SM March 2022 News: Update on HB100/SB14 SM Funding Bill

Sustainable Maryland has been awarded funding for a second year of work helping to organize Green Teams and develop Sustainability Action Plans with homeowners and civic associations within Prince George's County. This effort to pilot a Residential Sustainability Action Framework, based on SM's 10 years of work with municipalities, has yielded successful results, including 5 new HOA/CA Green Teams within the County in 2020-2021. SM expects to work with another 5 communities in 2022-23. This work is funded by Prince George's County via a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

Click here for more information.

UPDATE ON SUSTAINABLE MARYLAND PROGRAM FUND HB100/SB14

A bill currently before the Maryland General Assembly would provide stable funding for the Sustainable Maryland program in the future. HB100/SB14 Sustainable Maryland Program Fund - Establishment would provide the program with the crucial support it needs in order to continue to properly assist Maryland's municipalities in reaching their individual, and the State's, ambitious sustainability, climate and equity goals.

SB14 was passed by the Senate Economy, Health and Environmental Affairs committee unanimously (11-0) and without amendments on March 9. It then had a final reading on the Senate floor and was passed unanimously and without amendments on March 17.

It is now before the House Appropriations committee, which will have a hearing on SB14 on Monday, April 4, starting at 1:00pm.

If your Mayor, Council or Green Team has not signed on yet, please consider clicking this link and indicating your support. Or go to Find My Representative to contact your Senator or Delegate to urge them to support the final bill. Thank you!

TWO ELECTRIC VEHICLE WEBINARS IN APRIL: EV ORDINANCE AND EV WEBPAGE

SM is partnering with the Great Plains Institute on these two upcoming electric vehicle webinars geared towards municipalities:

Guide To EV Ordinances Webinar

Friday, April 1 | 2:00-3:00 PM EST

Developing an electric vehicle (EV) and charging infrastructure ordinance for your community is often daunting and many are unsure where to start. To help get you started, the Great Plains Institute created a new tool to help local governments in this process. In this webinar, we will walk through the Guide to EV Ordinances and answer questions related to drafting EV ordinances.

Zoom Link: https://betterenergy.zoom.us/j/81569483378...

Meeting ID: 815 6948 3378

Passcode: 633473

EV Webpage Template Webinar

Friday, April 8 | 2:00-3:00 PM EST

Having a dedicated spot for information about electric vehicles (EVs) on the city’s webpage is a simple but effective way to educate your residents about EVs. The Great Plains Institute has developed webpage templates with information about EVs that local governments can easily customize for their own use. During this webinar, we will introduce the various webpage templates, discuss how cities can make use of them, and answer any questions participants have.

Zoom Link: https://betterenergy.zoom.us/j/84415095785...

Meeting ID: 844 1509 5785

Passcode: 593924

WORKSHOP: BUILDING RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNITIES, APRIL 20

The Prince George’s County Office of Homeland Security/Office of Emergency Management (OHS/OEM) has conducted a gap analysis regarding Cost Share and Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) for Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grant Cycle FY2021. Based on the gap analysis, OHS/OEM figured out that sub-applicants had challenges regarding funding sources to match the cost share and BCA calculation. Some sub-applicants could not submit their applications because of the lack of cost share match.

Due to the challenges of sub-applicants during the BRIC Grant Cycle, OHS/OEM will host the final virtual BRIC Cost Share and BCA workshop on April 20th at 10:30 AM, to address the gaps and challenges, in an effort to assist sub-applicants for building resilient infrastructure and communities in Prince George’s County.

SM VIRTUAL HAPPY HOUR, APRIL 7

Join SM staff for a virtual Happy Hour on Thursday, April 7 at 4:30pm. Spring is fully blooming, and Earth Month is here! We'd like to catch up with what's going on with you, with your Green Team, and with your community.

We'll update you on SB14; our recent work with Rt. One Corridor communities; and new work with HOAs. Click this Zoom link (or call in at 301 715 8592) to join the conversation on April 7.

QUOTE

"One of the most striking conclusions in our report is that we’re seeing adverse impacts that are much more widespread and much more negative than expected."

-Camille Parmesan, an ecologist at the University of Texas, Austin, and one of the researchers who prepared the recent IPCC report that warns that the dangers of climate change are mounting so rapidly that they could soon overwhelm the ability of both nature and humanity to adapt unless greenhouse gas emissions are quickly reduced.

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Sustainable Maryland is an initiative of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland. It is a free and voluntary program designed to help Maryland communities choose a direction for their sustainability efforts, improve access to resources needed to implement action, and recognize their accomplishments. Our sponsors include the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Municipal League. Sustainable Maryland is a proud founding member of the national Sustainable States Network.

For more information about how your municipality can register in the Sustainable Maryland program, plus customized Green Team training and access to student resources that are available to provide consultancy services for municipal planning, please contact 301-405-7956 or mikeh75@umd.edu

Mike Hunninghake

Program Manager

Sustainable Maryland

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