Zoning › State preemptions › Maryland

Maryland Wetlands of Special State Concern (WSSC) & Nontidal Wetlands (MD)

Tracked preemption from the Maryland overlay bundle.

Overview

← All state preemptionsMaryland overlay roll-upMaryland zoning wikiMaryland building codesFederal overlaysGlossaryFederal-conflict: Yes
Effective
1989-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:MD
Other Maryland preemptions
Maryland Land Use Article — Zoning & Planning Enabling AuthorityMaryland Historic District Enabling Authority (LU §8-201)Maryland Military Installation Joint Land Use Studies (LU §22-301)Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area — Worcester County OverlayMaryland Priority Funding Areas (PFA) — Smart Growth ActMaryland Rural Legacy Program — Designated Rural Legacy AreasMaryland Forest Conservation Act (FCA)Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program — IDA / LDA / RCA Overlay

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

OR
  • parcel.contains_wetland_special_state_concern == True
  • parcel.contains_nontidal_wetland == True
  • parcel.geometry geographic match

Preempted fields

2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
review_typeaddmde_nontidal_wetlands_permit_requiredDisturbance of nontidal wetlands or their 25-foot buffer (100 ft for Wetlands of Special State Concern) requires a Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Nontidal Wetlands & Waterways permit.
base_districts[*].wetland_buffer_ftfloor_at100WSSC 100-foot expanded buffer is the maximum landward protection regime under state nontidal-wetlands law; standard nontidal wetlands carry a 25-ft buffer.

Citation

Authority source
Md. Code Ann., Environment §§5-901 through 5-911 (Nontidal Wetlands Protection Act); COMAR 26.23.01-.06; Wetlands of Special State Concern designated under COMAR 26.23.06.01
§ §§5-901 through 5-911 (Nontidal Wetlands); §§16-101 et seq. (Tidal Wetlands)
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gen§ion=5-901

Research notes

Two parallel state regimes: (1) Tidal Wetlands (Env. §§16-101 et seq.) administered by MDE in concert with Board of Public Works for state wetlands licenses; (2) Nontidal Wetlands (Env. §§5-901 et seq.) administered by MDE with general/individual permits. Wetlands of Special State Concern (WSSC) are rare-or-uncommon-species habitats designated by DNR Natural Heritage and listed in COMAR 26.23.06.01 — they receive a 100-ft expanded buffer and stricter permitting standards. Federal conflict check: USACE §404 Clean Water Act and Maryland State Programmatic General Permit (MDSPGP-6, current cycle) operate in parallel; MDE administers the §401 water-quality certification.