary.
The Green Fund legislation, proposed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, is opposed by some Republican leaders and homebuilders, who object to what they say would be increased costs for homebuyers.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, asked later for his position, called the bill "laudable" and "very important," and said he supports "finding funds to clean up the bay." But Miller said he's not sure whether the General Assembly will pass the legislation, given that the state needs to raise money to deal with a projected deficit in future years.
"We are going to be focused on balancing the budget. We are going to have our hands full looking at sales tax increases, lotteries, slot machines," Miller said. "It plays into that situation."
