A.
After techniques for retaining existing forest on the site have been
exhausted, the preferred sequence for afforestation and reforestation,
as determined by the Department, is as follows:
(1)
Forest creation in accordance with a forest conservation plan using
one or more of the following:
(2)
In a municipal corporation with a tree management plan and in an
existing population center designated in a county master plan that
has been adopted to conform to the Economic Growth, Resource Protection,
and Planning Act of 1992,[1] or in any other designated area approved by the Department,
the use of:
(a)
Street trees as a permissible step in the priority sequence
for afforestation or reforestation and with a mature canopy coverage
may be granted full credit as a mitigation technique; and
(b)
Acquisition of an off-site protection easement on existing forested
areas not currently protected in perpetuity as a mitigation technique,
in which case the afforestation or reforestation credit granted may
not exceed 50% of the area of forest cover protected;
[1]
Editor's Note: See State Finance and Procurement Article of
the Annonated Code of Maryland, § 5-7A-01 et seq.
(3)
When all other options, both on site and off site, have been exhausted,
landscaping as a mitigation technique conducted under an approved
landscaping plan that establishes a forest at least 35 feet wide and
covering at least 2,500 square feet of area.
B.
A sequence other than the one described in Subsection A of this article may be used for a specific project, if necessary, to achieve the objectives of the county land use plan or county land use policies, or to take advantage of opportunities to consolidate forest conservation efforts.
C.
The following are considered a priority for afforestation and reforestation:
(1)
Those techniques that enhance existing forest and involve selective
clearing or supplemental planting on site;
(2)
On-site afforestation or reforestation where the retention options have been exhausted, using methods selected in accordance with Subsection F of this section, and the location being selected in accordance with this subsection;
(3)
Off-site afforestation or reforestation in the same watershed or
in accordance with an approved master plan where the applicant has
demonstrated that no reasonable alternative on site exists, or where:
(a)
Any on-site priority areas for afforestation or reforestation
have been planted in accordance with this subsection; and
(b)
The applicant has justified to the Department's satisfaction
that environmental benefits associated with off-site afforestation
or reforestation exceeds those derived from on-site planting.
E.
Off-site afforestation or reforestation may include the use of forest
mitigation banks which have been so designated in advance by the Department.
F.
Standards for meeting afforestation or reforestation requirements
shall be established using one or more of the following methods:
(1)
Establish or enhance forest buffers adjacent to intermittent and
perennial streams, and coastal bays and their buffers, to widths of
at least 50 feet;
(2)
Establish or increase existing forested corridors to connect existing
forests within or adjacent to the site and, where practical, forested
corridors should be a minimum of 300 feet in width to facilitate wildlife
movement;
(3)
Establish or enhance forest buffers adjacent to critical habitats
where appropriate;
(4)
Establish or enhance forested areas in the one-hundred-year floodplains;
(5)
Establish plantings to stabilize slopes of 25% or greater and slopes
of 15% or greater with a soil K value greater than 0.35, including
the slopes of ravines or other natural depressions.
(6)
Establish buffers adjacent to areas of differing land use when appropriate,
or adjacent to highways or utility rights-of-way;
(7)
Establish forest areas adjacent to existing forests to increase the
overall area of contiguous forest cover, when appropriate; and
(8)
Use native plant materials for afforestation or reforestation, when
appropriate.
G.
A person required to conduct afforestation or reforestation under
this article shall accomplish it within one year or two growing seasons,
whichever is a greater time period, following development project
completion.
