(a) Class A violation. Any violation of this Chapter or any regulations adopted under it is a Class A civil violation. The maximum civil fine is $1,000. Each day a violation continues may be treated as a separate violation under this Chapter.
(b)
Enforcement authority.
The Planning Board has primary enforcement authority under this Chapter. The Board’s enforcement authority includes holding enforcement hearings, imposing administrative civil penalties, ordering corrective actions, ordering the payment of civil fines, ordering compliance with corrective action orders, and any other action authorized by law. The Planning Director may initiate an administrative enforcement action under this Article.
(1) a forest conservation plan and any associated agreement or restriction, including any easement; or
(2) an administrative order.
These remedies are in addition to any remedy that the Board or the County may initiate under state or County law to enforce the terms of a regulatory approval which incorporates a forest conservation plan.
(d)
Administrative civil penalty.
(1) In addition to any other remedy under this Article, a person who violates this Chapter, any regulation adopted under it, a forest conservation plan, or any associated agreement or restriction, including any easement, is liable for an administrative civil penalty imposed by the Planning Board. This administrative civil penalty must not exceed the rate set by the County Council by law or resolution, except as provided in paragraph (3), but must not be less than the amount specified in Section 5-1608(c) of the Natural Resources Article of the Maryland Code. Each day a violation is not corrected is a separate violation.
(2) In determining the amount of the administrative civil penalty, or the extent of an administrative order issued by the Planning Director under Section 22A-17, the Planning Board or Planning Director must consider:
(A) the willfulness of the violations;
(B) the damage or injury to tree resources;
(C) the cost of corrective action or restoration;
(D) any adverse impact on water quality;
(E) the extent to which the current violation is part of a recurrent pattern of the same or similar type of violation committed by the violator;
(F) any economic benefit that accrued to the violator or any other person as a result of the violation; and
(G) any other relevant factors.
The Board or Director may treat any forest clearing in a stream buffer, wetland, or special protection area as creating a rebuttable presumption that the clearing had an adverse impact on water quality.
(3) In addition to any amount set under paragraph (1), an administrative civil penalty imposed under this Section may also include an amount that equals the fair market value of any conservation easement needed to enforce any mitigation or restoration requirement under this Chapter in the area of the violation. The Planning Board may specify the acceptable methods of calculating the fair market value of a conservation easement by a regulation adopted under Section 22A-26(a).
(4) The Planning Board must include the reasons for imposing an administrative civil penalty in its resolution adopting the administrative order.
(e) Enforcement Notices. The Planning Director may issue one or more of the following notices to enforce any provision of this Chapter. The issuance of a notice under this subsection does not require the previous issuance of any other notice.
(1) Notice of Violation.
(A) The Director may issue a notice of violation to a person who the Director believes has violated or is violating this Chapter. The Director must retain a copy of each notice.
(B) A notice of violation issued under this Article must be served on the alleged violator personally, on the alleged violator’s agent at the activity site, or by certified mail to the alleged violator’s last known address.
(C) The notice of violation must contain at least the following information:
(i) the name and address of the person charged with a violation;
(ii) the nature of the violation;
(iii) the place where and the approximate date when the violation occurred;
(iv) a statement advising the recipient of the corrective or remedial action to be taken, which may include a meeting with Planning staff to develop a compliance plan, and the date by which any corrective or remedial action must be completed; and
(v) a statement advising the recipient of the right to a hearing before the Planning Board or the Board’s designee.
(2) Administrative Citation.
(A) The Director may issue an administrative citation to a person who the Director believes has violated or is violating this Chapter. The Director may use any citation consistent with this Section, including the State of Maryland Uniform Civil Citation form. The Director must certify the truth of the allegations in the citation. The Director must retain a copy of each citation.
(B) An administrative citation issued under this Article must be served on the alleged violator personally, on the alleged violator’s agent at the activity site, or by certified mail to the alleged violator’s last known address.
(C) The administrative citation must contain at least the following information:
(i) the name and address of the person charged with a violation;
(ii) the nature of the violation;
(iii) the place where and the approximate date when the violation occurred;
(iv) the amount of the fine assessed;
(v) how, when, where, and to whom the fine may be paid; and
(vi) a statement advising the recipient of the right to a hearing before the Planning Board or the Board’s designee.
(3) Notice of Hearing.
(A) The Director may issue an administrative notice which informs an alleged violator of an enforcement hearing to be held by the Planning Board or the Board’s designee to address an alleged violation.
(B) A notice of hearing issued under this Article must be served on the alleged violator personally, on the alleged violator’s agent at the activity site, or by certified mail to the alleged violator’s last known address.
(C) The notice of hearing must contain at least the following information:
(i) the name and address of the person charged with a violation;
(ii) the nature of the violation;
(iii) the place where and the approximate date when the violation occurred; and
(iv) a statement advising the recipient of the date, time, and location of the hearing.
(f) Fund. Money collected under this Section must be deposited into the forest conservation fund. (1992 L.M.C., ch. 4, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch 19, § 1, 2005 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2006 L.M.C., ch. 33, § 1; 2010 L.M.C., ch. 6, § 1; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 1; 2018 L.M.C., ch. 27, § 1.)
Editor’s note—See County Attorney Opinion dated 9/24/08 regarding enforcement of the forest conservation law.
2013 L.M.C., ch. 23, § 2, states in part: (b) Any amendment to County Code Chapter 22A made by Section 1 of this Act applies to any enforcement action that the Planning Board takes after this Act takes effect, regardless of whether the alleged violation to which the enforcement action applies was committed before or after this Act took effect.
2010 L.M.C., ch. 6, § 2, states in part: Applicability. (b) Any amendment to County Code Chapter 22A made by Section 1 of this Act applies to any enforcement action that begins after this Act takes effect even if the alleged violation on which the enforcement action is based was committed before this Act took effect.
2001 L.M.C., ch. 19, § 2, reads as follows:
Transition. Any amendment to Chapter 22A, inserted by Section 1 of this Act, does not apply to:
(a) a preliminary or final forest conservation plan approved before this Act took effect [November 5, 2001], or
(b) a county highway project individually listed in the County Capital Improvements Program and submitted to the Planning Board under mandatory referral review before this Act took effect [November 5, 2001].