ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor                             Ch. 504

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article - Environment

7-604.

(a)     Notwithstanding § 7-219 of this title, there is a Community
Right-to-Know Fund.

(b)     The Department shall use the Community Right-to-Know Fund for:

(1)     The collection, management, and analysis of data received by the
Department from an owner or operator of a facility that is required by the federal Act
or any regulations adopted under the federal Act to provide information to the State
under § 7-602(b) of this subtitle;

(2)     Enforcement by the State of this subtitle or the federal Act; and

(3)     Planning and training functions performed by the State or local
instrumentalities as may be required by the federal Act including:

(i) Conducting:

1.       Incident response activities;

2.       Shelter in place and evacuation planning;

3.       Railroad, maritime, and transportation exercises; and

4.       Emergency response activities;
(ii) The collection of hazardous material commodity flow

information;
materials;

(iii) The acquisition and maintenance of chemical reference

(iv) Public outreach activities including case studies, school safety,
and emergency planning for citizens; and

(v) Participation by emergency response personnel in related
training conferences on local, State, and federal regulatory and compliance updates,
incident command, and crisis control.

(c)      The Department shall:

(1)     Establish an annual fee for facilities required to report to the State or
its instrumentalities under the federal Act; and

(2)     Base the annual fee on the cost to the Department for processing the
information submitted to the Department under § 7-602(b) of this subtitle.

(d)     Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, beginning March 1,
2003 and each year thereafter:

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