By Zenitha Prince
Capital News Service
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004
ANNAPOLIS - At least one of Gov. Robert Ehrlich's marquee bills seems poised to sweep through the General Assembly this session.
Ehrlich's water quality improvement legislation passed uncontested through a House Environmental Matters Committee hearing that lasted all of 20 minutes.
The bill, which proposes to streamline the farm nutrient management process, was unanimously supported by administration officials, farm industry representatives and environmentalists, surprising even Committee Chairwoman Maggie McIntosh, D-Baltimore.
"Isn't this supposed to be a controversial issue?" she asked on seeing the one-sided witness list.
Committee members did not raise questions, and McIntosh said aside from "a few technical amendments," the bill will "sail through."
Ehrlich's proposal solved one of the process' most contentious issues: the right-of-entry requirement, which allowed Department of Agriculture officials to inspect farms at any time.
The governor's bill requires 48 hours notice before entry and calls for inspectors to carry out evaluations with the least inconvenience to farmers.
Bernie Marczyk, an Ehrlich spokesman, and members of the farming community said this would increase the current 75 percent compliance rate to 100 percent.
"Removal of the onerous right-of-entry requirement should help bring more farmers into compliance," said Bill Satterfield, executive director of Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc. in a prepared statement.
Nutrient management became an issue after findings that nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizer runoff are the No. 1 sources of pollution in the Bay, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Overaccumulation of the nutrients have caused a 150-mile deoxygenated zone in the bay, algal blooms, dead underwater grasses and closures of waterways to fishing and swimming.
Farmers complained that the resulting 1998 Water Quality Improvement Act entailed too much paperwork.
"We know that paper will not clean up the Chesapeake Bay," said Maryland Farm Bureau President Earl "Buddy" Hance.
Under Ehrlich's bill, farmers would submit summaries, rather than complete management plans, to the agriculture department and could draft their own plans after undergoing a certification program.
"We believe that providing for farmer training and certification to write plans for their own farms is a positive step," said a Chesapeake Bay Foundation Vice President Theresa Pierno.
It will help farmers reduce planning costs, she said, and increase their understanding of nutrient management.
The bill would also expand the kinds of scientists farmers could use to devise plans, contract private nutrient management consultants and increase the renewal term for consultant licenses from one to three years.
Nutrient management is part of the governor's suite of "Chesapeake Bay Initiatives" which, if passed, may elevate the governor in the eyes of the environmental community, McIntosh said.
"If this and other bills go through, I think the environmental community will be generally pleased with the governor."
"Obviously this is a significant step in the right direction," said Shareese DeLeaver, Ehrlich spokeswoman. "I think it is a word of advice to all advocacy groups not to pigeonhole Governor Ehrlich by his party."
|
