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Maryland Code, Natural Resources § 8-2A-01

Current as of January 01, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.

(b) “Aggregator” means a person that facilitates or coordinates the establishment of practices or projects that:

(1) Are implemented by the person or by others;

(2) Produce a quantifiable environmental outcome;

(3) Are registered by the person; and

(4) Are made available for purchase by the State.

(c) “BayStat Program” means the program established under § 8-2A-03 of this subtitle.

(d) “Environmental outcome” means a commodity that is modeled or directly measured as a single, quantifiable, and certified unit of improvement to the environment, including a nutrient or carbon benefit.

(e) “Evaluator” means a person other than an aggregator that determines whether environmental outcomes have been achieved based on defined performance measures.

(f)(1) “Nonpoint source pollution control project” means a project to improve water quality by a reduction of nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment pollution.

(2) “Nonpoint source pollution control project” includes:

(i) An agricultural best management implementation practice, including cover crops, riparian forested buffer, manure processing, grassed waterways, animal waste storage structures, and livestock fencing;

(ii) An urban or suburban stormwater practice;

(iii) A sustainable forest management practice, including a forest stewardship plan or a nonornamental urban and suburban tree planting project;

(iv) Stream and wetland restoration;

(v) Riparian buffer planting;

(vi) A project that demonstrates the effectiveness of an innovative nonpoint source pollution reduction measure provided that the measure is capable of integration into existing nonpoint source pollution programs;

(vii) Technical assistance necessary to implement a nonpoint source pollution control project;

(viii) Improvement of a municipal park located on or adjacent to a waterway, provided that the improvement is limited to state-of-the-art and sustainable nonpoint source pollution control measures that demonstrably improve water quality by reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution; and

(ix) Strategic monitoring of water quality improvements from nonpoint source pollution control projects that have been funded, in whole or in part, with grants from the Trust Fund.

(g) “Quantification plan” means a plan in which an aggregator describes:

(1) The method that will be used to measure or model environmental outcomes and co-benefits;

(2) The compliance monitoring that will occur to ensure that the proposed actions are taken and maintained over the life of the project;

(3) Verification steps that will be carried out by the State or an evaluator to confirm model results or accurate measurement of environmental outcomes; and

(4) The timeline for proposed payments under a contract with the State.

(h) “Trust Fund” means the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund.

(i) “Watershed implementation plan” means a plan to achieve the nutrient and sediment limits required under the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load.

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Maryland Code, Natural Resources § 8-2A-01 - last updated January 01, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/md/natural-resources/md-code-nat-res-sect-8-2a-01/

FindLaw Codes may not reflect the most recent version of the law in your jurisdiction. Please verify the status of the code you are researching with the state legislature before relying on it for your legal needs.

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