Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 15 - MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Subtitle 20 - SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION › Chapter 15.20.01 - Agricultural Drainage Projects › Section 15.20.01.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. The following
				terms have the meanings indicated.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Agricultural drainage project" (project)
				means the construction, reconstruction, repair, straightening, widening, or
				deepening of any ditch, drain, canal, or other watercourse, natural or
				man-made, financed or managed by a public drainage association to lower the
				water level in the soil of adjacent lands for agricultural purposes.
(2) "Association" and "public drainage
				association" mean an organization established to locate, construct or
				reconstruct, operate and maintain ditches, drains, and channels to provide
				agricultural drainage under Article 25, § 52, Annotated Code of
				Maryland.
(3) "Best management
				practice" (BMP) means a conservation or pollution practice that:
(a) Reduces soil loss associated with farming
				practices; or
(b) Minimizes
				movement of sediment, animal wastes, nutrients, or agricultural chemicals into
				the waters of the State.
(4) "Cooperator's agreement" means a
				landowner's written agreement with a local soil conservation district to have a
				soil conservation and water quality plan prepared.
(5) "Department" means the Department of
				Agriculture, the Department of the Environment, or the Department of Natural
				Resources, or any combination of them.
(6) "Maintenance" means the periodic:
(a) Control of woody growth or removal of
				shrubs and small trees which alter the flow, affect channel stability, or limit
				access to a channel;
(b) Removal of
				channel obstructions, debris, and minor sediment deposits so long as the
				removal does not:
(i) Alter the approved
				design of the channel; or
(ii)
				Consist of channel reconstruction or realignment;
(c) Cleaning out or installation of sediment
				traps;
(d) Routine repair work
				needed to maintain the project in accordance with the approved design
				specifications; and
(e)
				Installation of water control structures and stabilization of soil to prevent
				erosion.
(7) "Off-sided
				construction or reconstruction" means a method of constructing channels through
				riparian or other woodland, characterized by the following:
(a) Construction or reconstruction operations
				are performed from one side of the channel called the construction side, the
				other side of the channel being called the off-side;
(b) Blowouts and treefalls are prevented by:
(i) Clearing the off-side bank of trees and
				other vegetation up to 12 feet from top of bank, and
(ii) Selectively cutting diseased, damaged,
				and other problematic trees on the off-side that would fall into the channel
				from beyond the cleared area;
(c) After construction, the off-side berm is
				allowed to reestablish natural vegetation, while all maintenance to the channel
				is performed from the construction side.
(8) "Person" means any individual, receiver,
				trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, or representative of any
				kind any any partnership, association, corporation, or other entity. Person
				includes the federal government, this State, any county, municipal corporation,
				or other political subdivision of this State or any of their units.
(9) "Pollution" means any contamination or
				other alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any
				waters of this State, including a change in temperature, taste, color,
				turbidity, or odor of the waters, or the discharge or deposit of any organic
				matter, harmful organism, or liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other
				substance into any waters of the State that will render the waters harmful, or
				detrimental to:
(a) Public health, safety, or
				welfare;
(b) Domestic, commercial,
				industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate beneficial
				uses;
(c) Livestock, wild animals,
				or birds; or
(d) Fish or other
				aquatic life.
(10)
				"Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture unless the context indicates
				otherwise.
(11) "Soil conservation
				and water quality plan" means a farm plan approved by a local soil conservation
				district to minimize soil erosion, and to minimize the movement of sediment,
				animal waste, nutrients, or agricultural chemicals into the waters of the
				State.
(12) "Stable channel" means
				a channel where:
(a) The following
				degradation does not occur:
(i) Significant
				erosion of the channel banks and bottom,
(ii) Erosion around culverts, bridges, or
				water control structures along the channel, and
(iii) The formation or enlargement of gullies
				because of the uncontrolled entry of water flow;
(b) Significant aggregation to the channel
				occurs only within the designated limits on:
(i) Sediment traps,
(ii) In-stream wetlands designed for this
				purpose, and
(iii) Channel reaches
				designed for this purpose.
(13) "Water control structure" means a
				structure in an Agricultural drainage project that:
(a) Conveys water;
(b) Controls the direction or rate of flow of
				water; or
(c) Maintains a desired
				water surface elevation.
(14) "Waters of the State" includes both
				surface and underground waters within the boundaries of the State subject to
				its jurisdiction, including that portion of the Atlantic Ocean within the
				boundaries of the State, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and all ponds,
				lakes, rivers, streams, public ditches, tax ditches, and public drainage
				systems within the State, other than those designed and used to collect,
				convey, or dispose of sanitary sewage.