As used in the ordinance, unless the context requires a different
meaning, the following terms shall be defined as indicated:
AGREEMENT IN LIEU OF A PLAN
A contract between the plan-approving authority and the owner
that specifies conservation measures that must be implemented in the
construction of a single-family residence; this contract may be executed
by the plan-approving authority in lieu of a formal site plan.
APPLICANT
Any person submitting an erosion and sediment control plan
for approval or requesting the issuance of a permit, when required,
authorizing land-disturbing activities to commence.
BOARD
The Virginia State Water Control Board.
CERTIFIED INSPECTOR
An employee or agent of a VESCP authority who:
A.
Holds a certificate of competence from the Board in the area
of project inspection; or
B.
Is enrolled in the Board's training program for project
inspection and successfully completes such program within one year
after enrollment.
CERTIFIED PLAN REVIEWER
An employee or agent of a VESCP authority who:
A.
Holds a certificate of competence from the Board in the area
of plan review; or
B.
Is enrolled in the Board's training program for plan review
and successfully completes such program within one year after enrollment;
or
C.
Is licensed as a professional engineer, architect, certified landscape architect or land surveyor pursuant to Article
1 (§ 54.1-400 et seq.) of Chapter
4 of Title 54.1 or a professional soil scientist as defined in § 54.1-2200 of the Code of Virginia.
CERTIFIED PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR
An employee or agent of a VESCP authority who:
A.
Holds a certificate of competence from the Board in the area
of program administration; or
B.
Is enrolled in the Board's training program for program
administration and successfully completes such program within one
year after enrollment.
CLEARING
Any activity which removes the vegetative ground cover, including,
but not limited to, root mat removal or topsoil removal.
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Environmental Quality.
DEVELOPMENT
A tract of land developed or to be developed as a single
unit under single ownership or unified control which is to be used
for any business or industrial purpose or is to contain three or more
residential dwelling units.
DIRECTOR
The Director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN OR PLAN
A document containing material for the conservation of soil
and water resources of a unit or group of units of land. It may include
appropriate maps, an appropriate soil and water plan inventory, and
management information with needed interpretations and a record of
decisions contributing to conservation treatment. The plan shall contain
all major conservation decisions and all information deemed necessary
by the VESCP plan-approving authority to assure that the entire unit
or units of land will be so treated to achieve the conservation objectives.
EROSION IMPACT AREA
An area of land not associated with current land-disturbing
activity but subject to persistent soil erosion resulting in the delivery
of sediment onto neighboring properties or into state waters. This
definition shall not apply to any lot or parcel of land of 10,000
square feet or less used for residential purposes or to shorelines
where the erosion results from wave action or other coastal processes.
EXCAVATING
Any digging, scooping or other methods of removing earth
materials.
FILLING
Any depositing or stockpiling of earth materials.
GRADING
Any excavating or filling of earth material or any combination
thereof, including the land in its excavated or filled conditions.
LAND-DISTURBING ACTIVITY
Any land change which may result in soil erosion from water
or wind and the movement of sediments into state waters or onto lands
in the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, clearing, grading,
excavating, transporting and filling of land, except that the term
shall not include:
A.
Minor land-disturbing activities such as home gardens and individual
home landscaping, repairs and maintenance work;
B.
Individual service connections;
C.
Installation, maintenance, or repair of any underground public
utility lines when such activity occurs on an existing hard-surfaced
road, street or sidewalk, provided such land-disturbing activity is
confined to the area of the road, street or sidewalk which is hard-surfaced;
D.
Septic tank lines or drainage fields, unless included in an
overall plan for land-disturbing activity relating to construction
of the building to be served by the septic tank system;
E.
Permitted surface or deep mining operations and projects, or
oil and gas operations and projects conducted pursuant to Title 45.1
of the Code of Virginia;
F.
Tilling, planting, or harvesting of agricultural, horticultural, or forest crops, or livestock feedlot operations, including engineering operations and agricultural engineering operations as follows: construction of terraces, terrace outlets, check dams, desilting basins, dikes, ponds not required to comply with the Dam Safety Act, Article
2, (§ 10.1-604 et seq.) of Chapter 6 of the Code of Virginia, ditches, strip cropping, lister furrowing, contour cultivating, contour furrowing, land drainage, and land irrigation; however, this exception shall not apply to harvesting of forest crops unless the area on which harvesting occurs is reforested artificially or naturally in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 11 (§ 10.1-1100 et seq.) of the Code of Virginia or is converted to bona fide agricultural or improved pasture use as described in Subsection
B of § 10.1-1163;
G.
