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2006 SESSION


CHAPTER 171
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 10.1-603.2, 10.1-603.2:1, 10.1-603.2:2, 10.1-603.3, and 10.1-603.14 of the Code of Virginia, relating to stormwater management.
[S 274]
Approved March 23, 2006

 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 10.1-603.2, 10.1-603.2:1, 10.1-603.2:2, 10.1-603.3, and 10.1-603.14 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 10.1-603.2. Definitions.

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Board" means the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.

"CWA" means the federal Clean Water Act (33 USC § 1251 et seq.), formerly referred to as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Public Law 92-500, as amended by Public Law 95-217, Public Law 95-576, Public Law 96-483, and Public Law 97-117, or any subsequent revisions thereto.

"Department" means the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

"Director" means the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

"Flooding" means a volume of water that is too great to be confined within the banks or walls of the stream, water body, or conveyance system and that overflows onto adjacent lands, thereby causing or threatening damage.

"Land disturbance" or "land disturbing activity" means a manmade change to the land surface that potentially changes its runoff characteristics including any clearing, grading, or excavation associated with a construction activity regulated pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act.

"Linear development project" means a land development project that is linear in nature such as, but not limited to, (i) the construction of electric and telephone utility lines, and natural gas pipelines; (ii) construction of tracks, rights-of-way, bridges, communication facilities and other related structures of a railroad company; and (iii) highway construction projects.

"Local stormwater management program" or "local program" means the various methods employed by a locality to manage the quality and quantity of runoff resulting from land disturbing activities and shall include such items as local ordinances, permit requirements, policies and guidelines, technical materials, inspection, enforcement, and evaluation consistent with this article.

"Municipal separate storm sewer" means a conveyance or system of conveyances otherwise known as a municipal separate storm sewer system or "MS4," including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels, or storm drains:

1. Owned or operated by a federal, state, city, town, county, district, association, or other public body, created by or pursuant to state law, having jurisdiction or delegated authority for erosion and sediment control and stormwater management, or a designated and approved management agency under § 208 of the CWA that discharges to surface waters;

2. Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;

3. That is not a combined sewer; and

4. That is not part of a publicly owned treatment works.

"Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Management Program" means a management program covering the duration of a permit for a municipal separate storm sewer system that includes a comprehensive planning process that involves public participation and intergovernmental coordination, to reduce the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable, using management practices, control techniques, and system, design and engineering methods, and such other provisions that are appropriate.

"Nonpoint source pollution" means pollution whose sources cannot be pinpointed but rather is washed from the land surface in a diffuse manner by stormwater runoff.

"Permit" means an approval issued by the permit issuing authority for the initiation of a land-disturbing activity, or for stormwater discharges from an MS4.

"Permit issuing authority" means the Board, the Department, or a locality that is delegated authority by the Board to issue, deny, revoke, terminate, or amend stormwater permits under the provisions of this article.

"Permittee" means the person or locality to which the permit is issued.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, association, state, municipality, commission, or political subdivision of a state, governmental body, any interstate body, or any other legal entity.

"Stormwater" means precipitation that is discharged across the land surface or through conveyances to one or more waterways and that may include storm water runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.

"Stormwater management program" means a program established by a locality that is consistent with the requirements of this article and associated regulations and guidance documents.

"Subdivision" means the same as defined in § 15.2-2201.

"Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP)" means the Virginia program for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing requirements pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act and this article.

"Watershed" means a defined land area drained by a river or stream or system of connecting rivers or streams such that all surface water within the area flows through a single outlet.

§ 10.1-603.2:1. Powers and duties of the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.

