Departmental Proposed and Emergency Regulations

The following outlines current Notices of Public Comment, Notices of Emergency Action, Notices of Proposed Action, and Notices of Final Action that have been requested by the Maryland Secretary of Agriculture and published in the Maryland Register.

Visit the Maryland Register Online to read the most recent proposed regulations in their entirety.

Note: Notices of Final Action will stay on this page for six months. After that, all state regulations can be viewed at the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) site.

Notices of Public Comment

The Department is accepting public comments on proposed amendment to regulation .02 under COMAR 15.20.07 Agriculture Operation Nutrient Management Plan Requirement (see below for more information). Comments may be sent to Dwight Dotterer, Administrator, Maryland Department of Agriculture, 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21401, or call 410-841-5877, or email to dwight.dotterer@maryland.gov. Comments will be accepted through April 26, 2022.

Notices of Emergency Action

N/A

Notices of Proposed Action

The following notice was published in the February 25, 2022 Maryland Register

The Maryland Department of Agriculture proposes to amend Regulation .02 under COMAR 15.20.07 Agriculture Operation Nutrient Management Plan Requirement.

The purpose of this action is to amend a section of the Department of Agriculture’s Maryland Nutrient Management Manual (November 1999) which is incorporated by reference. To date, the manual has been amended eight times. It was last amended in August 2016. Specifically, the Department is proposing to amend Section I-D1 of the manual, titled “Nutrient Application Requirements”.

In addition to making certain stylistic changes to this section, the proposed action places greater restrictions on the land application of food processing wastes and residuals to control odors. This includes requiring that the material be injected or incorporated into the soil (e.g., requiring 95 percent soil coverage over the applied material through incorporation) within a certain time period. This will also require planting a harvestable crop or cover crop within a certain time period when land application of this material is allowed. Land application of this material will not be allowed in the late fall (after October 31) and winter.
The following notice was published in the February 25, 2022 Maryland Register

The Maryland Department of Agriculture proposes to amend Regulation .10 under COMAR 15.01.05 Cost-Sharing Program — Water Pollution Control Program.

The purpose of this action is to increase the “not-to-exceed” payment from $50,000 to $75,000 that may be made to a person applying to receive funds under the State’s Cost-Sharing Program for the following type projects to prevent or control agriculturally related nonpoint source pollution, that is, a single project not covered by a pooling agreement.

The following notice was published in the December 17, 2021 Maryland Register

The Maryland Department of Agriculture proposes to adopt new Regulations .01—.11 under a new chapter, COMAR 15.01.18 Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program—Appeal Procedure.

Notices of Final Action

The following notice was published in the Oct. 8, 2021 Maryland Register

On September 14, 2021, the Maryland Department of Agriculture adopted amendments to Regulation .10 under COMAR 15.01.05 Cost-Sharing Program — Water Pollution Control Program. This action, which was proposed for adoption in 48:16 Md. R. 644 (July 30, 2021), has been adopted as proposed. Effective Date: October 18, 2021.