# Land Use (GLU)

## Title 4. Zoning

### Subtitle 2. Designation and Adoption

#### Section 4-215

(a)

  (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.

  (2) "Integrated vegetation management" means:

    (i) the use of a scientifically established combination of nonchemical methods for creating and maintaining a stable low-growing plant community, including manual, mechanical, or biological means of removal or suppression of any species that is not compatible with that plant community; and

    (ii) when the methods under item (i) of this paragraph have been exhausted or have been scientifically demonstrated to be ineffective for pollinator-friendly habitats, the use of the least toxic chemical methods available used in a manner that minimizes the use of these chemical methods and the risks to native pollinators and other native wildlife, native plants, human health, and the environment.

  (3) "Low-growing plant community" means a collection of plant species that typically appear growing together on landscapes where trees have been:

    (i) removed; or

    (ii) prevented from becoming established due to:

      (1) soil and moisture conditions;

      (2) natural physical disturbance;

      (3) animal herbivory; or

      (4) human activity.

  (4) "Native plant" means a plant listed as native to the State:

    (i) by the Maryland Biodiversity Project; or

    (ii) in the Maryland Plant Atlas or "Vascular Plants of Maryland, USA: A Comprehensive Account of the State's Botanical Diversity", as revised.

  (5) "Nonnative invasive plant" means a plant listed in the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health's Mid-Atlantic Invaders Tool.

  (6)

    (i) "Pollinator-friendly vegetation management" means landscape management that:

      (1) creates habitats for native pollinators and other native wildlife and native plants that together form an interdependent natural community; and

      (2) provides food, water, cover, or sites for nesting.

    (ii) "Pollinator-friendly vegetation management" includes:

      (1) employing no-mow methods, such as hand-cutting, pulling plants, and biocontrols to minimize disturbances to habitats;

      (2) employing rotational mowing cycles:

      (A) to promote the availability of standing vegetation and habitat; and

      (B) under which not more than half of a utility-designated pollinator area is mowed during a single fall and winter season;

      (3) using integrated vegetation management to maintain low-growing plant communities by controlling plant species, such as trees and nonnative invasive plants, in a manner that reduces the need to mow and minimizes the risk to native pollinators and other native wildlife, native plants, human health, and the environment; and

      (4) using scientifically accepted approaches for the protection of the State's rare, threatened, or endangered plant and wildlife species.

  (7) "Public service company" has the meaning stated in Sec. 1-101 of the Public Utilities Article.

  (8) "Unreasonable limitation on pollinator-friendly vegetation management" includes a limitation that:

    (i) significantly increases the cost of pollinator-friendly vegetation management;

    (ii) significantly decreases the efficacy of pollinator-friendly vegetation management; or

    (iii) requires cultivated vegetation to consist wholly or partly of turf grass.

  (9) "Utility-designated pollinator area" means property, including any right-of-way or easement:

    (i) that is maintained by a public service company;

    (ii) for which the public service company has exclusive maintenance rights; and

    (iii) that is voluntarily identified by the public service company as an area that will be maintained with pollinator-friendly vegetation management to support pollinators.

(b) This section:

  (1) does not apply to a limitation imposed by a local jurisdiction on pollinator-friendly vegetation management performed or overseen by a public service company on its property, including a right-of-way or an easement, located on or below:

    (i) a trail overlap;

    (ii) a park overlap; or

    (iii) active farmland; and

  (2) may not be construed to:

    (i) prohibit a local jurisdiction from imposing a land use restriction on the type, number, or location of pollinator-friendly vegetation management features that pertain to:

      (1) the safe and dependable delivery of energy products; or

      (2) human health and safety; or

    (ii) limit or restrict mowing outside of a utility-designated pollinator area.

(c) A local jurisdiction may not impose any unreasonable limitation, including a land use restriction, on a utility-designated pollinator area maintained by a public service company, if:

  (1) the utility-designated pollinator area is subject to a Candidate Conservation Agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the public service company; or

  (2) the public service company maintains and regularly tends to the utility-designated pollinator area by performing or overseeing pollinator-friendly vegetation management in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.

(d) A public service company that chooses to perform or oversee pollinator-friendly vegetation management in a utility-designated pollinator area shall, as part of its pollinator-friendly vegetation management, mow the utility-designated pollinator area:

  (1) only from November 1 through March 31, inclusive, and not more than once every other year; or

  (2) only from October 1 through April 30, inclusive, and not more than once every other year if the utility-designated pollinator area is located in the Appalachian Plateau province or the Ridge and Valley province as defined by the Maryland Geological Survey.

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Md. Code Ann., Land Use (as displayed at mgaleg.maryland.gov, October 16, 2026)