The ordinance codified in this article is adopted under authority
granted by §§ 59.02, 59.03, 59.69, 59.70, 92.15 and
92.16, Wis. Stats.
This article shall be known as, referred to and may be cited
as the "Pierce County Waste Storage Ordinance" and is hereinafter
referred to as "this article."
The purpose of this article is to regulate the location, design,
construction, installation, alteration and use of waste storage facilities
and the application of waste from these facilities in order to prevent
water pollution and thereby protect the health and welfare of Pierce
County residents, animals and plants and the economy. It is also intended
to provide for the administration and enforcement of this article
and to provide penalties for its violation.
This article applies to the entire geographic area of Pierce
County.
The provisions of this article shall be held to be minimum requirements
and shall be liberally construed in favor of Pierce County and shall
not be deemed a limitation or repeal of any other power granted by
the Wisconsin Statutes.
If any section, provision or portion of this article is ruled
invalid by a court, the remainder of the article shall not be rendered
ineffective by the court's ruling.
This article shall become effective upon its adoption and publication
by the Pierce County Board of Supervisors.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ABANDONED STORAGE FACILITY
A facility, permitted under this article, where waste has
not been added or removed for a period of 24 months.
APPLICANT
Any person who applies for a permit under this article.
BEDROCK
The top of the shallowest layer of a soil profile that consists
of consolidated rock material or weathered-in-place material, more
than 50% of the volume of which will be retained on a 2 mm soil sieve.
CERTIFIED AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING PRACTITIONER
An agricultural engineering practitioner who is certified
under Section ATCP 50.46, Wisconsin Administrative Code, with a rating
under Section ATCP 50.46(5), Wisconsin Administrative Code, that authorizes
the practitioner to certify every matter that the practitioner certifies
under this chapter.
CLOSED WASTE STORAGE FACILITY
A waste storage facility that has been closed in compliance
with this article and NRCS Technical Guide, Standard 360.
DEPARTMENT
The Pierce County Department of Land Conservation.
KARST FEATURE
An area or superficial geologic feature subject to bedrock
dissolution so that it is likely to provide a conduit to groundwater,
including caves, enlarged fractures, mine features, exposed bedrock
surfaces, sinkholes, springs, seeps or swallets.
LIVESTOCK
Domestic animals traditionally used in this state in the
production of food, fiber, or other animal products, including cattle,
swine, poultry, sheep and goats. Does not include equine animals,
bison, farm-raised deer, fish, captive game birds, ratites, camelids
or mink.
LIVESTOCK STRUCTURE
A building or other structure used to house or feed livestock,
to confine livestock for milking, to confine livestock for feeding
other than grazing, to store livestock feed, or to collect or store
waste generated at a livestock facility. Includes a barn, milking
parlor, feed storage facility, feeding facility, animal lot or waste
storage facility. Does not include a pasture or winter grazing area,
a fence surrounding a pasture or winter grazing area, a livestock
watering or feeding facility in a pasture or winter grazing area,
or a machine shed or like facility that is not used for livestock.
MANURE
Excreta from livestock and other materials such as livestock
bedding, water, soil, hair, feathers and other debris normally included
in animal manure operations.
MINOR ALTERATION
A repair or improvement in the construction of an existing
livestock structure that does not result in a substantially altered
livestock structure.
NEW WASTE STORAGE FACILITY
A facility that will be used as a livestock facility for
the first time or for the first time in the last five years. Does
not include an expanded livestock facility if any portion of that
facility has been used as a livestock facility in the preceding five
years.
PERMIT
The signed, written statement issued by the Pierce County
Land Conservation Department under this article authorizing the applicant
to construct, install, reconstruct, enlarge or substantially alter
a waste storage facility and to use or dispose of waste from the facility.
PERMITTEE
Any person to whom a permit is issued under this article.
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture,
agency, unincorporated association, municipal corporation, county
or state agency, within Wisconsin, the federal government or any combination
thereof.
SUBSTANTIALLY ALTER
Waste storage structure that undergoes a material change
in construction or use, including any of the following material changes:
A.
