Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:31: Standards and specifications for state agencies, federal entities, and other specified entities.
A. As an alternative to submitting soil erosion control and stormwater management plans for its land-disturbing activities pursuant to § 62.1-44.15:34, the Virginia Department of Transportation shall, and any other state agency or federal entity may, submit standards and specifications for its conduct of land-disturbing activities for Department of Environmental Quality approval. Approved standards and specifications shall be consistent with this article. The Department of Environmental Quality shall have 60 days after receipt in which to act on any standards and specifications submitted or resubmitted to it for approval.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:31
- Board: means the State Water Control Board. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Department: means the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- Establishment: means any industrial establishment, mill, factory, tannery, paper or pulp mill, mine, coal mine, colliery, breaker or coal-processing operations, quarry, oil refinery, boat, vessel, and every other industry or plant or works the operation of which produces industrial wastes or other wastes or which may otherwise alter the physical, chemical or biological properties of any state waters. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- 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.
- land-disturbing activity: means a man-made change to the land surface that may result in soil erosion or has the potential to change its runoff characteristics, including construction activity such as the clearing, grading, excavating, or filling of land. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Owner: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, governmental body, municipal corporation, or any other legal entity. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- plan: means a document describing methods for controlling soil erosion and managing stormwater in accordance with the requirements adopted pursuant to this article. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- Soil erosion: means the movement of soil by wind or water into state waters or onto lands in the Commonwealth. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- Standards: means standards established under subdivisions (3a) and (3b) of § Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- state agency: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 1-206
- State waters: means all water, on the surface and under the ground, wholly or partially within or bordering the Commonwealth or within its jurisdiction, including wetlands. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Subdivision: means the same as that term is defined in § Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- VESCP: means a program approved by the Board that is established by a VESCP authority pursuant to Article 2. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- VESMP: means a program established by a VESMP authority for the effective control of soil erosion and sediment deposition and the management of the quality and quantity of runoff resulting from land-disturbing activities to prevent the unreasonable degradation of properties, stream channels, waters, and other natural resources. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- VSMP: means a program established by the Board pursuant to § Virginia Code 62.1-44.15:24
- Wetlands: means those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
B. As an alternative to submitting soil erosion control and stormwater management plans pursuant to § 62.1-44.15:34, electric, natural gas, and telephone utility companies, interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline companies, railroad companies, and authorities created pursuant to § 15.2-5102 may submit standards and specifications for Department approval that describe how land-disturbing activities shall be conducted. Such standards and specifications may be submitted for the following types of projects:
1. Construction, installation, or maintenance of electric transmission and distribution lines, oil or gas transmission and distribution pipelines, communication utility lines, and water and sewer lines; and
2. Construction of the tracks, rights-of-way, bridges, communication facilities, and other related structures and facilities of a railroad company.
The Department shall have 60 days after receipt in which to act on any standards and specifications submitted or resubmitted to it for approval. A linear project not included in subdivision 1 or 2, or for which the owner chooses not to submit standards and specifications, shall comply with the requirements of the VESMP or the VESCP and VSMP, as appropriate, in any locality within which the project is located.
C. As an alternative to submitting soil erosion control and stormwater management plans pursuant to § 62.1-44.15:34, any person engaging in more than one jurisdiction in the creation and operation of a wetland mitigation or stream restoration bank that has been approved and is operated in accordance with applicable federal and state guidance, laws, or regulations for the establishment, use, and operation of (i) a wetlands mitigation or stream restoration bank, pursuant to a mitigation banking instrument signed by the Department, the Marine Resources Commission, or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or (ii) a stream restoration project for purposes of reducing nutrients or sediment entering state waters may submit standards and specifications for Department approval that describe how land-disturbing activities shall be conducted. The Department shall have 60 days after receipt in which to act on standards and specifications submitted to it or resubmitted to it for approval.
D. All standards and specifications submitted to the Department shall be periodically updated according to a schedule to be established by the Department and shall be consistent with the requirements of this article. Approval of standards and specifications by the Department does not relieve the owner or operator of the duty to comply with any other applicable local ordinances or regulations. Standards and specifications shall include:
1. Technical criteria to meet the requirements of this article and regulations developed under this article;
2. Provisions for the long-term responsibility and maintenance of any stormwater management control devices and other techniques specified to manage the quantity and quality of runoff;
3. Provisions for administration of the standards and specifications program, project-specific plan design, plan review and plan approval, and construction inspection and compliance;
4. Provisions for ensuring that personnel and contractors assisting the owner in carrying out the land-disturbing activity obtain training or qualifications for soil erosion control and stormwater management as set forth in regulations adopted pursuant to this article;
5. Provisions for ensuring that personnel implementing approved standards and specifications pursuant to this section obtain certifications or qualifications comparable to those required for VESMP personnel pursuant to subsection C of § 62.1-44.15:30;
6. Implementation of a project tracking system that ensures notification to the Department of all land-disturbing activities covered under this article; and
7. Requirements for documenting onsite changes as they occur to ensure compliance with the requirements of this article.
E. The Department shall perform random site inspections or inspections in response to a complaint to ensure compliance with this article and regulations adopted thereunder.
F. The Department shall assess an administrative charge to cover the costs of services rendered associated with its responsibilities pursuant to this section, including standards and specifications review and approval, project inspections, and compliance. The Board may take enforcement actions in accordance with this article and related regulations.
1989, cc. 467, 499, § 10.1-603.5; 2004, c. 372; 2012, cc. 785, 819; 2013, cc. 756, 793; 2016, cc. 68, 758; 2018, c. 627.