Maryland Legislative Session - 2021 Wrap Up
The 2021 Maryland Legislative session was one like none before. The session was 100% virtual for the public. Maryland Grain Producers Association's Executive Director worked on your behalf to testify on bills, submit written testimony, virtually attend subcommittee meetings and voting sessions and countless phones calls, texts and emails to ensure your interests were represented.
SB151 - Constitutional Amendment - Environmental Rights
DID NOT PASS
This proposed constitutional amendment would have established that every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, including the right to clean air; pure water; ecosystems that sustain the State’s natural resources, including the waters of the State, air, flora, fauna, climate, and public lands; and the preservation of the natural, healthful, scenic, and historic values of the environment. This would give citizens in Maryland standing to intervene on any state application process if they believe it interferes with any of those clean environment definitions mentioned above. Some examples would include, CAFO's, irrigation, hemp, new buildings, composting, commercial fishing, and aquaculture permits.
MGPA OPPOSED Senate Bill 151
HB84 - Consumer Protection - Right to Repair
Delegate Feldmark
DID NOT PASS
This bill requires an original equipment manufacturer, on fair and reasonable terms, to make available to an independent repair provider or owner of digital electronic equipment any documentation, parts, tools, or updates to information or embedded software. It also requires, as it applies to equipment that contains a security-related function, any documentation, tools, parts, or updates needed to reset the lock or function when disabled.
MGPA SUPPORTED House Bill 84 - MGPA plans to work with stakeholders in the interim to put forth a farm equipment specific Right to Repair bill in 2022.
SB119 - Clean Water Commerce Act of 2021
PASSED
This bill addresses the sunset of the pilot program and establishes the Clean Water Commerce Fund as a special, non-lapsing fund. It requires the Department of the Environment to transfer $20,000,000 from the Bay Restoration Fund to the Clean Water Commerce Fund beginning in the fiscal year 2022. 35% of this funding would be dedicated to agricultural practices.
MGPA was involved in the workgroup to craft this legislation. We will be supporting the sponsor amendments based on this workgroup's recommendations.
MGPA SUPPORTED Senate Bill 119
HB472 - Agriculture - Glyphosate - Prohibition
DID NOT PASS
This bill would have banned the use of glyphosate in Maryland. MGPA has been working with a large coalition of stakeholders to oppose this bill.
MGPA worked diligently with legislators to educate and inform them on the use and safety of Glyphosate leading to an unfavorable report on this bill and ultimately it being withdrawn by the sponsor. We do however expect it to return in 2022.
MGPA OPPOSED HB472
HB 1025: Pesticides – Carbofuran – Collection, Disposal, and Prohibition on Possession or Storage
DID NOT PASS
This bill would have made it illegal to possess carbofuran after 2024 and set up criminal penalties for violations.
MGPA does not support the illegal use of any pesticide. However, we opposed how this bill proposed implementing the program. Farmers had no recourse at the time to dispose of the illegal product. MDA has since reinstated their pesticide recycling program.
MGPA OPPOSED HB1025
HB 1282: Real Property – Nuisance Actions – Rodent Harborage
This bill would have authorized an individual to bring a nuisance action for damages caused by rodent harborage on real property against an owner of the property.
MGPA OPPOSED HB1282
This is just a sampling of the bills MGPA worked on this session. If you have any other questions, please contact Lindsay at lindsay.mdag@gmail.com
