2025 Maryland Legislative Session Wrap-Up: Speaking Up for Clean Water

On April 7th, the Maryland General Assembly concluded its 2025 legislative session.  Once again Blue Water Baltimore brought the Patapsco and Back River watersheds to Annapolis, ensuring our waterways and their communities were heard by decision-makers loud and clear.  From landmark victories that will shape our communities for years to come, to missed opportunities that leave us wondering what could have been, the 2025 legislative session was anything but dull. Whether you followed every committee hearing or just caught the headlines, we’re breaking down the most impactful wins—and the setbacks that still sting.

• HB 232, Maryland Beverage Container Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction Program
  • Status:  STALLED in the House Economic Matters Committee, but passed out of the House Environment & Transportation Committee.  This is the furthest a Bottle Deposit bill has ever moved through general assembly, and it remains a strong contender for our priorities in the ‘25-’26 session.
  • What It Does:  Bottle trash, particularly plastic, is a pervasive blight in our waterways, posing a serious threat to the environment, aquatic life, and human health. As plastic breaks down into microplastics and nanoplastics, they bioaccumulate in our bodies through the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat. Sen. Brooks and Del. Terrasa introduced SB346 & HB232 to establish a beverage container deposit program, a common-sense and proven strategy to reduce litter, increase recycling rates, and incentivize environmental stewardship.

• HB 368, Establishing Maryland Native Plant Month
  • Status:  FAILED
  • What It Does:  Requires the Governor to annually proclaim May as Maryland Native Plant Month in recognition of the benefits that native plants have on Maryland’s natural environment 

• HB 386, Prohibiting PFAS in Pesticides
  • Status:  FAILED, which is a good thing!
  • What It Does:  While this started out as a common-sense approach to limiting the amount of toxic PFAS that ends up in our bodies and our waterways, it was quickly captured by industry lobbyists who whittled down the list of prohibited PFAS chemicals from over 100 to less than 10.  In response, the environmental community successfully rallied together to advocate for the blockage of this bill-gone-bad.

• SB 901, Extended Producer Responsibility
  • Status:  PASSED
  • What It Does:  This bill creates an Extended Producer Responsibility (or “EPR”) program for packaging in Maryland to shift responsibility for packaging at the end of its useful life from local governments (and taxpayers) upstream to the producers who make it.  Our coalition partners at Trash Free Maryland and MD Sierra Club worked hard to get important amendments added to this bill to ensure it will work in conjunction with a future bottle bill, incorporate Packaging Advisory Council recommendations, and adopt important definitions from TFM and Sierra Club.

• HB 222, Reclaim Renewable Energy
  • Status:  PASSED
  • What It Does:  This bill was passed in a bundle of energy bills called the Next Generation Energy Act.  While components of the Act have been very controversial among the environmental community, one component we are celebrating is that incineration will be removed from Tier 1 of the Renewable Portfolio Standard.  This is great news for communities and families living near incinerators, particularly in South Baltimore.  Our friends at Clean Water Action have been working towards this outcome for ten years!

• SB 168, Moratorium on Confined Aquatic Disposal Cells
  • Status:  PASSED
  • What It Does:  The CAD bill was originally introduced as a measure to protect overburdened communities with a high Environmental Justice score from the unknown impacts of a new-to-us practice of disposing dredged material into large holes dug into the riverbed of the Patapsco River.  BWB’s position is that we need to take time to fully examine all potential impacts of this practice.  The bill places a 4-year moratorium on new CAD cells in the entire state of Maryland.

• SB 425, Coal Ash Cleanup and Accountability Act
  • Status:  PASSED
  • What It Does: Coal ash is a toxic byproduct of burning coal for power generation. It contains hazardous substances such as arsenic, lead, mercury, and chromium. There are over 70 coal ash disposal sites across Maryland, amounting to more than 50 million tons of coal ash waste, that continue to pollute our environment and waterways, particularly in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. Sen. Michael Jackson and Del. Mary Lehman introduced SB425 & HB902 to ensure proper cleanup of toxic coal ash sites, prevent further groundwater contamination, protect vulnerable communities, establish independent state oversight, and reform the fee structure, which will generate an estimated $3.2 million annually to cover ongoing enforcement and remediation efforts.