Environmental Groups Continue to Oppose Bill Giving Agriculture 10-Year Pass from Future Clean Water Regulations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2013
Bill Receives Preliminary Senate Approval; Groups Will Continue to Oppose in House of Delegates

(Annapolis, MD) – A united group of 23 national, state and regional environmental organizations continue to oppose the swiftly moving Maryland Senate Bill 1029, which would grant participating agricultural operations a 10-year exemption from new state and local rules to protect water quality. SB 1029 passed second reader on the Senate floor today. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill itself on third reader soon.

Environmental groups say the bill could undermine efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay and local waterways and create a misguided precedent for an industry that has existing problems with transparency, enforcement and verification.

Velma Smith of The Pew Charitable Trusts, testified before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee earlier this week: "This bill, though well intentioned, would undermine Maryland’s long-held leadership position in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay."

"While I support the concept of agricultural certainty, it requires an equal dose of certainty of water quality improvement to meet Maryland’s Bay TMDL Watershed Implementation Plans," said Dr. Tom Simpson, Senior Scientist and Executive Director for Water Stewardship Inc. "This bill does not provide that certainty."

The Chesapeake Bay restoration blueprint (or TMDL) sets limits that must be in place for all pollution sources by 2025 in order to restore the bay. In 2017, a critical "check in" will ensure that states are on track to achieve these limits. If not, adjustments will be made.

Environmental groups worry that exempting agriculture from any such readjustments could not only jeopardize Bay restoration, it could also make other sources do more to reduce pollution – costing municipalities and taxpayers more money – while allowing agriculture to do less.

"To say to the biggest categorical source of Bay pollution: ‘Do what you need to do today and we’ll give you a 10 year pass from doing anything more’ would be an enormous mistake," said Ridgway Hall, who has been practicing environmental law for over 40 years and was Associate General Counsel for Water at EPA. "It is absolutely unprecedented in the field of water quality regulation."

Bill opponents say it is irresponsible to give a 10-year exemption to an industry with little transparency and documented enforcement and verification problems.

Maryland farms are provided a level of secrecy not afforded to comparable businesses. Farms publicly reveal little information about whether operations comply with clean water laws, and information needed to determine whether most farms are in compliance with the law is well-hidden from the public.

Last year, one out of every three farms that MDA audited had major violations of their nutrient management plans, and a quarter remained out of compliance even after follow up visits (Baltimore Sun: "Maryland’s farm oversight called weak," February 2, 2013).

Josh Tulkin, of the Sierra Club – Maryland Chapter, said "We’re incredibly disappointed that the Senate looks poised to quickly pass this bad bill, with such little time for review and for public debate. For ten years of certainty, the public deserves at least ten minutes of debate. We’ll keep fighting in the House of Delegates."

Anacostia Riverkeeper, Assateague Coastal Trust/Assateague Coastkeeper, Audubon Naturalist Society, Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, Clean Water Action, Community Research, Environment Maryland, Environmental Integrity Project, Food & Water Watch, Gunpowder Riverkeeper, League of Women Voters of Maryland, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Maryland Pesticide Network, National Wildlife Federation Mid-Atlantic Center, Patuxent Riverkeeper, Potomac Riverkeeper, Severn Riverkeeper, Sierra Club – Maryland Chapter, Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, West/Rhode Riverkeeper

Contact: Dawn Stoltzfus, The Hatcher Group, 410 990 0284, 410 562 5655 (cell)