Maryland 2023 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB310 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0310
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 310
8	8	M5, C8, M3 3lr0439
9	9
10	10	By: Delegate Rosenberg
11	11	Introduced and read first time: January 25, 2023
12	12	Assigned to: Environment and Transportation and Economic Matters
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Environment and Energy – Investment in Communities With Low– to 2
19	19	Moderate–Income Households 3
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of requiring the Department of the Environment, on or before a certain 4
22	22	date, to develop certain policies and recommendations to require a certain 5
23	23	percentage of overall spending on certain programs, projects, and investments to 6
24	24	benefit certain communities with low– to moderate–income households, starting 7
25	25	with a certain fiscal year; requiring the Department to review certain guidelines and 8
26	26	recommendations on or before a certain date and every certain number of years 9
27	27	thereafter; requiring the Department to conduct public information–gathering 10
28	28	sessions to solicit input from communities with low– to moderate–income households 11
29	29	and the public to achieve a certain investment requirement; requiring the 12
30	30	Department to work with the Commission on Environmental Justice and 13
31	31	Sustainable Communities to develop recommendations to identify and provide 14
32	32	assistance to communities with low– to moderate–income households; requiring 15
33	33	certain State and local governmental units to invest or direct certain resources in a 16
34	34	certain manner in consultation with certain agencies; requiring certain federal 17
35	35	funding appropriated in certain manners to be given priority in a certain manner 18
36	36	with a certain exception; and generally relating to investment in programs related 19
37	37	to the environment and energy in communities with low– to moderate–income 20
38	38	households. 21
39	39
40	40
41	41	BY adding to 22
42	42	Article – Environment 23
43	43	Section 1–703 24
44	44	Annotated Code of Maryland 25
45	45	(2013 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 26
46	46
47	47	Preamble 27
48	48	2 HOUSE BILL 310
49	49
50	50
51	51	WHEREAS, The State of Maryland has been a leader in addressing issues of 1
52	52	environmental justice from the cumulative effects of disparate impacts on historically 2
53	53	burdened and disadvantaged communities, which are often communities with low– and 3
54	54	moderate–income households, overburdened communities, and in developing sustainable 4
55	55	communities, through the establishment of a Commission on Environmental Justice and 5
56	56	Sustainable Communities and other legislation; and 6
57	57
58	58	WHEREAS, The State of Maryland has also been a leader in addressing issues of the 7
59	59	environmental and economic impacts of climate change, through legislation requiring the 8
60	60	State to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, establishing a Commission 9
61	61	on Climate Change, and the concomitant establishment of greenhouse gas emissions 10
62	62	reductions for the State; and 11
63	63
64	64	WHEREAS, The effects of climate change loom large over our State as a whole, 12
65	65	potentially impairing our ability to develop and maintain sustainable communities, but 13
66	66	may also have a disproportionately large impact on historically burdened and 14
67	67	disadvantaged communities, particularly communities with low– and moderate–income 15
68	68	households, and overburdened communities; and 16
69	69
70	70	WHEREAS, The Clean Water Commerce Act of 2021 specifies that a percentage of 17
