                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 62.1-44.15:24)

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different
meaning:		&#8220;Agreement in lieu of a plan&#8221; means a contract between the
VESMP authority or the Board acting as a VSMP authority and the owner or
permittee that specifies methods that shall be implemented to comply with the
requirements of this article for the construction of a (i) single-family
detached residential structure or (ii) farm building or structure on a parcel of
land with a total impervious cover percentage, including the impervious cover
from the farm building or structure to be constructed, of less than five
percent; such contract may be executed by the VESMP authority in lieu of a soil
erosion control and stormwater management plan or by the Board acting as a VSMP
authority in lieu of a stormwater management plan.		&#8220;Applicant&#8221;
means any person submitting a soil erosion control and stormwater management
plan to a VESMP authority, or a stormwater management plan to the Board when it
is serving as a VSMP authority, for approval in order to obtain authorization to
commence a land-disturbing activity.		&#8220;CWA&#8221; means the federal Clean
Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.), formerly referred to as the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972,
P.L. 92-500, as amended by P.L. 95-217, P.L. 95-576, P.L. 96-483, and P.L.
97-117, or any subsequent revisions thereto.		&#8220;Department&#8221; means the
Department of Environmental Quality.		&#8220;Director&#8221; means the Director
of the Department of Environmental Quality.		&#8220;Erosion impact area&#8221;
means an area of land that is not associated with a current land-disturbing
activity but is subject to persistent soil erosion resulting in the delivery of
sediment onto neighboring properties or into state waters. This definition shall
not apply to any lot or parcel of land of 10,000 square feet or less used for
residential purposes or any shoreline where the erosion results from wave action
or other coastal processes.		&#8220;Farm building or structure&#8221; means the
same as that term is defined in § 36-97 and also includes any building or
structure used for agritourism activity, as defined in § 3.2-6400, and any
related impervious surfaces including roads, driveways, and parking
areas.		&#8220;Flooding&#8221; 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.		&#8220;Land disturbance&#8221; or &#8220;land-disturbing
activity&#8221; 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.		&#8220;Land-disturbance approval&#8221; means the same as that
term is defined in § 62.1-44.3.		&#8220;Municipal separate storm sewer&#8221;
or &#8220;MS4&#8243; means the same as that term is defined in §
62.1-44.3.		&#8220;Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Management
Program&#8221; 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, to
protect water quality, and to satisfy the appropriate water quality requirements
of the CWA and regulations, and this article and its attendant regulations,
using management practices, control techniques, and system, design, and
engineering methods, and such other provisions that are
appropriate.		&#8220;Natural channel design concepts&#8221; means the
utilization of engineering analysis and fluvial geomorphic processes to create,
rehabilitate, restore, or stabilize an open conveyance system for the purpose of
creating or recreating a stream that conveys its bankfull storm event within its
banks and allows larger flows to access its bankfull bench and its
floodplain.		&#8220;Nonpoint source pollution&#8221; means pollution such as
sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus, hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and toxics whose
sources cannot be pinpointed but rather are washed from the land surface in a
diffuse manner by stormwater.		&#8220;Owner&#8221; means the same as that term
is defined in § 62.1-44.3. For a regulated land-disturbing activity that does
not require a permit, &#8220;owner&#8221; also means the owner or owners of the
freehold of the premises or lesser estate therein, mortgagee or vendee in
possession, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, lessee, or other
person, firm, or corporation in control of a property.		&#8220;Peak flow
rate&#8221; means the maximum instantaneous flow from a prescribed design storm
at a particular location.		&#8220;Permit&#8221; means a Virginia Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permit issued by the Board pursuant to §
62.1-44.15 for stormwater discharges from a land-disturbing activity or
MS4.		&#8220;Permittee&#8221; means the person to whom the permit is
issued.		&#8220;Runoff volume&#8221; means the volume of water that runs off the
land development project from a prescribed storm event.		&#8220;Rural Tidewater
locality&#8221; means any locality that is (i) subject to the provisions of the
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (§ 62.1-44.15:67 et seq.) and (ii) eligible to
join the Rural Coastal Virginia Community Enhancement Authority established by
Chapter 76 (§ 15.2-7600 et seq.) of Title 15.2.		&#8220;Small construction
activity&#8221; means:

1. A construction activity, including clearing, grading, or excavating, that
results in land disturbance of equal to or greater than one acre and less than
five acres. &#8220;Small construction activity&#8221; also includes the
disturbance of less than one acre of total land area that is part of a larger
common plan of development or sale if the larger common plan will ultimately
disturb an area equal to or greater than one acre and less than five acres.
&#8220;Small construction activity&#8221; does not include routine maintenance
that is performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity,
or original purpose of the facility.
			The Board may waive the otherwise applicable requirements in a general permit
for a stormwater discharge from construction activities that disturb less than
five acres where stormwater controls are not needed based on an approved total
maximum daily load (TMDL) that addresses the pollutants of concern or, for
nonimpaired waters that do not require TMDLs, an equivalent analysis that
determines allocations for small construction sites for the pollutants of
concern or that determines that such allocations are not needed to protect water
quality based on consideration of existing in-stream concentrations, expected
growth in pollutant contributions from all sources, and a margin of safety. For
the purpose of this subdivision, the pollutants of concern include sediment or a
parameter that addresses sediment, such as total suspended solids, turbidity, or
siltation, and any other pollutant that has been identified as a cause of
impairment of any water body that will receive a discharge from the construction
activity. The operator shall certify to the Board that the construction activity
will take place, and that stormwater discharges will occur, within the drainage
area addressed by the TMDL or provide an equivalent analysis.			As of the start
date in the table of start dates for electronic submissions of Virginia
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) information within the regulation
governing the implementation of electronic reporting requirements for certain
VPDES permittees, facilities, and entities, all certifications submitted in
support of such waiver shall be submitted electronically by the owner or
operator to the Department in compliance with (i) this subdivision; (ii) 40
C.F.R. Part 3, including, in all cases, 40 C.F.R. Part 3 Subpart D; (iii) the
regulation addressing signatories to state permit applications and reports; and
(iv) regulations addressing the VPDES electronic reporting requirements. Such
regulations addressing the VPDES electronic reporting requirements shall not
undo existing requirements for electronic reporting. Prior to such date, and
independent of the regulations addressing the VPDES electronic reporting
requirements, a permittee shall be required to report electronically if
specified by a particular permit.

