Governor Ehrlich’s record on air quality is mixed. The Governor takes credit for new and sweeping controls on pollution from coal-fired power plants in Maryland. However, the Ehrlich Administration opposed legislation in 2005 to reduce nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions then offered similar actions through a departmental rulemaking. After raising the possibility of a veto, Ehrlich signed the Healthy Air Act into law. Meanwhile, the Administration was criticized for lax enforcement of clean air laws and failing to join a lawsuit with other states and municipalities regarding air pollution regulations.

Healthy Air Act, the “4P” bill, and the Clean Power Rule - MIXED
In the 2005 legislative session, environmentalists and health advocates worked to pass the so-called “four pollutants” (4P) bill that would have placed restrictions on air pollution from power plants. The stricter regulation of the four pollutants — sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury, and carbon dioxide — is critically important to improve Maryland’s chronic air pollution. The bill died in a legislative committee. Later, it was exposed that the bill fell victim to a lobbying campaign closely coordinated between high-level Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) officials and lobbyists for Constellation Energy, which owns and operates several plants that would have been subject to the bill’s provisions. Lobbying materials written by Constellation were sent out word-for-word on MDE letterhead, including the signature of MDE Secretary Kendl Philbrick.

In November 2005, Governor Ehrlich proposed the “Maryland Clean Power Rule.” The rule, based somewhat on the “4P” bill that MDE had earlier opposed, proposed cuts in emissions of three of the four key airborne pollutants from Maryland power plants by more than 250,000 tons annually. According to MDE, when fully implemented, the regulations cut annual emission of nitrogen oxide by 75 percent, sulfur dioxide by 85 percent, and mercury by 90 percent.

In the 2006 session, the legislature considered the “Healthy Air Act,” a comprehensive successor to the “4P” legislation that was again opposed by the Ehrlich Administration. In a press release the Governor said, “The bill will dramatically increase the costs of electricity for consumers, force at least one power plant to close, and potentially cause rolling blackouts across Maryland.” However, polling showed the bill was favored by 90 percent of Marylanders, and the bill passed by wide margins in both the Maryland House and Senate. After literally locking his door to prevent receipt of the Healthy Air Act and raising the possibility of a veto, Governor Ehrlich signed the bill. His press release announced his decision to sign the legislation, stating “today’s announcement makes Maryland an undisputed national leader in air and water quality protection.”

Bush EPA Regulations - FAILING
Governor Ehrlich blocked a request by the Attorney General to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on coal-burning power plants. Under the Bush Administration EPA rules, power plants could avoid using cleaner coal-burning methods that reduce dangerous mercury emissions. Attorney General Curran’s proposal would have had Maryland join twelve other states in a lawsuit to overturn the rules. Instead, Ehrlich Administration officials said they would seek a meeting with the EPA.

Regional Council for Improving Air Quality - SATISFACTORY
Recognizing that Maryland’s air pollution problem requires regional solutions, the Ehrlich Administration signed onto a memorandum of understanding that created a regional council on air issues to include Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Baltimore City Air Quality Monitoring Halted - FAILING
The Ehrlich Administration stopped monitoring ozone pollution in Baltimore in 2003, despite the city's chronically bad air and the state's largest concentration of people with asthma. The Maryland Department of the Environment decided that keeping the monitors in the city was a redundant expense because the state maintains six others in the surrounding suburbs. However, the state maintained at least one, and sometimes two, ozone monitors in the city every summer from 1983 to 2002, with one gap in 2000 because of vandalism. The city monitors often measured ozone levels above federal standards, according to state data. On several occasions ozone levels measured at the monitors in the city failed to meet federal standards, while readings showed healthy air in suburban counties.

EPA Waiver to Relax Air Pollution Rules - FAILING
Following 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, gas prices spiked in Maryland. In response, Governor Ehrlich requested a federal waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to temporarily waive the requirement for the use of reformulated gasoline in Maryland. In April 2006, Governor Ehrlich again made this request, saying it was necessary to provide temporary relief to avoid temporary supply disruption and fuel shortages as refineries shift from MTBE to ethanol additives. Reformulated gasoline is used in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas along with Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne’s counties to reduce ozone air pollution.

MDE Receives Air Toxics Grant - SATISFACTORY
In 2005, MDE was successful in securing a $300,000 grant from EPA to address air toxics emissions from small stationary sources of air pollution in two “Environmental Benefit District” areas in Maryland. One is located in Baltimore City/County while the other one is in Prince George’s County near the D.C. border. Both of these areas have sensitive populations (e.g. children, elderly) and are at increased health risk from high levels of toxic air pollution.