O.C.G.A. § 12-7-3 (2019)
Definitions
As used in this chapter, the term: (1) ‘‘Board’’ means the Board of Natural Resources. (2) ‘‘Buffer’’ means the area of land immediately adjacent to the banks of state waters in its natural state of vegetation, which facilitates the protection of water quality and aquatic habitat. (2.1) ‘‘Coastal marshlands’’ shall have the same meaning as in Code Section 12-5-282.
CONSERVATION & NATURAL RES.
(3) ‘‘Commission’’ means the State Soil and Water Conservation Commission. (4) ‘‘Director’’ means the director of the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources. (5) ‘‘District’’ means any one of the soil and water conservation districts of this state. (6) ‘‘Division’’ means the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources. (7) ‘‘Drainage structure’’ means a device composed of a virtually nonerodible material such as concrete, steel, plastic, or other such material that conveys water from one place to another by intercepting the flow and carrying it to a release point for storm-water management, drainage control, or flood control purposes. (8) ‘‘Erosion and sediment control plan’’ or ‘‘plan’’ means a plan for the control of soil erosion and sediment resulting from a land-disturbing activity. (9) ‘‘Land-disturbing activity’’ means any activity which may result in soil erosion from water or wind and the movement of sediments into state water or onto lands within the state, including, but not limited to, clearing, dredging, grading, excavating, transporting, and filling of land but not including agricultural practices as described in paragraph (5) of Code Section 12-7-17. (9.1) ‘‘Larger common plan of development or sale’’ means a contiguous area where multiple separate and distinct construction activities are occurring under one plan of development or sale. For purposes of this paragraph, ‘‘plan’’ means an announcement; piece of documentation such as a sign, public notice or hearing, sales pitch, advertisement, drawing, permit application, zoning request, or computer design; or physical demarcation such as boundary signs, lot stakes, or surveyor markings, indicating that construction activities may occur on a specific plot. (10) ‘‘Local issuing authority’’ means the governing authority of any county or municipality which is certified pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 12-7-8. Such term shall also include any water authority or water and sewer authority which has been authorized by local law to be responsible for storm-water management and to implement and enforce all related ordinances and regulations and, pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement with each governing authority of an applicable county or municipality, operates a storm-water utility and maintains the storm-water management system and soil erosion and sedimentation control permitting, inspection, and enforcement of such county or municipality.
(10.1) ‘‘Maintenance’’ means actions necessary or appropriate for retaining or restoring a currently serviceable improvement to the specified operable condition to achieve its maximum useful life. Maintenance includes emergency reconstruction of recently damaged parts of a currently serviceable structure so long as it occurs within a reasonable period of time after damage occurs. Maintenance does not include any modification that changes the character, scope, or size of the original design. (10.2) ‘‘Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia’’ or ‘‘manual’’ means the published guidance of the commission governing the design and practices to be utilized in the protection of this state’s natural resources from erosion and sedimentation which shall be based foremost upon sound engineering principles and repeatable bench and field testing of structural and vegetative best management practices and which shall have the annual approval of the Erosion and Sediment Control Overview Council established pursuant to Code Section 12-7-7.1. (10.3) ‘‘Operator’’ means the party or parties that have: (A) Operational control of construction project plans and specifications, including the ability to make modifications to those plans and specifications; or (B) Day-to-day operational control of those activities that are necessary to ensure compliance with a storm-water pollution prevention plan for the site or other permit conditions, such as a person authorized to direct workers at a site to carry out activities required by the storm-water pollution prevention plan or to comply with other permit conditions. (11) ‘‘Person’’ means any individual, partnership, firm, association, joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission, board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative, state agency, municipality or other political subdivision of this state, any interstate body, or any other legal entity. (12) ‘‘Qualified personnel’’ means any person who meets or exceeds the education and training requirements of Code Section 12-7-19. (13) ‘‘Roadway drainage structure’’ means a device, such as a bridge, culvert, or ditch, composed of a virtually nonerodible material such as concrete, steel, plastic, or other such material that conveys water under a roadway by intercepting the flow on one side of a traveled way consisting of one or more defined lanes, with or without shoulder areas, and carrying water to a release point on the other side.
CONSERVATION & NATURAL RES.
(13.1) ‘‘Serviceable’’ means usable in its current state or with minor maintenance but not so degraded as to essentially require reconstruction. (14) ‘‘Soil and water conservation district approved plan’’ means an erosion and sediment control plan approved in writing by a soil and water conservation district. (15) ‘‘State general permit’’ means the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System general permit or permits for storm-water runoff from construction activities as is now in effect or as may be amended or reissued in the future pursuant to the state’s authority to implement the same through federal delegation under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251, et seq., and subsection (f ) of Code Section 12-5-30. (16) ‘‘State waters’’ includes any and all rivers, streams, creeks, branches, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, drainage systems, springs, wells, and other bodies of surface or subsurface water, natural or artificial, lying within or forming a part of the boundaries of the state, which are not entirely confined and retained completely upon the property of a single individual, partnership, or corporation.
History
Ga. L. 1975, p. 994, § 3; Ga. L. 1980, p. 942, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 12; Ga. L. 1988, p. 269, § 24; Ga. L. 1989, p. 1295, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1650, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1430, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 224, § 5; Ga. L. 2015, p. 35, § 3/HB 397; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1051, § 1/SB 101; Ga. L. 2020, p. 488, § 1/SB 445; Ga. L. 2021, p. 922, § 12/HB 497. The 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, added the second sentence in paragraph (10). The 2021 amendment, effective May 10, 2021, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted ‘‘Such term’’ for ‘‘Said term’’ at the beginning of the second sentence of paragraph (10).
Annotations
Code Commission notes. - Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1992, in paragraph (9) (now paragraph 11)), a comma was inserted following ‘‘firm’’. Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1996, ‘‘State’’ was substituted for ‘‘state’’ in paragraph (2) (now paragraph (3)). Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in
2015, paragraphs (10.1) and (10.2), as added and redesignated by Ga. L. 2015, p. 35, § 3/HB 397, were redesignated as paragraphs (10.2) and (10.3), respectively. Editor’s notes. - Ga. L. 2015, p. 1051, § 4/SB 101, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: ‘‘This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval for purposes of promulgating rules and regulations and shall become effective on December 31, 2015, for all other purposes.’’ This Act was signed by the Governor on May 6, 2015. Law reviews. - For survey article on environment, natural resources, and land use, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 145 (1982). For article, ‘‘Georgia Wetlands: Values, Trends, and Legal Status,’’ see 41 Mercer L. Rev. 791 (1990). For survey article on real property law, see 67 Mercer L. Rev. 193 (2015). For comment, ‘‘ ‘Wrest’ in Peace: The Effect of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s ‘Wrested Vegetation Rule’ on Coastal Salt Marshes,’’ see 32 Georgia St. U.L. Rev. 953 (2016).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Organization lacked standing to appeal consent order. - Trial court erred by concluding that an organization had standing to appeal a consent order between a property owner and the Director of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) with regard to soil erosion as it lacked standing to appeal based upon its
inability to demonstrate redressability as it failed to identify a procedural requirement the EPD violated, and the consent order did not fall within the categories of orders that required provision of notice and opportunity for comment. Ctr. for a Sustainable Coast, Inc. v. Turner, 324 Ga. App. 762, 751 S.E.2d 555 (2013).