Chapter 01. Maryland Historical Trust Historic Preservation Grant Program

“Acquisition” means the act or process of acquiring fee title or an interest other than fee title of historic property, including the purchase or acquisition of preservation easements, leasehold estates subject to ground rents, development rights, or remainder interests.

“Act” means State Finance and Procurement Article, §§5A-301 and 5A-328, Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended.

“Business entity” means a corporation, association, partnership, joint venture, or other legally organized entity.

“Code” means the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended.

“County” means any of the 23 counties of the State and the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

“Department” means the Department of Planning.

“Director” means the Director of the Maryland Historical Trust.

“Fund” means the Historic Preservation and Historical and Cultural Museum Assistance Grant Fund for the Program established by the Act.

“Grant” means an award of financial assistance from the Fund.

“Grant documents” means the grant agreement and other documents between the grantee and the Trust which evidence the terms and conditions of the grant.

“Grantee” means the recipient of a grant.

“Historic property” means a district, site, building, structure, monument, or object significant in the prehistory, history, upland and underwater archaeology, architecture, engineering, and culture of the State, which is listed in or is eligible for listing in the Maryland Register of Historic Properties.

“Local jurisdiction” means any county or municipality, and any duly authorized agency or instrumentality of the county or municipality.

“Maryland Register of Historic Properties” means the register of historic properties in Maryland which is established by the Trust under State Finance and Procurement Article, §5A-323, Annotated Code of Maryland.

“Municipality” means a municipal corporation in Maryland subject to the provisions of Article XI-E of the Maryland Constitution.

“Nonprofit organization” means a corporation, foundation, governmental entity, or other legal entity, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual holding an interest in such entity.

“Program” means the Historic Preservation Grant Program of the Trust established by the Act.

“Project” means one or more of the eligible activities set forth in Regulation .05 of this chapter.

“Rehabilitation” means the act or process of returning an historic property to a state of utility through repair or alteration which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions or features which are significant to its historical and cultural values.

“Restoration” means the act or process of applying measures to sustain the existing form, integrity, and material of an historic property or of accurately recovering the form and details of an historic property as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of later work or by the replacement of missing earlier work.

“Secretary” means the Secretary of Planning.

“Trust” means the Maryland Historical Trust, an agency within the Division of Historical and Cultural Programs of the Department.

“Trustees” means the Trustees of the Maryland Historical Trust.

Nonprofit organizations;

Local jurisdictions;

Individuals; and

Business entities, provided that the Trust may not make a grant to a business entity if the amount of the grant, when added to the aggregate amount of all grants made to business entities under the Program, will exceed 10 percent of the aggregate amount of all grants made under the Program.

Acquisition of historic property;

Rehabilitation of historic property; and

Restoration of historic property.

Historic preservation education and promotion, including the research, survey, and evaluation of historic properties and the preparation of historic preservation planning documents and educational materials.

Predevelopment costs relating to an ongoing or proposed project involving the rehabilitation or restoration of historic property, which costs shall be directly associated with the historic preservation nature of the project. The following provisions apply:

The Trust may directly expend moneys from the Fund in an amount up to 25 percent of the annual allocation to the Fund for the:

Trust expenditures under this section for acquisition, rehabilitation, or restoration shall be for use in accordance with the Trust's authorized purposes set forth in State Finance and Procurement Article, §5A-311, Annotated Code of Maryland, or for resale or lease by the Trust subject to appropriate preservation covenants.

Trust expenditures under this section are not considered grants as defined in these regulations and are governed solely by the provisions of this section, Regulation .08, of this chapter, and any other regulation or provision of law to which this section or Regulation .08 of this chapter may specifically refer.

At least once during each fiscal year the Trust shall solicit applications for the award of grants under the Program.

At least 90 days before an expected award of grants to grantees, the Trust shall issue a public announcement of the availability of funds under the Program as follows:

Applications shall be made upon standard forms prescribed by the Trust. Each application shall include sufficient information and documentation to:

The Trust may require applicants for grants to pay an application fee to cover some portion of the cost of processing the grant.

The Trust shall direct applicants to submit one or more letters of support for the proposed activity from the chief elected officials of the local jurisdiction within which the proposed activity will be located.

The Trust may fund applications at levels lower than requested. Not all applicants may be funded.