Repair or rebuilding of the tracks, rights-of-way, bridges,
communication facilities and other related structures and facilities
of a railroad company;
H.
Disturbed land areas of less than 10,000 square feet in size;
I.
Installation of fence and sign posts or telephone and electric
poles and other kinds of posts or poles;
J.
Shoreline erosion control projects on tidal waters when all
of the land-disturbing activities are within the regulatory authority
of and approved by local wetlands boards, the Marine Resources Commission
or the United States Army Corps of Engineers; however, any associated
land that is disturbed outside of this exempted area shall remain
subject to this chapter; and
K.
Emergency work to protect life, limb or property, and emergency
repairs; provided that, if the land-disturbing activity would have
required an approved erosion and sediment control plan if the activity
were not an emergency, then the land area disturbed shall be shaped
and stabilized in accordance with the requirements of the plan-approving
authority.
LAND-DISTURBING PERMIT OR APPROVAL
A permit or other form of approval issued by the City of
Galax for the clearing, filling, excavating, grading, transporting
of land or for any combination thereof or for any purpose set forth
herein.
LOCAL EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PROGRAM or LOCAL CONTROL
PROGRAM
An outline of the various methods employed by the City of
Galax to regulate land-disturbing activities and thereby minimize
erosion and sedimentation in compliance with the state program, and
may include such items as local ordinances, policies and guidelines,
technical materials, inspection, enforcement, and evaluation.
NATURAL CHANNEL DESIGN CONCEPTS
The utilization of engineering analysis and fluvial geomorphic
processes to create, rehabilitate, restore, or stabilize an open conveyance
system for the purpose of creating or recreating a stream that conveys
its bankfull storm event within its banks and allows larger flows
to access its bankfull bench and its floodplain.
OWNER
The owner or owners of the freehold of the premises or lesser
estate therein, a mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents,
receiver, executor, trustee, lessee or other person, firm or corporation
in control of a property.
PEAK FLOW RATE
The maximum instantaneous flow from a given storm condition
at a particular location.
PERMITTEE
The person to whom the permit authorizing land-disturbing
activities is issued or the person who certifies that the approved
erosion and sediment control plan will be followed.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, firm, association, joint venture,
public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission, board, public
or private institution, utility, cooperative, county, city, town or
other political subdivision of the commonwealth, any interstate body,
or any other legal entity.
RESPONSIBLE LAND DISTURBER or RLD
An individual holding a certificate issued by the Department
who is responsible for carrying out the land-disturbing activity in
accordance with the approved ESC plan. The RLD may be the owner, applicant,
permittee, designer, superintendent, project manager, contractor,
or any other project or development team member. The RLD must be designated
on the ESC plan or permit as a prerequisite for engaging in land disturbance.
RUNOFF VOLUME
The volume of water that runs off the land development project
from a prescribed storm event.
STATE PERMIT
An approval to conduct a land-disturbing activity issued
by the Board in the form of a state stormwater individual permit or
coverage issued under a state general permit.
STATE WATERS
All waters on the surface and under the ground wholly or
partially within or bordering the commonwealth or within its jurisdictions.
TRANSPORTING
Any moving of earth materials from one place to another place,
other than such movement incidental to grading, when such movement
results in destroying the vegetative ground cover either by tracking
or the buildup of earth materials to the extent that erosion and sedimentation
will result from the soil or earth materials over which such transporting
occurs.
VESCP PLAN-APPROVING AUTHORITY
The City of Galax or other government agency (local, state
or federal) as requested by the City of Galax responsible for determining
the adequacy of a plan submitted for land-disturbing activities on
a unit or units of land and for approving plans.
VIRGINIA EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PROGRAM or VESCP
A program approved by the Board that has been established
by a VESCP authority for the effective control of soil erosion, sediment
deposition, and nonagricultural runoff associated with a land-disturbing
activity to prevent the unreasonable degradation of properties, stream
channels, waters, and other natural resources, and shall include such
items, where applicable, as local ordinances, rules, permit requirements,
annual standards and specifications, policies and guidelines, technical
materials, and requirements of this chapter and its associated regulations.
WATER QUALITY VOLUME
The volume equal to the first 1/2 inch of runoff multiplied
by the impervious surface of the land development project.