Ch. 526                                    2004 LAWS OF MARYLAND

variance standards, particularly the historic understanding of unwarranted hardship,
that existed until weakened by the Court of Appeals, as well as enhance the
enforcement mechanisms available to local programs in the administration of their
critical area programs; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article - Natural Resources

8-1801.

(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that:

(1)     The Chesapeake and the Atlantic Coastal Bays and their tributaries
are natural resources of great significance to the State and the nation;

(2)     The shoreline and adjacent lands constitute a valuable, fragile, and
sensitive part of this estuarine system, where human activity can have a particularly
immediate and adverse impact on water quality and natural habitats;

(3)     The capacity of these shoreline and adjacent lands to withstand
continuing demands without further degradation to water quality and natural
habitats is limited;

(4)     HUMAN ACTIVITY IS ESPECIALLY HARMFUL IN THESE SHORELINE
AREAS, WHERE THE NEW DEVELOPMENT OF NONWATER-DEPENDENT STRUCTURES
OR THE ADDITION OF IMPERVIOUS SURFACES IS PRESUMED TO BE CONTRARY TO
THE PURPOSE OF THIS SUBTITLE, BECAUSE EACH ACTIVITY CAUSES THESE
ACTIVITIES MAY CAUSE ADVERSE IMPACTS, OF BOTH AN IMMEDIATE AND A
LONG-TERM NATURE, TO THE CHESAPEAKE AND ATLANTIC COASTAL BAYS, AND
THUS IT IS NECESSARY WHEREVER POSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN A BUFFER OF AT LEAST
100 FEET LANDWARD FROM THE MEAN HIGH WATER LINE OF TIDAL WATERS,
TRIBUTARY STREAMS, AND TIDAL WETLANDS;

(5)      National studies have documented that the quality and productivity
of the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries have declined due to the
cumulative effects of human activity that have caused increased levels of pollutants,
nutrients, and toxics in the Bay System and declines in more protective land uses
such as forestland and agricultural land in the Bay region;

[(5)] (6) Those portions of the Chesapeake and the Atlantic Coastal Bays
and their tributaries within Maryland are particularly stressed by the continuing
population growth and development activity concentrated in the
Baltimore-Washington metropolitan corridor and along the Atlantic Coast;

[(6)] (7) The quality of life for the citizens of Maryland is enhanced
through the restoration of the quality and productivity of the waters of the
Chesapeake and the Atlantic Coastal Bays, and their tributaries;

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