Governor Ehrlich Announces Record Farmland Preservation, New Easement Purchase Program and Executive Order on Agriculture

Governor Ehrlich Announces Record Farmland Preservation, New Easement Purchase Program and Executive Order on Agriculture

(Annapolis) - August 8, 2006 - Standing under a shade tree at historic Mulberry Hill Farm in Queen Anne's County, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., today made several growth-related announcements including a historic commitment to farmland preservation. With $120 million budgeted to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation the State plans to preserve as much as 30,000 acres of prime agricultural land over two budget years. The announcements today highlight the Governor's commitment to preserving farmland, balancing growth, and protecting the environment. Including farmland, one in five acres of land in Maryland is permanently preserved with 60,000 acres having recently been preserved under the Ehrlich Administration. In its 25 years of purchasing easements, the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation will have permanently protected more than 250,000 acres of the State's richest farmland. The Board of Public Works will consider the first 5,000 acres and $25 million in easement purchases tomorrow.

"We are entering a historic cycle of agricultural land preservation that will help farmers stay on the land and remain profitable," said Governor Ehrlich. "It is no secret that development pressure and rising land prices are making our agricultural goals more challenging. That is why we are working with local governments and landowners to preserve land, protect the environment, and make Maryland a better place to live."

In addition, the Governor announced a new Installment Purchase Agreement program that will be ready for landowners selling easements nest summer; an Executive Order establishing a commission to address land use and profitability issues facing agriculture; and new guidance documents on water and wastewater planning for local governments.

A new tool to benefit both landowners selling development rights and the State as it buys those easements is an Installment Purchase Agreement (IPA) program, which will be available for the FY2007 MALPF easement purchase cycle next year. The IPA is tax-advantaged financial arrangement that creates a tax-free income stream for landowners over a number of years.

In recent years with new development moving into more rural areas, conflicts between farming and non-farming neighbors have increased. These disputes occasionally end up in court or before local land use decision-makers. A new Executive Order creating the Governor's Intergovernmental Commission for Agriculture formalizes a very positive year-long effort led by the Maryland Department of Agriculture to bring local officials, planning agencies, and farming interests together to address issues of concern. The Commission is charged with promoting the economic profitability of farming by ensuring that all appropriate State agencies work in a cooperative, coordinated manner with local government and industry groups. Voting members are not state agency officials, but rather farm industry groups and local government interests.

As Maryland's population continues to grow, pressures increase on local jurisdictions to maintain adequate public wastewater facilities and infrastructure. To address these challenges, the Maryland Department of the Environment, with local government input, has developed two new Guidance Documents for water and wastewater capacity management plans to encourage regulatory compliance and balance growth while protecting the environment. The purpose of the water and wastewater capacity management plans is to provide reliable information for local decision-makers in considering the need for new infrastructure to accommodate new growth.

For additional information about the MALPF program, visit www.mda.state.md.us/malpf.php For a copy of the Water and Wastewater Capacity Management guidance documents, call 410-537-3512, or go online to the MDE website: www.mde.state.md.us, scroll down on the Homepage to "New Publications" and click on "more publications".

http://www.gov.state.md.us/pressreleases/2006/GovernorEhrlichAnnouncesRecordFarmlandPreservationNewEasementPurchaseProgramandExecuti.html