Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 15 - MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Subtitle 20 - SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION › Chapter 15.20.12 - Agricultural Nutrient and Sediment Credit Certification Program › Section 15.20.12.02 - 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) "Aggregator" or "Broker" means a person
				who collects and compiles credits from individual agricultural non-point
				sources to resell them.
(2)
				"Agronomic Practice" means an annual crop or soil practice that reduces or
				minimizes nutrient or sediment loss. Examples include but are not limited to
				cover crops, conservation tillage, reductions in nitrogen fertilizer
				application, and precision agriculture.
(3) "Agricultural Land" or "Farm" means a
				parcel of land which has an Agricultural Use Assessment as determined by the
				Department of Assessments and Taxation.
(4) "Agricultural operation " or "Operation"
				means a business or activity where a person tills, crops, keeps, pastures, or
				produces an agricultural product, including but not limited to livestock,
				poultry, plants, trees, sod, food, feed or fiber by in ground, out-of-ground,
				or other culture.
(5) "Animal Waste
				Management System Plan" means a plan developed and approved by a local soil
				conservation district to identify and address the management of animal waste
				generated on an agricultural operation, including operation and maintenance
				guidelines.
(6) "Baseline" means
				the level of nutrient and sediment reduction, expressed as an annual nitrogen,
				phosphorus, or sediment per-acre loading rate that an agricultural nonpoint
				source seller's operation is required to achieve before the seller becomes
				eligible to enter the trading market and sell credits.
(7) "Best Management Practice" or "BMP" means
				an agronomic, conservation, or pollution control practice, installation, or
				structure that manages soil loss, nutrients, animal wastes, or agricultural
				chemicals so as to minimize their movement into the waters of the
				State.
(8) "Category 1 Practice"
				means a BMP as determined by the Department and approved by the Chesapeake Bay
				Program Partnership that is currently in widespread use, with fully documented
				installation and maintenance specifications and well-established and understood
				nutrient and sediment removal efficiencies.
(9) "Category 2 Practice" means a BMP that is
				currently in use and is acceptable by the Department but nutrient removal
				efficiencies are not well established, or a practice required by state
				regulation.
(10) "Category 3
				Practice" means a new or innovative technology or practice as determined by the
				Department that is not in widespread use and for which no recognized nutrient
				removal efficiency exists.
(11)
				"Credit" means a pollution reduction credit or the unit of trade that is equal
				to one pound of nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment delivered to a specified
				location per year.
(12)
				"Department" means the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
(13) "Land Conversion Practices" means a
				change in management on an agricultural operation that involves a shift to less
				nutrient-intensive agricultural land use, including but not limited to the
				installation of forest or grass buffers, the retirement of highly erodible
				lands, or the switch to alternative or perennial crops.
(14) "Maryland Nutrient Tracking Tool" or
				"MNTT" means a Department approved online performance-based calculation
				platform that enables users to analyze agricultural parcels and their
				management to determine eligibility and credit generation potential for
				participation in the Program.
(15)
				"Nonpoint Source" means a source of pollution that is not from a single point
				of origin or from a specific outlet. Nonpoint source pollution generally
				results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, drainage,
				seepage, or hydrologic modification.
(16) "Nutrient and Sediment Credit
				Certification Program" or "Program" means the program established under this
				Chapter giving the Maryland Department of Agriculture the authority to certify,
				verify, and register agricultural nonpoint source nutrient and sediment credits
				in support of market-based trading activities to fund agricultural practices
				that enhance water or air quality or both by further reducing nutrient or
				sediment runoff, movement, or emissions below baseline.
(17) "Nutrient Management Plan" or "NMP"
				means a plan that complies with the requirements of COMAR 15.20.07 and 15.20.08
				that is prepared by a certified nutrient management consultant to manage the
				amount, placement, timing, and application of manure, fertilizer, biosolids, or
				other plant nutrients in order to:
(a)
				Minimize nutrient loss or runoff; and
(b) Maintain the productivity of soil when
				growing agricultural products.
(18) "Nutrient or Sediment Reduction" means
				the difference between the nutrient and sediment loads delivered to a specified
				location achieved by implementation of best management practices and the
				current load after meeting eligibility requirements.
(19) "Operator" means a person who is the
				owner of an agricultural operation or a lessee who has the owner's expressed
				consent to operate or manage an agricultural operation.
(20) "Person" means the State, any county,
				municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the State, or any of
				their units, or an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor,
				administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind, or any partnership,
				firm, association, public or private corporation, or any other entity, unless
				otherwise provided.
(21) "Soil
				Conservation and Water Quality Plan" or "SCWQP" 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
				waters of the State.
(22)
				"Structural Practice" means a practice acceptable by the Department that
				reduces or minimizes nutrient or sediment loss through the installation or
				construction of physical edifices, barriers, or systems to trap, block, or
				filter pollutants, including but not limited to manure sheds, fencing, grassed
				waterways, and constructed wetlands.
(23) "Total Maximum Daily Load" or "TMDL"
				means the amount of a particular pollutant, in this case nitrogen, phosphorus,
				or sediment inputs, that a water body can assimilate and still meet water
				quality standards.
(24) "Watershed
				Implementation Plan" or "WIP" means the plan developed by a jurisdiction
				showing how the jurisdiction, in partnership with federal and local
				governments, will achieve and maintain the pollution reduction goals and
				allocations necessary in implementing the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.