On February 28, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony to the House Environment and Transportation Committee in support of HB 991- Environment- Industrial Sludge Utilization Permit- Establishment with amendments. This bill establishes an industrial sludge utilization permit and broadens county input related to the state permits for industrial sludge utilization and in enforcing certain provisions should an entity violate their permit.
Counties support HB 991 as the first step in ending the sludge rush but believe it does not go far enough. Amendments help to strengthen the legislation and provide more tools to county governments.
As state leaders have yet to adopt adequate regulations, profit-hungry operators have begun a “sludge rush” on Maryland, applying huge unnecessary quantities and storing massive volumes in agricultural communities. Residents who live within proximity to these operations describe serious localized effects of these dispersals. Counties support HB 991 as the first step in ending the sludge rush, but believe it does not go far enough.
HB 991’s cross-file, SB 1074, was heard on March 5, 2024 in the Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee. Dominic Butchko submitted written testimony in support of this bill with amendments.
SB 1074 was heard in the opposite chamber, the House Environment and Transportation Committee, on March 27. MACo submitted testimony in support of this bill with amendments.
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