This chapter is intended to ensure laws and
regulations concerning the land application of Biosolids are properly
implemented and enforced and to secure and promote the health, safety
and welfare of the County's citizens; to deter the creation of a public
nuisance and to prevent pollution of the waters and soils of the County
by the land application or storage of Biosolids, Sludge or Sewage;
and to eliminate or minimize the impact of certain substances found
in Biosolids on the Chesapeake Bay. In carrying out this chapter,
the County will test and monitor the application of Biosolids to agricultural
land within its boundaries as authorized by the Code of Virginia and
applicable regulations and enforce compliance with the law. This chapter
is intended to address the land application of Biosolids in the County
and to implement the authority granted to local governments by the
Virginia Code, including, but not limited to, § 62.1-44.19:3
and §§ 32.1-164.5 et seq., § 10.1-2110, § 10.1-2108 and § 10.1-2127,
to provide for the testing and monitoring of the land application
of Biosolids within the County, and to ensure compliance with applicable
laws, including the Chesapeake Bay Act (§§ 10.1-2100
et seq.) and the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Act of 1997 (§ 10.1-2117
et seq.). This chapter is not intended to regulate the land application
of animal wastes, manure or exceptional quality Biosolids.
The County Administrator shall maintain a file
as to each separate parcel of land on which Biosolids are land-applied
or stored, cross-indexed by the Landowner, the Permittee, the Tax
Map number, and any number assigned to the site by the state or the
County. The County Administrator shall communicate this indexing information
to the Commissioner of Revenue, who shall place the information on
the real estate tax assessment card maintained by her/him on the property.
In addition, the file maintained by the County Administrator shall
contain all submissions made by the Applicant with respect to the
site. This file shall be open to the public.
Land application of Biosolids is not allowed
unless the Permittee is in compliance with the financial responsibility
requirements of § 62.1-44.19:3H and regulations issued pursuant
thereto. The Permittee shall provide the Local Monitor with a copy
of the written evidence of financial responsibility approved by the
Permitting Authority.
The County shall submit requests for reimbursement
for the costs and expenses of testing and monitoring of land application
and related activities from the Virginia Sludge Management Fund in
accordance with § 62.1-44.19:3G.
If there develops a conflict between a provision
of this chapter and any state law, regulation or permit, this chapter
shall be interpreted so that no provision hereof shall prohibit what
the state has specifically authorized, nor to authorize what the state
has specifically prohibited.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as
an approval by Rappahannock County of any specific storage or land
application site or of any method or manner of storage or land application.
Nothing in this chapter shall affect any right of action, cause of
action, or claim which a third party may have either against a Generator
or a Permittee, their agents, employees and contractors, or against
a Landowner. Compliance with this chapter shall not relieve any person
of any other reporting or disclosure requirements imposed by law,
including the requirement to disclose "regulated materials" on transfer
of real property under § 55-519 of the Code of Virginia.