​Click on any of the links below for more details on each program's enforcement activities:

Environmental Protection

• Nutrient Management

Consumer and Animal Health Protection

• Weights and Measures
• Animal Health
• Maryland State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners​

Plant Industries and Pest Management

• Pesticide Regulation
• Quarantines

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Nutrient Management

Maryland farmers are required to submit copies of their initial nutrient management plans to the Nutrient Management Program. By the end of FY 2015, more than 99 percent of the state’s 5,332 regulated farms had met the requirement. The department is pursuing enforcement actions against 25 farmers who have not submitted their initial nutrient management plans. In FY 2015, the department issued $5,600 in fines against 16 farmers who failed to file an initial nutrient management plan. 

Farmers are required to update their nutrient management plans and submit Annual Implementation Reports to the department by March 1 summarizing their nutrient applications for the previous calendar year. In April 2015, the department issued warnings to 919 farmers who failed to file their Annual Implementation Reports on time, followed by 395 notices of pending fines and 143 default notices. By the end of the fiscal year, 97.7 percent of regulated farmers managing about 1.3 million acres of land had submitted their reports. 

In FY 2015, the department issued $30,750 in fines against 123 farmers for late or missing reports. During Fiscal Year 2015, the department’s team of seven nutrient management specialists conducted 890 on-farm audits to confirm that farmers are using plans to manage nutrients effectively, an increase of approximately 18 percent over FY 2014. Of this number, 772 farms were selected randomly for audits with 69 percent determined to be in full compliance. An additional 118 farmers were flagged for audits due to incomplete, irregular, or inaccurate information reported on their Annual Implementation Reports. The majority of the violations documented for both random and targeted audits involved expired or incomplete nutrient management plans. The department is actively pursuing full compliance for all operations. In FY 2015, it issued $32,950 in fines against 47 farmers who failed to take corrective actions by prescribed deadlines.

CONSUMER SERVICES AND ANIMAL HEALTH PROTECTION

Weights and Measures

Animal Health

Maryland State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners

• See Disciplinary Actions​​

PLANT INDUSTRIES & WEED MANAGEMENT

​Pesticide Regula​tion	​2013	2014​	2015​​
​Number of Businesses Inspected	​​601	​7​50	983​
​​Number of Businesse with Violations	142​​	​222	277​​
​-- Unregistered Employee Violations	​13	​19	16​
-- ​​Records Incomplete or Inaccurate Violations	​97	​143	115​
​-- Vehicles Not Proplery Identified Violations	30​	​51	45​
​-- No Anti-Siphon Device Violations	​13	​11	17​
​-- No First Aid /  Safety Equipment Violations	​10	​5	5​
​-- Incomplete or No Customer Information Violations	​11	​18	32​
​Pesticide Dealer Inspections	​78	​89	82​
​Application Records Reviewed	709​	​978	782​
​Hearing and Investigational Conferences	​2	1​	1​
​Consumer Complaint Investigations	​26	​40	101​
​Pesticide Use Observations	82​	156​	157​
​Pesticide Samples Collected for Analysis	50​	70​	56​
​Market Place Inspections	31​	​32	30​
Pesticide Producer Establishment Inspections	30​	​31	28​
Container / Containment Inspections​	9​	​ 9	13​

 

Plant Protection and Weed Management

Plant Quarantines: MDA and the federal government can issue quarantines to prevent the sale or movement of a certain type of plant material. The introduction of a new or dangerous regulated disease or pest, such as the emerald ash borer, could devastate the state's industry, backyard landscapes, interstate and international plant trade, and the environment in general.

Current Quarantines in effect are:

• Thousand Cankers Disease Quarantine (January 2015)​ - Parts of Cecil County
  
• Emerald Ash Borer Quarantine (July 2011) Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore,Calvert, Carroll, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, PrinceGeorge’s, St. Mary’s, Washington counties and Baltimore City are under a state quarantine that prevents the movement of any ash trees, ash materials or hardwood firewood out of the county for the foreseeable future.
  
• Pine Shoot Beetle Quarantine (June 2010)  Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, and Washington Counties​
  
• Corn Cyst Nematode Quarantine (March 1986) Certain areas of Cecil, Harford, Kent, and Queen Anne's Counties.