§ 26-39. Minimum requirements.

(a)

General provisions. Excessive soil erosion and resulting sedimentation can take place during land disturbing activities if requirements of the article and the NPDES general permit are not met. Therefore, plans for those land disturbing activities which are not exempted by this article shall contain provisions for application of soil erosion, sedimentation, and pollution control measures and practices. The provisions shall be incorporated into the erosion, sedimentation, and pollution control plans. Soil erosion, sedimentation, and pollution control measures and practices shall conform to the minimum requirements of subsection (b) and (c) of this section. The application of measures and practices shall apply to all features of the site, including street and utility installations, drainage facilities and other temporary and permanent improvements. Measures shall be installed to prevent or control erosion, sedimentation and pollution during all stages of any land disturbing activity in accordance with requirements of this article and the NPDES general permit.

(b)

Minimum requirements/BMPs.

(1)

Best management practices as set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be required for all land disturbing activities. Proper design, installation, and maintenance of BMPs shall constitute a complete defense to any action by the director or to any other allegation of noncompliance with subsection (b)(2) of this section or any substantially similar terms contained in a permit for the discharge of stormwater issued pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-30(f) of the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act". As used in this subsection, the terms "proper design" and "properly designed" mean designed in accordance with the hydraulic design specifications contained in the "Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia" specified in O.C.G.A. § 12-7-6(b).

(2)

A discharge of stormwater runoff from disturbed areas where BMPs have not been properly designed, installed, and maintained shall constitute a separate violation of any land disturbing permit issued by Fulton County or of any state general permit issued by the division pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-30(f), the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act" for each day on which such discharge results in the turbidity of receiving waters being increased by more than 25 nephelometric turbidity units for waters supporting warm water fisheries or by more than ten nephelometric turbidity units for waters classified as trout waters. The turbidity of the receiving waters shall be measured in accordance with guidelines issued by the director, EPD. This paragraph shall not apply to any land disturbance associated with the construction of single-family homes which are not part of a larger common plan of development or sale unless the planned disturbance for such construction is equal to or greater than five acres.

(3)

Failure to properly design, install, or maintain BMPs shall constitute a violation of any land disturbance permit issued by a local issuing authority or of any state general permit issued by the division pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-30(f), The "Georgia Water Quality Control Act" for each day on which such failure occurs. When such non-compliance is identified by the director, official notice will be posted on that property.

(4)

The director may require, in accordance with regulations adopted by the board, reasonable and prudent monitoring of the turbidity level of receiving waters into which discharges from land disturbing activities occur.

(5)

The LIA may set more stringent buffer requirements than stated in subsections (c)(15) and (16) in light of O.C.G.A. § 12-7-6(c).

(c)

The rules and regulations, ordinances, or resolutions adopted pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-7-1 et seq. for the purpose of governing land-disturbing activities shall require, as a minimum, protections at least as stringent as the state general permit; and BMPs, including sound conservation and engineering practices to prevent and/or minimize erosion and resultant sedimentation, which are consistent with, and no less stringent than, those practices contained in the "Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia," published by the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission as of January 1 of the year in which the land disturbing activity was permitted, as well as the following:

(1)

Stripping of vegetation, regrading and other development activities shall be conducted in a manner so as to minimize erosion.

(2)

Cut-fill operations must be kept to a minimum.

(3)

Development plans must conform to topography and soil type so as to create the lowest practicable erosion potential.

(4)

When ever feasible, natural vegetation shall be retained, protected and supplemented.

(5)

The disturbed area and the duration of exposure to erosive elements shall be kept to practical minimum;

(6)

Disturbed soil shall be stabilized as quick as practicable;

(7)

Temporary vegetation or mulching shall be employed to protect exposed critical areas during development;

(8)

Permanent vegetation and structural erosion control measures shall be installed as soon as practicable;

(9)

To the extent necessary, sediment in runoff water must be trapped by the use of debris basins, sediment basins, silt traps, or similar BMPs as outlined in the erosion and sediment control manual until the disturbed area is stabilized. As used in this paragraph, a disturbed area is stabilized when it is brought to a condition of continuous compliance with the requirements of this section, and O.C.G.A. § 12-7-1 et seq.

(10)

Adequate provisions must be provided to minimize damage from surface water to the cut face of excavations or the sloping of fills.

(11)

Cuts and fills may not endanger adjoining property;

a.

All slopes shall be stabilized immediately and shall remain so for a period of no less than one year from the issuance of the project's final certificate of occupancy and/or the recording of a final plat.

b.

All slopes greater than or equal to 3H:1V must be permanently stabilized with structural or vegetative BMPs.

c.

A plan must be submitted to demonstrate that all slopes associated with fill/cut sections have been adequately designed to be stabilized structurally (such as retaining walls) or vegetatively (erosion mat/blanket, tree bark mulch, etc). Such analysis, reports, or design shall be prepared and approved by a design professional.

(12)

Fills may not encroach upon natural watercourses or constructed channels in a manner so as to adversely affect other property owners;

(13)

Grading equipment must cross flowing streams by means of temporary or permanent bridges or culverts except when such methods are not feasible, provided, in any case, those such crossings are kept to a minimum. Migrated soil materials or soil materials displaced by mechanical means from land disturbing sites to adjacent water courses, such as lakes, ponds, streams, and creeks etc. must be remediated. The remedial work shall be conducted as per a remedial plan approved by Fulton County.

