Prince George's County - Alcoholic Beverages - Notice of License Applications PG 322-26
HB1270 amends Maryland’s Natural Resources and Public Utilities laws to create targeted exceptions within three designated wildland areas in Garrett and Allegany counties—Big Savage Mountain Wildland, Bear Pen Wildland, and Dan’s Mountain Wildland—for a specific overhead transmission line project associated with NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic, Inc. The bill removes from those wildland designations certain corridors where a transmission line may be built, but only if the applicant obtains a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) under § 7-207 of the Public Utilities Article. It also preserves the existing Potomac Edison transmission line exclusions already recognized in those areas.
In addition to carving out those route-specific exceptions, the bill adds a new requirement for the Public Service Commission when reviewing CPCN applications for overhead transmission lines in the affected wildland areas. The Commission must require the applicant to provide wildland impact mitigation guarantees, including working with the Department of Natural Resources to add additional wildland acreage. The bill also directs the Department of Natural Resources to continue certain management activities in Dan’s Mountain Wildland, including roads, trails, habitat improvements, and other actions tied to a federal wildlife restoration grant.
The bill’s practical effect is to modify the legal boundaries and protections of selected State wildland areas so that a proposed transmission project can potentially proceed through or alongside them, while imposing mitigation obligations on the utility applicant. It changes both the Natural Resources Article, by redefining the scope of the named wildlands, and the Public Utilities Article, by adding a CPCN condition for transmission lines in those areas. The bill is narrowly tailored to the Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link/NextEra project and includes a sunset-like abrogation provision if an alternative route avoiding the wildlands is approved or if the project is denied.
The overall sentiment reflected in the bill text is supportive of the transmission project’s need and reliability rationale, but also cautious about environmental impacts. The preamble emphasizes electric reliability, public review, and the need for a CPCN process, while Section 2 expressly states that the Act should not be read as a recommendation that the project receive approval. The committee report indicates the bill was favorable with amendments and adopted in the House, suggesting some legislative support, though the later withdrawal by sponsor indicates the measure did not ultimately advance in that form.
The main point of contention is the tradeoff between energy infrastructure reliability and preservation of protected wildland areas. Supporters appear to view the bill as a necessary accommodation for a regional transmission line intended to address electric system reliability, while opponents or skeptics would likely focus on the precedent of weakening wildland protections and the environmental impacts of routing overhead transmission through preserved lands. The mitigation-guarantee requirement and the possibility of an alternative route avoiding the wildlands appear designed to address those concerns.
HB1270 would amend the Maryland Natural Resources Article to exclude specified transmission-line corridors from the Big Savage Mountain, Bear Pen, and Dan’s Mountain wildland designations, and it would amend the Public Utilities Article to require the Public Service Commission to impose wildland impact mitigation guarantees for overhead transmission lines in those areas. The bill would directly affect the legal status of protected state lands in Garrett and Allegany counties and would add new conditions to CPCN review for transmission projects, especially the NextEra/Mid-Atlantic Resiliency Link project and related utility applicants.
The bill’s tone is generally pro-infrastructure and pro-reliability, with the preamble stressing electric system reliability and the need for a comprehensive CPCN review process. At the same time, the bill includes explicit safeguards and a statement that it should not be construed as endorsing the project, indicating an effort to balance development with conservation concerns. The committee report was favorable with amendments and the House adopted the bill, but the sponsor later withdrew it, suggesting that while the concept had some support, it remained politically or procedurally unsettled.
The central contention is whether protected wildland areas should be modified to accommodate a high-voltage transmission line. Supporters of the bill likely emphasize grid reliability, regional planning, and the availability of mitigation, while opponents would focus on preserving wildland integrity, avoiding precedent for encroachment into protected lands, and the environmental and aesthetic impacts of overhead transmission corridors. A secondary point of contention is route selection: the bill is tied to a specific NextEra line but also contemplates an alternative route that would avoid the wildlands entirely, which suggests disagreement over whether the project should be allowed to cross these areas at all.