1136

LAWS OF MARYLAND

Ch. 102

WHEREAS, A recent decision of the Court of Appeals,
Hirsch v. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, 288 Md.
95 (1980), has left unclear whether the provisions of
Natural Resources Article, § 9-301, et seq., and regulations
adopted thereunder, are enforceable against persons who may
have acquired title to properties at a time when wetlands
maps and regulations pertaining to such properties were not
properly filed among the land records;

WHEREAS, It is the intent of the General Assembly that
wetlands maps and regulations, properly filed at the time
any person dredges or fills wetlands, are enforceable as to
those wetlands, even if the property containing the wetlands
may have changed ownership during a time when the applicable
maps and regulations were not properly filed or maintained
among the land records, provided that subsequent corrections
of any filing errors have been made before the person
dredges or fills wetlands;

WHEREAS, It is also the intent of the General Assembly
that wetlands maps and regulations are enforceable against
any person who had actual notice of the regulatory
requirements before dredging or filling wetlands, regardless
of previous filing errors; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That section(s) of the Annotated Code of Maryland
be repealed, amended, or enacted to read as follows:

Article - Natural Resources

9-301.

(c) After considering the testimony at the hearing and
any other pertinent fact, considering the rights of every
affected property owner, and the purposes of this subtitle,
the Secretary shall establish by order the landward bounds
of each wetland and the rules and regulations applicable to
it. A copy of the order, together with a copy of the map
depicting the boundary lines, shall be filed among the land
records IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBSECTION (D) OF THIS SECTION in
every county affected after final appeal has been completed.
The Secretary shall give notice of the order to each owner
of record of any land designated as wetlands by mailing a
copy of the order to the owner by registered or certified
mail. The Secretary shall also publish the order in a
newspaper published within and having a general circulation
in every county where the wetlands are located.

(D) FILING AMONG THE LAND RECORDS MEANS THAT THE CLERK
OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR EACH AFFECTED COUNTY SHALL MAINTAIN
ALL WETLANDS MAPS AND REGULATIONS SO AS TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO
THE PUBLIC AND SHALL DISPLAY PROMINENTLY TO THE PUBLIC AN
INDEX MAP PREPARED BY THE DEPARTMENT, WHICH SHALL INDICATE
THE LOCATION OF EACH WETLANDS MAP WITHIN THE COUNTY,