FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    CONTACT: Betsy Johnson, Chair

January 14, 2002                                                                   202-752-8323   (w)

                                                                                              301-656-4948  (h)

                                                                                               

MARYLAND SIERRA CLUB TO HONOR STATE SENATOR CHRISTOPHER VAN HOLLEN AT ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMIT ON JANUARY 21

The Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club joins with The Maryland League of Conservation Voters, Clean Water Action, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Audubon Naturalist Society, and Thousand Friends of Maryland to honor State Senator Christopher Van Hollen, Jr. (D – District 18) for his exceptional leadership on environmental issues during his 12 years in the Maryland Legislature.  The Conservation Legacy Award will be presented to Senators Van Hollen and Martin G. Madden (R – Howard County District 13) at the annual Environmental Summit to be held on January 21 in the West Reception Room in the Miller Senate Office Building in Annapolis from 2 – 5PM.   The award gives recognition to legislators who have exceptional environmental records and who will be leaving their elected posts this year.

 

Betsy Johnson, Chair of the Montgomery County Group of the Sierra Club and District 18 resident, will present the award to Senator Van Hollen.   “Environmental organizations know that when Senator Van Hollen takes on one of our issues he will use all of his considerable intelligence, creativity, courage and tenacity to move it through the legislative process” said Johnson.  “His success rate is impressive and his presence in the Montgomery Delegation will be sorely missed in the future.” 

 

The Environmental Summit is a yearly event put on by the Citizens’ Campaign for the Environment, a coalition of environmental organizations that come together to promote environmental issues during Maryland’s legislative session.  Van Hollen is the author and chief sponsor of bills to address three of the group’s priority issues this year: water conservation, septic system changes and wildlands designation.

 

Van Hollen will be leaving the Senate at the end of the current session to run for Congress. 

 

 

 

Senator Van Hollen’s Legislative Record on the Environment

 

He authored the following bills, all of which passed either as a freestanding bill or incorporated as an amendment into other legislation:

 

The Chesapeake Bay Protection Act - banned drilling for oil and gas in the Chesapeake Bay watershed;

 

The Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Rate (also known as the "Guzzler/Sipper bill) - the first law in the country to increase titling tax on gas guzzlers and give rebates for highly efficient cars. This bill was passed as part of 1993 gas tax, but the first Bush administration ruled the law was preempted by the federal CAFE law;

 

The Potomac River Protection Act - limits the size of new water intake pipes in the Potomac River;

 

The Maryland Clean Energy Incentives Act - described by environmental groups as the most comprehensive set of energy efficiency state tax incentives in the nation. It provides sales tax exemption for purchase of most energy efficient appliances, titling tax exemption on hybrid fuel vehicles, and incentives for suppliers to use renewable energy sources;

 

The Transportation Priority Funding Areas Bill - requires the Dept. of Transportation to

calculate the benefits and savings of non-road solutions to congestion problems;

 

The Green Buildings Incentive Act - provides tax incentives for office and apartment builders that incorporate state-of-the-art energy efficiency technologies into their design and construction.

 

And he also authored the following bills which did not pass:

 

The Chesapeake Bay Poultry Waste Management Act - holds the big poultry companies responsible for their share of waste clean up. While this did not pass, he worked for more than a year with the Maryland Department of the Environment to implement this policy through the regulatory process. In July, 2001 that effort bore fruit, as Maryland became the first state in the country to hold the big poultry companies responsible for the clean up of poultry waste.

 

The Water Conservation Act - requires communities and applicants for water permits to submit water conservation plans. The bill passed the Senate but failed in the House. He will submit it again in 2002.

 

In addition to the bills that he authored, Van Hollen also co-sponsored many other environmental bills on clean air, clean water, land preservation and control of pesticides.