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<section article="gnr" article_name="Natural Resources" number="1-403" title_number="1" title_name="Department of Natural Resources" subtitle_number="4" subtitle_name="General Provisions">
  <level label="a">
    <text>Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the Department may develop and implement an electronic system for the sale and issuance of licenses, permits, and registrations and the recording and releasing of security interests.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>The electronic system may include provisions for:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Recording titling and registration data;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Recording and releasing liens without the issuance of a security interest filing; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Recording information relating to an application for a license, permit, or registration.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>The Department shall develop the electronic system consistent with the statewide information technology master plan developed under Title 3.5, Subtitle 3 of the State Finance and Procurement Article.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Subject to subsection (g) of this section, the Department shall establish a process through which an individual who purchases an angler’s license, a Chesapeake Bay and coastal sport fishing license, or a hunting license and any corresponding stamps through the electronic system may make a voluntary monetary donation to the Healing Hunting and Fishing Fund at the time of purchase.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The Department shall collect the donations received under paragraph (1) of this subsection and deposit them into the Healing Hunting and Fishing Fund.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Subject to subsection (g) of this section, the Department shall establish a process through which an individual who purchases a license, permit, or registration through the electronic system may make a voluntary monetary donation to the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund at the time the license, permit, or registration is purchased.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The Department shall:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Collect any donations made under this subsection; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Distribute the proceeds of the donations as follows:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>50% to the Chesapeake Bay Trust established under § 8–1902 of this article; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>50% to the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund established under § 8–2A–02 of this article.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <level label="i">
        <text>The Chesapeake Bay Trust may use the funds it receives under this subsection only to provide grants and other resources to nonprofit organizations, community associations, civic groups, schools, or public agencies for projects to enhance or promote:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>Public education, including the publication or production of educational materials, concerning the Chesapeake Bay, the Maryland coastal bays, the Youghiogheny watershed, and other natural resources;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>The preservation or enhancement of water quality and fish or wildlife habitat;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>The restoration of aquatic or land resources;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="4">
          <text>Reforestation; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="5">
          <text>Training in environmental studies or enhancement.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Funds distributed to the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund may be used to provide financial assistance necessary to advance Maryland’s progress in meeting the goals established in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and to restore the health of the Atlantic Coastal Bays by focusing on nonpoint source pollution control projects, as authorized under Title 8, Subtitle 2A of this article.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>On or before December 1 each year, the Department shall report to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2–1257 of the State Government Article, the General Assembly on the collection, distribution, and expenditure of any voluntary monetary donations made under this subsection in the previous fiscal year.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="f">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Subject to subsection (g) of this section, the Department shall establish a process through which an individual who purchases an angler’s license or a Chesapeake Bay and coastal sport fishing license through the electronic system may make a voluntary monetary donation to the Black Bass Conservation Fund at the time of purchase.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The Department shall collect the donations received under paragraph (1) of this subsection and deposit them into the Black Bass Conservation Fund, established under § 4–209.1 of this article.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="g">
    <text>The donation process established under subsections (d), (e), and (f) of this section:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Shall be made available only to an individual purchasing directly through the electronic system;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>May not be made available to an individual purchasing through an authorized vendor; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Shall be limited to providing not more than two options to which an individual may make a monetary donation.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="h">
    <text>The Department may adopt regulations to:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Implement the electronic system authorized under this section; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Determine the appropriate fee levels that may be charged by a vendor and by the Department for the electronic transmission service.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
