(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.