1412 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 574

the next following section; the application to be accompanied
by a filing fee of $10.

17. Upon receipt of such application and the payment of
$100, the Conservation Commissioner shall direct the Engineer
of the Conservation Department to survey the land described.
Said Engineer shall make an actual survey of the land at the
expense of the applicant, establishing the location of the land
by metes and bounds; and within thirty days thereafter file
with the Conservation Commissioner a copy, under oath, of his
field notes and plat. If the expense of said survey exceeds the
amount of deposit, the applicant shall pay the difference, but
in case the deposit is greater than the expense, then the Con-
servation Department shall refund the applicant the difference
between the cost of survey and the amount deposited.

18. All applications made under this sub-title shall be ap-
proved or rejected by the Conservation Commissioner, with the
approval of the Board of Public Works, within ninety days
after the receipt thereof. No such application made under this
sub-title shall be approved by the Conservation Commissioner
unless and until the same has been approved by the Board of
Public Works of Maryland. And whenever the existence of any
mineral or rare earth deposit under the public navigable waters
of the Chesapeake Bay is brought to the attention of the Con-
servation Commissioner by an applicant, preference is to be
given to the discoverer of the deposit as against any other ap-
plicant within the discretion of the Board of Public Works. All
such permits or leases shall contain such regulations, covering
operations thereunder for the purpose of extracting minerals
or rare earths, including the number of acres permissible under
one permit, as well as the number of permits to anyone person,
firm, association or corporation, as shall seem necessary to the
Conservation Commissioner and the Board of Public Works for
the protection of navigation channels and all other interests of
the State.

No permit or lease shall be granted under the provisions of
this sub-title for the removal or extracting of minerals or rare
earths within 300 yards of mean low water mark without the
written permission of the riparian owner or owners, nor within
300 yards of any charted natural oyster bar or leased bottom.
No one permit or lease shall be made f or more than 500 acres
and no leased area under the provisions of this sub-title shall
be within 600 yards of any other such leased area.