71	71	the Clean Water Commerce Account must be used to procure environmental outcomes from 18
72	72	projects established in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms 19
73	73	and risks, as specified; and 20
74	74
75	75	WHEREAS, It would be beneficial to the State to follow the example of New York 21
76	76	State, which is pioneering the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 22
77	77	response to increasing and cumulative climate impacts that have had a heightened impact 23
78	78	on disadvantaged communities, communities with low– and moderate–income households, 24
79	79	and overburdened communities in that state, particularly from acid rain and increased 25
80	80	tropical storm impacts; now, therefore, 26
81	81
82	82	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 27
83	83	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 28
84	84
85	85	Article – Environment 29
86	86
87	87	1–703. 30
88	88
89	89	(A) IN THIS SECTION, “LOW– TO MODERATE –INCOME HOUSEHOLD ” MEANS 31
90	90	A HOUSEHOLD LOCATED IN A CENSUS TRACT WI TH AN AVERAGE MEDIAN INCOME AT 32
91	91	OR BELOW 80% OF THE AVERAGE MEDIA N INCOME FOR THE STATE. 33
92	92
93	93	(B) (1) ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 1, 2023, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL 34
94	94	DEVELOP POLICIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO R EQUIRE AT LEAST 40% OF 35
95	95	OVERALL SPENDING ON THE PROGRAMS , PROJECTS, AND INVESTMENTS LIST ED 36
96	96	UNDER SUBSECTION (C) OF THIS SECTION TO B ENEFIT COMMUNITIES WITH LOW – TO 37 HOUSE BILL 310 3
97	97
98	98
99	99	MODERATE–INCOME HOUSEHOLDS . 1
100	100
101	101	(2) ON OR BEFORE OCTOBER 1, 2025, AND EVER Y 2 YEARS 2
102	102	THEREAFTER , THE DEPARTMENT : 3
103	103
104	104	(I) SHALL REVIEW ITS GUID ELINES AND RECOMMEND ATIONS, 4
105	105	INCLUDING THE CRITER IA AND METHODS USED TO IDENTIFY COMMUNIT IES WITH 5
106	106	LOW– TO MODERATE –INCOME HOUSEHOLDS ; AND 6
107	107
108	108	(II) MAY RECOMMEND MODIFIC ATIONS BASED ON NEW DATA 7
109	109	AND OTHER INFORMATIO N. 8
110	110
111	111	(3) ON OR BEFORE OCTOBER 1 EACH YEAR, BEGINNING IN 2025, THE 9
112	112	DEPARTMENT SHALL SUBM IT A REPORT OF ITS A CTIVITIES AND 10
113	113	RECOMMENDATIONS TO T HE GOVERNOR AND , SUBJECT TO § 2–1257 OF THE STATE 11
114	114	GOVERNMENT ARTICLE, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 12
115	115
116	116	(C) (1) THE POLICIES AND RECO MMENDATIONS UNDER SU BSECTION (B) 13
117	117	OF THIS SECTION APPL Y, STARTING WITH FISCAL YEAR 2025, IN EACH FISCAL YEAR 14
118	118	TO SPENDING ON PROGR AMS, PROJECTS, AND INVESTMENTS IN T HE AREAS OF: 15
119	119
120	120	(I) GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ; 16
121	121
122	122	(II) CLIMATE CHANGE ; 17
123	123
124	124	(III) CLEAN ENERGY AND ENER GY EFFICIENCY; 18
125	125
126	126	(IV) CLEAN TRANSPORTATION ; 19
127	127
128	128	(V) AFFORDABLE AND SUSTAI NABLE HOUSING ; 20
129	129
130	130	(VI) TRAINING AND WORKFORC E DEVELOPMENT RELATE D TO: 21
131	131
132	132	1. CLIMATE; 22
133	133
134	134	2. NATURAL DISASTERS ; 23
135	135
136	136	3. THE ENVIRONMENT ; 24
137	137
138	138	4. CLEAN ENERGY ; 25
139	139
140	140	5. CLEAN TRANSPORTATION ; 26
141	141	4 HOUSE BILL 310
142	142
143	143
144	144	6. HOUSING; 1
145	145
146	146	7. WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE ; AND 2
147	147
148	148	8. LEGAL POLLUTION REDUC TION; 3
149	149
150	150	(VII) REMEDIATION AND REDUC TION OF LEGACY POLLU TION; 4
151	151	AND 5
152	152
153	153	(VIII) CRITICAL CLEAN WA TER AND WASTE INFRAS TRUCTURE. 6
154	154
155	155	(2) THE SPENDING ON PROGR AMS, PROJECTS, AND INVESTMENTS 7
156	156	LISTED UNDER PARAGRA PH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION I NCLUDES PROGRAMS , 8
