Virginia Administrative Code › Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT › Agency 25 - STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD › Chapter 875 - VIRGINIA EROSION AND STORMWATER MANAGEMENT REGULATION › Part II - Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program › Article 2 - Land-Disturbing Activities › Section 9VAC25-875-90 - Activities not required to comply with the VESMA

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A.
					 Notwithstanding any other provisions of the VESMA, the following activities are
					 not required to comply with the requirements of the VESMA unless otherwise
					 required by federal law:
1. Minor
					 land-disturbing activities, including home gardens and individual home
					 landscaping, repairs, and maintenance work;
2. Installation, maintenance, or repair of
					 any individual service connection;
3. Installation, maintenance, or repair of
					 any underground utility line when such activity occurs on an existing hard
					 surfaced road, street, or sidewalk, provided the land-disturbing activity is
					 confined to the area of the road, street, or sidewalk that is hard
					 surfaced;
4. Installation,
					 maintenance, or repair of any septic tank line or drainage field unless
					 included in an overall plan for land-disturbing activity relating to
					 construction of the building to be served by the septic tank system;
5. Permitted surface or deep mining
					 operations and projects, or oil and gas operations and projects conducted
					 pursuant to Title 45.2 of the Code of Virginia;
6. Clearing of lands specifically for bona
					 fide agricultural purposes; the management, tilling, planting, or harvesting of
					 agricultural, horticultural, or forest crops; livestock feedlot operations;
					 agricultural engineering operations, including construction of terraces,
					 terrace outlets, check dams, desilting basins, dikes, ponds, ditches, strip
					 cropping, lister furrowing, contour cultivating, contour furrowing, land
					 drainage, and land irrigation; or as additionally set forth by the board in
					 regulations. However, this exception shall not apply to harvesting of forest
					 crops unless the area on which harvesting occurs is reforested artificially or
					 naturally in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 11 (§
												10.1-1100 et seq.) of Title 10.1
					 of the Code of Virginia or is converted to bona fide agricultural or improved
					 pasture use as described in subsection B of §
												10.1-1163 of the Code of
					 Virginia;
7. Installation of fence
					 and sign posts or telephone and electric poles and other kinds of posts or
					 poles;
8. Shoreline erosion control
					 projects on tidal waters when all of the land-disturbing activities are within
					 the regulatory authority of and approved by local wetlands boards, the Virginia
					 Marine Resources Commission, or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; however, any
					 associated land that is disturbed outside of this exempted area shall remain
					 subject to the VESMA and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto;
9. Repair or rebuilding of the tracks,
					 rights-of-way, bridges, communication facilities, and other related structures
					 and facilities of a railroad company;
10. Land-disturbing activities in response to
					 a public emergency where the related work requires immediate authorization to
					 avoid imminent endangerment to human health or the environment. In such
					 situations, the VESMP or VSMP authority shall be advised of the disturbance
					 within seven days of commencing the land-disturbing activity, and compliance
					 with the administrative requirements of
					 9VAC25-875-530 is required within
					 30 days of commencing the land-disturbing activity; and
11. Discharges to a sanitary sewer or a
					 combined sewer system that are not from a land-disturbing activity.