MoCo

Per Montgomery County: “Montgomery County announces the publication of the draft Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) Executive Regulations in the November 2023 County Register, a necessary component of BEPS implementation.  Built on benchmarking data collected under the Benchmarking Law, BEPS sets a minimum energy performance threshold for existing covered buildings and is a tool that addresses energy performance and drives existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency over a set period, thus reducing carbon emissions.

The public is invited to comment on the draft Executive Regulations during the 30-day comment period ending on November 30, 2023. Pursuant to the BEPS legislation, the County Executive must transmit regulations to implement the law to the County Council by December 31, 2023. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of BEPS.

Per Montgomery County: “The Montgomery County Anti-Hate Task Force’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and LGBTQ+ cohorts will present their policy recommendations to the task force at a virtual meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. The Anti-Hate Task Force was formally adopted through a resolution with unanimous support in June. The task force is made up of community and faith leaders working to engage the community and develop recommendations to inform policies that promote safety and combat hate crimes in Montgomery County.

Cohort groups representing the Jewish, Black/African American, LGBTQ+, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latino/Hispanic and Muslim communities will present their policy recommendations at meetings throughout the fall. Each of the six cohort groups may also hold listening sessions to provide an opportunity for the public to engage and provide input.