Statutory Authority: 7 Delaware Code, Chapter 40 (7 Del.C. Ch.40)
7 DE Admin. Code 5101
Pursuant to 29 Del.C. §10119
Pursuant to 29 Del.C. §10119, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control adopts as an emergency regulation the previously-adopted 2014 Delaware Sediment & Stormwater Regulations, (7 DE Admin. Code 5101) and further adopts the April 2016 Technical Document, without prior notice or public hearing, in the interest of public health, safety and welfare, consistent with the authority of 7 Del.C. Ch. 40, Erosion and Sedimentation Control. It should be noted that the emergency regulations are intended as interim measures, necessary to avoid harm to the public health, safety, and welfare, and to facilitate the continued process of plan review and approval, pending the formal adoption of regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, within the 120-day period (renewable for an additional sixty days) allotted to emergency regulations.
A ruling by the Delaware Superior Court in Baker, et al. v. DNREC, et al. (C. A. No. S13C-08-026 THG) on October 7, 2015 invalidated the 2013 and 2014 version of the Delaware Sediment & Stormwater Regulations on procedural grounds. The Department appealed this ruling to the Delaware Supreme Court, which on Friday, April 15, 2016 affirmed the judgement of the Superior Court. Circumstances dictate that the Department take action immediately to resolve the regulatory vacuum left by these decisions, pending formal adoption of amended regulations.
The Superior Court decision, adopted by the Supreme Court, is silent as to what version of the regulations should be in place. The Superior Court Order as to the 2013/2014 regulations does not automatically revive any previous version of the regulations. Even if it did revive the previous regulations, the Court's prohibition on the use of the Technical Document in the exercise of regulatory authority effectively bars use of prior regulations, which rely on the same interplay with the Technical Document ruled invalid by the Court, and cannot stand alone. In order to proceed with regulatory actions while respecting the Court Order, the Department must issue an emergency regulation, pending further review, in order to have a valid set of regulations in place to implement the Delaware Sediment & Stormwater Law pursuant to 7 Del.C., Ch. 40, Erosion and Sedimentation Control. Delaware is required by federal law to have a valid erosion and sedimentation program in place for all construction activities, and Delaware's erosion and sedimentation program must have regulations in place to be valid - 7 Del.C. Ch. 40, Erosion and Sedimentation Control.
This Emergency Order shall take effect at 12:01 AM on April 16, 2016 and shall apply to all activities subject to these regulations as of April 15, 2016, and shall remain in effect for 120 days; however, at the expiration of 120 days, the Department may choose to renew this Emergency Order once for a period not exceeding 60 days, consistent with 29 Del.C. §10119(3), to allow for meaningful public comment and Department response to such comment.
Consistent with the requirements of 29 Del.C. §10119(4) the Department will receive, consider and respond to petitions by any interested person for the reconsideration or revision of this Order. Petitions should be presented to the Division of Watershed Stewardship, 89 Kings Highway, Dover, Delaware, 19901.
It is hereby ordered, the 15th day of April 2016 that the above referenced 2014 Delaware Sediment & Stormwater Regulations with the April 2016 Technical Document, are adopted pursuant to 29 Del.C. §10119 and supported by the evidence contained herein. A copy of the 2014 Delaware Sediment & Stormwater Regulations and the April 2016 Technical Document can be viewed at the following link: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/swc/Pages/SedimentStormwater.aspx
1.3.1.3 7 Del.C. Ch. 60, relating to the development, utilization, and control of the land, water, underwater and air resources of the State, and;
1.3.1.4 Regulations Governing the Control of Water Pollution, Section 9.1.02, known as Special Conditions for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities.
1.4.4 Commercial forest harvesting operations that meet the requirements of the Department of Agriculture under 3 Del.C. Ch. 10, Subchapter VI.
1.5.1 The Department may grant a variance from any requirement of these regulations in accordance with the provisions of 7 Del.C. §6011.
1.5.2 The Department may grant a temporary emergency variance from any requirement of these regulations in accordance with the provisions of 7 Del.C. §6012.
1.7.2 Offset requirements shall be subject to Departmental review and approval as well as to the public notice requirements of 7 Del.C. §6004.
1.8 These regulations are adopted pursuant to authority conferred by and in accordance with 7 Del.C. Ch. 40 and 7 Del.C. Ch. 60.
1.12 The conduct of all hearings conducted pursuant to these regulations shall be in accordance with the relevant provisions of 7 Del.C. Ch. 60.
