491 



Because of the disadvantages of the compact format, it was decided to reform State government 

 rather than supplant it. The legislation which follows provides such a reform, adapted for 

 adoption in Maryland. Basically it is a legislative delegation of broad planning, regulatory, 

 administrative and operational powers too single state agency-The Chesapeake Bay Basin 

 Department. The Department is given territorial jurisdiction over all waters of the State. This 

 jurisdiction was decided upon by starting with Bay waters and moving upstream into the fresh 

 water tributaries of the basin with the realization that fresh water input so intimately affects 

 estuarine waters that the two cannot be rationally separated. Also involved was the percep- 

 tion that-since almost all Maryland waters are in the basin except for some waters on the 

 eastern shore which drain into the bays behind the Atlantic barrier beaches and which present 

 similar management problems-the Department might as well have authority over all State waters. 

 Hence the title of the Department is a misnomer, chosen on the theory that the dog should wag 

 the tail. 



The territorial jurisdiction of the Department would, of course, be curtailed upon the adoption 

 of the Susquehanna and Potomac River Basin Compacts. Assuming the adoption of these com- 

 pacts, their respective commissions would have primary power within their jurisdictional bounds 

 but to the extent they permit State regulation and activity the Department would be the Maryland 

 operative. 



The Chesapeake Bay Basin Department is designed to replace two existing State agencies-the 

 Department of Water Resources and the Department of Chesapeake Bay Affairs. It is also de- 

 signed to take from the State Health Department the power to regulate discharges of human and 

 municipal wastes. Its primary role is as a coordinator, planner and regulator, it is charged 

 with the duty of developing a plan for the utilization and conservation of the waters of the State 

 and a complementary plan for utilization and conservation of Chesapeake Bay resources. It is 

 given regulatory powers necessary to assure implementation of these plans. In addition when a 

 need appears for Statewide development and management (for example, a State run waste accept- 

 ance system) it may own and administer facilities. 



Specific Comments 



ARTICLE 1 



CHESAPEAKE BAY BASIN DEPARTMENT CREATED 



This article defines the terms used throughout the act and lays the organizational groundwork 

 for the new Chesapeake Bay Basin Department. This Department replaces the Department of 

 Water Resources and the Department of Chesapeake Bay Affairs under the umbrella of the De- 

 partment of Natural Resources. The Secretary of Natural Resources has powers under other 

 sections of the Maryland Code to coordinate the activities of the Department with the activities 

 of other related resource agencies such as the Department of Forests and Parks and Department 

 of Game and Inland Fish. 



The Director of the Department is appointed by ond serves at the pleasure of the Governor. Ac- 

 cordingly the Director will be responsive to the Governor (or his intermediary, the Secretary of 

 Natural Resources) and the Governor is responsible for decisions of the Department. No com- 

 missions are established which interfere with this well defined line of responsibility and authority. 



