ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor                           H.B. 804

Article - Agriculture

2-510.

(e) (1) (i) Within 30 days after the receipt of an application to sell, the
Foundation shall notify the governing body of the county containing the subject land,
that an application to sell has been received.

(ii) 1. Within 60 days of the notification, the county governing
body shall advise the Foundation as to local approval or disapproval of the
application. The Foundation shall grant a 30-day extension of this response period if
the county governing body applies to the Foundation for an extension and states its
reasons for seeking an extension.

2. Upon local approval of the application, the county
governing body shall submit a statement of the total current development rights on
the subject land to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, along
with the application approval notification. The statement shall include the total
number of development rights that have been subdivided or transferred.

(2)     In deciding whether to approve the application, the county governing
body shall:

(i) Receive the recommendation of the county agricultural
preservation advisory board established under § 2-504.1 of this subtitle; and

(ii) Rank all applications based on:

1.       [its] ITS locally established priorities as approved by the
Foundation, which, for purposes of enhancing competitive bidding, may include a
system that ranks properties in ascending order with respect to the proportion
obtained by dividing the asking price by the value GAP of the easement, CALCULATED
AS PROVIDED IN § 2-511(A) OF THIS SUBTITLE; AND

2.       ANY GUIDELINES ADOPTED BY THE FOUNDATION TO
IDENTIFY PROPERTIES WHOSE PURCHASE WILL FURTHER THE GOALS OF THE
MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL LAND PRESERVATION PROGRAM UNDER PARAGRAPH (3)
OF THIS SUBSECTION.

(3)      (I) IN CONSULTATION WITH COUNTY GOVERNING BODIES, THE
FOUNDATION SHALL ADOPT GUIDELINES TO IDENTIFY EASEMENTS FOR PURCHASE
THAT FURTHER THE GOALS OF THE MARYLAND AGRICULTURAL LAND
PRESERVATION PROGRAM.

(II) GUIDELINES ADOPTED UNDER SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF THIS
PARAGRAPH SHALL INCLUDE CONSIDERATION OF:

1. LOCATION IN A PRIORITY PRESERVATION AREA OF THE
COUNTY;

2. SOIL AND OTHER LAND CHARACTERISTICS ASSOCIATED
WITH AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY;

- 3809 -