Title 8. Soil Conservation — Subtitle 3. State Soil Conservation Districts

The 23 soil conservation districts are established and continued with boundaries corresponding to county boundaries and include all land and water and incorporated areas, as follows:

A Baltimore City Soil Conservation District may be established and continued with boundaries corresponding to the boundaries of Baltimore City.

The governing body of each district consists of five supervisors.

Each supervisor shall be interested and knowledgeable in conservation of soil, water, and related natural resources. By training and experience, each supervisor shall be qualified to perform the specialized skilled services which are required in performing the duties under this subtitle.

The supervisors shall be appointed in the following manner, and consideration shall be given to representation from farming, forestry, wildlife, and urban interests where appropriate:

The term of office of each Committee appointed member is 5 years. Each supervisor shall hold office until his successor is appointed and qualifies. Vacancies shall be filled for any unexpired term by appointments made in the same manner as for the full term.

The Committee, upon notice and hearing, may remove any supervisor from office for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. In addition, any supervisor who, during any period of 12 consecutive months, shall fail to attend at least 50 percent of all regular meetings of the board of supervisors of the district of which he is an appointed member, shall be considered to have resigned and the chairman of the board of supervisors shall notify the appropriate appointing body of the resultant vacancy. However, if the reasons for the supervisor’s inability to attend meetings as required in this subtitle are found by the appointing body to be satisfactory, the appointing body may reinstate the supervisor to office.

The supervisors shall designate annually a chairman and such other officers as may be necessary, and shall have authority to change these designations. A majority of the supervisors constitutes a quorum and the concurrence of a majority in any matter is required for its determination. A supervisor may receive his travel expenses and per diem allowance, as set by the Committee and provided in the annual State budget, for each day spent in the performance of his duties. A supervisor may receive an additional per diem allowance provided by sources other than the State, not to exceed the allowance set by the Committee.

The supervisors may employ a secretary, technical experts, and other permanent and temporary officers and employees as they require, and shall determine their qualifications, duties, and compensation. The supervisors may delegate to the chairman, to any supervisor, or any employee powers and duties as they deem proper.

The supervisors shall provide for the execution of surety bonds or insurance policies of the type and in the amount of coverage determined by the State Treasurer under § 5–108 of the State Government Article for every employee and officer who is entrusted with funds or property. They shall provide for the keeping of a full and accurate record of all proceedings and of all resolutions, rules and regulations, and orders issued or adopted. They shall provide for an annual audit of the accounts of receipts and disbursements.

The supervisors may invite the legislative body of any municipality or county, located near or within the district, to designate a representative to advise and consult with the supervisors of the district on all questions of program and policy which may affect the property, water supply, or other interests of the municipality or county.

The Office of the Attorney General may provide services to the supervisors as needed.

Any State agency, or any agency of any county, or other political subdivision of the State having jurisdiction over or charged with the administration of any State, county, or other publicly owned lands lying within the boundaries of any district, shall cooperate to the fullest extent with the supervisors of the district to effectuate the programs and operations undertaken by the supervisors under this subtitle.

The supervisors shall be given free access to enter and perform work on publicly owned lands.

A soil conservation district constitutes a political subdivision of the State, and a public body corporate and politic, exercising public powers.

The supervisors may:

As a condition to extending any benefit of this title to any land not owned or controlled by the State or any of its agencies, or to performing work on them, the supervisors may require contributions in money, services, materials, or otherwise to any operations conferring benefits, and may require the land occupier to enter into and perform agreements or covenants concerning the permanent use of the land as tends to prevent or control erosion.

The supervisors of two or more districts may cooperate with one another in the exercise of any powers conferred by this title.

No provision relating to acquisition, operation, or disposition of property by other public bodies is applicable to a district, unless the provision specifically so states.

The supervisors of any district may formulate rules and regulations governing the use of land within the district in order to conserve soil and soil resources and prevent and control soil erosion. The supervisors may conduct public meetings and public hearings upon tentative rules and regulations as necessary.