1.13 The Department is responsible for the implementation and supervision of the sediment and stormwater program which is established by 7 Del.C. Ch. 40. The program shall be administered pursuant to these regulations. The Department may also develop and maintain a Technical Document to serve as a guide for the regulated community and Delegated Agencies in complying with Chapter 40 and these regulations.
“Adequate conveyance” means any system having sufficient capacity to transport the runoff generated during the Resource Protection Event, Conveyance Event, and Flooding Event; functions and discharges in a non-erosive manner; and does not adversely impact any offsite properties, conveyance system, stormwater facility, or State Waters.
“Adverse impact” means a negative impact resulting from a construction or development activity. The negative impact may include, but is not limited to, increased risk of flooding; degradation of water quality; increased sedimentation; reduced groundwater recharge; negative impacts on aquatic habitat; or threatened public health and safety.
“Agricultural land management practices” means those methods and procedures generally accepted by the Conservation Districts and used in the cultivation of land in order to further crop and livestock production and conservation of related soil and water resources.
“Agricultural structure” means a structure on a farm used solely for agricultural purposes in which the use is exclusively in connection with the production, harvesting, storage, drying, or raising of agricultural commodities, including the raising of livestock. Structures used for human habitation, public use, or a place of employment where agricultural products are processed, treated, or packaged are not considered agriculture structures for the purposes of these regulations.
“Applicant” means a person who has requested approval of a Sediment and Stormwater Management Plan through submittal of an application in accordance with these regulations or who has requested permission to conduct any activity subject to these regulations.
“Best Available Technology (BAT)” means a level of technology based on the very best (state of the art) sediment and stormwater control and treatment measures that have been developed or are capable of being developed and that are economically achievable.
“Best Management Practices (BMPs)” means schedules of activities, prohibition of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices or measures to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants. BMPs include the following, among other practices and measures: structural and non-structural controls; treatment requirements; operating procedures and practices to control site runoff.
“Brownfield” means any vacant, abandoned or underutilized real property the development or redevelopment of which may be hindered by the reasonably held belief that the real property may be environmentally contaminated.
“Certified Construction Reviewer” or “CCR” means those individuals, having passed a Departmental sponsored or approved training course and holding current certification, which provide on-site construction review for sediment control and stormwater management in accordance with these regulations.
“Conservation plan” means a customized document that outlines the use and best management practices of the natural resources on a parcel of land.
“Conveyance Event” means the runoff event produced by a storm having an annual probability of occurrence of 10%.
“Conveyance Event Volume (Cv)” means the volume of runoff generated by the Conveyance Event that is not otherwise reduced for the Resource Protection Event.
“Dedication” means transferring ownership of a stormwater management system to a delegated agency, public utility, municipality, stormwater utility, or private entity, along with all associated easements, escrow funds, and maintenance responsibilities.
“Delegated Agency” means the Conservation District, county, municipality, or State agency that has accepted responsibility in a jurisdiction for implementation of one or more elements of the Sediment and Stormwater Program within that jurisdiction.
“Delegation” means the acceptance of responsibility by a Conservation District, county, municipality, or State agency for the implementation of the Sediment and Stormwater Program.
“Designated Watershed or Subwatershed” means a watershed or subwatershed proposed by a conservation district, county, municipality, or State agency and approved by the Department. The Department may establish additional requirements due to existing water quantity or water quality problems. These requirements shall be implemented on an overall watershed or subwatershed master plan developed for water quality or water quantity protection.
“Detailed plan” means a plan developed by a Licensed Professional in the State of Delaware which does not meet standard plan criteria.
“Drainage area” means that area contributing runoff to a single point measured in a horizontal plane, which is enclosed by a ridge line.
“Easement” means a grant or reservation by the Owner of land for the use of land by others for a specific purpose or purposes, and which must be included in the conveyance of land affected by the easement.
“Effective imperviousness”, for the purposes of these Regulations, means the equivalent percentage of a site’s impervious area that directly contributes stormwater runoff during the Resource Protection Event after all runoff reduction practices have been implemented.
“Erosion and sediment control” means the control of solid material, both mineral and organic, during a land disturbing activity, to prevent its transport out of the disturbed area by means of wind, water, gravity, or ice.
“Financial guarantee” means a bond, security, letter of credit, etc. provided by the Owner to serve as a payment source should the Owner fail to meet the obligations and requirements of the approved Sediment and Stormwater Management Plan.
“Flooding Event” means the runoff event produced by a storm having an annual probability of occurrence of 1.0%.
“Flooding Event Volume (Fv)” means the volume of runoff generated by the Flooding Event that is not otherwise reduced for the Resource Protection Event and the Conveyance Event.
