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UPDATE: On February 20th, Delegate McIntosh introduced the Chesapeake Bay Green Fund Act (HB 1220). The Senate version will be introduced soon.
As part of the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement, Maryland pledged to reduce 20 million pounds of nitrogen pollution to the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers each year by 2010. At current funding levels and rates of implementation, Maryland will fail.
Maryland needs a dedicated funding source or "Chesapeake Bay Green Fund" to significantly increase the implementation of actions contained within the Tributary Strategies.
The revenue source will be a fee on new development of impervious surface, which when developed destroys our natural filter for the Bay. The fee will be charged at the time a building permit is issued and will be 25 cents a square foot for inside a Planned Growth Area and $2.00 a square foot outside a Planned Growth Area.
Up to $120 million could be capitalized each year in dedicated funds for the implementation of pollution reduction activities outlined within the Tributary Strategies. Funding would be directed to the Chesapeake Bay Trust, who would then allocate funds to individuals, state agencies, municipalities and county governments for nitrogen-reducing project implementation.
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