An increase in the capacity of a waste storage facility.
B.
The addition of a liner to a waste storage facility.
SUSCEPTIBLE TO GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION
Any one of the following [See Section NR 151.015(18), Wisconsin
Administrative Code]:
A.
An area within 250 feet of a private well.
B.
An area within 1,000 feet of a municipal well.
C.
An area within 300 feet upslope or 100 feet downslope of karst
features.
D.
A channel with a cross-sectional area equal to or greater than
three square feet that flows to a karst feature.
E.
An area where the soil depth to groundwater or bedrock is less
than two feet.
F.
An area where the soil does not exhibit one of the following
soil characteristics:
(1)
At least a two-foot soil layer with forty-percent fines or greater
above groundwater and bedrock.
(2)
At least a three-foot soil layer with twenty-percent fines or
greater above groundwater and bedrock.
(3)
At least a five-foot soil layer with ten-percent fines or greater
above groundwater and bedrock.
TECHNICAL GUIDE
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural
Resources Conservation Service Technical Guide for the State of Wisconsin
and amendments.
UNCONFINED MANURE PILE
A quantity of manure at least 175 cubic feet in volume that
covers the ground surface to a depth of at least two inches, but does
not include any of the following:
A.
Manure that is confined within a manure storage facility, livestock
housing structure or barnyard runoff control facility.
B.
Manure that is covered or contained in a manner that prevents
stormwater access and direct runoff to surface water or leaching of
pollutants to groundwater.
WASTE
Manure, milking center waste and other organic waste generated
by a livestock facility.
WASTE STORAGE FACILITY
One or more waste storage structures, including stationary
equipment and piping used to load or unload a waste storage structure
if the equipment is specifically designed for that purpose and is
an integral part of the facility. Does not include equipment used
to apply waste to land.
WASTE STORAGE STRUCTURE
A waste storage impoundment made by constructing embankments,
excavating a pit or dugout, or fabricating a structure. Does not include
equipment to apply manure to land:
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 11-07]
WASTE STORAGE SYSTEM
A waste storage facility and related practices needed for
the environmentally safe storage of manure at that facility. Does
not include any of the following:
[Added 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 11-07]
A.
A milking center waste control system.
B.
Nutrient management as defined in § ATCP 50.78(1)
of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
C.
A barnyard runoff control system as defined in § ATCP
50.64(1) of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.
D.
Equipment used to apply manure to land.
WATER POLLUTION
Contaminating or rendering unclean or impure the ground or
surface waters of the state or making the same injurious to public
health, harmful for commercial or recreational use or deleterious
to fish, bird, animal or plant life.
Any person who designs, constructs, installs, reconstructs,
enlarges, substantially alters, or closes a waste storage facility
or who employs another person to do the same on land subject to this
article shall be subject to the provisions of this article.
A. General design, construction and maintenance.
(1) New or substantially altered waste storage facilities shall be designed,
constructed and maintained to minimize the risk of structural failure
and to minimize the potential for waste discharge to surface water
or groundwater. A waste storage facility may not lack structural integrity
or have significant leakage. An unlined earthen waste storage facility
may not be located on a site that is susceptible to groundwater contamination.
(2) Storage capacity.
(a)
The waste storage capacity shall be adequate for reasonably
foreseeable storage needs based on the operator's waste and nutrient
management strategy.
(b)
An operator shall at all times maintain, in every open waste
storage facility, unused storage capacity equal to the greater of
the following volumes:
[1]
One foot multiplied by the top area of the storage facility.
[2]
The volume of rain that would accumulate in the waste storage
facility from a twenty-five-year twenty-four-hour storm.
B. Existing facilities. An existing waste storage facility is presumed to comply with Subsection
A(1) if a registered professional engineer or certified agricultural engineering practitioner certifies one of the following:
(1) The facility is constructed of concrete or steel or both, was constructed
within the last 10 years according to then existing NRCS standards,
and shows no apparent signs of structural failure or significant leakage.