“Functional Equivalency” means alternative measures that are consistent with the policies, procedures, technical specifications, and advisory provisions found in the Technical Document, and which satisfy these Regulations.
“Impervious surface” means a surface which either prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil.
“Land disturbing activity” means a land change or construction activity for residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional land development which may result in soil erosion from water or wind, or the movement of sediments or pollutants into state waters or onto lands in the State; or which may result in accelerated stormwater runoff, including, but not limited to, clearing, grading, excavating, transporting and filling of land.
“Licensed Professional in the State of Delaware” means a design professional licensed under 24 Del.C. Ch. 2, 24 Del.C. Ch. 27, or 24 Del.C. Ch. 28.
“Maintenance” means the work of keeping stormwater management systems including access routes and appurtenances (grade surfaces, walls, drains, dams and structures, vegetation and other protective devices) in a safe and functioning condition as the system was designed. Routine or minor maintenance includes grass mowing and trimming, debris removal, minor sediment removal, filling eroded areas and animal burrows, and removal of trees and shrubs on embankments. Non-routine or major maintenance includes structural repair, major sediment removal and major erosion repair, and invasive aquatic vegetation removal.
“Maximum Extent Practicable” means, for the purpose of these Regulations, using stormwater management measures, techniques and methods that are available and capable of being implemented while taking into consideration cost, available technology, and project site constraints.
“Notice of Completion” means a document issued by the Department or Delegated Agency at the end of project construction when all items and conditions of the approved Sediment and Stormwater Management Plan have been satisfied, post construction verification documents demonstrate that the stormwater management systems have been constructed in accordance with the approved Sediment and Stormwater Management Plan, and final stabilization of disturbed areas on the site has been achieved.
“Offset” means an alternate to strict adherence to the regulations including, but not limited to trading, banking, fee-in-lieu, or other similar program that serves as compensation when the requirements of these regulations cannot be reasonably met on an individual project basis.
“Operation and Maintenance Plan” means the plan which identifies required maintenance for stormwater management systems.
“Owner” means a person who has a legal interest in lands of this State, or who has an equitable interest in lands of this State, except when a person holds an interest in those lands as a security interest, unless through foreclosure or other action the holder has taken possession of those lands, and who undertakes, or for whose benefit, activities subject to these regulations are commenced or carried out on those lands, or the person responsible for maintenance of stormwater management systems constructed to comply with these regulations on those lands.
“Performance-based approach” means a stormwater quantity management technique that utilizes an analytical process to determine compliance.
“Person” means a State or federal agency, individual, partnership, firm, association, joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission, board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative, municipality or other political subdivision of this State, an interstate body or any other legal entity.
“Permanent stabilization” means the establishment of perennial vegetation by application of soil amendments, seed, and mulch in accordance with methods accepted by the Department on disturbed areas that have reached final grade in order to stabilize the soil, prevent erosion, and reduce sediment and runoff to downstream or offsite areas.
“Post construction verification documents” means a set of surveyed plans reflecting the as-built condition of stormwater management measures and may also include supporting computations and specifications as required by the Department or the Delegated Agency.
“Redevelopment”, including brownfield development, means a construction, alteration or improvement, including but not limited to the demolition or building of structures, filling, grading, paving, or excavating, where existing land use is residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional. Ordinary maintenance activities, remodeling of existing buildings, resurfacing of paved areas, and exterior changes or improvements are typically not considered redevelopment activities for the purposes of these regulations.
“Resource Protection Event” means the runoff event produced by a storm having an annual probability of occurrence of 99%.
“Resource Protection Event Volume (RPv)” means the annualized volume of runoff generated by the Resource Protection Event.
“Responsible personnel” means a foreman or superintendent who is in charge of on-site clearing and land disturbing activities for sediment and stormwater control associated with a construction project.
“Runoff reduction practices” means stormwater best management practices that reduce total runoff volume from a developed site through canopy interception, surface recharge, evaporation, rainfall harvesting, engineered infiltration, or evapotranspiration and may include practices that delay the delivery of stormwater to a surface discharge.
“Sediment” means soils or other surficial materials transported or deposited by the action of wind, water, ice or gravity as a product of erosion.
“Sediment and Stormwater Management Plan” means a plan for the control of soil erosion, sedimentation, stormwater quantity, and water quality impacts resulting from a land disturbing activity, through both the construction and post construction phases of development.
“Standard plan” means a set of pre-defined standards or specifications for minor land disturbing activities that may preclude the need for the preparation of a detailed plan under specific conditions.
“Standards-based approach” means a stormwater quantity management technique that utilizes a pre-determined discharge rate to determine compliance.