In addition to other powers and duties conferred upon the Board, it shall permit, regulate, and control stormwater runoff in the Commonwealth. In accordance with the VSMP, the Board may issue, deny, revoke, terminate, or amend stormwater permits; adopt regulations; approve and periodically review local stormwater management programs and management programs developed in conjunction with a municipal separate storm sewer permit; enforce the provisions of this article; and otherwise act to ensure the general health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth as well as protect the quality and quantity of state waters from the potential harm of unmanaged stormwater. The Board may:

1. Issue, deny, amend, revoke, terminate, and enforce permits for the control of stormwater discharges from Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems and land disturbing activities.

2. Delegate to the Department or to an approved locality any of the powers and duties vested in it by this article except the adoption and promulgation of regulations. Delegation shall not remove from the Board authority to enforce the provisions of this article.

3. Take administrative and legal actions to ensure compliance by permittees, any person subject to permit requirements under this article, and those localities with an approved local stormwater management program and management programs developed in conjunction with a municipal separate storm sewer system permit with the provisions of this article including the proper enforcement and implementation of, and continual compliance with, this article.

4. After notice and opportunity for a hearing by the Board, amend or revoke any permit issued by the permit issuing authority under this article on the following grounds or for good cause as may be provided by the regulations of the Board:

a. The permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article has violated any order or regulation of the Board, any condition of a permit, any provision of this article, any order of a court, or any order of the permit issuing authority, where such violation results in the unreasonable degradation of properties, water quality, stream channels, and other natural resources, or the violation is representative of a pattern of serious or repeated violations including the disregard for or inability to comply with applicable laws, regulations, permit conditions, orders, rules, or requirements;

b. The permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article has failed to disclose fully all relevant material facts or has misrepresented a material fact in applying for a permit, or in any other report or document required under this law or under the regulations of the Board;

c. The activity for which the permit was issued causes unreasonable degradation of properties, water quality, stream channels, and other natural resources; or

d. There exists a material change in the basis on which the permit was issued that requires either a temporary or a permanent reduction or elimination of any discharge or land disturbing activity controlled by the permit necessary to prevent unreasonable degradation of properties, water quality, stream channels, and other natural resources.

5. Cause investigations and inspections, or delegate authority to do so, to ensure compliance with any permits, conditions, policies, rules, regulations, rulings and orders which it may adopt, issue or establish and to furnish advice, recommendations, or instructions for the purpose of obtaining such compliance.

6. Adopt rules governing the procedure of the permit issuing authority with respect to: (i) hearings; (ii) the filing of reports; (iii) the issuance of permits and special orders; and (iv) all other matters relating to procedure; and to amend or cancel any rule adopted. Public notice of every rule adopted under this section shall be by such means as the permit issuing authority may prescribe but must be consistent with the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.).

7. Issue special orders to a permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article (i) who is permitting or causing the unreasonable degradation of properties, water quality, stream channels, and other natural resources to cease and desist from such activities, (ii) who has failed to construct facilities in accordance with final approved plans and specifications to construct such facilities, (iii) who has violated the terms and provisions of a permit issued by the permit issuing authority; to comply with the provisions of the permit, this article and any decision of the permit issuing authority, the Department, or the Board, or (iv) who has violated the terms of an order issued by the court, the permit issuing authority, the Department, or the Board: to comply with the terms of such order, and also to issue orders to require any order permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article to comply with the provisions of this article and any decision of the Board.

Such special orders are to be issued only after a hearing with at least 30 days' notice to the affected permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article, of the time, place, and purpose thereof, and they shall become effective not less than 15 days after the date of mailing by certified mail of the notice to the last known address of the permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article; provided that if the Board finds that any such permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article is grossly affecting or presents an imminent and substantial danger to (i) the public health, safety or welfare, or the health of animals, fish or aquatic life; (ii) a public water supply; or (iii) recreational, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other reasonable uses, it may issue, without advance notice or hearing, an emergency special order directing the permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article to cease such pollution or discharge immediately, and shall provide an opportunity for a hearing, after reasonable notice as to the time and place thereof to the permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article, to affirm, modify, amend, or cancel such emergency special order. If the permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article who has been issued such a special order or an emergency special order is not complying with the terms thereof, the Board may proceed in accordance with § 10.1-603.14, and where the order is based on a finding of an imminent and substantial danger, the court shall issue an injunction compelling compliance with the emergency special order pending a hearing by the Board. If an emergency special order requires cessation of a discharge, the Board shall provide an opportunity for a hearing within 48 hours of the issuance of the injunction.

