Hubbard was the main sponsor of the 2006 Healthy Air Act that required power plants to reduce emissions of mercury, carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur – a bill that the Maryland Department of the Environment labels “the toughest power plant emission law on the east coast” and “the most sweeping air quality law in Maryland history.”  He led passage of legislation to reduce non-agricultural sources of phosphorous and nitrogen into the state’s waterways and the Chesapeake Bay (2007, 2011).

During his tenure in the legislature, first as a member of the Environmental Matters Committee (1992-2003) and then the Health and Government Operations Committee (2003-present), Hubbard had a major impact on Maryland’s laws on children’s environmental health.  He championed the creation of lead screening programs for children (1997) and the registration, labeling, or prohibition of products with harmful chemicals, such as mercury (2004, 2006), brominated flame retardants (2005), lead in children’s products (2008), child care articles and containers containing bisphenol-A (2010, 2011), cadmium in children’s jewelry (2011), and child care products with flame-retardant chemicals (2013).

In presenting the award, Baird Straughan, Chair of the Maryland Sierra Club Executive Committee, also lauded Hubbard for co-founding the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCSL), which has enabled legislators around the country to learn from each other, and the Maryland Green Caucus.

The award was presented on Sunday, June 29, at the annual Prince George’s Sierra Club picnic, Allen Pond Park, in Bowie.  Print-friendly version