Title 8. Waters — Subtitle 10. Shore Erosion Control

In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.

“Fund” means the Shore Erosion Control Construction Loan Fund.

“Net project construction cost” means the construction cost paid from the Fund, equal to the project construction cost, plus any excess costs, less the property owner’s cash contribution.

“Project construction cost” means the estimated cost to design and construct a shore erosion control project, exclusive of supervision, inspection, and maintenance costs.

“Property owner’s cash contribution” means the sum an owner of property benefited by a shore erosion control project is required to pay in a lump sum prior to construction of the project.

“Shore erosion control project” means a competently designed work project, which may include but is not limited to erection or placement of bulkheads, groins, or other erosion control devices, and measures required to stabilize waterside, shorelines, and banks, and to change drainage patterns, all in order to halt or retard erosion of shorelines and deposit of eroded sediments in the waters of the State.

Develop and implement a program to educate the public on every phase of shore and bank erosion, its causes and effects, the locations where erosion is a problem, and steps to be taken to control erosion;

Review petitions for formation of shore erosion control districts presented to any county and report to the county as provided in § 21–303 of the Local Government Article;

Provide technical assistance to individual property owners, municipalities, and counties having specific shore and bank erosion problems;

Design or cause to be designed shore erosion control projects, including vegetative cover, in shore erosion control districts;

Enter into agreements with any person to construct shore erosion control projects;

Administer the Fund to provide loans to any person in support of construction of shore erosion control projects;

Supervise or provide supervision of design and erection of any shore protective device the Fund finances in whole or part;

Prepare requests for appropriation of funds necessary to maintain the Fund;

Cooperate with the following units:

Design, construct, and maintain shore erosion control works on State–owned lands if these projects are included in the budget for the Fund;

Actively seek to obtain available funds from the federal government for shore erosion control projects; and

Adopt regulations to implement this subtitle.

The owner of any property abutting on any body of water in the State may file a written application with the Department requesting State assistance in the design, construction, and financing of a shore erosion control project for the property. The application shall be in a form and contain information the Department prescribes. Each application form shall contain a notice warning that the applicant is responsible for maintenance of any project after the project is constructed.

A project may not be approved unless the project lies within a physiographic unit established by the Department, is within a shore erosion control district established under Title 21, Subtitle 2 or Subtitle 3 of the Local Government Article, or is of a nature that the project’s inclusion within a physiographic unit or shore erosion control district is neither necessary nor feasible in the Department’s judgment.

A physiographic unit project may not be approved unless every property owner within the physiographic unit participates in planning, construction, and financing of the project. However, the Department may exclude any property owner within the physiographic unit if this exclusion does not affect materially the remainder of the project.

The Department shall establish a schedule of priorities for shore erosion control projects, and upon approval of an application, assign the project to a priority list number. The schedule shall take into consideration the rate of erosion, amount of silt being deposited in the waters involved, date of Department’s approval, nature and amount of public benefits provided by the project, and any other factors set forth in regulations the Department adopts. If at any time the cost of an approved project at the top of the priority list exceeds the unobligated balance of the Fund, the Department may proceed with construction of a lower priority project.

The property owner’s cash contribution shall be placed in escrow immediately after a construction contract is awarded but before construction begins.

The operating budget of the Department may contain an appropriation from the Fund sufficient to provide technical and administrative services required to implement §§ 8–1002 and 8–1003 of this subtitle, including but not limited to:

Costs of the services enumerated in this section:

Money in the Fund may be used for administrative costs calculated in accordance with § 1–103(b)(2) of this article.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, to the extent that a project consists of nonstructural shore erosion control measures, the Department may:

To be entitled to receive any reimbursements under this section, the owner of the benefited property shall have entered into a project agreement with the Department before incurring any costs. The Department shall estimate the total amount of project costs for nonstructural measures and shall establish in the agreement as the maximum amount of assistance which will be available for the project 50% of that estimate. The Department may include in the project agreement conditions under which the owner may be entitled to receive reimbursement, including conditioning the reimbursement upon the successful establishment of any vegetative elements of the project.

