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SB 479

Building Energy Performance Standards - Public Safety, Emergency, and Public Utility Buildings - Exclusion

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jack Bailey and 6 co-sponsors

SB 479 exempts public safety, emergency storm shelter, and public utility buildings from Maryland’s BEPS coverage, reducing near-term costs but sacrificing long-term energy savings

Hearing 2/27 at 1:00 p.m.
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Bill Summary · SB 479

SB 479 — Building Energy Performance Standards: Exclusion for Public Safety, Emergency, and Public Utility Buildings

Status: Hearing scheduled 2/27 at 1:00 p.m. (Introduced Feb 19, 2025)
Short title in text: Building Energy Performance Standards – Public Safety, Emergency, and Public Utility Buildings – Exclusion. Effective date (as in bill): October 1, 2025.

Purpose / Intent

SB 479 narrows which buildings are subject to Maryland’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) by excluding certain publicly used buildings from the statutory definition of “covered building.” The stated aim is to exempt facilities designated for public safety, emergency storm shelters, and public utility buildings from BEPS compliance requirements.

Key provisions

  • Amends the definition of “covered building” (Art. – Environment, §2–1601(e)) so that it no longer includes:
    • Public buildings designated by any federal, State, or local government for public safety purposes; or for use as an emergency storm shelter; and
    • Public utility buildings.
  • Leaves other BEPS requirements in place (the Department of the Environment (MDE) continues to develop standards and reporting requirements for remaining covered buildings):
    • Current BEPS goals referenced in law: 20% reduction in net direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by Jan 1, 2030 (vs. 2025 levels) and net‑zero direct GHG emissions by Jan 1, 2040.
    • Owners of covered buildings still required to measure and report direct emissions annually beginning in 2025.
    • Regulations must provide energy‑use targets, flexibility, and an alternative compliance pathway (fee), among other elements.

Who is affected

  • Exempted: state, county, municipal or other public buildings serving designated public safety functions (e.g., police, fire), emergency storm shelters, and buildings owned/used by public utilities.
  • Affected (indirectly): State agencies and local governments that own large public safety, shelter, or utility buildings — these entities would no longer be obligated under BEPS to meet specific emission or retrofit standards for exempted buildings.
  • MDE: regulatory scope reduced for the subset of buildings now excluded.
  • Energy and climate outcomes: potential reduction in near‑term compliance costs but long‑term foregone energy‑efficiency gains and GHG reductions for exempted facilities.
  • Small businesses: fiscal note projects minimal or no direct effect.

Fiscal and practical impacts (from fiscal analysis)

  • MDE can implement the statutory change with existing resources.
  • Near‑term state and local expenditures may decline because some costly retrofits and compliance activities would no longer be required for exempted buildings.
  • Long‑term: energy savings and GHG reductions that BEPS would have delivered for exempted facilities are foregone.
  • Examples cited: some counties (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick) and municipal entities expect lower immediate compliance costs; Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services noted substantial retrofitting costs would have been required under BEPS.

Timing / Procedure

  • Introduced Feb 19, 2025; hearing scheduled Feb 27, 2025 (1:00 p.m.). Bill proposes an effective date of October 1, 2025.
  • If enacted, the statutory change will immediately remove the identified building types from the population subject to BEPS requirements established under the Climate Solutions Now Act framework.

Bottom line

SB 479 narrows Maryland’s BEPS coverage by exempting public safety, emergency storm shelter, and public utility buildings from the “covered building” definition. The measure reduces the compliance burden and near‑term costs for owners of those buildings, while also reducing the potential long‑term energy savings and greenhouse‑gas reductions those standards were intended to produce.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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