Will he or won't he? With just nine weeks left in Gov. Martin O'Malley's term, time grows short for him to act if he intends to go through with a much-delayed plan to curb Eastern Shore farmers' use of chicken manure in order to help restore the Chesapeake Bay.
Those familiar with the intricacies of Maryland's regulatory process say Friday is the last day for O'Malley to act if he hopes to complete rules before leaving office that scientists say will help reduce the pollution fouling the bay.
Farmers, on the other hand, hope he delays or drops the plan altogether, as they contend it's too costly and unnecessary.
Republican Gov.-elect Larry Hogan has said he'd pull the plug on the proposed "phosphorus management tool," as it's called. He has sided with farmers, predicting manure curbs would "basically decimate an entire way of life on the Shore." He has vowed to seek some other way of dealing with the bay's pollution problem that doesn't cost farmers.
In late September, with the study still not out, O'Malley was asked if he'd go through with the limits even if the review predicted significant costs for the Shore's farmers and its poultry industry.
"Ever known us to go back?" he asked.
Valerie Connelly, executive director of the Maryland Farm Bureau, said this week she believed the economic impact study confirmed farmers' complaints that the regulations would be very costly. She questioned how the cash-strapped state could find sufficient funds to ease the burden sufficiently on farmers. And she reiterated a hope the plan could be tabled for further study - including whether it's even needed, given all the conservation efforts farmers have already made.