It is the purpose of this chapter to license and regulate all resource
extraction operations for the protection of persons and property; for the
protection and preservation of the public health, safety and general welfare
of the Township of Egg Harbor and its citizens; to ensure that resource extraction
operations shall be conducted in such a manner as to create a minimum of annoyance
to other citizens from noise and dust; to provide for the safety of persons,
particularly children; to provide for the free access of roadways surrounding
the resource extraction operations; to provide regulations to ensure environmentally
safe operations; and to ensure that the resource extraction sites shall be
rehabilitated through a reclamation plan during resource extraction operations
and after such operations have been completed or otherwise terminated.
For the purpose of this chapter, unless a different meaning clearly
appears from the context, the following words shall be defined to include
and to mean the following:
APPLICANT
The individual, partnership, corporation or any other legal entity,
which shall include but not be limited to tenants, owners and licensees, who
shall apply for a license.
COMMERCIAL PURPOSES
The sale or commercial use of sand, gravel, topsoil, clay or other
products which are excavated or mined.
COMMITTEE
The Township Committee of the Township of Egg Harbor.
CONFINED AQUIFER
An aquifer which is surrounded by formations of less permeable or
impermeable material.
CUMULATIVE IMPACT
The effect on the environment which results from the incremental
impact of the action when added to other past, present and reasonably foreseeable
future actions.
EFFECTS
Impacts, including but not limited to:
A.
Direct effects, which are caused by an action and occur at the same
time and place.
B.
Indirect effects, which are caused by an action and are later in time
or farther removed in distance, but are still reasonably foreseeable. Indirect
effects may include but are not limited to growth effects and other effects
related to induced changes in the pattern of land use, population density
or growth rate and related effects on air and water and other natural systems,
including but not limited to ecosystems.
C.
Effects include health, safety, general welfare, ecological, aesthetic,
historical, cultural, economic and social impacts, whether direct, indirect
or cumulative. Effects may also include those impacts resulting from actions
which may have both beneficial and detrimental consequences.
FENCE
A barrier of materials or vegetation erected to enclose or screen
resource extraction areas from adjacent roadways and properties.
LICENSE
A resource extraction license issued in accordance with this chapter.
LICENSEE
Any individual, partnership, corporation or other legal entity issued
a license in accordance with this chapter.
LOT
Any parcel of land or portion thereof, the boundary lines of which
can be ascertained by reference to the Egg Harbor Township Tax Maps.
MINING
See "resource extraction."
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership or corporation.
PREMISES
One or more lots or contiguous parcels of lots in single ownership,
which ownership can be ascertained by reference to the maps and records, or
either, in the office of the Tax Assessor of the Township of Egg Harbor or
by any documentation on file in the office of the Atlantic County Clerk.
RECLAMATION
The reconditioning, rehabilitation and restoration of the land affected
by a resource extraction operation to a safe and productive use during and
after termination of resource extraction operations.
RECLAMATION PLAN
A written plan to recondition, rehabilitate and restore the land
affected by resource extraction operations. This plan shall be prepared by
a licensed professional engineer and land surveyor licensed in the State of
New Jersey.
RESOURCE EXTRACTION
Excavating, mining, mixing, screening, washing, grading, processing,
stockpiling, storing, loading and any procedures necessary to prepare the
sand, gravel, topsoil, clay, stone or other natural mineral products for removal
from the site; except that recycling operations licensed by the State of New
Jersey are excluded.
RESOURCE EXTRACTION OPERATION
All resource extraction except that caused by subdivisions and site
plans which are valid pursuant to the Municipal Land Use Law (N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1
et seq.) or for which a valid construction permit has been obtained.
ROAD OR HIGHWAY
All state, county and municipal streets, roads and highways.
SITE
That lot or those lots licensed or to be licensed for resource extraction
in accordance with this chapter.
SOIL
Surface soil, topsoil, dirt, stone, gravel, sand, humus, clay, loam
and rock.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Egg Harbor, Atlantic County, State of New Jersey.
This chapter is enacted pursuant to police powers permitted by N.J.S.A. 40:48-2 and not pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq., which is provided for in Chapters
36,
198 and
225 of the Township Code.
No resource extraction operation shall be conducted under the provisions
of this chapter unless a license shall have first been obtained as provided
for herein, and no excavation shall be made and no resource extraction operation
shall be conducted except in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.
Notwithstanding the above, this chapter shall not apply to lands of the Township.
