Maryland HB 1041: Youth Camps - Structures in Flood Hazard Areas - Prohibition

Bill Text

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW. 
        [Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law. 
           *hb1041*   
  
HOUSE BILL 1041 
J1, E4   6lr1677 
      
By: Delegates   Spiegel,   Behler,   Fair,   Lehman,   Lopez,   McComas,   Metzgar,  
Mireku–North, Palakovich Carr, Queen, Schindler, and Wolek 
Introduced and read first time: February 9, 2026 
Assigned to: Health 
 
A BILL ENTITLED 
 
AN ACT concerning 1 
 
Youth Camps – Structures in Flood Hazard Areas – Prohibition 2 
 
FOR  the  purpose  of prohibiting  the Maryland Department  of  Health  from  issuing  or 3 
renewing a certificate or accepting alternative accreditation for a youth camp if any 4 
structures that are or will be used to house a camper are located in a flood hazard 5 
area; and generally relating to youth camps.  6 
 
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 7 
 Article – Environment 8 
Section 5–801(a), (f), and (g) 9 
 Annotated Code of Maryland 10 
 (2013 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 11 
 
BY repealing and reenacting, without amendments, 12 
 Article – Health – General 13 
Section 14–401(a), (b), (d), and (o) and 14–403(a)(1) and (2) 14 
 Annotated Code of Maryland 15 
 (2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 16 
 
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 17 
 Article – Health – General 18 
Section 14–403(a)(3) 19 
 Annotated Code of Maryland 20 
 (2023 Replacement Volume and 2025 Supplement) 21 
 
 SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 22 
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 23 
 
Article – Environment 24 
 

2 HOUSE BILL 1041  
 
 
5–801. 1 
 
 (a) In this subtitle the following terms have the meanings indicated. 2 
 
 (f) “Flood hazard area” means an area of tidal or nontidal inundation resulting 3 
from a 100–year flood event and established pursuant to the provisions of § 5–803 of this 4 
subtitle. 5 
 
 (g) “100–year flood event” or “100–year flood” means a flood that has a 1% chance 6 
of being equalled or exceeded in any given year. 7 
 
Article – Health – General 8 
 
14–401. 9 
 
 (a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. 10 
 
 (b) “Alternative  accreditation”  means  a  national  camping  standard  that  is 11 
acceptable  to  the  Secretary  as  providing  adequate  health  and  safety  protection  for  the 12 
campers,  such  as  the  American  Camping  Association  standards  for  camp  programs  and 13 
services and the Boy Scouts of America standards, which includes an annual monitoring 14 
process to verify compliance with the standard. 15 
 
 (d) “Certificate” means a single certificate issued by the Department to a youth 16 
camp under this subtitle. 17 
 
 (o) “Youth camp” or “camp” means any day camp, residential camp, travel camp, 18 
or trip camp that: 19 
 
  (1) Accommodates  7  or  more  campers  who  are  unrelated  to  the  person 20 
operating the camp; 21 
 
  (2) Provides primarily recreational activities or has a substantial outdoor 22 
recreational component; 23 
 
  (3) Has permanent buildings, temporary buildings, or no buildings; and 24 
 
  (4) Operates on: 25 
 
   (i) Owned private property; 26 
 
   (ii) Owned private facilities; 27 
 
   (iii) Leased private property; 28 
 
   (iv) Leased private facilities; 29 
 

 HOUSE BILL 1041 3 
 
 
   (v) Public property; or 1 
 
   (vi) Public facilities. 2 
 
14–403. 3 
 
 (a) (1) In addition to the powers set forth elsewhere in this article and subject 4 
to the provisions of Title 10 of the State Government Article, on or before October 1, 1987, 5 
the Secretary shall adopt regulations for certifying youth camps and for issuing letters of 6 
compliance. 7 
 
  (2) (i) An applicant for a certificate shall submit an application to the 8 
Department on the form that the Secretary requires. 9 
 
   (ii) An application for a certificate or for a letter of compliance shall 10 
include: 11 
 
    1. The   name   and   permanent   mailing   address   of   the 12 
applicant; 13 
 
    2. The proposed location of the youth camp; and 14 
 
    3. Any  other  information  and  fee  that  the  Department 15 
requires. 16 
 
   (iii) For a unit or agency subject to the provisions of this subtitle, the 17 
Secretary shall require the unit or agency to complete only one application for certification 18 
for all youth camps directed or operated by that unit or agency. 19 
 
  (3) (i) The  Department  shall  be  solely  responsible  for  implementing 20 
and enforcing the provisions of this subtitle. 21 
 
   (ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, the 22 
Secretary may impose a fee for the purpose of inspecting, monitoring, and regulating youth 23 
camps in accordance with § 2–104 of this article. 24 
 
   (iii) A camp accredited or certified in accordance with the provisions 25 
of  subsection  (b)(9)  of  this  section  may  not  be  charged  a  fee  under  the  provisions  of  this 26 
article. 27 
 
   (IV) 1.