2. Any other construction activity designated by either the Board or the
Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, based on the
potential for contribution to a violation of a water quality standard or for
significant contribution of pollutants to surface waters.
			&#8220;Soil erosion&#8221; means the movement of soil by wind or water into
state waters or onto lands in the Commonwealth.			&#8220;Soil Erosion Control
and Stormwater Management plan&#8221; or &#8220;plan&#8221; means a document
describing methods for controlling soil erosion and managing stormwater in
accordance with the requirements adopted pursuant to this
article.			&#8220;Stormwater,&#8221; for the purposes of this article, means
precipitation that is discharged across the land surface or through conveyances
to one or more waterways and that may include stormwater runoff, snow melt
runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.			&#8220;Stormwater management
plan&#8221; means a document containing material describing methods for
complying with the requirements of a VSMP.			&#8220;Subdivision&#8221; means the
same as that term is defined in &#xA7; 15.2-2201.			&#8220;Virginia Erosion and
Sediment Control Program&#8221; or &#8220;VESCP&#8221; means a program approved
by the Board that is established by a VESCP authority pursuant to Article 2.4
(&#xA7; 62.1-44.15:51 et seq.) for the effective control of soil erosion,
sediment deposition, and nonagricultural runoff associated with a
land-disturbing activity to prevent the unreasonable degradation of properties,
stream channels, waters, and other natural resources. The VESCP shall include,
where applicable, such items as local ordinances, rules, policies and
guidelines, technical materials, and requirements for plan review, inspection,
and evaluation consistent with the requirements of Article 2.4 (&#xA7;
62.1-44.15:51 et seq.).			&#8220;Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program
authority&#8221; or &#8220;VESCP authority&#8221; means a locality that is
approved by the Board to operate a Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program
in accordance with Article 2.4 (&#xA7; 62.1-44.15:51 et seq.). Only a locality
for which the Department administered a Virginia Stormwater Management Program
as of July 1, 2017, is authorized to choose to operate a VESCP pursuant to
Article 2.4 (&#xA7; 62.1-44.15:51 et seq.).			&#8220;Virginia Erosion and
Stormwater Management Program&#8221; or &#8220;VESMP&#8221; 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.
The program shall include such items as local ordinances, rules, requirements
for permits and land-disturbance approvals, policies and guidelines, technical
materials, and requirements for plan review, inspection, and enforcement
consistent with the requirements of this article.			&#8220;Virginia Erosion and
Stormwater Management Program authority&#8221; or &#8220;VESMP authority&#8221;
means the Board or a locality approved by the Board to operate a Virginia
Erosion and Stormwater Management Program. For state agency or federal entity
land-disturbing activities and land-disturbing activities subject to approved
standards and specifications, the Board shall serve as the VESMP
authority.			&#8220;Virginia Stormwater Management Program&#8221; or
&#8220;VSMP&#8221; means a program established by the Board pursuant to &#xA7;
62.1-44.15:27.1 on behalf of a locality on or after July 1, 2014, to manage the
quality and quantity of runoff resulting from any land-disturbing activity that
(i) disturbs one acre or more of land or (ii) disturbs less than one acre of
land and is part of a larger common plan of development or sale that results in
one acre or more of land disturbance.			&#8220;Virginia Stormwater Management
Program authority&#8221; or &#8220;VSMP authority&#8221; means the Board when
administering a VSMP on behalf of a locality that, pursuant to subdivision B 3
of &#xA7; 62.1-44.15:27, has chosen not to adopt and administer a
VESMP.			&#8220;Water quality technical criteria&#8221; means standards set
forth in regulations adopted pursuant to this article that establish minimum
design criteria for measures to control nonpoint source
pollution.			&#8220;Water quantity technical criteria&#8221; means standards set
forth in regulations adopted pursuant to this article that establish minimum
design criteria for measures to control localized flooding and stream channel
erosion.			&#8220;Watershed&#8221; means a defined land area drained by a river
or stream, karst system, or system of connecting rivers or streams such that all
surface water within the area flows through a single outlet. In karst areas, the
karst feature to which water drains may be considered the single outlet for the
watershed.

HISTORY: 1989, cc. 467, § 10.1-603.2; 499; 1991, c. 84; 1994, cc. 605, 898;
2004, c. 372; 2006, cc. 21, 171; 2012, cc. 785, 819; 2013, cc. 756, 793; 2014,
cc. 303, 598; 2016, cc. 68, 758; 2018, cc. 154, 155; 2023, cc. 48, 49.