A person making application after the effective date of this chapter for a subdivision, County project approval, a grading permit or sediment control approval for an area of land of 40,000 square feet or greater, except as provided for in Article
I, §
298-4, shall:
A. Conduct afforestation on the lot or parcel in accordance with the
following:
(1) A tract having less than 20% of the net tract area in forest cover
shall be afforested up to at least 20% of the net tract area for the
following land use categories:
(a)
Agriculture and resource areas.
(b)
Medium-density residential areas.
(2) A tract with less than 15% of its net tract area in forest cover
shall be afforested up to at least 15% of the net tract area for the
following land use categories:
(a)
Institutional development areas.
(b)
High-density residential areas.
(c)
Mixed-use and planned unit development areas.
(d)
Commercial and industrial areas.
B. Comply with the following when cutting or clearing forest cover that is currently below the afforestation percentages described in Subsection
A(1) and
(2) of this section.
(1) The required afforestation level shall be determined by the amount
of forest existing before cutting or clearing begins.
(2) Forest cut or cleared below the required afforestation level shall
be reforested or afforested at a 2:1 ratio and added to the amount
of afforestation necessary to reach the minimum required afforestation
level, as determined by the amount of forest existing before cutting
or clearing began.
The following trees, shrubs, plants and specific areas shall
be considered priority for retention and protection and shall be left
in an undisturbed condition unless the applicant has demonstrated,
to the satisfaction of the Department, that all reasonable efforts
have been made to protect them and the plan cannot be reasonably altered:
A. Trees, shrubs, and plants located in sensitive areas, including the
Resource Protection Zone, one-hundred-year floodplains, intermittent
and perennial streams and their forest management buffers, steep slopes
exceeding 25% and steep slopes exceeding 15% with soils having a "K"
value greater than 0.35, nontidal wetlands and critical habitat areas.
B. Contiguous forest that connects the largest undeveloped or most vegetated
tracts of land within and adjacent to the site.
C. Trees, shrubs or plants determined to be rare, threatened or endangered
under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531
through 1543, published in 50 CFR 17.11 and 17.12, and the Maryland
list of threatened and endangered species published under the Natural
Resources Article, §§ 4-2a-01 through 4-2a-09 and 10-2a-01
through 10-2a-09, of the Annotated Code of Maryland, published in
COMAR 08.03.08 and 08.02.12.
D. Trees that:
(1) Are part of an historic site;
(2) Are associated with an historic structure; or
(3) Have been designated by the state or the Department as a national,
state or County champion tree.
E. Any tree having a diameter measured at 4.5 feet above the ground
of:
(1) Thirty inches or more; or
(2) Seventy-five percent or more of the diameter, measured at 4.5 feet
above the ground, of the current state champion tree of that species
as designated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Tree species used for afforestation or reforestation shall be
selected from a list of approved species established by the Department.
With the appropriate review and inspection fees, if applicable,
the Department, consistent with the requirements of this chapter,
shall review for approval any revisions to an approved forest stand
delineation.