In a year when the state's fiscal woes seem likely to dominate, the Maryland General Assembly still could tackle a few significant environmental issues when it convenes tomorrow in Annapolis.  What makes it into law at the end of the 90-day session is anyone's guess.

As I reported in The Baltimore Sun earlier this week, Gov. Martin O'Malley wants to tweak the state's growth management laws.  He faces pressure from environmentalists to put some teeth in his bills, while local officials are arguing that it's premature to legislate tracking of growth trends, as one of the administration bills would do.  He's also pressing to reauthorize and possibly expand the state tax credit for rehabilitating historic buildings, which could boost redevelopment in Baltimore.

Beyond that, O'Malley said at a press conference in Annapolis Monday that he plans to introduce legislation aimed at boosting aquaculture, including an overhaul of laws governing leasing of the bay bottom for raising oysters and clams.  I've reported on this before in The Baltimore Sun here and here.

It's apparently not soup yet, but the governor also said he was optimistic about introducing a bill that would commit the state to reducing its climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.  A climate-change bill backed by the administration passed the Senate but died in the House on the final day of last year's legislative session.  Administration officials have been negotiating with manufacturing and labor representatives who killed last year's bill to craft a compromise they can support, or at least won't oppose.

As for the budget, O'Malley said he would try to avoid cutting his environmental priorities, like the Bay Trust Fund passed in 2007 to underwrite efforts to control farm and stormwater runoff. Its first-year funding was slashed in half to $25 million last year, even before the state's revenue outlook tanked.   In their preview of the legislative session in today's Baltimore Sun, my colleagues Laura Smitherman and Gadi Dechter, though, report that lawmakers and aides say the fund's likely to get cut further.

The governor also repeated his pledge not to raid the Program Open Space funds set aside for buying and fixing up parks and nature preserves.  Whether he can stick to that in the face of a nearly $2 billion spending gap remains to be seen - at least some lawmakers are saying nothing should be exempt from cuts.