Virginia Administrative Code › Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT › Agency 15 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY › Chapter 40 - SMALL RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS (WIND) PERMIT BY RULE › Part I - Definitions and Applicability › Section 9VAC15-40-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
					 shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
"Applicant" means the owner or operator who submits an
					 application to the department for a permit by rule pursuant to this
					 chapter.
"Coastal Avian Protection Zones" or "CAPZ" means the areas
					 designated on the map of "Coastal Avian Protection Zones" generated on the
					 department's Coastal GEMS geospatial data system (9VAC15-40-120 C 1).
"Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality,
					 its director, or the director's designee.
"DCR" means the Department of Conservation and
					 Recreation.
"DGIF" means the Department of Game and Inland
					 Fisheries.
"Disturbance zone" means the area within the site directly
					 impacted by construction and operation of the wind energy project, and within
					 100 feet of the boundary of the directly impacted area.
"Ecological core" means an area of nonfragmented forest,
					 marsh, dune, or beach of ecological importance that is at least 100 acres in
					 size and identified in DCR's Natural Landscape Assessment web-based application
					 (9VAC15-40-120 C 2).
"Historic resource" means any prehistoric or historic
					 district, site, building, structure, object, or cultural landscape that is
					 included or meets the criteria necessary for inclusion in the Virginia
					 Landmarks Register pursuant to the authorities of §
										10.1-2205 of the Code of
					 Virginia and in accordance with
					 17VAC5-30-40 through
					 17VAC5-30-70.
"Important Bird Areas" means the designation of discrete
					 sites by the National Audubon Society as having local, regional, continental,
					 or global importance for birds because they support significant numbers of one
					 or more high priority avian species (e.g., T&E, SGCN) during the breeding,
					 wintering, or migration seasons.
"Interconnection point" means the point or points where the
					 wind energy project connects to a project substation for transmission to the
					 electrical grid.
"Invasive plant species" means non-native plant species
					 that cause, or are likely to cause, economic or ecological harm or harm to
					 human health as established by Presidential Executive Order 13112 (64 FR 6183,
					 February 3, 1999) and contained on DCR's Invasive Alien Plant Species of
					 Virginia (9VAC15-40-120 B 3).
"Migratory corridors" means major travel routes used by
					 significant numbers of birds during biannual migrations between breeding and
					 wintering grounds.
"Migratory staging areas" means those sites along migratory
					 corridors where significant numbers of birds stop to feed and rest during
					 biannual migrations between breeding and wintering grounds that are essential
					 to successful migration.
"Natural heritage resource" means the habitat of rare,
					 threatened, or endangered plant and animal species, rare or state significant
					 natural communities or geologic sites, and similar features of scientific
					 interest benefiting the welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth.
"Nearshore waters" means all tidal waters within the
					 Commonwealth of Virginia and seaward of the mean low-water shoreline to three
					 nautical miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.
"Operator" means the person responsible for the overall
					 operation and management of a wind energy project.
"Other avian mitigation factors" means Important Bird
					 Areas, migratory corridors, migratory staging areas, and wintering areas within
					 the Coastal Avian Protection Zones.
"Owner" means the person who owns all or a portion of a
					 wind energy project.
"Permit by rule" means provisions of the regulations
					 stating that a project or activity is deemed to have a permit if it meets the
					 requirements of the provision.
"Person" means any individual, partnership, firm,
					 association, joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate,
					 commission, board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative, county,
					 city, town, or other political subdivision of the Commonwealth, any interstate
					 body, or any other legal entity.
"Phase of a project" means one continuous period of
					 construction, startup, and testing activity of the wind energy project. A phase
					 is deemed complete when 90 calendar days have elapsed since the last previous
					 wind turbine has been placed in service, except when a delay has been caused by
					 a significant force majeure event, in which case a phase is deemed complete
					 when 180 calendar days have elapsed since the last previous wind turbine has
					 been placed in service.
"Post-construction" means any time after the last turbine
					 on the wind energy project or phase of that project has been placed in
					 service.
"Pre-construction" means any time prior to commencing
					 land-clearing operations necessary for the installation of energy-generating
					 structures at the small wind energy project.
"Rated capacity" means the maximum capacity of a wind
					 energy project based on the sum total of each turbine's nameplate
					 capacity.
"SGCN" or "species of greatest conservation need" means any
					 vertebrate species so designated by DGIF as Tier 1 or Tier 2 in the Virginia
					 Wildlife Action Plan (9VAC15-40-120 B
					 6).
"Site" means the area containing a wind energy project that
					 is under common ownership or operating control. Electrical infrastructure and
					 other appurtenant structures up to the interconnection point shall be
					 considered to be within the site.
"Small renewable energy project" means
(i) an electrical generation facility with a rated capacity
					 not exceeding 150 megawatts that generates electricity only from sunlight or
					 wind;
(ii) an electrical generation facility with a rated
					 capacity not exceeding 100 megawatts that generates electricity only from
					 falling water, wave motion, tides, or geothermal power; or
(iii) an electrical generation facility with a rated
					 capacity not exceeding 20 megawatts that generates electricity only from
					 biomass, energy from waste, or municipal solid waste.
"Small wind energy project," "wind energy project," or
					 "project" means a small renewable energy project that (i) generates electricity
					 from wind, consisting of one or more wind turbines and other accessory
					 structures and buildings, including substations, post-construction
					 meteorological towers, electrical infrastructure, and other appurtenant
					 structures and facilities within the boundaries of the site; and (ii) is
					 designed for, or capable of, operation at a rated capacity equal to or less
					 than 150 megawatts. Two or more wind energy projects otherwise spatially
					 separated but under common ownership or operational control, which are
					 connected to the electrical grid under a single interconnection agreement,
					 shall be considered a single wind energy project. Nothing in this definition
					 shall imply that a permit by rule is required for the construction of
					 meteorological towers to determine the appropriateness of a site for the
					 development of a wind energy project.
"State-owned submerged lands" means lands that lie seaward
					 of the mean low-water mark in tidal waters or that have an elevation below the
					 ordinary mean high-water elevation in nontidal areas that are considered
					 property of the Commonwealth pursuant to §
										28.2-1200 of the Code of
					 Virginia.
"T&E," "state threatened or endangered species," or
					 "state-listed species" means any wildlife species designated as a Virginia
					 endangered or threatened species by DGIF pursuant to §§
										29.1-563 through
					 29.1-570 of the Code of Virginia
					 and 4VAC15-20-130.
"VLR" means the Virginia Landmarks Register (9VAC15-40-120 B 1).
"VLR-eligible" means those historic resources that meet the
					 criteria necessary for inclusion on the VLR pursuant to
					 17VAC5-30-40 through
					 17VAC5-30-70 but are not listed in
					 VLR.
"VLR-listed" means those historic resources that have been
					 listed in the VLR in accordance with the criteria of
					 17VAC5-30-40 through
					 17VAC5-30-70.
"VMRC" means the Virginia Marine Resources
					 Commission.
"Wildlife" means wild animals; except, however, that
					 T&E insect species shall only be addressed as part of natural heritage
					 resources and shall not be considered T&E wildlife.
"Wintering areas" means those sites where a significant
					 portion of the rangewide population of one or more avian species overwinter
					 annually.
Statutory Authority: §
												10.1-1197.6 of the Code of
						Virginia.