Maryland Offshore Energy Framework
Author
James McElfish, Daniel Schramm, and Adam Schempp
Date Released
September 2009
Maryland Offshore Energy Framework

ELI’s Oceans and Land & Biodiversity staff analyze the tools available to Maryland’s Coastal Zone Management Program to address new energy activities in state and federal coastal waters. The report assesses Maryland’s existing laws and policies, interstate agreements, and federal laws, and identifies potential measures that can help Maryland create an Offshore Energy Framework.

Maryland Farmland Conservation: Supporting Sustainable Use of Land through Tax Policy
Author
Rebecca Gruby and James McElfish Jr., Environmental Law Institute and Dr. Lori Lynch and Qing Li, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland
Date Released
December 2008
Maryland Farmland Conservation: Supporting Sustainable Use of Land through Tax P

Maryland’s population is increasing rapidly while the state continues to lose its agricultural lands. This study explores Maryland’s primary tax measures affecting agriculture, the agricultural use assessment (AUA) and the agricultural land transfer tax (ATT), in order to determine whether these related tax programs could be improved in ways that would encourage farmland protection while continuing to benefit farmers’ bottom lines.