Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 26 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT › Part 3 - SUBTITLES 13-18 › Subtitle 17 - WATER MANAGEMENT › Chapter 26.17.01 - Erosion and Sediment Control › Section 26.17.01.01 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. In this chapter,
				  the following terms have the meanings indicated. Terms not defined below shall
				  have the meanings given to them in the relevant statutes, or if not defined in
				  statutes, the meanings attributed by common use. The terms "Administration",
				  "person", "pollution", "responsible personnel", "waters of the State", are
				  defined in Environment Article, §
										4-104 or
				  5-101, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland. The meanings for these specific terms are provided as a convenience,
				  but persons affected by the Administration's regulations should be aware that
				  these meanings are subject to amendment by the General Assembly.
B. Terms Defined.
(1) "Administration" means the Water
				  Management Administration.
(2)
				  "Agricultural land management practices" means those methods and procedures
				  used in the cultivation of land in order to further crop and livestock
				  production, and conservation of related soil and water resources. Logging and
				  timber removal operations may not be considered a part of this
				  definition.
(3) "Approval
				  authority" means the soil conservation district, municipal corporation,
				  specified agency, Commission, or the Administration that is authorized by or
				  pursuant to Environment Article, §
											4-105, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland, to review and approve erosion and sediment control plans for the
				  given jurisdiction.
(4) "Clear"
				  means any activity which removes the vegetative cover while leaving the root
				  mat intact.
(5) "Commission" means
				  the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
(6) "Department" means the Department of the
				  Environment.
(7) "Erosion" means
				  the process by which the land surface is worn away by the action of wind,
				  water, ice, or gravity.
(8)
				  "Erosion and sediment control plan" means an erosion and sediment control
				  strategy or plan designed to minimize erosion and prevent off-site
				  sedimentation, in accordance with the requirements of the approval authority
				  and the handbook " 2011 Maryland Standards and Specifications for Soil Erosion
				  and Sediment Control," which is incorporated by reference in Regulation .11 of
				  this chapter.
(9) "Erosion and
				  Sediment Control Program" means any program administered by a State unit,
				  county, municipality, or the Commission under an erosion and sediment control
				  ordinance or regulations approved by the Administration, which provides for
				  erosion and sediment control plan review, permit issuance, site inspection, and
				  enforcement activity in accordance with the requirements of these
				  regulations.
(10) "Federal project"
				  means any project that requires an erosion and sediment control plan in
				  accordance with Regulation .05 of this chapter undertaken by a federal
				  unit.
(11) "Federal unit" means any
				  federal agency that intends to or does clear, grade, transport, or otherwise
				  disturb the land or soil surface in the course of its activities.
(12) "Grade" means to cause the disturbance
				  of the earth. This includes but is not limited to any excavating, filling,
				  stockpiling of earth materials, grubbing, or root mat or top soil
				  disturbance.
(13) "Grading unit"
				  means the maximum contiguous area allowed to be graded at a given
				  time.
(14) "Highly erodible soils"
				  means those soils with a slope greater than 15 percent or those soils with a
				  soil erodability factor, K, greater than 0.35 and with slopes greater than 5
				  percent.
(15) "Owner/developer"
				  means a person undertaking, or for whose benefit, activities covered by the
				  Sediment Control Subtitle, or regulations promulgated under it, are carried on.
				  General contractors or subcontractors, or both, without a proprietary interest
				  in a project are not included within this definition.
(16) "Person" includes the federal
				  government, the State, any county, municipal corporation, or other political
				  subdivision of the State, or any of their units, or an individual, receiver,
				  trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any
				  kind, or any partnership, firm, association, public or private corporation, or
				  any of their affiliates, or any other entity.
(17) "Pollution" means the contamination or
				  other alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any
				  waters of the State, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity,
				  or odor of the waters, or the discharge or deposit of any organic matter,
				  harmful organisms, liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substance into
				  any waters of the State that will render the waters harmful, detrimental, or
				  injurious to:
(a) Public health, safety or
				  welfare;
(b) Domestic, commercial,
				  industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate beneficial uses;
				  or
(c) Livestock, wild animals,
				  birds, fish, or other aquatic life.
(18) "Professional architect" means an
				  architect duly registered by the State to practice architecture in accordance
				  with the provisions of Business Occupations and Professions Article, Title 3,
				  Annotated Code of Maryland.
(19)
				  "Professional engineer" means an engineer duly registered by the State to
				  practice engineering in accordance with the provisions of Business Occupations
				  and Professions Article, Title 14, Annotated Code of Maryland.
(20) "Professional forester" means a forester
				  duly registered by the State to practice forestry in accordance with the
				  provisions of Business Occupations and Professions Article, Title 7, Annotated
				  Code of Maryland.
(21)
				  "Professional landscape architect" means a landscape architect duly registered
				  by the State to practice landscape architecture in accordance with the
				  provisions of Business Occupations and Professions Article, Title 9, Annotated
				  Code of Maryland.
(22)
				  "Professional land surveyor" means a land surveyor duly registered by the State
				  to practice land surveying in accordance with the provisions of Business
				  Occupations and Professions Article, Title 15, Annotated Code of
				  Maryland.
(23) "Responsible
				  personnel" means any foreman, superintendent, or project engineer who is in
				  charge of on-site clearing and grading operations or the implementation and
				  maintenance of an erosion and sediment control plan.
(24) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the
				  Environment or designee.
(25)
				  "Sediment" means soils or other surficial materials transported or deposited by
				  the action of wind, water, ice, gravity, or artificial means.
(26) "Sediment Control Subtitle" means
				  Environment Article, Title 4, Subtitle 1, Annotated Code of Maryland.
(27) "State project" means any project that
				  requires an erosion and sediment control plan in accordance with Regulation .05
				  of this chapter undertaken by a State unit.
(28) "State unit" means any State agency that
				  intends to or does clear, grade, transport, or otherwise disturb the land or
				  soil surface in the course of its activities.
(29) "Training program" means an
				  Administration approved educational program for training responsible personnel
				  to:
(a) Properly implement and maintain
				  erosion and sediment controls associated with grading; and
(b) Better understand the necessity of
				  minimizing the pollution of the waters of the State that may result from
				  grading.
(30) "Waters of
				  the State" includes:
(a) Both surface and
				  underground waters within the boundaries of the State subject to its
				  jurisdiction, including that portion of the Atlantic Ocean within the
				  boundaries of the State, the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and all ponds,
				  lakes, rivers, streams, storm drain systems, public ditches, tax ditches, and
				  public drainage systems within the State, other than those designated and used
				  to collect, convey, or dispose of sanitary sewage; and
(b) The flood plain of free-flowing waters
				  determined by the Department on the basis of the 100-year flood
				  frequency.