South Carolina Code 49-4-90. Hearings for new surface water withdrawal permit applications for interbasin transfers; notice
(1) include a nontechnical description of the applicant’s request;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 49-4-90
- Affected area: means that portion of a county or counties within a river basin that, under the circumstances, are determined by the department to likely be affected by a proposed surface water withdrawal. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Department: means the Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Interbasin transfer: means the withdrawal of surface water from a river basin and the movement of that water to a river basin different from the source of the withdrawal. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, trust, estate, association, public or private institution, municipality, or political subdivision, governmental agency, public water system, or a private or public corporation or other legal entity organized under the laws of this State or any other state or county. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- River basin: means the area drained by a river and its tributaries or through a specified point on a river, as determined in § 49-4-80(K)(2). See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Surface water: means all water that is wholly or partially within the State, including the Savannah River, or within its jurisdiction, which is open to the atmosphere and subject to surface runoff, including, but not limited to, lakes, streams, ponds, rivers, creeks, runs, springs, and reservoirs, but not including water and wastewater treatment impoundments, off-stream supplemental operations related impoundments, or water storage structures constructed by the surface water withdrawer to provide adequate supplies of surface water during low flow conditions. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- surface water withdrawal permit: means a written authorization issued to a person by the department that allows the person to hold and exercise a water right to withdraw surface water pursuant to the terms of the permit and this chapter. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Withdrawal: means to remove surface water from its natural course or location, or exercising physical control over surface water in its natural course or location, regardless of whether the water is returned to its waters of origin, consumed, transferred to another river basin, or discharged elsewhere. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
(2) include a conspicuous statement in bold type describing the effects of the interbasin transfer on the river basin from which the water will be withdrawn and the river basin into which the withdrawn water will be transferred; and
(3) describe the procedure that a person must follow to submit a comment concerning the proposed interbasin transfer.
(B) Upon the receipt of a new surface withdrawal permit application for an interbasin transfer and the appropriate filing fee, the department must, within thirty days, provide notice as required in this section, in the following manner:
(1) by publication in the South Carolina State Register;
(2) by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the affected area of the river basin downstream from the point of withdrawal;
(3) by publication on the department’s website; and
(4) through standard United States mail to:
(a) any person holding a permit issued by the department authorizing surface water withdrawals, including interbasin transfers, from the river basin from which the water for the proposed transfer would be withdrawn;
(b) any person holding a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater discharge permit authorizing wastewater discharge into the river basin where the proposed withdrawal point of the proposed interbasin transfer is located;
(c) any city or county governing body whose jurisdiction is located entirely or partially within the river basin that is the source of the proposed transfer;
(d) the governing body of a public water supply system that withdraws water from the same river basin where the proposed withdrawal point of the proposed transfer is located; and
(e) any agency from another state where an interstate water basin is the source of the proposed transfer.