On the second Wednesday of each January, the Maryland General Assembly (GAM) begins a ninety day legislative session. During this time 47 State Senators, and 141 Delegates work to consider action on multiple bills, as well as the states capital and operating budgets.
The information below is specific to bills that CCA Maryland is tracking and/or taking action on this session. Each testimony we provide on behalf of the members of CCA Maryland can be found in each section.
The majority of the bills that impact recreational fishing and the management and conservation of our natural resources are heard by the House Environment & Transportation Committee, or Senate Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee, before being debated, and voted on by the full House of Delegates and Senate.
Educating the GAM about issues impacting recreational fishing and a healthy environment is one important way that CCA Maryland works to conserve, promote and enhance Maryland's marine resources, for the overall benefit of the very resources that recreational anglers rely on.
GAM Resources:
GAM Home Page- NEW FOR 2020!
Bills CCA Maryland is Tracking, Supporting, or Opposing
If there are other Bills you would like CCA Maryland to weigh in on, please contact us at advocacy@ccamd.org
STATUS: In the Senate - Referral to Committee
Synopsis:Prohibiting the Department of Natural Resources from including the dredging of buried oyster shells on Man-O-War Shoals as part of a fishery management plan; and prohibiting the Department from dredging buried oyster shells on Man-O-War Shoals.
Bill Information: SB 437
Committee Hearing Date/Time: 2/25 1pm
CCA Action: SUPPORT
Further Information on CCA Position & Issue : Save Man O War Website
STATUS: In the Senate - Referral to Committee / In the House
Synopsis:Establishing the Office of the Environmental and Natural Resources Ombudsman; requiring the Ombudsman to have the ability to analyze environmental and natural resource-related data and communicate effectively with State agencies and the public; providing for the appointment, qualifications, term, and salary of the Ombudsman; requiring the Ombudsman to receive and process complaints involving suspected environmental and natural resources violations in a certain manner; etc.
Bill Information: SB 460 / HB 614
Committee Hearing Date/Time: Senate 2/19 1pm / House 2/29 1pm
CCA Action: SUPPORT
STATUS: In the Senate - In Committee / In the House - In Committee
Synopsis: Authorizing the Secretary of Natural Resources to adopt regulations to define and govern the use of hydraulic clam dredges, subject to certain requirements; increasing the frequency with which the Department of Natural Resources must update the delineations of SAV protection zones; requiring the updated delineations to include areas where submerged aquatic vegetation has been mapped by certain aerial surveys in at least 1 of the previous 5 years; etc.
Bill Information:SB 629 / HB 1306
Committee Hearing Date/Time: Senate 2/25 1PM / House 3/4 1pm
CCA Action: SUPPORT
STATUS: In the Senate - Hearing 1/29 at 1:00 p.m. / In the House - Passed Second Reading (3/10/20)
Synopsis: Repealing certain provisions of law that restrict the length of a haul seine that a person may use in certain waters of Anne Arundel County; and authorizing a person to use a haul seine to fish in the waters of Anne Arundel County except under certain circumstances.
Bill Information: HB 95 SB 162
Committee Hearing Date/Time: SB 162 : 1/29 1 pm
CCA Action: OPPOSE - Oral Testimony Only
STATUS: In the Senate - Favorable with Amendments - EHE Committee
In the House- In Committee - Hearing 3/4 1pm
Synopsis: Establishing an exception to the prohibition against fishing with a haul seine; and providing that, if a haul seine is set on a Friday, a person may empty it during the period from 12:01 a.m. on the following Saturday until sunrise on the following Monday.
Bill Information: SB 510/ HB 1399
Committee Hearing Date/Time: Senate (EHE)2/25 1:00pm / House (E&T) 3/4 1pm
CCA Action: OPPOSE
Written Testimony: HB 1399
STATUS: WITHDRAWN
Synopsis: Authorizing the Department of Natural Resources to reclassify an oyster sanctuary in which the oyster population has declined by 15% or more over a 10-year period as an oyster seed sanctuary; establishing the purpose of an oyster seed sanctuary; requiring that any activity conducted in an oyster seed sanctuary comply with certain adaptive management practices; and requiring that an oyster seed sanctuary be considered an oyster sanctuary for purposes of calculating a certain oyster habitat objective.
