Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Debate over $2-per-ton surcharge: supporters tout grants for food-rescue and composting, industry warns of costs and unintended consequences
Summary
House Bill 42 would impose a $2-per-ton solid-waste disposal surcharge to fund three grant programs for wasted-food reduction, on-farm organics diversion and county block grants; proponents promised stable funding for composting, food rescue and school programs while industry witnesses warned of added costs and administrative burdens.
House Bill 42 drew one of the lengthiest hearings before the Environment and Transportation Committee. The bill would impose a $2-per-ton solid-waste disposal surcharge to fund three grant programs: wasted-food reduction and diversion (Department of Agriculture lead), on-farm organic diversion and recycling (MDA), and a county wasted-food reduction block grant (MDE).
Vice Chair Regina T. Boyce presented the bill and framed it as a sustainable funding mechanism to expand food-rescue, composting and organics infrastructure. Proponents — including the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (Sophia Jones and Brenda Platt), Compost Crew (Ben Parry), the Maryland Food System Resiliency Council (Dr. Stephanie Lansing) and a range of…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
