Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 15 - MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Subtitle 01 - OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY › Chapter 15.01.05 - Cost Sharing-Water Pollution Control Program › Section 15.01.05.02 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. In this chapter,
				the following terms have the meanings indicated.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Best management practice" means a
				conservation or pollution control practice that manages soil loss due to
				farming practices or manages animal wastes or agricultural chemicals so as to
				minimize movement into the surface waters of the State.
(2) "County Soil Survey" means a report
				developed by the United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource
				Conservation Service, for each county which identifies soil types.
(3) "Critical condition" means a condition on
				land where there is or there may be a high potential for the movement of
				pollutants from nutrients, sediment, animal wastes, or agricultural chemicals
				into the waters of the State.
(4)
				"Department" means the State Department of Agriculture.
(5) "District" means a soil conservation
				district.
(6) "Eligible cost" means
				a capital expenditure for installing, purchasing, or constructing a best
				management practice or fixed natural filter practice, including, but not
				limited to, the cost of pollution control equipment, animal waste facilities,
				water control structures, diversion facilities, sediment basins or grade
				stabilization structures, establishing permanent vegetative cover, or a
				contour, strip-cropping, terrace, or conservation tillage system of farming. It
				does not include the cost of land or interests in land, or the costs of
				operating or maintaining best management practices.
(7) "Fixed natural filter practice" means one
				of the following practices:
(a) The planting
				of riparian forest buffers;
(b) The
				planting of riparian herbaceous cover;
(c) Tree plantings that are:
(i) On agricultural land; or
(ii) Outside a riparian buffer;
(d) Wetland restoration;
				or
(e) Pasture management,
				including rotational grazing systems such as livestock fencing and watering
				systems implemented as part of the conversion of cropland to pasture.
(8) "Geographic area" means a
				watershed or major portion of a watershed which contains or has a high
				potential for containing priority areas.
(9) "Improved conservation benefit" means an
				improvement in the condition of the soil, water, or other such natural resource
				of the State, and includes, among other beneficial effects, improved water
				quality, improved soil health, reduced soil loss, and restored
				wetlands.
(10) "Natural resource
				concern" means the expected degradation of the soil, water, or other resource
				base to the extent that the sustainability or intended use of the resource is
				impaired, and includes, among other concerns, soil erosion, soil quality
				degradation, water quality degradation, and excess water.
(11) "Nutrient management plan" means a plan
				prepared by a State-certified nutrient management consultant to manage the
				amount, placement, timing, and application of animal waste, fertilizer,
				biosolids, sewage sludge, or other plant nutrients in order to prevent
				pollution and to maintain the productivity of the soil. Requirements for plan
				content, recommendations, maintenance, updates, and record keeping are further
				defined under COMAR 15.20.08.
(12)
				"Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, trust, or other
				business enterprise which as an owner, landlord, or tenant, participates in the
				operation of a farm.
(13) "Pooling
				agreement" means a written agreement between persons approved by the Secretary,
				to perform best management practices and which is intended to solve a mutual
				pollution problem on different farms.
(14) "Priority area" means an area where a
				critical condition exists.
(15)
				"Project" means a project to prevent or control agriculturally related nonpoint
				source water pollution by establishing best management practices on a
				farm.
(16) "Secretary" means the
				Secretary of Agriculture or his designee.
(17) "Waters of the State" means 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.