Virginia Administrative Code › Title 24 - TRANSPORTATION AND MOTOR VEHICLES › Agency 30 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 200 - VEGETATION CONTROL REGULATIONS ON STATE RIGHTS-OF-WAY › Section 24VAC30-200-30 - Special provisions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A.
				The permittee shall attach two each 8" x 10" color glossy photographs (a
				closeup and a distant view) with the permit application showing the vegetation
				to be controlled, the highway, and the sign or business.
The permit for selective pruning or tree cutting, or both,
				  will be inspected by the department or local government official and approval
				  or denial given.
A permit may be denied any applicant, and all permits issued
				  by the board or local government official may be revoked whenever, in the
				  opinion of the inspector, the safety, use, or maintenance of the highway so
				  requires or the integrity of the permit system so dictates.
If, during or before work begins, it is deemed necessary by
				  the department or local government official to assign inspectors to the work,
				  the permittee shall pay the department or local government issuing the permit
				  an additional inspection fee in an amount that will cover the salary, expense
				  and mileage allowance, equipment rental, etc., of the inspector or inspectors
				  assigned by the department or local government for handling work covered by
				  this chapter. Said inspection fee to be paid promptly each month on bills
				  rendered by the department or local government.
The absence of a state or local government inspector does
				  not in any way relieve the permittee of his responsibility to perform the work
				  in accordance with provisions of § 33.2-1221 of the Code of Virginia, this
				  chapter, or permit.
B. The
				inspector or local government official shall be notified at least seven days in
				advance of the date any work is to be performed and when completed, in order
				than an inspection may be made.
C.
				No trees, shrubs, vines, or plant material, except as covered by this chapter,
				shall be cut or disturbed. Stubs and dead wood in trees covered by this chapter
				must be removed, whether occasioned by present requirements or not.
Pruning of trees shall only be performed by qualified tree
				  workers who, through related training or experience or both, are familiar with
				  the techniques and hazards of arboricultural work including trimming,
				  maintaining, repairing or removing trees, and the equipment used in such
				  operations. The supervisor, a certified arborist, and tree workers shall be
				  approved by the inspector or local government official, prior to issuance of a
				  permit to perform work under this chapter. The certified arborist supervising
				  the work shall remain on-site whenever work is underway.
All brush, wood, etc., shall be chipped and beneficially
				  used or removed immediately and disposed of in accordance with the Solid Waste
				  Management Regulations (9VAC20-81) of the Virginia Waste Management
				  Board.
D. All access and
				work shall be accomplished from the abutting property side of rights-of-way on
				interstate and other limited access highways, except where a local
				beautification project has allowed landscape plant material to be planted
				within a median area. Plant material in median areas may be relocated to other
				areas within the local beautification project limits in accordance with an
				approved landscape plan. All work performed on VDOT rights-of-way shall comply
				with the Virginia Work Area Protection Manual (part of
				24VAC30-310-10 et seq.). Any
				damage caused to property owned by the Commonwealth shall be repaired or
				replaced in kind when work is complete.
All work done under this chapter on the right-of-way shall
				  in all respects be subject to department or local government official
				  directions and shall be completed to the satisfaction of the inspector or local
				  government official, or his representative.
E. The department or local government
				official reserves the right to stop the work at any time the terms of this
				chapter are not satisfactorily complied with, and the department or local
				government official may, at its discretion, complete any of the work covered in
				the permit at the expense of the permittee. If it is in the best interest of
				traffic safety, the department or local government official may complete or
				have completed at the expense of the permittee any of the work that must be
				done to properly protect the traveling public.
F. The permittee shall immediately have
				corrected any condition that may arise as a result of this work that the
				department or local government official deems hazardous to the traveling public
				or state maintenance forces even though such conditions may not be specifically
				covered in this chapter or in the Land Use Permit Regulations
				(24VAC30-151).
G. Permittees and
				their agents to whom permits are issued shall at all times indemnify and save
				harmless the Commonwealth Transportation Board, local city or town councils,
				local boards of supervisors, and the Commonwealth of Virginia and its
				employees, agents, and officers from responsibility, damage, or liability
				arising from the exercise of the privilege granted in such permit except if
				political subdivisions are the applicants. Then special arrangements will be
				made whereby the agent of the political subdivision performing the work will
				indemnify and save harmless the board and others. All work shall be performed
				by the permittee at his expense. All permit and inspection fees shall be paid
				to the department or local government official by the permittee.
H. The permittee agrees that if the work
				authorized by this chapter including any work necessary to restore shoulders,
				ditches, and drainage structures to their original condition, is not completed
				by the permittee to the satisfaction of the department or local government
				official, the department or local government official will do whatever is
				required to restore the area within the right-of-way to department standards,
				and the permittee will pay to the Commonwealth or local government official the
				actual cost of completing the work. When the permittee is a political
				subdivision, this requirement will be satisfied by a sum certain that will
				appear in the permit.
I. Road and
				street connections and private and commercial entrances are to be kept in a
				satisfactory condition. Entrances shall not be blocked. Ample provisions must
				be made for safe ingress and egress to adjacent property at all times. Where
				entrances are disturbed, they shall be restored to the satisfaction of the
				department or local government official.
J. Road drainage shall not be blocked. The
				pavement, shoulders, ditches, roadside and drainage facilities, shall be kept
				in an operable condition satisfactory to the department or local government
				official. Necessary precautions shall be taken by the permittee to ensure
				against siltation of adjacent properties, streams, etc., in accordance with the
				Erosion and Sediment Control Law (§ 62.1-44.15:51 et seq. of the Code of
				Virginia) and Erosion and Sediment Control Regulations (9VAC25-840).
K. Any conflicts with existing utility
				facilities shall be resolved between the permittee and the utility owners
				involved. The permittee shall notify and receive clearance from the utility
				owner or owners and comply with the Overhead High Voltage Line Safety Act
				(§ 59.1-406 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) before proceeding with work
				in the vicinity of utilities.
L.
				Where landscape is disturbed on state rights-of-way or local street and roads
				not under the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Highways in accordance with
				§ 33.2-1202 of the Code of Virginia, it shall be replaced with a minimum
				of two inches of topsoil and reseeded according to department
				specifications.
Statutory Authority: § 33.2-210 of the Code of
					 Virginia.