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Two state bills that would have a major impact on Frederick County's proposed incinerator are at different stages in the legislative process.

The two bills, which aim to limit where an incinerator can be built or operated, were proposed by Sen. Alexander X. Mooney (R-Dist. 3) of Urbana, who said he has heard from hundreds of constituents opposed to the preferred Buckeystown site for an incinerator.

But neither bill is on an easy course to passage, as they are tied up in committee and could remain that way until the end of the legislative session on April 13.

"I'm fighting the powers that be as best I can," Mooney said while taking a break from handing out fliers and speaking with people at an anti-incinerator rally in Frederick Saturday.

The "powers that be" he spoke of are the senators in charge of controlling what bills are given a hearing and, thus, the chance to become law.

Mooney has two bills in the pipeline regarding incinerators. The first, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda, would bar the Maryland Department of the Environment from issuing permits to construct, modify or operate an incinerator within one mile of a national park.

If passed, the bill would rule out Frederick County's preferred location for its proposed $527 million incinerator — "the McKinney site," which is in Buckeystown between Interstate 270 and Route 85 near the Monocacy National Battlefield.

The second bill, which was introduced after the first, would bar the Department of the Environment from issuing a permit to construct an incinerator unless it is in an industrial area and more than three miles away from a residence, church, school, park or hospital, and meets local zoning requirements.

The first bill, which was introduced Feb. 27, was held for a time in the Senate's Rules Committee before it was passed on to the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee.

The next step for it would be a committee hearing in order to receive public input, but it will likely not make it to that stage because of how late Mooney introduced it, he said.

Sen. Joan Carter Conway (D-Dist. 43) of Baltimore, chair of the Senate Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, did not return a phone call before The Gazette's Wednesday deadline.

The second bill, which was introduced March 11, remains in the Rules Committee, which decides which committee, if any, would consider a bill. The bill is worded similar to a Delaware law, but its chances of going up for consideration even if it makes it out of the Rules Committee are slim, according to Mooney.

"It hasn't even been brought up in Rules yet, and it's not looking good," he said Saturday. "… Essentially, the goal there is to limit [incinerators] to industrial areas."

Both bills have been maligned by other members of the Frederick County delegation, who say it should have been brought up before the session rather than partway through.

Sen. David R. Brinkley (R-Dist. 4) of New Market, the only member of the Frederick County Delegation on the Senate Rules Committee, did not return a phone call before The Gazette's Wednesday deadline.

Mooney said he did not introduce the bills before the start of the session in January because residents did not contact him in large numbers until after commissioners identified a site for the incinerator in February.

He said he introduced two bills to ensure that the best law ends up on the books. The first bill would probably be easier to pass because of its narrowness, he said, but it does not address as many concerns as the second bill.

"What's your best chance of passing a bill?" he asked Saturday. "The broader the scope, the harder it is to pass, so you're weighing what you want versus what you can get passed."

E-mail Connor Adams Sheets at csheets@gazette.net.