“State waters” means any and all waters, public or private, on the surface of the earth which are contained within, flow through or border upon the State or any portion thereof.
“Stormwater” means the runoff of water from the surface of the land resulting from precipitation, or snow or ice melt.
“Stormwater management system” means vegetative, structural, and other facilities or measures, singularly or in combination, that provide stormwater management.
“Stormwater utility” means an administrative organization that has been established for the purposes of funding sediment control, stormwater management or flood control planning, design, construction, maintenance, and overall resource needs by authorized and imposed charges.
“Temporary stabilization” means planting quick-growing vegetation and applying anchored straw mulch or other means to stabilize the soil and prevent erosion of a disturbed area until permanent vegetation or other stabilization measures can be established.
“Tidal waters” means any water that alternately rises and falls in a predictable and measurable rhythm or cycle due to the gravitational attraction of the moon and sun and is under the regulatory authority of 7 Del.C. Ch. 72.
“Transfer” means to convey responsibility for maintenance of a stormwater management system to a new Owner.
“Variance” means a permitted deviation from an established rule or regulation, or plan, or standard or procedure.
“Water quality” means those characteristics of stormwater runoff from a land disturbing activity that relate to the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of water.
“Water quantity” means those characteristics of stormwater runoff that relate to the rate, volume and duration of flow to downstream areas resulting from land disturbing activities.
“Watershed plan” means a comprehensive study of the activities and sources that contribute to water quality or water quantity problems and identifies the location of those problem areas within a specific watershed boundary. It also serves as a framework for how, where and what stormwater management tools will be applied to address those water quality or water quantity problems.
3.7.3 The inclusion of an activity into the standard plan classification does not exclude that activity from the requirements of 7 Del.C. Ch. 40. Rather, the standard plan precludes that activity from the necessity of a detailed plan review for a qualifying project.
3.7.4 Failure to implement control practices pursuant to conditions included in the standard plan may necessitate appropriate enforcement action as provided in 7 Del.C. Ch. 40 and these regulations.
4.3 Best available technology (BAT) shall be employed to manage turbid discharges in accordance with requirements of 7 Del.C. Ch. 60, Regulations Governing the Control of Water Pollution, Section 9.1.02, known as Special Conditions for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities, and Department policies, procedures, and guidance.
6.1.3 The Owner shall comply with the requirements contained in Chapter 60 of Title 7 of the Delaware Code Section 9.1.02 of Delaware’s Regulations Governing the Control of Water Pollution, 7 DE Admin. Code 7201.
7.1 Stormwater management systems constructed to comply with 7 Del.C. Ch. 40 and these regulations shall be maintained in accordance with the provisions of this section.
7.2.2.2 When the Department or Delegated Agency gives direction for maintenance, those maintenance activities shall be conducted by the Owner within the time period established by the Department or Delegated Agency.
8.1 Any action or failure to act, which violates any of the following: the provisions of this regulation, the requirements of an approved Sediment and Stormwater Management Plan, permit, Notice of Intent, construction review report, notice of violation, or the requirements of a final Operation and Maintenance Plan, may be subject to the provisions of any of the following: 7 Del.C. §§4012, 4013, 4015, and 4016; 7 Del.C. §§6005, 6013, and 6018.
10.4 The authority for the creation of the stormwater utility and the imposition of charges to finance sediment and stormwater activities is conferred in 7 Del.C. Ch. 40. The implementation of a stormwater utility by means of a local ordinance shall not be deemed a limitation or repeal of any other powers granted by State statute.
1.0 Article 1 Sediment and Stormwater Program Background_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Article1.pdf)
2.0 Article 2 Policies and Procedures_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Article2.pdf)
3.0 Article 3 Plan Review and Approval_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Article3.pdf)
3.02.1.5 Example Project Application Package_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016emergency/Example30215.pdf)
3.02.2.7.1 Example Residential Preliminary Plan_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Example302271.pdf)
3.02.2.7.2 Example Commercial Preliminary Plan_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Example302272.pdf)
3.02.2.7.3 Example Institutional Preliminary Plan_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Example302273.pdf)
3.02.2.7.4 Example Redevelopment Preliminary Plan_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Example302274.pdf)
3.06.1 Delaware ESC Handbook_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/ESCHandbook.pdf)
3.06.2 Post Construction Stormwater BMP Standards and Specifications_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/PostConstruction.pdf)
4.0 Article 4 Construction Review and Compliance_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Article4.pdf)
5.0 Article 5 Operation and Maintenance_EFF APR 2016 (http://regulations.delaware.gov/register/may2016/emergency/Article5.pdf)