Title 5. State Planning
Subtitle 4. Governmental Coordination, Cooperation, and
Assistance in Planning
§ 5-408. Certification of county agricultural land preservation programs.
(a) Program established.-
There is within the Department a program for certification of effective
county agricultural land preservation programs.
(b) Local approvals.- A
county may apply to the Department and the Maryland Agricultural Land
Preservation Foundation for certification under this section only if the County
Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board and the governing body of the county
both:
(1) approve the program
established at the county level as being an effective approach to agricultural
land preservation; and
(2) approve the county's
application for certification.
(c)
(1) A county may
apply for certification under this section if the county has established
programs to encourage participation of farmers in agricultural land
preservation efforts at the county level, including purchase of development
rights or financial enhancements related to purchase of development rights,
outside of the State Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation.
(2) County programs shall include any program that
the Department and the Foundation:
(i) determine
is necessary for an effective county agricultural land preservation program;
and
(ii) require by
regulation.
(d) Application; approval; notice.-
(1) To apply for certification under this section,
a county shall file with the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation
and the Department an application in the form that the Department and the
Foundation jointly require by regulation.
(2) Within 45
days after notification of an application for certification:
(i) the
Foundation shall advise the Department as to whether it approves the
application; and
(ii) the Department shall notify the county as to whether the county's
application for certification has been approved.
(e) Determinations required for certification.- The Department and the Foundation may not certify a
county under this section unless the Department and the Foundation determine
that:
(1) the proposed county
program for the purchase of development rights or financial enhancements
related to the purchase of development rights is likely to be successful; and
(2) either:
(i) local
expenditures prior to July 1, 1990, for the purchase of development rights or
financial enhancements related to the purchase of development rights have
equaled or exceeded the additional funds that will be available to the county
as a result of certification; or
(ii) the county has
committed to spend additional local funds for the purchase of development
rights or enhancements related to the purchase of development rights in an
amount equal to or exceeding the amount of the additional funds that will be
available as a result of certification.
(f) Additional
funds.-
(1)
A county that has been certified under this section as having
established an effective county agricultural land preservation program is
eligible for the additional funds available to certified counties under §
2-508.1 of the Agriculture Article and § 13-306 of the Tax Property Article.
(2)
A county that has been certified under this section may use the
additional funds available as a result of certification for the purposes stated
under § 2-508.1 of the Agriculture Article and § 13-306 of the Tax Property
Article.
(g)
Duration; recertification.-
(1) A
certification under this section is effective for 2 years and the decision by
the Department and the Foundation as to certification is final with no right to
appeal.
(2) At the request of the county, the Department
and the Foundation shall recertify under this section a county that has maintained
a successful program of purchase of development rights or financial
enhancements related to purchase of development rights during the period of
certification.
(h)
Regulations.- The
Department and the Foundation shall jointly adopt regulations for administration
of the certification program.
(i)
Annual reports.- The
Department and the Foundation shall report on the certification program on or
before January 15 of each year to the Governor, the budget committees and the
House Committees on Ways and Means and Environmental Matters of the General
Assembly, and the Department of Legislative Services.
[1990, ch. 65; 1997, ch. 635, § 9; ch. 636, § 9; 2000, ch. 209, §
2.]