1232                                 LAWS OF MARYLAND                               Ch. 352

8-9A-02.

(a)  The General Assembly finds and declares that (1)
recurrent flooding of a portion of the State's land
resources causes loss of life, damage to property,
disruption of commerce and governmental services, and
unsanitary conditions, all of which are detrimental to the
health, safety, welfare, and property of the occupants of
flood hazard areas of the State; (2) considerable public
costs are incurred through the emergency preparedness
program, and by replacing public utilities and other public
capital investments DESTROYED OR DAMAGED BY FLOODS; (3)
flood waters disregard jurisdictional boundaries; and (4)
the public INTEREST necessitates management of waters and
flood hazard areas for the objectives of preventing and
alleviating flood threats to life and health, reducing
private and public economic losses, and to the extent
possible, preserving the biological values associated with
these land and water resources.

(b)  The policy and purposes of this subtitle are to
assist in the guidance of development to minimize the
impacts of flooding; [to delineate interim flood hazard
areas and designate allowable uses within;] to provide State
guidelines and technical assistance to local governments in
management of flood hazard areas; to provide for
comprehensive watershed management; to facilitate
implementation of projects for flood control; to encourage
and provide for local governmental units to manage
flood-prone lands in a comprehensive manner; [and] to
provide for the biological and environmental quality of the
watersheds of the State; AND TO ESTABLISH A GRANT PROGRAM TO
ASSIST LOCAL JURISDICTIONS WITH IMPLEMENTATION OF THOSE
CAPITAL PROJECTS INCLUDED WITHIN THE COMPREHENSIVE FLOOD
MANAGEMENT PLANS WHICH ARE ADOPTED AND APPROVED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE SUBTITLE.

[8-9A-03.

(a)  By April 1, 1979, the Department shall prepare
maps to show interim flood hazard areas.

(b)  In preparing interim flood hazard area maps, the
Department shall consider the following factors:

(1)  Soil data.

(2)  Maps of flood hazard areas prepared by the
Federal Insurance Administration, the U. S. Soil
Conservation Service, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, and
the U. S. Geological Survey.

(3)  Historical information relating to prior
flooding.