Section 8-204 - Public access to Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. - Maryland Statutes

§ 8-204. Public access to Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
 

(a)  Department to coordinate.- The Department is the unit of State government that coordinates public access to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 

(b)  Department's powers and duties generally.- The Department shall: 

(1) Identify and designate areas for public access to the waters of the State in each county that is located on the tidal waters of the State; 

(2) Coordinate with local and State agencies responsible for planning, purchasing, developing, and maintaining access areas; 

(3) Make recommendations to guide public agencies in the identification, development, and management of access areas; and 

(4) Serve as a repository for all information and inventories concerning shorefront access. 

(c)  Condemnation and eminent domain.-  

(1) This section may not be construed to expand the authority that the Department has on July 1, 1988 to require or promote condemnation of real property along the Big Blackwater River and the Little Blackwater River. 

(2) The State may not acquire by eminent domain real property along the Big Blackwater River or the Little Blackwater River without first proving that the acquisition is necessary to preserve the natural qualities and unpolluted state of the Big Blackwater River and the Little Blackwater River. 
 

[1988, ch. 441; 1995, ch. 488, § 4.]