(A) Archaeological resources. The purpose of this section is to identify, evaluate, and protect archaeological resources in Frederick County, which are defined in § 1-23-3 above. Archaeological resources are non-renewable resources that tangibly connect the county's history across hundreds and thousands of years.
(B) Applicability. This section applies to:
(1) All applications for Type 1 site plans, preliminary plans, individual zoning map amendments, and floating zone reclassifications (hereinafter a "Plan" or "Plans") that are submitted to the Division or to the Planning Commission for consideration. Compliance with this section is recommended for concept plans and sketch plans.
(2) For Type 1 site plans, preliminary plans, floating zone reclassifications, and individual zoning map amendments, compliance with this section must be completed prior to a Plan being scheduled for Planning Commission review.
(3) Any revised Plan that extends the limits of disturbance of the original Plan may also be subject to this section. Applicants should contact the Division to determine if the revisions constitute a need for additional archaeological review.
(4) This review process cannot be completed in lieu of any state or federal review process that a project may be subject to.
(C) Administration. This section shall be administered by the Division, which may adopt reasonable procedures for its administration, consistent with applicable law. All reviews will be conducted by a professional archaeologist working for the Division and whose professional qualifications meet or exceed those established by the Secretary of the Interior.
(1) All archaeological work must be designed and completed by a professional archaeologist in accordance with the Standards & Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations in Maryland. Failure to submit the required materials for archaeological review may cause delays in the plan review process.
(D) Archaeological significance. The significance of archaeological resources identified within the area of potential impact will be evaluated by a professional archaeologist working for the Division, applying the National Register of Historic Places Criteria for Evaluation (Criteria). The archaeological resources will be considered significant if they possess one or more of the qualities of significance as defined by the Criteria, can be associated with a historic context, and retains historic integrity. The National Register of Historic Places Criteria for Evaluation state that the quality of significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and:
(1) Criteria A: That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history;
(2) Criteria B: That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past;
(3) Criteria C: That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
(4) Criteria D: That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
(E) Assessment of archaeological potential. Prior to the submission of any applicable Plans to the Division, applicants must participate in a scoping meeting with the Division's Professional Archaeologist to discuss the archaeological potential of the property and the scope of any potential archaeological studies.
(1) At least 45 days prior to the scoping meeting, the applicant must submit a request for an assessment of archaeological potential for the proposed project. This request includes, but is not limited to, full and accurate information about all ground disturbing activities proposed at the site, existing conditions survey, a contour map of the project area, photographs of the site, and any known historic resources on the site.
(2) Following the submission of the above information by the applicant, the Division will research and perform on-site inspection to create an assessment of the archaeological potential of the proposed project area, which will be presented to the applicant at the scoping meeting. The applicant will coordinate with the Division's professional archaeologist for site visits as needed. No archaeological identification study should be started prior to the review of the archaeological potential of the proposed project area by the Division's professional archaeologist.
(3) Exemptions may be made at the discretion of the Division's professional archaeologist if the area of potential impact is less than 5,000 square feet, if the area has significant existing disturbance that has already destroyed potential archaeological sites, or if a previously conducted survey unrelated to the Plan being applied for has concluded that archaeological resources are non-existent.
(F) Archaeological studies. Following the archaeological assessment scoping meeting, if the applicant was not granted an exemption, the applicant must:
(1) Undertake an archaeological identification study (Phase I) and an archaeological evaluation study (Phase II), as determined in the scoping meeting, by a Professional Archaeologist for the area determined in the scoping meeting to identify and evaluate intact archaeological resources in accordance with standards outlined in the most current edition of the Standards and Guidelines for Archeological Investigations in Maryland. A copy of the archaeological identification and evaluation report and completed or updated Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (Archaeology) forms must be submitted to the Division for review and comment.
(2) The Division shall have 30 days to comment on the materials submitted by the applicant. After the Division's comments have been addressed by the applicant and their professional archaeologist, a final copy of the archaeological identification or evaluation report and a copy of the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties (Archaeology) forms must be submitted to the Division. A copy of the report and forms shall be forwarded by the Division to the Maryland Historical Trust. A redacted copy of the archaeological identification or evaluation report must be submitted to the Division.
(a) If no archaeological resources are identified as the result of the archaeological identification and evaluation studies, a summary letter of negative findings must be submitted to the Division by the applicant's professional archaeologist.
(b) If archaeological testing identifies archaeological resources, but determines that they are not significant, in accordance with subsection (D) above, then the archaeological identification and evaluation report must be submitted to the Division. The Division will have 30 days to confirm that the identified resources are not significant, in accordance with subsection (D) above.
(c) If archaeological testing identifies significant archaeological resources in accordance with subsection (D) above, an archaeological resource management plan must be submitted to the Division. The Division will render a determination in writing regarding the acceptability of the proposed archaeological resource management plan within 30 days after receipt of the studies and management plan, unless written consent to extend such period is given by the applicant. The applicant maintains the right to amend their application to avoid areas of high archaeological potential or known archaeological resources.
(3) The county will treat archaeological resource locations and reports with discretion.
(G) Archaeological identification and evaluation report and resource management plan.
(1) When required under the provisions of this section, the applicant must submit, as part of the Plan application an archaeological identification report, an evaluation study, and archaeological resource management plan, as necessary, prepared by a professional archaeologist. All archaeological investigations, reports, and plans will conform with the most current edition of the Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations in Maryland.
(2) An archaeological identification and evaluation report must include a detailed evaluation of the archaeological significance of the archaeological resources on the property, specifically addressing the proposed disturbance within the Plan area, including a detailed assessment of the information potential of identified resources according to the criteria outlined in subsection (D) above.
(3) An archaeological resource management plan must include reasonable measures for the preservation or mitigation of adverse effects on significant archaeological resources within the Plan's area of proposed disturbance, including but not limited to additional archaeological testing, archaeological data recovery (Phase III), site construction monitoring, archaeological resource avoidance, field recording, photography, laboratory analysis, conservation of organic and metal artifacts, curation of the collection (e.g., artifacts, notes, photographs), public interpretation, and the preparation of reports.
(4) The archaeological resource management plan must provide reasonable measures for further archaeological study, stabilization, conservation, curation of recovered artifacts by an appropriate public or private curation facility or museum, and in situ preservation of archaeological resources found within the site plan area, as required by the Planning Commission.
(H) Review of archaeological evaluation report and resource management plan. The archaeological identification and evaluation studies and archaeological resource management plan must be reviewed and approved, disapproved, or approved with modifications or conditions, as part of the applicable plan review process.
(1) This review will be completed and summarized in writing by the Division's professional archaeologist. In the case of a substantive disagreement between the county and the applicant regarding the findings, the county can request a review by and consultation with the Maryland Historical Trust. The findings by the Maryland Historical Trust will be nonbinding.
(I) Appeal. An applicant has 30 days from the date of the Division's final determination to file an appeal for a hearing with the Division Director. The Division Director will use best efforts to hold the hearing within 30 days of the appeal request. If an applicant is still aggrieved by the Division Director's decision, they may appeal to the Circuit Court, pursuant to Maryland Rules Title 7, Chapter 200.
(J) Unanticipated discoveries. If the applicant or the applicant's employees or assignees uncover unanticipated discoveries during soil disturbance, work in the immediate vicinity must cease immediately and the Division must be notified. Construction activities in the vicinity must not resume until such time that all relevant parties have agreed upon a course of action. If any human remains, funerary objects, or other features or artifacts associated with a cemetery are uncovered, refer to the procedure in § 1-23-12(F).
(Bill No. 24-01, 4-16-2024)