Ch. 306                                    LAWS OF MARYLAND

(4)  The principal administrative official for
agricultural affairs at the University of Maryland as designated
by the president of the university;

(5)  The chairman of the Maryland Agricultural
Commission, or his designee;

(6)  The president of the Maryland Association of Soil
Conservation Districts;

(7)  5 soil conservation district supervisors
representing the 5 different geographic areas of the State, as
provided in subsection (b);

(8)  The Director of the Cooperative Extension Service
and the principal administrative officer for Maryland of the Soil
Conservation Service of the United States Department of
Agriculture, who shall be nonvoting members; and

(9)  Other representatives of cooperating State and
federal agencies serving as consultants to the Committee as
selected by the Committee.

8-603.

(a)  (1) "Agricultural drainage project" means the
construction, reconstruction, or repair, or the straightening,
widening, or deepening, of any ditch, drain, canal, or other
watercourse, natural or man-made, financed or managed by a public
drainage association for the purpose of lowering the water level
in the soil of adjacent lands for agricultural purposes.

(2)  "Department" means the Department of Agriculture
or [Health and Mental Hygiene] THE ENVIRONMENT or Natural
Resources or any combination of them.

(3)   "Person" includes an individual, receiver,
fiduciary or representative of any kind, or any partnership,
firm, association, public or private corporation, trust, or any
other entity.

(4)   "Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture
unless the context requires otherwise.

(b)  The General Assembly determines and finds that the
lands and waters comprising the watersheds of the State are great
natural assets and resources. It continues to find that the
drainage of surface waters from land's for agricultural purposes
by public drainage associations represents a public benefit. The
General Assembly further finds that agricultural drainage
projects, if not properly designed, operated, and maintained,
have the potential to contribute nonpoint source pollutants to
the waters of the State.

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