Unless otherwise more strictly regulated by state or federal law, the
following regulations shall apply to all resource extraction operations:
A. Resource extraction operations and related activities
shall be conducted for a period not in excess of 10 gross hours per day, starting
no earlier than 7:00 a.m. and ending no later than 5:00 p.m., Monday through
Friday, and starting no earlier than 9:00 a.m. and ending no later than 5:00
p.m. on Saturday. There shall be no trucking of any material to or from the
resource extraction operation prior to the starting of operations or subsequent
to 4:30 p.m. on any day when the resource extraction operation is open for
business. Emergency equipment maintenance or emergency repair may be done
at any time but shall not include starting or idling of engines before 7:00
a.m. or after 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, or before 9:00 a.m. and after
5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
B. Resource extraction operations or related activities
shall not be conducted on Sundays except for emergency equipment maintenance
or emergency repair, but which shall not include starting or idling of engines.
C. No equipment, trucks or other mechanical drives shall
be started or have any engines idling before 7:00 a.m. during the week or
9:00 a.m. on Saturday.
D. The licensee must provide adequate dust control and soil
erosion control measures consistent with the Cape-Atlantic Soil Conservation
District. The licensee must provide proof of approval by the Soil Conservation
District of their current plan and a copy of the current soil erosion plan
must be filed with the Township Clerk. Any changes to the plan or notices
of violations received from the Soil Conservation District must be filed with
the Township Clerk within 10 days of receipt of the changes to the plan or
the notices of violation.
E. No buildings, equipment, apparatus, resource extraction
products or other materials shall be erected or stored except in a licensed
area, but not within a distance of 200 feet of the perimeter of the site.
F. A stockade or chain-link fence (or vegetative barrier)
having a minimum height of six feet shall be erected around those portions
of the site abutting a public street or residential dwelling for the purpose
of preventing access to the site. Such stockade or chain-link fence (or vegetative
barrier) shall be located within one foot of the perimeter of the site, and
all means of ingress and egress shall be controlled by substantial gates of
similar height, which gates shall be closed and securely locked when not in
actual use. No fence shall be so located so as to obstruct clear-sight distances
as may be required by county or local government. Reasonable variations of
fence alignment may be made in order to accommodate existing natural features
and terrain thereby making erection of the fence practicable within the property
lines of the site. Installation of fences shall be completed before the license
is issued.
G. Signs shall be maintained at all entrances or exits of
the site indicating the name, address and phone number of the licensee.
H. Wherever the site abuts a public street, continuous landscaping,
at least 25 feet in width, shall be planted and maintained. The landscaping
shall consist of massed evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs of such species
and density as will provide a continuous landscaped area throughout the year.
I. Provisions shall be made for adequate drainage, soil
and sediment control, point and nonpoint source water pollution control in
accordance with the standards set by the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, the Cape-Atlantic Soil Conservation District and the Township.
Surface runoff will be maintained on the site in a manner that will provide
for on-site recharge to groundwater.
J. Provisions shall be made for the prompt removal from
the public roads of any debris which has either fallen from any truck removing
material from the site or has been washed out of the site either as a result
of natural events or operation.
K. Whenever reclamation has commenced and is thereafter
suspended and where such suspension of reclamation activities continue for
180 or more days, such action shall be deemed an abandonment of the reclamation
process and a default under the performance guarantee, thereby entitling the
Township to take appropriate action.
L. All processes and equipment used in the permitted operation
shall be constructed and operated in a manner so as to reduce noise, dust
and vibrations to an amount not detrimental to the normal use and enjoyment
of an adjoining property, and each use shall utilize such dust collection
or other devices as are necessary to ensure that the use will not constitute
an objectionable condition.
Licenses shall be for a period of three years, but the applicant shall
provide an annual report in accordance with the standards outlined in this
chapter. Where approval of or certification by any state or federal regulatory
agency or department is required, such approval or certification shall be
filed with the Township Administrator prior to issuance of a license.
An annual report shall be submitted to the Township Administrator no
later than one year from the date the license is issued and for every yearly
anniversary thereafter for which the license is valid. This report shall indicate
and describe compliance with the regulations and standards of this chapter,
including payment of all property taxes as and when required, with specific
attention to the reclamation plan. The annual report shall also describe any
variances between the terms of the license and the resource extraction operation.
Mining or excavation activities are subject to the following requirements
and standards:
A. Design.
(1) They shall be designed so that no area of excavation
is closer than:
(a) Fifty feet to the perimeter of the site.
(b) Two hundred feet to a residence, church or school use
which is in existence on the date the license is issued.
(2) A buffer shall not be excavated and/or filled with debris.
All buffers are to remain natural and unoccupied.
(3) The above buffers shall be staked and flagged and the
markings maintained during resource extraction operations.
B. They shall be carried out in accordance with the required
excavation schedule which includes the anticipated length of time proposed
for resource extraction.
