Maryland

Maryland’s Climate Pollution Reduction Plan

Maryland Commission on Climate Change

Climate Change Subcabinet

Chief Sustainability Officer

60% by 2031 | Net-zero by 2045

Relative to 2006 levels

The 2006-2020 Greenhouse Gas Inventory was published in September 2022.

Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities

MDE – EJ Coordinator

The Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 also requires the Maryland Department of Environment to provide staff for the Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities

"Overburdened communities" are the 25% highest scoring census tracts in 3 or more of 21 environmental health indicators, related to pollution exposure, proximity to environmental hazards, and health outcomes.

"Underserved communities" are census tracts where at least 25% of residents are low-income, 50% are nonwhite, or 15% have limited English proficiency

MD EJSCREEN

MD Climate and Health Equity Mapper

Just Transition Employment and Retraining Working Group

Maryland Clean Energy Center, which administers the Climate Catalytic Capital Fund

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) covers the electricity sector.

30.5% renewable energy by 2020 | 50% by 2030

Maryland has an active community choice aggregation program.

The State Policy Opportunity Tracker (SPOT) breaks clean energy policies down into “components”, which are binary questions to evaluate policy quality. Higher quality policies have more of their SPOT components fulfilled.

750 megawatts (MW) of storage capacity by 2027, 1,500 MW by 2030, and 3,000 MW by 2033

Maryland received a C grade from Freeing the Grid.

The statewide energy code for commercial building construction is 2021 IECC with amendments and ASHRAE 90.1-2019.

The statewide energy code for residential construction is 2021 IECC with amendments.

The Energy and Water Efficiency Standards apply to 11 products.

The Building Energy Performance Standard requires buildings larger than 35,000 square feet to reduce direct emissions from buildings by 20% by 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.

The Maryland Department of the Environment is required to propose a clean heat standard regulation.

Electric utilities are required to achieve a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction equivalent of annual electricity savings of 2% in 2024, 2.24% in 2025 and 2026, and 2.5% for each year after that. Utilities must achieve annual energy savings for low-income residential units for the 2024-2026 EmPOWER cycle, starting at 0.53% in 2024 and increasing to 1.0% in 2026.

Gas utilities are not subject to an EERS.

Maryland has enacted commercial PACE-enabling legislation and has active programs.

The Maryland Department of the Environment is required to propose a zero-emission heating equipment standard that will phase-in zero-emissions standards for heating equipment.

Maryland Clean Cars Program

Model Year (MY) 2027: 43% of new passenger vehicle sales are ZEVs | MY 2030: 68% of new sales are ZEVs | MY 2035: 100% of new sales are ZEVs, with up to 20% being hybrid or hydrogen-powered vehicles.

By 2035: 55% of Class 2b-3 truck sales are zero-emissions | 75% of Class 4-8 straight truck sales are zero-emissions | 40% of Class 7-8 tractor sales are zero-emissions.

The Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Grant Program provides grants to cover up to 75% of the incremental cost of new medium- and heavy-duty battery and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

25% of annual bus procurements by the Maryland Transit Administration are zero-emission by FY25

100% of the state's passenger vehicle fleet are ZEVs by 2031, and 100% of the state's light-duty vehicle fleet are ZEVs by 2036

The Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Rebate Program offers rebates for the purchase and installation of Level 2 and direct current (DC) fast chargers, up to $700 for residential chargers and up to $5,000 for commercial chargers.

Requires that new construction of detached single-family homes, duplexes, and townhouses with a separate garage or driveway have one parking space that is EV-ready or has EV supply equipment (EVSE) installed.

The Maryland Department of Transportation is required to establish specific annual greenhouse gas and vehicle miles traveled reduction targets for the transportation sector.

Maryland is ranked 14th out of 50 in the 2022 Bicycle Friendly State rankings by the League of American Bicyclists.

The state prohibits certain HFCs in specific stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning end-uses.

Hydraulic fracking for the exploration and production of natural gas is banned.

Operators must reduce vented and fugitive emissions of methane from both new and existing natural gas transmission and storage facilities.

Food waste ban – The state requires businesses and institutions that generate at least 2 tons of food waste per week to dispose of food residuals via composting or anaerobic digestion.

Reporting and control of methane emissions from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are required.

The Maryland Healthy Soils Program provides financial assistance to manage conservation practices in new and innovative ways that improve soil health, yield, and profitability and capture carbon.

Maryland's Cover Crop Program offers grants to help pay for seed, labor, and equipment costs to plant cover crops.