The provisions of this section notwithstanding, the Board may proceed directly under § 10.1-603.14 for any past violation or violations of any provision of this article or any regulation duly adopted hereunder.

With the consent of any permittee or any person subject to permit requirements under this article who has violated or failed, neglected, or refused to obey any regulation or order of the Board, any condition of a permit or any provision of this article, the Board may provide, in an order issued by the Board against such person, for the payment of civil charges for violations in specific sums not to exceed the limit specified in subsection A of § 10.1-603.14. Such civil charges shall be collected in lieu of any appropriate civil penalty that could be imposed pursuant to subsection A of § 10.1-603.14 and shall not be subject to the provisions of § 2.2-514. Such civil charges shall be paid into the state treasury and deposited by the State Treasurer into the Virginia Stormwater Management Fund established pursuant to § 10.1-603.4:1.

§ 10.1-603.2:2. Permits.

A. It shall be unlawful to cause a stormwater discharge from an MS4 or a land disturbing activity without except in compliance with a permit from issued by a permit issuing authority.

B. All permits issued by the permit issuing authority under this article shall have fixed terms. The term of a permit shall be based upon the projected duration of the project, the length of any required monitoring, or other project operations or permit conditions; however, the term shall not exceed five years. The term of a permit issued by the permit issuing authority shall not be extended by modification beyond the maximum duration and the permit shall expire at the end of the term unless an application for a new permit has been filed in a timely manner as required by the regulations of the Board, and the permit issuing authority is unable, through no fault of the permittee, to issue a new permit before the expiration date of the previous permit.

§ 10.1-603.3. Establishment of stormwater management programs by localities.

A. Any locality located within Tidewater Virginia as defined by the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (§ 10.1-2100 et seq.), or any locality that is partially or wholly designated as an MS4 under the provisions of the federal Clean Water Act, shall be required to adopt a local stormwater management program for land disturbing activities consistent with the provisions of this article by July 1, 2006 according to a schedule set by the Board but no sooner than 12 months and not more than 18 months following the effective date of the regulation that establishes local program criteria and delegation procedures.

B. Any locality not specified in subsection A may elect to adopt and administer a local stormwater management program for land disturbing activities pursuant to this article. Such localities shall inform the Board and the Department of their initial intention to seek delegation for the stormwater management program for land disturbing permits no later than July 1, 2005 within six months following the effective date of the regulation that establishes local program criteria and delegation procedures. Thereafter, the Department shall provide an annual schedule by which localities can submit applications for delegation.

C. In the absence of the delegation of a stormwater management program to a locality, the Department will administer the responsibilities of this article within the given jurisdiction.

D. The Department shall develop a model ordinance for establishing a local stormwater management program consistent with this article.

E. Each locality that is required to or that elects to adopt and administer an approved local stormwater management program shall, by ordinance, establish a local stormwater management program that may be administered in conjunction with a local MS4 program and a local erosion and sediment control program, which shall include, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Consistency with regulations adopted in accordance with provisions of this article;

2. Provisions for long-term responsibility for and maintenance of stormwater management control devices and other techniques specified to manage the quality and quantity of runoff; and

3. Provisions for the integration of locally adopted stormwater management programs with local erosion and sediment control, flood insurance, flood plain management, and other programs requiring compliance prior to authorizing construction in order to make the submission and approval of plans, issuance of permits, payment of fees, and coordination of inspection and enforcement activities more convenient and efficient both for the local governments and those responsible for compliance with the programs.

