Committee approves amendment exempting Bay Bridge from Transportation and Climate Alignment Act; four voting no

The Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to HB 437, the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act, excluding construction or reconstruction of the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Chesapeake Bay Bridge (and related US‑50 work) from the bill’s requirements for greenhouse‑gas impact assessments and offsetting activities.

Delegate Edelson (speaker 10), the sponsor, described the bill’s requirements for the Maryland Department of Transportation to assess greenhouse gas emissions and undertake mitigation for major highway expansion projects. The committee considered a single amendment to exempt bridge work connected with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge project.

“At some point, we are gonna have to replace the Bay Bridge. We’re gonna have to add lane miles,” Delegate Grace (speaker 3) said in support of the amendment, citing heavy seasonal traffic to the shore as a rationale for exempting that project.

The amendment passed on a voice vote; the bill then proceeded to roll call. The recorded roll call shows four members voting no (Delegates Grace, Beacham, Hinebaugh and Metzger) while the remainder voted yes; the chair announced the bill passed after the roll call.

What happens next: HB 437, as amended, will move on from committee. The transcript records the dissenting votes but does not include additional floor‑level amendments or fiscal analysis in this segment.