The Department may reimburse the owner of a benefited property for 50% of the actual project costs or for the maximum available amount established in the project agreement, whichever is less. If the Department, through its employees, agents, or contractors, has designed or installed all or part of the nonstructural measures, the Department shall include as actual project costs the value of any labor or materials contributed by the State. The value of these items already contributed by the State shall be deducted from the amount to be reimbursed to the owner.

In carrying out this section, the Department may utilize any general, special, State reimbursable, or federal reimbursable funds appropriated in the budget for nonstructural shore erosion control. Appropriations and expenditures of funds for the purposes of this section may not be subject to any provision of §§ 8-1005 through 8-1007 of this subtitle.

During the first month of each fiscal year, the Department shall submit to the Department of Budget and Management:

If it appears reasonably likely that funds will be available for an approved shore erosion control project, the Department shall develop complete plans, specifications, and all information necessary to solicit firm bids for construction of the project. After selection of a contractor, in accordance with normal competitive bidding procedures, the Department shall advise the property owner of the estimated cost for the completion of all work. The property owner then may elect to abandon the project, and forfeit any initial deposit required under the regulations of the Department.

Costs to maintain shore erosion control projects are the sole responsibility of the benefited property owner. The Department periodically shall inspect these projects to recommend to the property owner any measures required to maintain the project.

Any county or any municipal corporation may borrow interest-free funds from the Fund for any approved project without the project construction cost limitation stated in this section. The county or municipal corporation shall repay the funds at a uniform rate over a period not exceeding 25 years as stated by agreement between the State and county or municipal corporation.

The Department shall include in its budget a request for funds necessary to provide and maintain shore erosion protection for State-owned properties.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, the Department may require a property owner who has requested a loan, or a property owner may elect, to procure design and construction services for a shore erosion control project.

The Department shall adopt regulations establishing procedures and technical standards for the procurement of design and construction services by a property owner.

On receipt of certification from the Department that a shore erosion control project has been satisfactorily completed, the Board of Public Works shall fix and levy a benefit charge on the benefited property. The benefit charge shall be:

Annual installments shall be due beginning on the first day of July following levy of the benefit charge by the Board of Public Works, and each July 1 after that date until the benefit charge is paid totally. If not paid within 90 days of its due date, an installment shall be in default and shall bear interest at the rate of 2% a month from the time of default. The Department shall be responsible for collection of annual installments.

A benefit charge assessed under this subtitle shall be a lien on the real property against which the benefit charge is assessed, and shall be subject to collection in the manner specified for foreclosure of mortgages. Any annual installments in default shall be a first lien on the benefited property, subject only to prior State, county, or municipal real property taxes. The outstanding balance of a benefit charge shall be afforded normal lien priority, except that the Department may agree in writing to grant precedence to a subsequent mortgage or deed of trust if necessary for refinancing, transfer, or improvement of a benefited property.

Annual installments shall be a personal obligation of the owner of a benefited property at the time the installments become due. Sale of a benefited property may not extinguish a lien under this subtitle, and the purchaser in all instances shall take the property subject to any outstanding balance of the total benefit charge still unpaid at the conclusion of the sale, and shall be required to meet the same annual installments as previously were being assessed. Any notice of sale clearly shall identify this potential liability, provided that failure to so notify may not affect the obligation if the notice of lien required under § 8-1005(d)(4) of this subtitle is filed properly.

For purposes of § 3-104 of the Real Property Article, which pertains to payment of taxes as a prerequisite to recording of any transfer of property, it is sufficient that all current annual installments of any benefit charge levied under this subtitle have been paid.

In the case of any subdivision of benefited property subsequent to the filing of the notice of the lien required under this subtitle, the benefit charge shall apply:

At the time of levy of any benefit charge under this subtitle or apportionment of an existing levy among subdivision lots, the Department shall notify appropriate tax officials for inclusion of the assessment in the tax records.

On completion of payment of the total benefit charge relating to a shore erosion control project, the Department shall: