Moratorium

A bill that would have imposed a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas in Maryland was defeated Wednesday night in a Senate committee. The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee voted 6-5 to reject the bill, which would have barred "fracking" in the state until the state Department of the Environment completes a study of the practice's environmental impact and issues appropriate rules. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat.

A bill that would have imposed a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas in Maryland was defeated Wednesday night in a Senate committee. The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee voted 6-5 to reject the bill, which would have barred "fracking" in the state until the state Department of the Environment completes a study of the practice's environmental impact and issues appropriate rules. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Robert A. Zirkin, a Baltimore County Democrat.

The letter from Steve Everley, a member of a research organization supported by the Independent Petroleum Institute of America ("Fracking gets an unfair rap," Sept. 21), is a bit misleading when it says that the moratorium on fracking "is just another way to obscure the fact that hydraulic fracturing has been examined, studied, assessed, and closely scrutinized for decades. " While it's true that hydraulic fracturing has been used and studied for decades, high-volume slick-water fracturing has been used only in about the past dozen years, and only in 2011 did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begin to respond to concerns that fracking was causing problems when they received many complaints from Pennsylvanians who were badly impacted by it. On Feb. 28, 2011, Ian Urbana, an investigative reporter for the New York Times, wrote that he found never-reported studies by the EPA and a confidential study by the drilling industry that all concluded that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways.

Your coverage of the fracking conference held by Maryland environmental, faith and health organizations ("Activists rally for fracking conference", Dec. 9) states that activists met "to organize a push for a legislative ban" on fracking. The focus of the discussion was actually to put a legislative "pause" or moratorium on fracking into law that would allow science, open debate and democracy to ultimately decide the fate of fracking in Maryland. In 2011, Gov. Martin O'Malley ordered a series of studies on the potential impacts of fracking on groundwater, the climate, air, forests, human health and our rural communities.

THE DECISION last week by a presidential advisory panel to recommend a moratorium on cloning for research purposes - instead of an outright ban - sounds reasonable considering the controversy surrounding this technique. But a closer look at the vote by the President's Council on Bioethics suggests that cloning opponents are simply laying the groundwork for an eventual ban. And, if that is indeed true, than then the council's recommendation should be considered for what it is: the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing.

IMAGINE A STATE law that said defendants could be punished more severely if they were black, or if victims of their crimes were white. Or one that said defendants whose crimes were committed in one county would be 26 times more likely to receive the maximum sentence than defendants in other jurisdictions. Besides being ridiculous, either would be a patent violation of the 14th Amendment's equal protection and due process stipulations, and an invitation to a whopper of a federal legal challenge.

There is a statewide moratorium on the harvest of river herring, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The halt includes blueback and alewife herring, according to a DNR statement Friday. The moratorium has been in effect since Dec. 26. The Atlantic Coast river herring stock is managed by a multi-state commission. Each state from Maine to Florida was required to institute a fishing stop for herring by Jan. 1 unless a state-specific management plan demonstrated sustainability.

The Manchester Town Council meeting that was scheduled for tonight has been postponed because members are not ready to discuss a proposed moratorium on building permits.The discussion, the only item on tonight's agenda, has been moved to the Aug. 9 council meeting, said Town Manager Terry Short.Council members decided to await the completion of a study of Manchester's water system before taking up the moratorium proposal."We thought it would be better to have the information available before taking any action," Mr. Short said.

The Baltimore County Council is scheduled to vote today on extending a 5-year-old moratorium on home-building near crowded schools, but the outcome will not address the underlying problem -- the government's failure to find a long-term solution to the classroom crunch.The fact that crowding remains is one reason that Council Chairman Vincent J. Gardina is proposing another study of the problem, this time aimed at ways to pay for more classrooms, such as taxing districts or impact fees.Unlike other metropolitan counties that have a combination of permanent adequate facilities laws and impact fees regulating construction near elementary and secondary schools, Baltimore County has kept its partial, temporary building moratorium affecting only areas near elementary schools that are 20 percent over capacity.

Kevin Rector was quite astute in bringing up the moratorium on new residential rehabilitation program beds that has been in place since 2000 ("County's mentally ill face chronic housing shortage," Catonsville Times and Arbutus Times , Oct. 12). There was a fairly vibrant affordable housing development effort going on before the moratorium that was moving toward filling the need of those hospitalized or in danger of being hospitalized because of psychiatric disorders.

Having successfully pushed for historic changes in Maryland laws regarding expanded casino gambling, in-state college tuition rates for some undocumented-immigrant students, and the right of gay people to marry, Gov. Martin O'Malley is now in a position to address one of the last great pieces of unfinished business of his time in Annapolis: abolishing the state's death penalty. Mr. O'Malley, who opposes capital punishment on religious and practical grounds, reportedly is considering whether to ask the legislature to take up the matter again when it meets in January.

The Baltimore City Council took a symbolic stand Monday against the construction of a proposed new $70 million juvenile jail in East Baltimore. Twelve of 14 council members signed on as co-sponsors of Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young's resolution calling for a moratorium on building the new detention center. "The state's own survey said that they should not build this jail," Young said at a lunch for the council Monday. "I really believe that we can do better for our children.

The letter from Steve Everley, a member of a research organization supported by the Independent Petroleum Institute of America ("Fracking gets an unfair rap," Sept. 21), is a bit misleading when it says that the moratorium on fracking "is just another way to obscure the fact that hydraulic fracturing has been examined, studied, assessed, and closely scrutinized for decades. " While it's true that hydraulic fracturing has been used and studied for decades, high-volume slick-water fracturing has been used only in about the past dozen years, and only in 2011 did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begin to respond to concerns that fracking was causing problems when they received many complaints from Pennsylvanians who were badly impacted by it. On Feb. 28, 2011, Ian Urbana, an investigative reporter for the New York Times, wrote that he found never-reported studies by the EPA and a confidential study by the drilling industry that all concluded that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways.

Regarding Thomas Schaller's recent column on Americans' attitudes toward immigrants, if I were unemployed I would most likely be hostile to immigrants too ("Hostility to recent immigrants a long American tradition," July 10). If I had been loyal to my country, been born here and served in the military, I would not be grateful to have a million new legal immigrants every year taking jobs me or my fellow natural-born citizens could have filled. Even more importantly, it definitely would not make me happy if they took those jobs at a lower wage that seemed munificent to new immigrants from an impoverished nation.

Rhonda Wimbish says she has been battling Baltimore officials over a $300 water bill — more than six times her normal rate — for more than a year. Now Wimbish, a single mother of a disabled child, says her West Baltimore home is scheduled to go to tax sale over the bill, which she maintains is inaccurate. "What do I do? Do I pay my inflated water bill or do I feed my child?" Wimbish said to a City Council committee Wednesday evening. "I've gone through your process. I've done everything I could to fight this bill.

Lillie M. Oliver and her husband, Lawrence, have lived in their East Baltimore rowhouse since the 1960s. The couple, who have been married 65 years, said they were terrified recently of losing the house they worked so hard to purchase because of an outrageous $41,000 water bill, which the retirees could not afford to pay. Prompted by my office, workers with the Department of Public Works investigated the matter and reduced the Olivers' bill to...

It is a time-honored tactic used by the powerless -- marshaling support to speak out against a proposal before a county council.But the protesters planning to make their case before the Baltimore County Council this week are not from some outraged community group battling the government. They are county homebuilders -- seen by many as the ultimate insiders, with an access to elected officials eased by years of generous campaign donations.The source of their ire is a school-related county building moratorium.

Worried about the prospect of peep shows returning to Glen Burnie and Odenton, two County Council members have proposed a moratorium thatwould prevent new businesses from showing adult videos.The moratorium, introduced Monday night by Councilman Edward Middlebrooks, D-Glen Burnie, and Vice Chairman David G. Boschert, D-Crownsville, wouldgive the county until Dec. 1 to develop new guidelines regulating peep shows. The council is expected to approve the moratorium Aug. 5."The time has come to take this issue head-on to preserve the moral fabric of the community and the family," Boschert said.

Baltimore's top elected officials are battling over whether the city should seize homes because of unpaid water bills after a recent audit found widespread billing errors. MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blakesays eliminating the threat of liens could endanger the city's bond rating. No moratorium is needed, she says, because only those residents who have ignored a year's worth of bills could lose their homes. "At the end of the day, when you reach the tax sale list, it's because you've made no attempt - not a payment plan, not a contact, nothing," the mayor said.

There is a statewide moratorium on the harvest of river herring, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The halt includes blueback and alewife herring, according to a DNR statement Friday. The moratorium has been in effect since Dec. 26. The Atlantic Coast river herring stock is managed by a multi-state commission. Each state from Maine to Florida was required to institute a fishing stop for herring by Jan. 1 unless a state-specific management plan demonstrated sustainability.