(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.
(2) “Integrated vegetation management” means:
(i) the use of a scientifically established combination of nonchemical methods for creating and maintaining a stable low-growing plant community, including manual, mechanical, or biological means of removal or suppression of any species that is not compatible with that plant community; and
(ii) when the methods under item (i) of this paragraph have been exhausted or have been scientifically demonstrated to be ineffective for pollinator-friendly habitats, the use of the least toxic chemical methods available used in a manner that minimizes the use of these chemical methods and the risks to native pollinators and other native wildlife, native plants, human health, and the environment.
(3) “Low-growing plant community” means a collection of plant species that typically appear growing together on landscapes where trees have been:
(i) removed; or
(ii) prevented from becoming established due to:
1. soil and moisture conditions;
2. natural physical disturbance;
3. animal herbivory; or
4. human activity.
(4) “Native plant” means a plant listed as native to the State:
(i) by the Maryland Biodiversity Project; or
(ii) in the Maryland Plant Atlas or “Vascular Plants of Maryland, USA: A Comprehensive Account of the State’s Botanical Diversity”, as revised.
(5) “Nonnative invasive plant” means a plant listed in the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health’s Mid-Atlantic Invaders Tool.
(6) (i) “Pollinator-friendly vegetation management” means landscape management that:
1. creates habitats for native pollinators and other native wildlife and native plants that together form an interdependent natural community; and
2. provides food, water, cover, or sites for nesting.
(ii) “Pollinator-friendly vegetation management” includes:
1. employing no-mow methods, such as hand-cutting, pulling plants, and biocontrols to minimize disturbances to habitats;
2. employing rotational mowing cycles:
A. to promote the availability of standing vegetation and habitat; and
B. under which not more than half of a utility- designated pollinator area is mowed during a single fall and winter season;
3. using integrated vegetation management to maintain low-growing plant communities by controlling plant species, such as trees and nonnative invasive plants, in a manner that reduces the need to mow and minimizes the risk to native pollinators and other native wildlife, native plants, human health, and the environment; and
4. using scientifically accepted approaches for the protection of the State’s rare, threatened, or endangered plant and wildlife species.
(7) “Public service company” has the meaning stated in § 1-101 of the Public Utilities Article.
(8) “Unreasonable limitation on pollinator-friendly vegetation management” includes a limitation that:
(i) significantly increases the cost of pollinator-friendly vegetation management;
(ii) significantly decreases the efficacy of pollinator-friendly vegetation management; or
(iii) requires cultivated vegetation to consist wholly or partly of turf grass.
(9) “Utility-designated pollinator area” means property, including any right-of-way or easement:
(i) that is maintained by a public service company;
(ii) for which the public service company has exclusive maintenance rights; and
(iii) that is voluntarily identified by the public service company as an area that will be maintained with pollinator-friendly vegetation management to support pollinators.
(b) This section:
(1) does not apply to a limitation imposed by a local jurisdiction on pollinator-friendly vegetation management performed or overseen by a public service company on its property, including a right-of-way or an easement, located on or below:
(i) a trail overlap;
(ii) a park overlap; or
(iii) active farmland; and
(2) may not be construed to:
(i) prohibit a local jurisdiction from imposing a land use restriction on the type, number, or location of pollinator-friendly vegetation management features that pertain to:
1. the safe and dependable delivery of energy products; or
2. human health and safety; or
(ii) limit or restrict mowing outside of a utility-designated pollinator area.
(c) A local jurisdiction may not impose any unreasonable limitation, including a land use restriction, on a utility-designated pollinator area maintained by a public service company, if:
(1) the utility-designated pollinator area is subject to a Candidate Conservation Agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the public service company; or
(2) the public service company maintains and regularly tends to the utility-designated pollinator area by performing or overseeing pollinator-friendly vegetation management in accordance with subsection (d) of this section.
(d) A public service company that chooses to perform or oversee pollinator- friendly vegetation management in a utility-designated pollinator area shall, as part of its pollinator-friendly vegetation management, mow the utility-designated pollinator area:
(1) only from November 1 through March 31, inclusive, and not more than once every other year; or
(2) only from October 1 through April 30, inclusive, and not more than once every other year if the utility-designated pollinator area is located in the Appalachian Plateau province or the Ridge and Valley province as defined by the Maryland Geological Survey.