{"data":{"id":"us-md/md.-code-natural-resources-8-2a-01","jurisdiction":"us-md","citation":"Md. Code, Natural Resources § 8–2A–01","heading":"","body":"(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.\n(b) “Aggregator” means a person that facilitates or coordinates the establishment of practices or projects that:\n(1) Are implemented by the person or by others;\n(2) Produce a quantifiable environmental outcome;\n(3) Are registered by the person; and\n(4) Are made available for purchase by the State.\n(c) “BayStat Program” means the program established under § 8–2A–03 of this subtitle.\n(d) “Environmental outcome” means a commodity that is modeled or directly measured as a single, quantifiable, and certified unit of improvement to the environment, including a nutrient or carbon benefit.\n(e) “Evaluator” means a person other than an aggregator that determines whether environmental outcomes have been achieved based on defined performance measures.\n(f) (1) “Nonpoint source pollution control project” means a project to improve water quality by a reduction of nitrogen, phosphorus, or sediment pollution.\n(2) “Nonpoint source pollution control project” includes:\n(i) An agricultural best management implementation practice, including cover crops, riparian forested buffer, manure processing, grassed waterways, animal waste storage structures, and livestock fencing;\n(ii) An urban or suburban stormwater practice;\n(iii) A sustainable forest management practice, including a forest stewardship plan or a nonornamental urban and suburban tree planting project;\n(iv) Stream and wetland restoration;\n(v) Riparian buffer planting;\n(vi) A project that demonstrates the effectiveness of an innovative nonpoint source pollution reduction measure provided that the measure is capable of integration into existing nonpoint source pollution programs;\n(vii) Technical assistance necessary to implement a nonpoint source pollution control project;\n(viii) Improvement of a municipal park located on or adjacent to a waterway, provided that the improvement is limited to state–of–the–art and sustainable nonpoint source pollution control measures that demonstrably improve water quality by reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution; and\n(ix) Strategic monitoring of water quality improvements from nonpoint source pollution control projects that have been funded, in whole or in part, with grants from the Trust Fund.\n(g) “Quantification plan” means a plan in which an aggregator describes:\n(1) The method that will be used to measure or model environmental outcomes and co–benefits;\n(2) The compliance monitoring that will occur to ensure that the proposed actions are taken and maintained over the life of the project;\n(3) Verification steps that will be carried out by the State or an evaluator to confirm model results or accurate measurement of environmental outcomes; and\n(4) The timeline for proposed payments under a contract with the State.\n(h) “Trust Fund” means the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund.\n(i) “Watershed implementation plan” means a plan to achieve the nutrient and sediment limits required under the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load.","path":["Article - Natural Resources"],"source_url":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gnr\u0026section=8-2A-01","current_through":"2026-01-01","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T20:00:08Z","sha256":"ddb364a5fc0f5a07dcbb9da10cfb5d6b094f729c63672432c95d406f43662dcc","source_id":"us-md","stale":false,"prev":"us-md/md.-code-natural-resources-8-207","next":"us-md/md.-code-natural-resources-8-2a-02"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}