Today, we are testifying with the Mid-Atlantic Justice Coalition in support of one of our main legislative priorities: the CHERISH Our Communities Act, to bring cumulative impacts considerations into Maryland's pollution permitting system. This bill is an environmental community priority and supported by environmental, climate, and environmental justice organizations around the state. Check out the testimony below, signed by 41 organizations, and take action in support of the CHERISH Act today!
Testimony Supporting HB1484
CHERISH Our Communities Act:
Cumulative Harms to Environmental Restoration
for Improving our Shared Health
House Environment & Transportation Committee
March 11, 2025
Position: SUPPORT
Dear Chair Korman and Members of the Committee,
The undersigned 41 community, climate, and environmental organizations and elected officials urge you to support HB1484 (from Cumulative Harms to Environmental Restoration for Improving Shared Health - the CHERISH Our Communities Act). This important public health legislation will fill a critical gap in Maryland’s ability to protect communities overburdened by pollution.
HB1484 will provide the Maryland Department of the Environment with critical tools to ensure that polluting facilities aren’t increasingly concentrated in communities in Maryland already overburdened by pollution. HB1484 specifically covers communities in and immediately around census tracts with an environmental justice score of 75 or above, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment's EJ Screening Tool. Having this score means that a community is in the top 25% most polluted and most underserved census tracts in the state. Accordingly the state should design its permitting process to consider the existing pollution in communities with a high EJ score before siting another facility there that may add to and worsen the disproportionate burden of pollution on the community. This is similar to a preventive care visit at a doctor’s office. We need to assess what’s currently going on before recommending the next course of action.
For proposed projects within these specific geographic areas, HB1484 calls for extra information from the permit applicant in the form of an Environmental Impact Statement and Existing Burden Report, and calls the Maryland Department of the Environment to consider whether the project will increase the pollution burden on the surrounding community as part of their review process. If it will, HB1484 outlines steps for the MDE to take to protect the community and for continuing community benefits to address the harm of pollution.
HB1484, together with its companion bill HB1406 addressing polluting energy-generating facilities, represents the culmination of years of community-led coordination in assessing cumulative impacts of pollution. As states like New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Minnesota have passed legislation to address cumulative impacts in the past five years, Maryland cannot afford for its protections for overburdened communities to fall farther behind. Please pass the CHERISH Our Communities Act to ensure that frontline communities in Maryland gain these critical protections in 2025.
Sincerely,
Mid-Atlantic Justice Coalition
Walkiria Pool, Co-Anchor
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE)
Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, Executive Director
Concerned Citizens Against Industrial CAFOS (CCAIC)
Gabby Ross, Founder
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Matt Stegman, Maryland Staff Attorney
Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVa)
Andrea Orozco, Faithful Advocacy Lead
Greater Baybrook Alliance
Meredith Chaiken, CEO
Maryland League of Conservation Voters
Rebecca Rehr, Director, Climate Policy & Justice
Community Development Network of Maryland
Claudia Wilson Randall, Executive Director
Namati
Jay Monteverde, Senior Advisor, US Environmental and Economic Justice Program
Sussex Health & Environmental Network/ Sentinels of Eastern Shore Health
Maria Payan, Executive Director
Baltimore City Council District 10
Phylicia Porter, Councilwoman
Clean Water Action
Jennifer Kunze, Maryland Organizing Director
Baltimore Green Space
Katherine Lautar, Executive Director
Climate Communications Coalition
Sonia Demiray, Executive Director
Maryland Latinos Unidos
Carlos Orbe, Jr, Communications and Public Affairs Specialist
Our Zero Waste Future
Dante Davidson-Swinton, Executive Director
Young, Gifted & Green
LaTricea Adams, Founder CEO and President
Maryland Legislative Coalition - Climate Justice Wing
Dave Arndt, CoChair
Green Dharma
Anjali Gulati, Green Dharma Organizer - Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVA)
Environmental Justice Maryland
Zack Buster, Founder & Executive Director
Durham Street Initiatives
Tennille Blue, Chief Financial Officer
Defensores de la Cuenca
Abel Olivo, Executive Director
Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund
Brittany Baker, Maryland Director
Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility
Gwen L. DuBois MD, MPH, President
Coal Kills Baltimore
John Scheinman, Terrel Askew, Olivia Yates, Evelyn Hoon, Co-Founders
350.org
Taylor Smith-Hams, US Senior Organizer
Gwynns Falls Community Association
Christopher Schulze, President
Baltimore Tree Trust
Shannon R Smith, Nursery Manager
Indivisible HoCoMD Environmental Action
Peter Alexander, Co-Facilitator
Northeast Catholic Community
Nancy Assero, Chair: Peace and Justice Committee
Beaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group
Tom Taylor, Co-Chair
Whitelock Community Farm
Jennifer West, Executive Director
Maryland Catholics for Our Common Home
Bob Simon, Member, Organizing Committee
Coal Free Curtis Bay
Andrew Hinz, Volunteer
Panic Problem
Tom Gilhuley, President
ShoreRivers
Annie Richards, Chester Riverkeeper
Out For Justice
Trina Seldon, Executive Director
National Aquarium
Maggie Ostdahl, Senior Conservation Policy Manager
Earthjustice
Rachel Rintelmann, Managing Attorney, Community Partnerships Program
Temple Church Ministries
Tennille Blue, Chief Financial Officer
Mountain Maryland Movement
Ann Bristow, Spokesperson
