576                              Laws of Maryland                       Ch. 245

Natural Resources requesting State assistance in the design, con-
struction, and financing of a shore erosion control project for the
property. The application shall be in a form, contain information,
and be submitted at a time the Department prescribes. Every appli-
cation form shall contain a notice warning the applicant that he
will be responsible for the maintenance of any project after it has
been constructed.

(b) No project shall be approved unless it lies within a phys-
iographic unit as established by the Department of Natural Re-
sources or within a shore erosion control district as established un-
der Section 161 through 167E, inclusive, of Article 25 of this Code,
as amended from time to time, or is of such nature that its in-
clusion within a physiographic unit or a shore erosion control dis-
trict is, in the judgment of the Department, neither necessary nor
feasible.

(a) No physiographic unit project shall be approved unless all
property owners within the physiographic unit participate in the
planning, construction, and financing of the project, except that the
Department of Natural Resources may exclude any property owner
within the physiographic unit from participation in the construc-
tion and financing of the project if this exclusion will not materially
affect the remainder of the project.

(d)    The Department of Natural Resources shall establish a
schedule of priorities for shore erosion control projects, and upon
approval of an application, assign a priority to it. The schedule
shall take into consideration the rate of erosion, the amount of silt
being deposited in the waters involved, the date of approval by the
Department of Natural Resources, THE NATURE AND AMOUNT
OF PUBLIC BENEFITS TO BE PROVIDED BY THE PROJECTS
and such other factors as may be set forth in the regulations promul-
gated by the Department of Natural Resources. If at any time the
cost of an approved project at the top of the priority list exceeds the
unobligated balance of the Shore Erosion Control Construction Loan
Fund, the Department may proceed with construction of a project
or projects of lower priority.

(e)    Upon the recommendation of the Department of Natural
Resources, the Board of Public Works may, by resolution, authorize
the establishment of a shore erosion, control district. In this event,
it shall be mandatory for all property owners within the district to
participate in the shore erosion control project.

758.

There shall be included annually in the operating budget of the
Department of Natural Resources a general fund appropriation suf-
ficient to provide engineering, technical, and administrative services
required to implement Sections 756 and 757 of this article, including
but not limited to the review and evaluation of requests for assist-
ance in shore erosion control, the design of shore erosion control
structures and projects, supervision of construction of approved proj-
ects, and inspection of completed projects to insure adequate main-
tenance. Costs of the services enumerated in this subsection shall
not be considered a part of the construction cost of the project,
and shall be borne solely by the State.