Marvin Mandel, Governor                       1535

fails or refuses to make any correction or fails or refuses to maintain
and operate the system in compliance with the Commission's reason-
able requirements, the Commission may make the correction or, if
necessary, take over for so long a period as may be necessary for
the operation of the system and collect the costs therefor from the
owners or operators. After construction of a water or sewage treat-
ment facility pursuant to a Commission permit, if the operation
thereof is subject to inspection by the State Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene the Commission shall not be required to dupli-
cate those operational inspection functions, and its operation and
inspection fee shall be eliminated or reduced commensurate with the
eliminated inspection activities. All other aspects of the Commission
permit for the facility shall continue.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1972 JANUARY 1, 1973.

Approved May 26, 1972.

CHAPTER 559
(House Bill 866)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 29AB of
Article 96A of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1964 Replace-
ment Volume and 1971 Supplement), title "Water Resources," sub-
title "Pollution Abatement," to change the bonding requirements
to relate to gross tonnage of the vessel instead of gross tonnage
of oil cargo, providing for the posting, and forfeiture, on certain
conditions, of a bond by any vessel in or entering upon the waters
of the State for the purposes of discharging or receiving a cargo
of any bulk oil in the State; imposing a penalty for failure to
post said bond.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 29AB of Article 96A of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1964 Replacement Volume and 1971 Supplement), title "Water Re-
sources," subtitle "Pollution Abatement," be and it is hereby repealed
and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

29AB

(a) Except for a vessel carrying or receiving twenty-five (25)
barrels of oil or less, any vessel, whether or not self-propelled, in or
entering upon the waters of the State for the purpose of discharging
or receiving a cargo of any bulk oil in the State shall post a bond
with the Maryland Port Authority or the Department of Natural
Resources of at least one hundred dollars ($100.00) per gross ton of
[oil cargo to the State] vessel. The bond shall be in a form approved
by the Authority and the Department and may be obtained individu-
ally or jointly by the vessel, its owner or agent, its charterer, or by
the owner or operator of the terminal at which the vessel discharges
or receives the bulk oil. If the Authority or the Department deter-
mines that oil has been discharged or spilled into the waters of the
State from the vessel, the bond shall be forfeited, to the extent of
the costs incurred by the Authority or the Department in eliminating