C. Any existing body of water created by an existing resource
extraction operation shall be graded in accordance with the following standards:
(1) From the shoreline into the water, a slope of 10:1 extending
a minimum of 75 feet.
(2) From the shoreline landward, a slope of 5:1 extending
a minimum of 20 feet to the inner edge of a thirty-foot-wide accessway.
(3) From the outer edge of the thirty-foot-wide accessway,
a minimum slope of 50:1 extending 100 feet or to the toe of the slope of 3:1
required around the perimeter of the work area.
D. The surface area of any existing water body created by the resource extraction operation shall not exceed 35% of the site, provided that the slope requirements contained in §
189-12E and §
189-12N are complied with.
E. The depth of any existing water body created by the resource
extraction operation shall not exceed 30 feet or be within 10 feet of the
upper limit of the first confined or semi-confined aquifer.
F. All equipment, machinery and structures shall be removed
within six months after the resource extraction operation is terminated and
reclamation is completed.
G. Access roads shall comply with the following standards:
(1) Access roads must be a minimum of 30 feet and a maximum
of 50 feet in width and 150 feet in length. The first 100 feet of the access
road in its approach to the public highway shall be constructed in accordance
with Township design standards to aid in prevention of tracking of material
onto an improved public highway. The remaining 50 feet shall be constructed
in accordance with the design standards contained in the Standards for Soil
Erosion and Sediment Control in New Jersey, for stabilized construction entrances.
(2) Access road grading shall be away from the public highway
to prevent sediment from washing onto the public road.
(3) The angle of the intersection of the public road must
conform to the same regulations set forth in the Township Code concerning
intersection of roads.
(4) In no case shall any new access road into the site intersect
with a public highway less than 500 feet from the intersection of the public
highway with any other public highway.
H. Stop signs shall be provided by the licensee and installed
on any access road into the site at its intersection with the public highway,
and the licensee shall be required to comply with any state and local regulations
pertaining to the placing of stop signs. "Trucks Entering" signs shall be
installed by the licensee on the public highway subject to the approving authority,
at least 200 feet in each direction from the access road into the site.
I. All loaded trucks must be covered with a suitable cover
that complies with all state regulations. All materials deposited on the public
roads by spillage or by tracking from the wheels must be immediately removed
by the licensee. This regulation shall apply to all public roads in the Township.
J. No natural vegetation at the site shall be disturbed,
except where the excavation is currently being conducted. All natural vegetation
shall be left and maintained on the undisturbed land and protected for landscape
enhancement, screening and noise reduction purposes.
K. Cliffs greater than 15 feet in height and having a slope
greater than 30º are prohibited.
L. Whenever any portion of the excavation shall have a depth
in excess of 10 feet but less than 15 feet and a slope of more than 30º,
there shall be erected a snow fence at least four feet high effectively blocking
access to the area in which such excavation is located.
M. The slope of the material in any excavation shall not
exceed the normal angle of repose of the material at the end of each Friday's
operation.
N. No graded or backfilled area shall be permitted to collect
water.
O. Dry-pit excavation shall be conducted so as to result
in a dry-pit condition when restored and reclaimed. During the entire operation
of the dry pit, no freestanding water shall be permitted to accumulate. A
minimum two-foot separation shall be maintained between the bottom of any
excavated area and seasonal high water.
P. No further excavation of any existing body of water below
seasonal high water shall be permitted unless the excavation will serve as
a recreational or wildlife resource, a water reservoir for public, agricultural
or industrial uses or has received final approval in conjunction with a subdivision
or site plan pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.
Q. Where conveyers discharge material of less than one inch
in diameter onto stockpiles of such material, and where the free and uncontained
fall of material being stockpiled from the conveyer to the highest point of
the stockpile shall exceed a distance of six feet, a high-pressure water mist
spray must be directed onto the material as it falls from the conveyer to
the stockpile in such a manner as to reduce the accumulation and dissemination
of dust.
R. All standards set forth in this chapter shall apply to
all portions of the proposed licensed premises, whether resource extraction
began before or after the passage of this chapter.
Reclamation of the site shall be conducted in accordance with the reclamation
plan approved by the Township pursuant to this chapter.
All persons conducting resource extraction operations at the time of
adoption of this chapter shall conform to the standards and requirements set
forth herein upon the effective date of this chapter.
[Amended 4-12-2006 by Ord. No. 20-2006]
Violation of any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof,
be punished by a minimum fine of $100 or a maximum of $2,000 or by imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 90 days or by a period of community service not exceeding
90 days. Each day or portion thereof wherein a violation is found to have
occurred shall be deemed a separate violation for the purposes of this section.