Bill Information: SB 678/ HB 1285
Committee Hearing Date/Time: Senate: 2/25 1PM / House 2/26 1PM
CCA Action: OPPOSE
STATUS: In the Senate - WITHDRAWN / In the House - In Committee
Synopsis: Establishing a minimum fine of $2,000 and maximum fine of $3,000 for unlawfully taking oysters from a submerged land lease or water column lease under certain circumstances; requiring a person who unlawfully takes oysters from a submerged land lease or water column lease to complete a certain class at the person's expense; providing that a person who commits a certain second or subsequent offense is guilty of the crime of theft and subject to certain criminal penalties; etc.
Bill Information: SB 689/ HB 856
Committee Hearing Date/Time: Senate: 2/25 1PM / House 2/26 1PM
CCA Action: SUPPORT
STATUS: In the Senate - In Committee / In the House - In Committee
Synopsis: Altering the date from June 1, 2019, to April 1, 2020, by which the Department of Natural Resources is required to convene in a certain manner the Oyster Advisory Commission; altering the version of the fishery management plan for oysters that the Department is required to develop before taking certain management action governing oyster sanctuaries; repealing a certain provision of law authorizing the Commission to meet and deliberate in closed session under certain circumstances; etc.
Bill Information: SB 808/ HB 911
Committee Hearing Date/Time: Senate: 2/25 1PM / House 2/12 1pm
CCA Action: SUPPORT
STATUS: In the Senate - In Committee , In the House - In Committee
Synopsis: Requiring the Department of Natural Resources to conduct a study on methods of obtaining more accurate harvest data for the recreational striped bass fishery; requiring the study to examine certain issues relevant to obtaining more accurate harvest data for the recreational striped bass fishery; requiring the Department to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and certain committees of the General Assembly on or before December 1, 2020; etc.
Bill Information: SB 882 / HB 1397
Committee Hearing Date/Time: Senate: 2/25 1PM / House 3/4 1pm
CCA Action: SUPPORT
STATUS: In the House - In Committee
Synopsis: Prohibiting the Department of Natural Resources from revoking an authorization to catch oysters unless the Department first holds a certain hearing; prohibiting a certain hearing from being held more than a certain number of days after a certain offense; authorizing, rather than requiring, the Department to revoke a person's authorization to catch oysters if the Department finds or concludes that the person has knowingly committed one of certain offenses; etc.
Bill Information: HB 1498
Committee Hearing Date/Time: 3/6 1PM
CCA Action: OPPOSE
STATUS: WITHDRAWN
Synopsis: Removing the authorization to harvest oysters from the list of activities authorized under an unlimited tidal fish license; requiring the Department of Natural Resources to, by regulation, modify the total number of certain commercial oyster authorizations based on certain factors; for the license year beginning on September 1, 2020, requiring the Department to issue a certain commercial oyster authorization only to a licensee who meets certain requirements; etc.
Bill Information: SB 948
Committee Hearing Date/Time: 2/25 1PM
CCA Action: NONE
STATUS: In the House - In Committee
Synopsis: Increasing the amount of the severance tax levied on oysters caught within certain natural oyster bars from $1 to $2 per bushel; and requiring that $1 of the severance tax levied be distributed to certain county oyster committees for the repletion of natural oyster bars within the waters of the counties.
Bill Information: HB 1353
Committee Hearing Date/Time: House 3/4 1pm
CCA Action: OPPOSE
Written Testimony: HB 1353
STATUS: In the House - Passed Second Reading, In the Senate- Passed Second Reading
Providing that a boat or vessel used under a limited fishing guide license may be propelled by human power.
Bill Information: HB 1131/ SB 793
Committee Hearing Date/Time: House 3/4 1pm
CCA Action: Support
Written Testimony: HB 1131/ SB 793