(2) The facility was constructed within the last three years according
to then existing NRCS standards and shows no apparent signs of structural
failure or significant leakage.
(3) The facility was constructed according to NRCS standards that existed
at the time of construction, is in good condition and repair, and
shows no apparent signs of structural failure or significant leakage.
(4) The facility is in good condition and repair, shows no apparent signs
of structural failure or significant leakage, and is located on a
site at which the soils and separation distances to groundwater comply
with NRCS technical guide Manure Storage Facility, Standard 313, Table
1 (June 2009).
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 11-07]
(5) The facility is in good condition and repair, shows no apparent signs
of structural failure or significant leakage, is located entirely
aboveground, and is located on a site at which the soils comply with
NRCS technical guide Manure Storage Facility, Standard 313, Table
5 (June 2009).
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 11-07]
C. Closure.
(1) Closure of a waste storage facility permitted under this article
shall occur when an operation where the facility is located ceases
operation or waste has not been added or removed from the facility
for a period of 24 months. Waste facilities shall be closed in a manner
that will prevent future contamination of groundwater and surface
waters. Compliance with NRCS Technical Guide, Standard 360, Closure
of Waste Impoundments, and this article, is required.
(2) The owner or operator may retain the facility for a longer period
of time by demonstrating to the Department that all of the following
conditions are met:
(a)
The facility is designed, constructed and maintained in accordance
with Subdivision (2) of Section NR 151.05, Wisconsin Administrative
Code.
(b)
The facility is designed to store waste for a period of time
longer than 24 months.
(c)
Retention of the facility is warranted based on anticipated
future use.
D. Failing and leaking facilities. Waste storage facilities that may
pose an imminent threat to public health or fish and aquatic life
or are causing a violation of groundwater standards shall be upgraded,
replaced or closed in accordance with this section.
E. Manure management prohibitions. All permit holders shall comply with
NR 151.08.
[Added 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 11-07]
(1) A
livestock operation shall have no overflow of manure storage facilities.
(2) A
livestock operation shall have no unconfined manure pile in a water
quality management area.
(3) A
livestock operation shall have no direct runoff from a feedlot or
stored manure into the waters of the state.
(4) A
livestock operation may not allow unlimited access by livestock to
waters of the state in a location where high concentrations of animals
prevent the maintenance of adequate sod or self-sustaining vegetable
cover. The prohibition does not apply to properly designed, installed
and maintained livestock or farm equipment crossings.
A person is in compliance with this article if he or she follows
the procedures of this article, receives a permit from the Pierce
County Land Conservation Department before beginning activities subject
to regulation under this article and complies with the requirements
of the permit.
No person may undertake an activity subject to this article
without obtaining a permit from the Department prior to beginning
the proposed activity.
A fee shall be charged for a permit under this article. The
permit fee can be established or changed by a majority vote of the
Land Conservation Committee. The new fee schedule shall be submitted
to the full County Board at its next regular meeting for information
purposes. No approval action is necessary on the part of the full
County Board.
Each application for a permit under this article shall include
a waste storage facility plan. The plan shall specify:
A. Type(s) and numbers of livestock the facility is planned for, and
maximum storage capacity.
B. A sketch drawn at a scale of not less than one inch equals 100 feet
of the facility location, including all buildings, navigable and intermittent
streams, wetlands or water bodies within 500 feet of the impoundment,
and the location of wells within 300 feet of the facility.
C. Structural details, including but not limited to all grades, dimensions,
cross sections, concrete thickness, reinforcement schedules, and thickness
and placement of groundwater protection liners.
D. Soil test pits and soil depth boring locations and soil descriptions
to a depth of at least five feet below the planned bottom of the facility
or to bedrock if at a lesser depth.
E. Elevations of groundwater or bedrock if encountered in the soil profile
and the date of such determinations.
F. Provisions for drainage and control of runoff to prevent pollution
of surface water and groundwater and the locations and distance to
water bodies.
