A proposal to raise millions of dollars to clean up the Chesapeake Bay has risen from the dead.  The thing doesn't look the same in its reincarnated state.  But advocates say it could still be a force for good, providing $50 million a year to reduce stormwater pollution and agricultural runoff.

The change could be a surprise for some readers who read headlines last week proclaiming the demise of the "Green Fund." "The Sun's (Nov. 3) headline 'Senate kills 'green fund' bill' reminded me of that old Mark Twain quote, 'the reports of my death have been
greatly exaggerated," Cindy Schwartz, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, wrote in a letter to the paper.

Here's what happened. On Nov. 2, Maryland Senate President Thomas "Mike" Miller (pictured below) announced that the "Green Fund" proposed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation was not going to pass during the ongoing special session of the General Assembly.

The bill, sponsored by House environmental matters committee chairwoman Maggie McIntosh (pictured below) and backed by Gov. Martin O'Malley, would have provided $85 million a year in bay cleanup funds by imposing a tax of about $20 a year on almost every homeowner in the state, along with a fee on parking lots of a penny per square foot.

Instead, Miller said he was introducing his own bay cleanup bill.  He renamed it the "Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund."  And he said the tax on homeowners and parking lots favored by the Bay Foundation was not going to happen.

Today, on Nov. 8, the Maryland Senate cast a preliminary vote in favor of Miller's fund.  The "Bay 2010 Trust Fund" would set aside $50 million a year for unspecified water pollution control programs. $30 million of the money would come from motor vehicle title taxes, and $20 million would come from a state program used to preserve open space and build playgrounds in urban areas, called Program Open Space.

On the House side, McIntosh's committee removed the funding mechanism proposed by the Bay Foundation. But it's still moving forward with the Green Fund concept, except now the money would be distributed in part through Gov. O'Malley and his computer-assisted data analysis center called "BayStat." Perhaps a wedding is planned between this cash distribution system, and Miller's fund-raising mechanism.

Beth Lefebvre, a spokeswoman for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said that her organization is "very happy" that something positive is moving forward, even if it isn't called the "Green Fund."

"The good news is it's still being worked on," said Lefebvre (below). "Of course, it's not over yet, but it's looking good."

More votes and revisions are expected in upcoming days.