I know, it's only September, but the chill in the air, as well as Andy Green's front page story on O'Malley's tax plans,  reminds me that the legislative session will soon be upon us. What to expect? Budgets, slots talk, and the like.

Environmentally, there is always a long list of priorities. And there is the inevitable tug of war between environmental groups who want to restrict or end a fishery (think yellow perch or terrapins last year) and the watermen who fight back to save their livelihoods.

So here's a few things we here at bayblog except to come down the pike:

Cellulosic ethanol - Del. Justin Ross plans to introduce a bill to encourage ethanol made from plants, instead of from corn, with a tax credit. Farmers would grow the plants, which can then be converted into ethanol for cars, and be compensated through the credits because there's not much of a market yet for the product. Ross said the bill is in repsonse to reports issued this summer (and covered in The Sun) that growing corn for ethanol is producing more nutrient pollution that are going into the bay, which could make it a zero-sum gain for us.

Ghost pots - Candy Thomson's excellent story Sunday alluded to a bill that may be introduced by the Coastal Conservation Association, or legislators sympathetic to their cause, to restrict ghost pots in the bay or hold watermen responsible for them. Expect a pushback by Larry Simns on anything of this kind; especially if the watermen will be fined or otherwise punished for losing their pots.

"Green Fund" - Expect the Bay Foundation to once again push this tax on new development to generate more money for bay cleanup. Check out Frank Roylance's musings about how all of the blacktop we already have is causing a mess.

My colleague, Mr. Pelton, will take up the baton later to blog about the larger environmental priorities. He's the expert.