In developing
a uniform resource management program for the entire Chesapeake Bay,
the General Assembly enacted legislation to protect one of the greatest
natural resources on earth.
It was
recognized in creating this unique legislation that the Chesapeake Bay
is a stressed system which has drastically decreased in productivity
during recent years. The fish and oyster harvests, for example, are
now only mere shadows of what they once were. National studies have
documented that the quality and productivity of the Chesapeake Bay have
declined due to the adverse cumulative impacts of human activity. Increased
population pressures on the shoreline have caused greater levels of
pollutants and toxics on the Bay, and a loss of agricultural lands and
forest neat the shore.
It was
decided that of the drastic decline in the health of the Bay were to
be stopped and reversed, immediate action would have to be taken. Therefore,
a number of bills directed at reducing the cumulative impacts of human
activity on the Bay were introduced and adopted by the Legislature.
In all, over 35 million dollars were authorized in 1984 through 28 separate
initiatives to help reverse the serious decline in the Bay system.
One of
the initiatives, the Critical Area Law, was created specifically to
address the impact of non-point source pollutants,* and the protection
of plant, fish and wildlife habitat. The Critical Area Law and its implementing
regulations required Calvert County to adopt and implement this Critical
Area Program to protect the Chesapeake Bay.
The Critical
Area regulations specify the location and types of activities which
may occur within the first 1000 feet landward of the Chesapeake Bay
and its tributaries; and give specific criteria which must be met to
conserve natural habitants for wildlife, fish and plants, and minimize
adverse impacts on water quality.
*"Non-point
source pollution" means pollution generated by diffuse land use activities
rather than from an identifiable or discrete facility.
1. Establishment
of an area 1000 feet inland from the Mean High Water Line or inland
edge of tidal wetlands which must be managed to reduce pollutants entering
the Bay. New development and redevelopment in Intensely Developed Areas
are required to reduce pollutants running off the land by 10%.
2. Establishment of a minimum 100-foot naturally vegetated buffer along
the shoreline to protect aquatics, wetlands, shoreline and terrestrial
environments from human disturbances.
3. A minimum base of forestry resources which equals or exceeds that
which currently exists must be maintained for the general protective
land use benefits it provides.
4. Designation of management areas, based on land use existing on December
1, 1985 according to one of the three types; Intensely Developed Areas,
Limited Development Areas or Resource Conservation Areas.
