SB 931/ HB1036 The Renewable Energy Certainty Act, is a bill that would override all local master plan protections in the siting of community and industrial scale solar and battery storage installations. Looks like an industry crafted bill. What could possibly go wrong…

That means overriding local level protections across the state for:
-Farms and prime soils (stripping of topsoil is allowed)
-Forests
-Stream buffers and slopes

Maryland's counties and municipalities have spent decades rightly protecting farmland, forests and sensitive watershed areas at the taxpayer's expense. A broad suite of best practices for siting large scale solar that balances these commitments is readily available. Moreover, while it is clear the solar industry had a hand in crafting this bill, it seems no one in Annapolis consulted Maryland's number one industry - farmers, nor or the myriad groups working on forest and water protection.

Where Things Stand:

Agriculture is still being denied a seat at the table as amendments are being discussed exclusively with the Maryland Association of Counties and the bill originator Senator Ferguson’s office. So far caps on how much of a county's land can be under solar seem the preferred amendment. This percentage cap is a one-size-fits-all plan that still does not protect prime soils, forests and the decades of work that have gone into farmland preservation efforts at the local level.  

Nevertheless we persist at the doorway, recommending refinements to the bill that will provide true guardrails to protect agriculture and natural resources such as mature forests.

We have underscored the MD code requirement (66B as amended in 2009) that stipulates land use action must be substantially consistent with County master plans. Without amendments this legislation violates this requirement.

By refusing to acknowledge the complexity of solar siting, and the outsized impacts on farms state wide, this bill is simply raising hackles when it could be building bridges - a missed opportunity that is hindering the aim of more renewable energy.

Farmers and conservationists are mobilizing. Please take a moment to support these efforts and make your voice heard. Click "start writing" to send a message to members of the relevant committees in Annapolis.

Thanks for taking action!

This action alert is a partnership between Montgomery Countryside Alliance and Farmers Alliance for Rural Maryland