HB 1268

Environmental Permits - Requirements for Burden Analysis, Issuance and Renewal, and Public Participation (Cumulative Harms for Environmental Restoration for Improving Shared Health - CHERISH Our Communities Act)

Sponsor: Dylan Behler (District 30A)Committee: Environment and TransportationSubject: EnvironmentStatus: Hearing 3/13 at 1:30 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Requiring an application for the issuance or renewal of a covered individual environmental permit for a site or facility located within an at-risk census tract after a certain date to include in the permit application a report describing the environmental and public health burdens in the at-risk census tract; requiring the Department of the Environment to issue a determination as to whether approving a covered individual environmental permit will cause or contribute to adverse environmental or public health stressors; etc.

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Testimony (115)

MGA witness list

FAV 92FavorableFWA 5Favorable with amendmentsUNF 16UnfavorableINFO 2Information only

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Bucic, Sarah	Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Brown, Jim	Audubon Mid-Atlantic	Written (PDF)
FAV	Volpitta, Alice	Blue Water Baltimore	Position only
FAV	Dunning, Bryan	Center for Progressive Reform	Written (PDF)
FAV	pool, walkiria	Centro de Apoyo Familiar	Oral
FAV	Stegman, Matt	Chesapeake Bay Foundation	Written (PDF)
FAV	Gately, Ursula	Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility	Written (PDF)
FAV	Ibarra, Gabriela	Chispa	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kunze, Jenniferlobbyist	Clean Water Action	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Demiray, Sonia	Climate Communications Coalition	Written (PDF)
FAV	McGilvray, Laurie	Climate Justice Wing of the Maryland Legislative Coalition	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wilkinson, nanci	Climate Mobilization Montgomery County	Position only
FAV	Burke, Camille	Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities	Written (PDF)
FAV	Thompson, Tiffany	Community of Curtis Bay Association	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Hession, Melody	Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCA	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wharton, Leslie	Elders Climate Action	Written (PDF)
FAV	Stewart, Frances	Elders Climate Action Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kelly, Leah	Environmental Integrity Project	Written (PDF)
FAV	Anglin, Micah	Green & Healthy Homes Initiative	Written (PDF)
FAV	N/A, Healthy Climate Maryland	Healthy Climate Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Organization, HoCo Climate Action	HoCo Climate Action	Written (PDF)
FAV	Guttam, Rishit	Illuminate Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Smith, Virginia	IndivisibleHoCoMD	Written (PDF)
FAV	Orozco, Andrea	Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVa)	Written (PDF)
FAV	Singer, Elizabeth	Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Howard County	Written (PDF)
FAV	Anderson, Patti	Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future	Written (PDF)
FAV	Labruto, Nicole	Johns Hopkins University	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Hunter, Caseylobbyist	League of Women Voters of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Feeley, Kathryn	Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy	Written (PDF)
FAV	Agarin, Ufuoma	Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Webster, Phil	Legislative body for the Unitarian Universalist faith, C/O Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis	Written (PDF)
FAV	Tulkin, Joshlobbyist	MD Sierra Club	Written (PDF)
FAV	Guilfoil, Mona	MD Third Act or Marylanders for Data Center Reform	Position only
FAV	Alvarez, Carlos	MDLCV	Written (PDF)
FAV	Cruz, Kobe	MDLCV	Written (PDF)
FAV	De Leon Cabrera, Casandra	MDLCV	Written (PDF)
FAV	Escobar, Cinthia	MDLCV	Written (PDF)
FAV	Lopez, Roberto	MDLCV	Written (PDF)
FAV	Manzanares, Jaylyn	MDLCV	Written (PDF)
FAV	Montufar, Nathaly	MDLCV	Written (PDF)
FAV	Simon, Robert	Maryland Catholics for Our Common Home	Written (PDF)
FAV	Bartock, Laura	Maryland Climate Partners	Written (PDF)
FAV	Simpson, Kylan	Maryland Department of Health	Written (PDF)
FAV	Atkinson, Aneca	Maryland Department of the Environment	Oral
FAV	Baker, Jeremy D	Maryland Department of the Environment	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	McIlwain, Serena	Maryland Department of the Environment	Oral
FAV	Rehr, Rebeccalobbyist	Maryland League of Conservation Voters	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Plante, Cecilia	Maryland Legislative Coalition	Written (PDF)
FAV	Kinsey, Kathy	Mobilize Frederick	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hegarty, Dawn	Myself	Written (PDF)
FAV	Ostdahl, Maggielobbyist	National Aquarium	Written (PDF)
FAV	Aubourg, Matthew	On behalf of Johns Hopkins Environmental Health and Engineering Students and Postdocs	Written (PDF)
FAV	Duckett-Randolph, Neka	Out 4 Justice	Written (PDF)
FAV	Habib, Imanlobbyist	Progressive Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Sliviak, Gregory	Rock Creek	Written (PDF)
FAV	Sliviak, Ruth	Rock Creek Neighborhood	Written (PDF)
FAV	Casteel, Rachel	Sentinels of Eastern Shore Health	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Richards, Annie	ShoreRivers	Written (PDF)
FAV	Valdivia, Kathleen	St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church	Written (PDF)
FAV	Rosenstein, Madeline	The Access to Justice Clinic (Environmental Policy Division) within the Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics of the George Washington University Law School	Written (PDF)