157	157	PROJECTS, AND INVESTMENTS THAT ARE WHOLLY OR PARTLY FUNDED UNDER : 9
158	158
159	159	(I) § 5–1501 OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ARTICLE; 10
160	160
161	161	(II) § 11–708.1 OF THE LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT ARTICLE; 11
162	162	AND 12
163	163
164	164	(III) TITLE 9, SUBTITLES 20A, 20B, AND 20C OF THE STATE 13
165	165	GOVERNMENT ARTICLE. 14
166	166
167	167	(D) (1) TO ACHIEVE TH E INVESTMENT REQUIRED UNDER THIS SECTION, 15
168	168	THE DEPARTMENT SHALL COND UCT PUBLIC INFORMATION –GATHERING SESSIONS 16
169	169	IN DIFFERENT AREAS O F THE STATE TO SOLICIT INPU T FROM COMMUNITIES WITH 17
170	170	LOW– TO MODERATE –INCOME HOUSEHOLDS AND THE PUBLIC . 18
171	171
172	172	(2) AFTER THE PUBLIC CONS ULTATION UNDER PARAG RAPH (1) OF 19
173	173	THIS SUBSECTION , THE DEPARTMENT SHALL WORK WITH THE COMMISSION TO 20
174	174	DEVELOP SPECIFIC REC OMMENDATIONS TO IDEN TIFY AND PROVIDE ASS ISTANCE TO 21
175	175	COMMUNITIES WITH LOW – TO MODERATE –INCOME HOUSEHOLDS , INCLUDING 22
176	176	LEGISLATIVE AND REGU LATORY CHANGES TO AC HIEVE THE INVESTMENT REQUIRED 23
177	177	UNDER THIS SECTION . 24
178	178
179	179	(E) STATE AND LOCAL GOVER NMENTAL UNITS , IN CONSULTATION WITH 25
180	180	THE DEPARTMENT , THE COMMISSION, THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, AND 26
181	181	THE MARYLAND ENERGY ADMINISTRATION , SHALL, TO THE EXTENT PRACTI CABLE, 27
182	182	INVEST OR DIRECT AVA ILABLE AND RELEVANT PROGRAMMATIC RESOURC ES IN A 28
183	183	MANNER DESIGNED TO A CHIEVE THE INVESTMEN T TO BENEFIT COMMUNITIES WITH 29
184	184	LOW– TO MODERATE –INCOME HOUSEHOLDS UNDER THIS SECTION . 30
185	185
186	186	(F) (1) (I) FEDERAL FUNDS A PPROPRIATED EITHER I N THE BUDGET 31 HOUSE BILL 310 5
187	187
188	188
189	189	BILL OR BY BUDGET AM ENDMENT TO AGENCIES AND PROGRAMS RECEIVI NG FUNDS 1
190	190	FOR PROGRAMS , PROJECTS, AND INVESTMENTS LIST ED UNDER SUBSECTION (C) OF 2
191	191	THIS SECTION SHALL B E GIVEN PRIORITY IN A MANNER THAT PROVID ES FUNDING 3
192	192	TO COMMUNITI ES WITH LOW– TO MODERATE –INCOME HOUSEHOLDS UNDER THIS 4
193	193	SECTION. 5
194	194
195	195	(II) FUNDS SUBJECT TO THIS SUBSECTION INCLUDE T HOSE 6
196	196	FUNDS APPROPRIATED T O: 7
197	197
198	198	1. THE MARYLAND ENERGY ADMINISTRATION 8
199	199	(PROGRAMS D13A13.02, D13A13.06, D13A13.07, AND D13A13.08); AND 9
200	200
201	201	2. THE DEPARTMENT (PROGRAMS U00A01.03, 10
202	202	U00A01.04, U00A01.05, U00A01.11, U00A01.12, U00A04.01, U00A06.01, AND 11
203	203	U00A07.01). 12
204	204
205	205	(2) PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION D OES NOT APPLY TO A 13
206	206	PROGRAM OR AN ACTIVI TY TO THE EXTENT THA T THE REQUIREMENT CO NFLICTS 14
207	207	WITH FEDER AL LAW OR REGULATION S FOR THAT PROGRAM O R ACTIVITY. 15
208	208
209	209	(3) (I) ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 31, 2023, AND EACH DECEMBER 16
210	210	31 THEREAFTER , THE DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT , IN 17
211	211	COORDINATION WITH TH E APPROPRIATE STATE UNITS, SHALL SUBMIT AN ANNU AL 18
212	212	REPORT TO THE SENATE BUDGET AND TAXATION COMMITTEE AND THE HOUSE 19
213	213	APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE, IN ACCORDANCE WITH § 2–1257 OF THE STATE 20
214	214	GOVERNMENT ARTICLE. 21
215	215
216	216	(II) THE REPORT SHALL PROV IDE INFORMATION ON : 22
217	217
218	218	1. THE AMOUNT OF FEDERAL FUNDS APPROPRIATED 23
219	219	FOR THE PROGRAMS , PROJECTS, AND INVESTMENTS LIST ED UNDER SUBSECTION (C) 24
220	220	OF THIS SECTION; AND 25
221	221
222	222	2. THE SHARE OF FUNDS DI RECTED TO OVERBURDEN ED 26
223	223	COMMUNITIES UNDER TH IS SECTION. 27
224	224
225	225	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 28
226	226	October 1, 2023. 29
227	227