The district supervisors, by rules and regulations, may:

The regulations shall be uniform throughout the district, except the supervisors may classify district lands with reference to factors such as soil type, degree of slope, degree of erosion threatened or existing, cropping and tillage practices in use, and other relevant factors, and may provide rules and regulations varying with the type or class of land affected, but uniform as to all lands within each class or type.

Copies of land–use regulations adopted under the provisions of this section shall be printed and made available to all land occupiers within the district.

Any agency administering any publicly owned lands shall observe the land–use rules and regulations in every respect.

Before any land-use rule or regulation is enacted into law the supervisors shall give due notice of their intention to submit the rules and regulations to a referendum among the land occupiers within the boundaries of the district for their approval or disapproval.

The proposed rules and regulations shall be embodied in a proposed ordinance. Copies of the proposed ordinance shall be available for the inspection of all eligible voters during the period between publication of the notice and the date of the referendum. The notices of the referendum shall contain a fair summary of the contents, or state where copies of the proposed ordinance may be examined.

The supervisors shall supervise the referendum, prescribe appropriate rules and regulations governing its conduct, and publish the results. Only land occupiers within the district are eligible to vote in the referendum.

No informality in the conduct of the referendum or in any matter relating to it may invalidate the referendum or its results if notice is given substantially in accordance with the provisions of this title and the referendum is fairly conducted.

The supervisors may not enact the proposed ordinance into law unless at least a majority of the votes cast have been cast for its approval, but the approval of the proposed ordinance by a majority of the votes cast in the referendum does not require the supervisors to enact the proposed ordinance into law.

Land-use rules and regulations prescribed in an ordinance adopted by the supervisors of any district have the force and effect of law in the district and shall be binding and obligatory upon all land occupiers within the district.

Any land occupier within the district may file a petition at any time with the supervisors requesting amendment, supplement, or repeal of any land-use rule or regulation prescribed in any ordinance adopted by the supervisors. Land-use regulations prescribed in any ordinance may not be amended, supplemented, or repealed except in accordance with the procedure prescribed in this section for adoption of land-use regulations. Referenda on adoption, amendment, supplementation, or repeal of land-use rules and regulations may not be held more than once in six months.

If the supervisors of any district find that any provision of the land-use rules and regulations is not being complied with on any parcel of land and that noncompliance tends to increase erosion on the land, and is interfering with prevention or control of erosion on other land in the district, the supervisors may seek relief in the circuit court of the county where the district is located.

In any case where the person in possession of the land is not the owner, the owner of the land shall be joined as a party defendant.

The court may provide that upon failure of the defendant to initiate performance of the work within the time specified by the court and complete it with reasonable diligence, the supervisors may enter on the land to perform the work and bring the conditions of the land into compliance with the land-use rules and regulations.

The court shall retain jurisdiction of the case until the work is completed. Upon completion of the work pursuant to the order of the court, the supervisors may file a petition with the court stating the costs and expenses sustained by them in performing work and praying judgment with interest. The court may enter a judgment for the amount of the supervisor’s costs and expenses, with interest at the rate of 5 percent per year, together with the costs of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee fixed by the court.

In order to develop a fee system to be implemented under § 8–306(b)(18) of this subtitle and §§ 4–103(c) and 5–503(b) of the Environment Article, each year a soil conservation district shall determine, for the succeeding year, the reasonable costs of reviewing:

The soil conservation district shall develop the fee system based on the costs determined under subsection (a) of this section, and shall submit the fee system to the local governing body.

Within 90 days after the soil conservation district submits the final fee system, the local governing body may:

If the local governing body fails to accept or modify the fee system submitted by the soil conservation district, the final fee system submitted by the soil conservation district shall take effect on the 91st day after the district submits the fee system to the local governing body, without requiring enactment by the local governing body.