(a) (1) In addition to any other remedies available at law or in equity and after an opportunity for a hearing, the board of trustees of the Foundation may impose a penalty on an owner of property that is subject to an easement granted under this subtitle for a violation of any provision of this subtitle, any regulation adopted in accordance with § 2–504 of this subtitle, or an easement acquired by the Foundation.
(2) Each day a violation occurs is a separate violation for purposes of this section.
(b) Before taking any action under this section, the Foundation shall provide the alleged violator with written notice of the proposed action, an opportunity for an informal meeting, and a reasonable time to correct the alleged violation.
(c) The penalty imposed on a person under this section shall be:
(1) Up to $2,500 for each violation;
(2) Not more than $50,000 total for any single administrative hearing; and
(3) Assessed with consideration given to the willfulness of the violation and the extent to which the existence of the violation was known to the violator but uncorrected by the violator.
(d) Penalties collected by the Foundation under this section shall be paid into the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Fund established under § 2–505 of this subtitle.
(e) The Foundation shall adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.
Structure Maryland Statutes
Title 2 - Department of Agriculture
Subtitle 5 - Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation
Section 2-501 - "Child" Defined
Section 2-501.1 - Legislative Intent
Section 2-502 - Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation Established
Section 2-503 - Board of Trustees
Section 2-504 - General Powers of Foundation
Section 2-504.1 - Agricultural Preservation Advisory Boards
Section 2-505 - Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Fund
Section 2-506 - Annual Report to Governor and General Assembly
Section 2-507 - Executive Director and Staff
Section 2-508 - Purchases of Agricultural Land Preservation Easements
Section 2-508.1 - Disbursements to County Agricultural Land Preservation Programs
Section 2-509 - Foundation Regulations and Procedures for Sale of Easements
Section 2-509.1 - Elimination of Districts as a Requirement for Easement Application Process
Section 2-510 - Sale of Easement in Agricultural Land
Section 2-510.1 - Grant to Purchase Easement Under Certain Conditions
Section 2-511 - Value of Easement
Section 2-512 - Approval of Local Programs of Agricultural Land Preservation
Section 2-513 - Use of Land for Which Easement Purchased
Section 2-513.1 - Authority of County to Deny Applications Under Local Land Use Regulations
Section 2-514 - Termination of Easement
Section 2-514.1 - Easement Approved on or After October 1, 2004 to Be Held in Perpetuity
Section 2-515 - Condemnation of Land Under Agricultural Preservation Easement
Section 2-517 - Critical Farms Program
Section 2-517.1 - Farmland Preservation Partnership Program