The Trust shall review and evaluate grant applications in accordance with the following selection criteria:

The Trust may assign differing weights to the criteria set forth in §C(1) of this regulation and the weights may vary from time to time.

An unpredictable or unforeseen situation has occurred which may necessitate an immediate need for historic preservation activities; or

The project is one which provides a special opportunity to engage in historic preservation activities within a narrow time frame.

After analysis by the Trust staff, the Trustees shall review each proposed expenditure from the Fund, including the general terms of the expenditure as well as any special terms and conditions for the project.

The Trustee's recommendations with regard to expenditures shall be forwarded to the Secretary.

Upon receipt of the recommendations, the Secretary shall approve or disapprove each expenditure.

All Trust direct expenditures under Regulation .05D of this chapter, for acquisition, rehabilitation, or restoration; and

Grants, emergency project grants, and Trust direct expenditures for education and promotion which are to be funded with the proceeds of a sale of State general obligation bonds.

If the Trustees determine not to recommend approval of a project for a grant or if the Secretary does not approve a grant, the Trust shall issue a written notice of rejection.

Applicants may request reconsideration of a rejection made by the Trustees by submitting a written request to the Director which is received within 30 days following the date of the Trust's rejection notice. The Director shall respond in writing either within 30 days of receipt by the Trust of the request for reconsideration or within 5 days of the next Trustees' meeting, whichever occurs later. The Secretary shall take final action regarding any applicant's request for reconsideration of the Director's response.

If the Secretary disapproves a grant recommended by the Trustees, the Secretary's decision is final.

A decision or reconsideration of a decision is not a contested case within the meaning of State Government Article, §10-201 et seq., Annotated Code of Maryland.

Grants to local jurisdictions, business entities, and individuals require a match in an amount at least equal to the grant. The match shall consist of either cash or an equivalent dollar value of an in-kind contribution to the project which is acceptable to the Trust.

In its discretion the Trust may require a match in the case of grants to nonprofit organizations. The matching requirement, if any, shall be specified in the appropriate public announcement of funds referred to in Regulation .06A(2) of this chapter and the contents of the match shall conform with the requirements in §A(1) of this regulation.

The matching requirement in §A(1) and (2) of this regulation may be modified or waived by the Secretary if the Secretary has issued a written determination that the matching requirement is impracticable or infeasible under the circumstances.

Cancel the grant and withhold any funds not yet disbursed if the grantee has not expended all grant funds within 24 months of the effective date of the grant documents, and the grant documents may prescribe a shorter period of time if the circumstances of the project warrant it;

Extend the time limit if the grantee demonstrates that the circumstances warrant extension, such as an inability to satisfy the time limit because of circumstances beyond the grantee's control.

Deeds of Easement and Preservation Agreements.

Title Certificate. The Trust, in its discretion, may require the grantee to provide an attorney's certificate of title, acceptable to the Trust, certifying title to the real property on which the improvements are located. The certificate of title may contain only standard exceptions and encumbrances approved by the Trust.

Insurance. The grantee shall cause the assisted historic property to be insured against loss or damage by fire and other hazards, casualties, and contingencies as may be required from time to time by the Trust in amounts satisfactory to the Trust.

Rehabilitation and Restoration Projects.

Grantees, contractors, and subcontractors shall maintain those books, accounts, and records and shall file with the Trust those financial and other reports as the Trust may from time to time require. All of these books, accounts, and records shall be open to the inspection of representatives of the Trust or other agencies of the State during reasonable working hours before, during, or after the period of time during which the grant proceeds are expended. Grantees shall make their administrative offices and personnel, whether full-time, part-time, consultants, or volunteers, available to the Trust upon request.

Books, accounts, and records of contractors and subcontractors shall be maintained and made available for inspection up to 3 years after either the date of grantee's final expenditure of grant proceeds or the termination of the contractual relationship between the contractor and the grantee, whichever is later.

A grantee may not discriminate on the basis of age (except with respect to residents in elderly projects), race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or physical or mental handicap in leasing or otherwise providing dwelling accommodations or in any other aspect of the development, administration, or operation of any project financed or assisted under the Program, or in any aspect of employment by any grantee, developer, or contractor of any project financed under the Program.

Each grantee shall comply with all applicable federal, State, and local laws and departmental policies and programs regarding discrimination and equal opportunity in employment, housing, and credit practices including:

Guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years, or both; and

Subject to immediate cancellation and reimbursement of the grant.