Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed what he called “the most comprehensive piece of Chesapeake Bay legislation that Maryland has seen in years,” at a time when federal cuts threaten environmental programs for the estuary.
The Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act was signed Tuesday, one of 171 bills signed into law at the fourth and next-to-last bill signing ceremony following the 2025 legislative session.
The wide-ranging Legacy Act allots “up to $900,000 per year” to a new certification program for farmers who use sustainable practices that decrease runoff into the bay, establishes a water quality monitoring program to unify current testing efforts and aims to streamline oyster aquaculture leasing, among other provisions.
“At a time when we see how our federal administration has stepped back from protecting our air and our water, Maryland is stepping up,” Moore said.
The governor also signed an abortion grant program that will help fund abortion services for uninsured and underinsured individuals, and a bill allowing individuals with autism and other nonapparent conditions to add an identifying symbol to their state IDs. That, and Tuesday saw the approval of a new state mineral, chromite, and a new state cocktail, the Orange Crush.
Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act
President Donald Trump (R) and his Department of Government Efficiency have already cut positions at the Chesapeake Bay Program, which administers the bay cleanup, as well as at agencies whose work touches the bay, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. DOGE also threw environmental grant programs into chaos by freezing funds, some of which were later unlocked.
But advocates say Trump’s proposed “skinny” budget for fiscal 2026 would go considerably further, and “devastate” efforts to clean up the estuary, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The bill would hack $5 billion from the EPA, including $2.46 billion in cuts that would “cripple” programs that help sewage treatment plants reduce pollution into waterways like the bay, according to CBF. Trump’s proposal would also slash $1.3 billion in grants and research programs at NOAA and $564 million at the U.S. Geological Survey, eliminating climate-related work to “focus on achieving dominance in energy and critical minerals.”
Allison Colden, the bay foundation’s Maryland executive director, said the federal losses make Maryland’s Bay Legacy law even more important.
“With federal cuts and rollbacks looming heavily on our state, Maryland’s environmental leadership is more important than ever,” Colden said in a statement. “This Act will help maintain forward momentum and ensure that investments in clean air, clean water, habitats, and local economies are secured.”
The new law came in a challenging budget year, during which lawmakers had to correct a multibillion-dollar deficit by cutting programs and raising fees.
As drafted, the bill would have allocated $2 million to the Leaders in Environmentally Engaged Farming, or LEEF, program, but budget-conscious lawmakers cut that to “up to $900,000” a year. The budget reconciliation process further reduced the sum to $500,000 for next fiscal year, with some of that money contingent on the Maryland Department of Agriculture submitting a plan for program spending.
“Unfortunately, we saw less coming out of the state budget for that program than maybe we would have liked to see,” Colden said. “But the point is, we have that program established. They have some initial seed funding.”
With funding and other incentives, Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks said the LEEF program will encourage farmers not only to pursue environmentally friendly practices, but to engage the community and share information about the practices with others.
“It incentivizes them in a way that we believe farmers and the community will rally behind and will make extra progress,” Atticks said.
As he signed the bill, Moore was backed by Nia Nyamweya, who brought a basket of leafy greens harvested from her Beauty Bloom Farms in Montgomery County. The produce and flower farm aims to regenerate the soils, formerly used for corn and soybean farming, with organic practices and cover cropping, according to its website.
Nyamweya leases her farm land from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Moore said. The bill codifies the practice in state law.
“That kind of partnership is rare, but the Bay Legacy Act will make these kinds of lease agreements easier,” Moore said.
The bill drew some early concerns for its massive scope, touching on everything from agricultural practices to a Japanese fish processing technique called ikejime. Delmarva Fisheries Association Chairman Robert Newberry called it “an ag bill with a side salad of fishery management and aquaculture.”
He initially balked at a provision that would have removed DNR’s obligation to produce its own fishery management plans for a variety of species, from white perch and blue crabs to croakers and horseshoe crabs, deferring to plans created by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
The final law requires DNR to keep producing state-level plans for blue crabs, oysters, white and yellow perch, and a few other species, but it lifts the requirement for others, such as menhaden, spot and black sea bass.
In the end, Newberry supported the Bay Legacy bill. In particular, he appreciated an amendment that added specificity to an existing law preventing discrimination against groups of fishermen, adding fishing guides and charter boat captains.
Newberry has been among a group of fisherman fighting rules from the Atlantic States Commission limiting charters to one rockfish per person, beginning last year.
“I wanted to have the fisheries specifically defined,” Newberry said. “So that protects us.”
Abortion grant program
Maryland will also have a new grant program that will help fund abortion services for uninsured and underinsured individuals using a stockpile of unused premium surcharges, now that Moore signed House Bill 930 and Senate Bill 848 into law.
“Maryland will always be a safe haven for abortion access,” Moore said.
The legislation prompts the Department of Health to tap into about $25 million in premium surcharges that were required as part of the federal Affordable Care Act but have not yet been spent down.
That money is the $1-a-month fee that insurers in the ACA marketplace are required to collect on every policy to fund abortion services for their policyholders. But that fund has been growing by about $3 million annually as collections have outpaced need.
Moore said the legislation builds off previous efforts to expand abortion access in the state, calling it the “next chapter in our work to protect and defend basic health care rights.”
Eric’s ID
Moore also signed legislation known as “Eric’s ID Law” that will let people with nonapparent disabilities, including autism, have a butterfly icon added to their driver’s licenses, to alert police officers and other officials that they are interacting with someone with a disability that may not be immediately visible.
Lt. Gov Aruna Miller noted that the “thoughtful and compassionate initiative” was inspired by Eric Carpenter-Grantham, a 20-year-old Montgomery County resident with autism, one of the nonapparent disabilities identified in House Bill 707 and Senate Bill 618.
Eric’s Law has been in the works for several years, in collaboration with members of the disability community, finally receiving House and Senate approval this past session, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) noted.
by Christine Condon and Danielle J. Brown, Maryland Matters
May 14, 2025
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