SB544 amends Maryland’s food establishment sanitation requirements to create a narrow exception for certain agritourism-related businesses. Under current law, food establishments must provide a convenient toilet and lavatory that are sanitary, ventilated, and equipped with handwashing supplies. This bill allows a limited group of establishments—businesses conducting agritourism, Class 4 limited wineries, and Class 8 farm breweries—to satisfy the lavatory requirement by providing a portable chemical toilet, so long as it otherwise meets the existing sanitary and accessibility-related requirements and is located at least 25 feet from a well.
The bill does not broadly change restroom rules for all food establishments. Instead, it carves out a specific compliance option for rural, farm-based, and visitor-oriented alcohol and food businesses that may face practical constraints in providing permanent indoor lavatory facilities. The act takes effect June 1, 2025, and amends Section 21-325 of the Health-General Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
Impact
SB544 modifies Maryland Health-General § 21-325 by adding subsection (d), which creates a limited alternative method of compliance with the lavatory requirement for specified agritourism businesses, limited wineries, and farm breweries. It preserves the general rule for food establishments while allowing portable chemical toilets to count as a convenient lavatory if they meet sanitation and placement standards, including a 25-foot setback from a well. The bill primarily affects operators of farm-based hospitality and alcohol-production businesses, and it may reduce infrastructure costs and regulatory barriers for those entities.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate 43-0 and the House 133-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The absence of committee transcript opposition or recorded debate suggests the measure was viewed as a practical, limited adjustment to existing health and sanitation rules rather than a major policy change.
Contention
No significant opposition is reflected in the available record. The only likely policy concern implicit in the bill is balancing flexibility for agritourism, wineries, and farm breweries against public health and environmental safeguards, especially sanitation and protection of wells from contamination. Because the bill is narrowly tailored and retains requirements that the portable toilet otherwise meet existing lavatory standards, any contention would likely have centered on whether the exception was sufficiently limited and safe, rather than on the concept itself.