ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor                             Ch. 488

(1)     the amount of funds received in the Fund;

(2)     the uses of the funds; and

(3)     the administrative expenses related to the Fund for project review and
oversight.

(b)     The Office shall report the results of the audit to the General Assembly, in
accordance with § 2-1246 of the State Government Article, on or before December 1,
2009.

(c)      The cost of the performance audit shall be included in the administrative
expenses under § 7-707(f)(4) of the Public Utility Companies Article, as enacted by this
Act.

SECTION 7. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That:

(a)     The General Assembly acknowledges that significant investments have been
made in the utilization of poultry litter in alternative and beneficial ways, such as
poultry litter pelletizing plants, before enactment of this Act, and it is the intent of the
General Assembly that the private sector continue to find creative and innovative ways
in which to utilize poultry litter that are consistent with and responsive to the purposes
of this Act.

(b)     To the extent that existing and future State financial assistance programs
can help facilitate the goals specified in subsection (a) of this section, the General
Assembly encourages partnerships that lead to environmentally friendly and
economically advantageous initiatives.

(c)      To help safeguard previous private sector investment efforts and yet
facilitate future private sector investment efforts consistent with the purposes of this
Act, the General Assembly encourages the Maryland Energy Administration, in
cooperation with the Maryland Department of Agriculture, to enhance the State's
system of monitoring the production and volume of poultry litter in order to realize, to
the extent possible, a balance between existing demands and anticipated demands for
poultry litter to help ensure:

(1)     that existing projects have sufficient quantities of poultry litter to meet
reasonably projected demands and to be economically viable; and

(2)     that future projects, such as power generation, have sufficient
quantities of poultry litter in order to become economically viable.

SECTION 8. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That, on or before December 1,
2009, the Public Service Commission shall provide a status report to the Governor and
the General Assembly, subject to § 2-1246 of the State Government Article, which
includes a review of the implementation of this Act, the availability and development
of each type of Tier 1 renewable energy source, the impact on the price of Tier 1
renewable energy sources, the amount of compliance fees paid by electricity suppliers
each year for noncompliance with Tier 1 and Tier 2 renewable energy sources, and the
use of these compliance fees to support the creation of new Tier 1 renewable energy
sources.

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