G. Drawing scale and the North arrow.
H. Time schedules for construction and inspection by certifying engineer.
I. Descriptions of the methods for transferring waste.
J. Provisions for proper closure of facility.
K. Provisions for complying with siting requirements, if applicable.
L. Provisions required for safety of the facility, including but not
limited to adequate signage, grating, and fencing.
M. All companion documents from Technical Guide Standard 313.
Reuse of an abandoned facility may be allowed, provided that the owner or operator meets the requirements of §
101-34C(2) of this article.
The Department shall receive and review all permit applications. The Department shall determine if the proposed facility meets required standards set forth in §§
101-35 and
101-36 of this article. Within 45 days after the Department receives an application, the Department shall notify the applicant if the application is complete. If additional information is required, the notice shall specifically describe what else is needed. Within 14 days after the applicant has provided the additional information, the Department shall notify the applicant that the application is complete. Within 90 days after giving notice that the application is complete, the Department shall inform the applicant in writing whether the permit application is approved or disapproved. If the Department fails to approve or disapprove the permit application in writing within 90 days of the receipt of the permit application, as appropriate, the application shall be deemed approved, and the applicant may proceed as if the permit had been issued.
All permits issued under this article shall be issued subject
to the following conditions and requirements:
A. Waste storage facility design, construction, management and utilization
activities shall be carried out in accordance with the approved application
and plans and applicable standards specified in this article.
B. The permittee shall give no less than five working days' notice
to the Department before starting any construction activity authorized
by the permit.
C. Approval in writing must be obtained from the Department prior to
any modifications to the approved facility if the permit has been
issued.
D. The permittee and registered engineer or certified agricultural engineering
practitioner shall certify in writing that the facility was installed
as planned, or as-built plans shall be stamped by the registered engineer
or certified agricultural engineering practitioner and submitted before
use of the facility begins.
E. Activities authorized by permit must be completed within two years
from the date of issuance, after which such permit shall be voided,
unless an extension is approved by the Department.
The Department may revoke any permit issued under this article
if the holder of the permit has misrepresented any material fact in
the permit application or facility plans or if the holder of the permit
violates any of the conditions of the permit.
In the administration and enforcement of this article, the Department
shall:
A. Keep an accurate record of all permit applications, waste storage
facility plans, permits issued, inspections made and other official
actions.
B. Review permit applications and issue permits in accordance with §§
101-38 to
101-46 of this article.
C. Inspect waste storage facility construction to ensure that the facility
is being constructed according to plan specifications.
D. Investigate complaints relating to compliance with this article.
E. Perform other duties as specified in this article.
The Pierce County Land Conservation Supervisor or designee of
the Pierce County Land Conservation Committee is authorized to enter
upon any lands affected by this article to inspect the land prior
to or after permit issuance to determine compliance with this article.
If permission cannot be received from the applicant or permittee,
entry by the Land Conservation Supervisor or designee shall be according
to § 66.0119, Wis. Stats.
The Department is authorized to post an order stopping work
upon land which has had a permit revoked or on land currently undergoing
activity in violation of this article. Notice is given by mailing
a copy of the order by certified mail to the owner of the land where
the violation exists. The order shall specify that the activity must
cease and be brought into compliance within 10 days. Any permit revocation
or order stopping work shall remain in effect unless retracted by
the Board of Adjustment, the Department or by a court of appropriate
jurisdiction. The Department is authorized to refer any violation
of this article to the Corporation Counsel for commencement of further
legal proceedings.
Any person who violates, neglects or refuses to comply with
or resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this article
shall be subject to a forfeiture of $200 plus costs of prosecution
for each violation. Any unlawful violation includes failure to comply
with any standard of this article or with any condition or qualification
attached to the permit. Penalties shall also be assessed if a person
undertakes an activity, including but not limited to construction
activities, subject to this article without obtaining a permit from
the Department prior to beginning the proposed activity. Each day
that a violation exists shall be a separate offense.
As substitute for or an addition to forfeiture actions, Pierce
County may seek enforcement of any part of this article by court actions
seeking injunctions or restraining orders.