Domestic violence, pollution bills pass Md. Senate

The Maryland Senate approved legislation Monday to protect victims of domestic abuse, and senators barely pushed through a highly contentious bill to fight Chesapeake Bay pollution by requiring sewage system upgrades for homeowners living nearby.

To protect domestic abuse victims, the Senate approved requiring a judge to order the confiscation of firearms from people who have had final protective orders filed against them. The other measure to protect victims would give judges discretion to order the subject of a temporary protective order to give up firearms. Both bills passed 31-16.

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, whose cousin was shot to death by an estranged boyfriend last year, praised the Senate votes. Gov. Martin O’Malley’s administration has made measures against domestic violence a priority this session.

"These common sense bills are a big step in that direction," Brown said in a statement.

The Senate already had rejected an amendment that would make it easier for domestic violence victims to obtain handgun permits. The House of Delegates already has approved similar legislation and rejected a separate attempt to afford victims easier access to handguns.

The legislation to remove nitrogen pollution from the bay was highly contentious, passing by just one vote, 24-23. Even after the bill had cleared, Sen. Nathaniel Exum, D-Prince George’s, moved to have the vote reconsidered. But his motion failed by a 22-25 vote.

The bill would require homeowners living within 1,000 feet of the Chesapeake Bay to install environmentally friendly sewage systems when their current ones fail. It provides for homeowners to receive state aid to pay for the new systems, but developers wanting to build new homes in affected areas within 1,000 feet of the bay would not be eligible for assistance.

Eastern Shore lawmakers sharply criticized the bill. They argued that the nitrogen removal technology the bill requires will put an unfair burden on rural residents who could have trouble affording the sewage systems.

It costs about $12,000 to upgrade an existing system. Those who violate the measure would face fines up to $8,000.

"These are poor people in Somerset County," said Sen. Lowell Stoltzfus, an Eastern Shore Republican, who noted that more affluent counties wouldn’t be affected. "I ask you to be fair."

But supporters say it won’t be as much of a burden as critics say, and that the measure is needed to clean up nitrogen pollution in the nation’s largest estuary.

Poor water quality caused by pollution from nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous has harmed the blue crab population, destroyed underwater grasses and hurt fish in the bay.

Sen. Mike Lenett, D-Montgomery, said local health departments will help homeowners comply with the new regulations to enable people to avoid fines.

"They get worked out at the local level," Lenett said.

The Senate also approved a bill that would deny state identification to all illegal immigrants, a sharp difference from a House of Delegates bill that would create a two-license system. Now the two chambers will have to work out a compromise.

In a long night of difficult work, the Senate also gave preliminary approval to a complicated bill that would put Maryland back on the path to regulating electricity supply.

The Senate voted for an amendment from Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, D-Baltimore, to require the state’s Public Service Commission to impose a surcharge on large commercial businesses and industry for benefits they receive in added supply from new power plants that are built in Maryland, even if they are served by competitive energy suppliers instead of utilities. Before the amendment, the measure stipulated that regulators may be required to impose the surcharge.

Representatives from large commercial businesses have sharply criticized the bill, saying it would lead to energy cost overruns for large businesses.