HB 1287

Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity - BURDEN Analysis (CHERISH Our Communities Act)

Sponsor: Andre V. Johnson, Jr. (District 34A)Committee: Environment and TransportationSubject: Utility RegulationStatus: Hearing 3/13 at 1:30 p.m. (as of Sep 4, 2026)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Requiring that an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for certain generating stations located within a certain at-risk area to include with the application a baseline understanding of risk, disparities, and environmental needs (BURDEN) report describing and including information on certain environmental and public health burdens; altering the contents of a certain notice that must be provided on receipt of an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity; etc.

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Analysis reads the bill text, the fiscal note, and the witness list. It is generated by Claude and reviewed by nobody, so check the source documents before you rely on it.

Testimony (93)

MGA witness list

FAV 86FavorableFWA 1Favorable with amendmentsUNF 3UnfavorableINFO 3Information 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	White, Krystina	CEEJH INC	Oral
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	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	Hession, Melody	Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCA	Position only
FAV	Wharton, Leslie	Elders Climate Action	Written (PDF)
FAV	Stewart, Frances	Elders Climate Action Maryland	Written (PDF)
FAV	Aguilar, Jorgelobbyist	Food & Water Watch	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Organization, HoCo Climate Action	HoCo Climate Action	Written (PDF)
FAV	Guttam, Rishit	Illuminate Maryland	Position only
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	Labruto, Nicole	Johns Hopkins University	Written (PDF)
FAV	Pisanic, Nora	Johns Hopkins University	Oral
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	Tucker, Walter	Maryland Episcopal Public Policy Network	Oral + Written (PDF)
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	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Habib, Imanlobbyist	Progressive Maryland	Oral + 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	Written (PDF)
FAV	Gross, Jada	Social Work Advocates for Social Change	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)
FAV	Kaplowitz, Richard KAP	Year	Written (PDF)
FAV	Arndt, Dave	Individual	Position only
FAV	Bautista, Katie	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Bergman, Steven	Individual	Written (PDF)

Showing 60 of 93

Organizations on record

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE)FAV 1

Audubon Mid-AtlanticFAV 1

Blue Water BaltimoreFAV 1

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

CEEJH INCFAV 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

Delaware-Maryland Synod of the ELCAFAV 1

Elders Climate ActionFAV 1

Elders Climate Action MarylandFAV 1

Food & Water WatchFAV 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 UniversityFAV 2

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 Catholics for Our Common HomeFAV 1

Maryland Chamber of CommerceINFO 1

Maryland Climate PartnersFAV 1

Maryland Department of HealthFAV 1

Maryland Department of Natural ResourcesINFO 1

Maryland Episcopal Public Policy NetworkFAV 1

Maryland League of Conservation VotersFAV 1

Maryland Legislative CoalitionFAV 1

MD Sierra ClubFAV 1

MD Third Act or Marylanders for Data Center ReformFAV 1

MDLCVFAV 7

Mobilize FrederickFAV 1

MTBMAUNF 1

MyselfFAV 1

National AquariumFAV 1

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

Out 4 JusticeFAV 1

Progressive MarylandFAV 1

PSCINFO 1

Rock CreekFAV 1

Rock Creek NeighborhoodFAV 1

Sentinels of Eastern Shore HealthFAV 1

Social Work Advocates for Social ChangeFAV 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

YearFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVKunze, JenniferClean Water ActionRegistered for: Clean Water Action

FAVAguilar, JorgeFood & Water WatchRegistered for: Food & Water Watch

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

FAVMiller, SusanRegistered for: Earthjustice

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