Ch. 504                                    2004 LAWS OF MARYLAND

(1)     The annual fee shall be paid to the Department no later than March
1 of each year for reports required under § 312 of the federal Act; and

(2)     The annual fee shall be paid to the Department no later than July 1
of each year for reports required under § 313 of the federal Act.

(e)     Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the annual fee assessed by the
Department under this section may not exceed $1,000 in any calendar year for a
responsible person who owns or operates one or more facilities in Maryland.

(f)      (1) The following persons and entities are exempt from paying any fees
under this section:

(i) Governmental agencies;

(ii) Farmers whose principal residence is located on their farm;

(iii) Charitable organizations as defined under § 6-101(d) of the
Business Regulation Article;

(iv) Petroleum retail facilities with less than 75,000 gallons of
gasoline and less than 100,000 gallons of diesel or similar fuel; and

(v) Entities that are exempt from reporting under the federal Act.

(2) The Secretary may adopt regulations that exempt additional entities
from the requirement to pay the fees to the Department required by this section.

(g)     Any fee or penalty collected or imposed under this subtitle shall be paid by
the Department to the Fund.

(h) The Department shall use 50% of the moneys in the Fund to provide grants
to local emergency planning committees.

(i) (1) A local emergency planning committee that receives moneys under
subsection (h) of this section shall provide an annual report to the Department
documenting the manner in which the moneys were expended by the local emergency
planning committee.

(2) A local emergency planning committee shall spend the moneys
provided under subsection (h) of this section for activities identified under subsection
(b) of this section or for any other activity which the Department determines is
consistent with the purposes of this subtitle.

(j) Moneys allocated to a local emergency planning committee under
subsection (h) of this section that are not utilized by the local emergency planning
committee within 1 year after receipt of the allocation shall be remitted to the
Department and may be reallocated by the Department.

(k) (1) After providing reasonable notice, the Secretary may require a local
emergency planning committee to provide the Department with information or
documentation relating to the utilization of moneys allocated under subsection (h) of
this section.

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