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Prince George’s bill would limit enforcement harms for buyers of deforested Critical Area property; commission supports delegation amendments
Summary
Delegate Chris Valderrama presented HB 1470 to address a case in Prince George’s County where a buyer inherited responsibility for prior unauthorized deforestation. The Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission supported delegation amendments that narrow scope and add a sunset.
Delegate Chris Valderrama told the Environment and Transportation Committee that House Bill 1470 responds to a specific enforcement scenario in Prince George’s County in which a property purchaser inherited responsibility for prior, undocumented deforestation in the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.
Valderrama described a constituent case in which the prior owner had cleared trees in violation of the Critical Area statute and, despite a presale remediation agreement, the subsequent owner received a violation notice and was eventually required to submit repeated remediation plans. The constituent, Kelsey Mazur, testified to the committee that remediation efforts have cost more than $116,000 to date, have frozen the family’s ability to obtain permits, and have left the property effectively unusable.
Lisa Herger, legislative and regulations coordinator for the Critical Area Commission staff, said the commission supports a favorable report "with the delegation's amendments." She told the committee the delegation narrowed the bill to a small, noncommercial parcel, provided for mitigation authority, and added a sunset provision to ensure the change would not weaken statewide program consistency.
Commission chair Eric Fisher also made himself available to answer committee questions and expressed appreciation for collaboration between the delegation and commission staff. Valderrama said the bill was intended to balance Chesapeake Bay protections with principles of fairness and due process when subsequent owners face remediation demands for prior violations.
Why it matters: The Critical Area program is implemented by state and local authorities across Tidewater jurisdictions. This bill attempts to address an individual enforcement anomaly while preserving uniformity of Critical Area rules statewide by narrowing the remedy, adding mitigation, and including a sunset.
Next steps: The sponsor urged a favorable report; the commission’s staff and chair testified in support of the amended approach. No committee vote was recorded in the hearing transcript.