F. The Board shall delegate a local stormwater management program to a locality when it deems a program consistent with this article.

G. Delegated localities may enter into agreements with soil and water conservation districts, adjacent localities, or other entities to carry out the responsibilities of this article.

H. Localities that adopt a local stormwater management program shall have the authority to issue a consolidated stormwater management and erosion and sediment control permit that is consistent with the provisions of the Erosion and Sediment Control Law (§ 10.1-560 et seq.).

I. Any local stormwater management program adopted pursuant to and consistent with this article shall be considered to meet the stormwater management requirements under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (§ 10.1-2100 et seq.) and attendant regulations.

§ 10.1-603.14. Penalties, injunctions, and other legal actions.

A. Any person who violates any provision of this article, or of any regulations or ordinances adopted hereunder, including those adopted pursuant to the conditions of an MS4 permit or who fails, neglects or refuses to comply with any order of the permit issuing authority, the Department, Board, or court, issued as herein provided, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 $32,500 for each violation within the discretion of the court. Each day of violation of each requirement shall constitute a separate offense. The Board shall adopt a regulation establishing a schedule of civil penalties to be utilized by the permit issuing authority in enforcing the provisions of this article. The Board, Department, or permit issuing authority for the locality wherein the land lies may issue a summons for collection of the civil penalty and the action may be prosecuted in the appropriate circuit court. Any civil penalties assessed by a court as a result of a summons issued by a locality shall be paid into the treasury of the locality wherein the land lies, except where the violator is the locality itself, or its agent. When the penalties are assessed by the court as a result of a summons issued by the Board or Department, or where the violator is the locality itself, or its agent, the court shall direct the penalty to be paid into the state treasury and deposited by the State Treasurer into the Virginia Stormwater Management Fund established pursuant to § 10.1-603.4:1. Such civil penalties paid into the treasury of the locality in which the violation occurred are to be used for the purpose of minimizing, preventing, managing, or mitigating pollution of the waters of the locality and abating environmental pollution therein in such manner as the court may, by order, direct.

B. Any person who willfully or negligently violates any provision of this article, any regulation or order of the Board, order of the permit issuing authority or the Department, ordinance of any locality, any condition of a permit, or any order of a court shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not less than $2,500 nor more than $25,000 $32,500, either or both. Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this article, any regulation or order of the Board, order of the permit issuing authority or the Department, ordinance of any locality, any condition of a permit or any order of a court issued as herein provided, or who knowingly makes any false statement in any form required to be submitted under this article or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required to be maintained under this article, shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than three years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $50,000 for each violation. Any defendant that is not an individual shall, upon conviction of a violation under this subsection, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $10,000. Each day of violation of each requirement shall constitute a separate offense.

C. Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this article, and who knows at that time that he thereby places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm, shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than two years nor more than 15 years and a fine of not more than $250,000, either or both. A defendant that is not an individual shall, upon conviction of a violation under this subsection, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding the greater of $1 million or an amount that is three times the economic benefit realized by the defendant as a result of the offense. The maximum penalty shall be doubled with respect to both fine and imprisonment for any subsequent conviction of the same person under this subsection.

D. Violation of any provision of this article may also include the following sanctions:

1. The Board, Department, or the permit issuing authority may apply to the circuit court in any jurisdiction wherein the land lies to enjoin a violation or a threatened violation of the provisions of this article or of the local ordinance without the necessity of showing that an adequate remedy at law does not exist.

2. With the consent of any person who has violated or failed, neglected or refused to obey any ordinance, any condition of a permit, any regulation or order of the Board, any order of the permit issuing authority or the Department, or any provision of this article, the Board, Department, or permit issuing authority may provide, in an order issued against such person, for the payment of civil charges for violations in specific sums, not to exceed the limit specified in this section. Such civil charges shall be instead of any appropriate civil penalty that could be imposed under this section. Any civil charges collected shall be paid to the locality or state treasury pursuant to subsection A.