North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 15A - Environmental Quality › Chapter 02 - Environmental Management › Subchapter K - DAM SAFETY › Section .0100 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 02K .0104 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
As used in this Subchapter, the following terms have their
					 stated meaning:
(1) "Applicant" means
				  any person who has notified the department that he or she desires to construct,
				  repair, alter, or remove a dam and requests approval by the
				  department.
(2) "Appurtenance"
				  means an accessory or integral subordinate structure associated with a dam,
				  such as a spillway, conduit, walkway, valve, control gate, etc.
(3) "Articulation" means provisions for safe
				  movement at the joint or juncture of sections of conduit.
(4) "As-built plans" means drawings,
				  photographs, test data, and descriptions that clearly and accurately define the
				  dam and its appurtenances after all construction is completed.
(5) "Conduit" means a natural or artificial
				  channel or pipe through which water or other fluid is conveyed.
(6) "Critical circle" means the circle with
				  the lowest factor of safety against mass movement in a circular arc analysis of
				  slope stability.
(7) "Critical
				  failure wedge" means the mass or block having the lowest factor of safety
				  against mass movement in an analysis of slope stability along planar
				  surfaces.
(8) "Director" means the
				  Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources, North Carolina
				  Department of Natural Resources and Community Development.
(9) "Equipotential lines" means lines which
				  represent points of equal energy level or head in a flow net.
(10) "Factor of safety" means the ratio of
				  the forces or moments resisting mass movement to the forces or moments tending
				  to produce mass movement.
(11)
				  "Flow lines" means lines which represent the direction of flow in a flow
				  net.
(12) "Flow net" means a
				  graphical representation of flow lines and equipotential lines.
(13) "Hazard potential" means the probable
				  damage that would occur if the structure failed, in terms of loss of human life
				  and economic loss or environmental damage.
(14) "Maintenance plan" means written
				  instructions prepared by the engineer that prescribe the proper servicing and
				  repair of mechanical equipment, appurtenances, spillways, vegetative cover, and
				  other aspects related to the safety of the dam.
(15) "Owner" means the individual or
				  association of individuals owning the property on which the dam exists or is to
				  be constructed, and the persons financially responsible for the
				  construction.
(16) "Phreatic
				  surface" means the free-water surface of a zone of seepage; it is represented
				  by the uppermost flow line, or seepage line, in a flow net.
(17) "Qualified engineer" means a
				  professional engineer legally qualified to practice in North Carolina pursuant
				  to Chapter 89C of the General Statutes of North Carolina, and having
				  appropriate specialty expertise for the particular dam engineering problem with
				  which he is involved.
(18)
				  "Qualified geologist" means an earth scientist experienced in applied geology
				  with respect to the interaction of lithologies, soils, and geologic structures
				  with dams and impoundments, who can provide professional credentials such as
				  certification by the American Institute of Professional Geologists or
				  registration as a geologist in the United States.
(19) "Quality control" means that combination
				  of testing, observation, and monitoring provided during construction to confirm
				  that requirements stated or depicted in the plans and specifications are being
				  achieved.
(20) "Rapid drawdown"
				  means removal of liquid from a reservoir at a rate that is significantly faster
				  than the rate of drainage of the materials composing the portions of the
				  reservoir exposed by the fluid removal.
(21) "Seepage" means the movement of water in
				  a porous material and the water exiting at the visible surface of the
				  material.
(22) "Sliding base
				  analysis" means an analysis of the safety of a structure against lateral
				  movement along its foundation.
(23)
				  "Waste treatment and mine refuse dam" means a structure for impounding,
				  restraining, storing, or disposing of liquids, slurries, or materials capable
				  of liquification, produced from industrial, commercial, municipal,
				  agricultural, or mining activities.
(24) "Construction" means any action, other
				  than by natural causes, that creates a structure capable of impounding water or
				  other liquids, or which increases the impoundment capacity of an existing
				  structure. For the purposes of
				  15A NCAC
				  02K .0222, it shall also mean the reduction
				  of the height or impoundment capacity of a dam when the effect of such
				  reduction will be to exempt the dam from the North Carolina Dam Safety Law of
				  1967.
Authority
					 G.S.
					 143-215.25;
					 143-215.31;
Eff. June
					 15, 1980;
Amended Eff. July 1, 1988; November 1, 1984;
Temporary Amendment Eff. November 1, 1990 For a Period of 180 Days to Expire on
					 April 29, 1991;
ARRC Objection Lodged November 14,
					 1990;
ARRC Objection Removed December 20, 1990;
Amended
					 Eff. August 1, 2012 (see S.L. 2012-143, s.1.(f)); January 1, 1991;
Pursuant to
					 G.S.
					 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without
					 substantive public interest Eff. December 23,
					 2017.