(14)

Land-disturbing activity plans for erosion, sedimentation and pollution control shall include provisions for treatment or control of any source of sediments and adequate sedimentation control facilities to retain sediments on-site or preclude sedimentation of adjacent waters beyond the levels specified in section 26-39(b)(2).

(15)

Except as provided in paragraph (16) of this section, there is established a 25-foot buffer along the banks of all state waters, as measured horizontally from the point where vegetation has been wrested by normal stream flow or wave action, except where the director, EPD determines to allow a variance that is at least as protective of natural resources and the environment, where otherwise allowed by the director, EPD pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-2-8, or where a drainage structure or a roadway drainage structure must be constructed, provided that adequate erosion control measures are incorporated in the project plans and specifications are implemented or along any ephemeral stream. As used in this provision, the term 'ephemeral stream' means a stream: that under normal circumstances has water flowing only during and for a short duration after precipitation events; that has the channel located above the ground-water table year round; for which runoff from precipitation is the primary source of water flow, Unless exempted as along an ephemeral stream, the buffers of at least 25 feet established pursuant to part 6 of Article 5, Chapter 5 of Title 12, the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act shall remain in force unless a variance is granted by the director, EPD as provided in this subsection. The following requirements shall apply to any such buffer:

a.

No land disturbance activities shall be conducted within a buffer and a buffer shall remain in its natural, undisturbed state of vegetation until all land-disturbing activities on the construction site are completed, except as otherwise provided by this paragraph.

Once the final stabilization of the site is achieved, a buffer may be thinned or trimmed of vegetation as long as a protective vegetative cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and a natural canopy is left in sufficient quantity to keep shade on the stream bed; provided, however, that any person constructing a single-family residence, when such residence is constructed by or under contract with the owner for his or her own occupancy, may thin or trim vegetation in a buffer at any time as long as protective vegetative cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and a natural canopy is left in sufficient quantity to keep shade on the stream bed; and

b.

The buffer shall not apply to the following land-disturbing activities, provided that they occur at an angle, as measured from the point of crossing, within 25 degrees of perpendicular to the stream; cause a width of disturbance of not more than 50 feet within the buffer; and adequate erosion control measures are incorporated into the project plans and specifications and are implemented: (i) stream crossings for water lines; or (ii) stream crossings for sewer lines; and

(16)

There is established a 50-foot buffer as measured horizontally from the point where vegetation has been wrested by normal stream flow or wave action, along the banks of any state waters classified as "trout streams" pursuant to Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 12, the "Georgia Water Quality Control Act", except where a roadway drainage structure must be constructed; provided, however, that small springs and steams classified as trout streams which discharge an average annual flow of 25 gallons per minute or less shall have a 25-foot buffer or they may be piped, at the discretion of the landowner, pursuant to the terms of a rule providing for a general variance promulgated by the board, so long as any such pipe stops short of the downstream landowner's property and the landowner complies with the buffer requirement for any adjacent trout streams. The director, EPD may grant a variance from such buffer to allow land-disturbing activity, provided that adequate erosion control measures are incorporated in the project plans and specifications and are implemented. The following requirements shall apply to such buffer:

a.

No land-disturbance activities shall be conducted within a buffer and a buffer shall remain in its natural, undisturbed state of vegetation until all land-disturbing activities on the construction site are completed.

Once the final stabilization of the site is achieved, a buffer may be thinned or trimmed of vegetation as long as a protective vegetative cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and a natural canopy is left in sufficient quantity to keep shade on the stream bed; provided, however, that any person constructing a single-family residence, when such residence is constructed by or under contract with the owner for his or her own occupancy, may thin or trim vegetation in a buffer at any time as long as protective vegetation cover remains to protect water quality and aquatic habitat and natural canopy is left in sufficient quality to keep shade on the stream bed; and

b.

The buffer shall not apply to the following land-disturbing activities, provided that they occur at an angle, as measured from the point of crossing, within 25 degrees of perpendicular to the stream; cause a width of disturbance of not more than 50 feet within the buffer; and adequate erosion control measures are incorporated into the project plans and specifications and are implemented: (i) stream crossings for water lines; or (ii) stream crossings for sewer lines.

c.

Nothing contained in this chapter shall prevent any local issuing authority from adopting rules and regulations, ordinances, or resolutions which contain stream buffer requirements that exceed the minimum requirements in subsections 26-39(b) and (c).

d.

The fact that land-disturbing activity for which a permit has been issued results in injury to the property of another shall neither constitute proof of nor create a presumption of a violation of the standards provided for in this article or terms of the permit.

e.

Additional requirements. Where the director finds, through inspection, that property owners have been adversely affected due to violations clearly identified by the director, or that the approved current plans do not adequately address the features of the site, the director can require additional BMPs, drawings, and revisions to comply with the minimum requirements as outlined in section 26-39.

(Res. No. 05-0690, Exh. A, 6-15-05; Ord. No. 10-0576, 6-2-10)