On February 15, 2022, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko testified before the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs and Budget and Taxation Committees in support of SB 528 – Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 with amendments. This bill is a continuation of last year’s Climate Solutions Now Act of 2021.

The bill represents a large policy shift to tackle climate change in Maryland. MACo testified on concerns related to methane emissions reductions and their impacts on solar, as well as issues related to tax revenue.

From the MACo testimony:

A rigid mandate may place burdens on landfill operators that fail a sensible cost-benefit analysis. A reasonable enforcement regime could recognize the current benefits of waste-to-energy adaptations already in place, and in particular respect any clean energy infrastructure already attached to the landfill space. The burden of disassembling solar power arrays, completing expensive retrofits or replacements to existing gas combustion equipment, hiring of additional staff due to increased monitoring requirements, hiring of outside consultants to meet new technical requirements, etc. could make many current and planned installations financially untenable.

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