The Maryland State House in Annapolis. CREDIT: Glynnis Jones On Tuesday, Maryland legislators passed legislation that would place strong limits on the extraction of natural gas in the state. The Maryland House of Delegates passed a three-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — in the Western part of the state, while the Maryland Senate approved a bill that would impose strict financial liabilities on fracking companies and would declare fracking an “ultrahazardous and abnormally dangerous activity.” The bills must pass through the other chambers before heading to the desk of Republican Governor Larry Hogan for approval.