Showing 60 of 115

Organizations on record

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE)FAV 1

American Sugar Refining, Inc.UNF 1

Audubon Mid-AtlanticFAV 1

Blue Water BaltimoreFAV 1

Brandywine | TB Southern Region Neighborhood Coalition / Executive Community Citizen's Board (ECCB)UNF 1

Brandywine BTB CoalitionINFO 1

Center for Progressive ReformFAV 1

Centro de Apoyo FamiliarFAV 1

Chesapeake Bay FoundationFAV 1

Chesapeake Physicians for Social ResponsibilityFAV 1

ChispaFAV 1

Clean Water ActionFAV 1

Climate Communications CoalitionFAV 1

Climate Justice Wing of the Maryland Legislative CoalitionFAV 1

Climate Mobilization Montgomery CountyFAV 1

Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable CommunitiesFAV 1

Community of Curtis Bay AssociationFAV 1

Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCAFAV 1

Delmarva Chicken AssociationUNF 1

Elders Climate ActionFAV 1

Elders Climate Action MarylandFAV 1

Environmental Integrity ProjectFAV 1

Green & Healthy Homes InitiativeFAV 1

Healthy Climate MarylandFAV 1

HoCo Climate ActionFAV 1

Illuminate MarylandFAV 1

IndivisibleHoCoMDFAV 1

Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVa)FAV 1

Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Howard CountyFAV 1

Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable FutureFAV 1

Johns Hopkins UniversityFAV 1

League of Women Voters of MarylandFAV 1

Legal Resource Center for Public Health PolicyFAV 1

Legislative Black Caucus of MarylandFAV 1

Legislative body for the Unitarian Universalist faith, C/O Unitarian Universalist Church of AnnapolisFAV 1

Maryland Asphalt AssociationUNF 1

Maryland Association of Counties (MACo)UNF 1

Maryland Association of Municipal Wastewater AgenciesUNF 1

Maryland Bankers AssociationUNF 1

Maryland Building Industry AssociationUNF 1

Maryland Catholics for Our Common HomeFAV 1

Maryland Chamber of CommerceUNF 1

Maryland Climate PartnersFAV 1

Maryland Department of HealthFAV 1

Maryland Department of the EnvironmentFAV 3

Maryland Environmental ServiceFWA 1

Maryland Farm BureauUNF 1

Maryland League of Conservation VotersFAV 1

Maryland Legislative CoalitionFAV 1

Mayor's Office of Government RelationsFWA 1

MD PSCINFO 1

MD Sierra ClubFAV 1

MD Third Act or Marylanders for Data Center ReformFAV 1

MDLCVFAV 7

Mobilize FrederickFAV 1

MTBMAUNF 1

MyselfFAV 1

NAIOP MarylandUNF 1

National AquariumFAV 1

On behalf of Johns Hopkins Environmental Health and Engineering Students and PostdocsFAV 1

Out 4 JusticeFAV 1

Progressive MarylandFAV 1

Rock CreekFAV 1

Rock Creek NeighborhoodFAV 1

Rural CaucusFWA 1

Sentinels of Eastern Shore HealthFAV 1

ShoreRiversFAV 1

Smith Industries, Inc.UNF 1

St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic ChurchFAV 1

The Access to Justice Clinic (Environmental Policy Division) within the Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics of the George Washington University Law SchoolFAV 1

Trash Free MarylandFAV 1

YearFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVKunze, JenniferClean Water ActionRegistered for: Clean Water Action

FAVHunter, CaseyLeague of Women Voters of MarylandRegistered for: League of Women Voters of Maryland

FAVTulkin, JoshMD Sierra ClubRegistered for: Sierra Club Maryland Chapter

FAVRehr, RebeccaMaryland League of Conservation VotersRegistered for: Maryland League of Conservation Voters

FAVOstdahl, MaggieNational AquariumRegistered for: National Aquarium

FAVHabib, ImanProgressive MarylandRegistered for: Progressive Maryland

FAVDoordan, KellyTrash Free MarylandRegistered for: Trash Free Maryland

UNFMiddleton, GraysonDelmarva Chicken AssociationRegistered for: Delmarva Chicken Association

UNFOchsenhirt, LisaMaryland Association of Municipal Wastewater AgenciesRegistered for: Maryland Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies; Maryland Municipal Stormwater Association…

UNFGraf, LoriMaryland Building Industry AssociationRegistered for: Maryland Building Industry Association

UNFAllen, HannahMaryland Chamber of CommerceRegistered for: Maryland Chamber of Commerce

UNFHough, TylerMaryland Farm BureauRegistered for: Maryland Farm Bureau

FWACotton, NatalieRegistered for: Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative