Sec. 3.8. Sedimentation and Erosion Control

3.8.1. Applicability

A. If required under Sec. 12.10, Sedimentation and Erosion Control, an approved sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed and/or a land-disturbing permit shall be obtained before commencing land-disturbing activity.

B. Pursuant to Sec. 113A-57(4) of the North Carolina SedimentationClosed Pollution Control Act of 1973, no personClosed shall initiate any land-disturbing activity that will disturb more than one acre or requires a sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed under Sec. 12.10 unless, 30 or more days prior to initiating the activity, an erosionClosed and sedimentationClosed control plan for the activity is filed with and approved by the County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficeClosed.

3.8.2. Application Requirements

A. Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan

1. A sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed shall be filed with the County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficeClosed by either hard copy or digitally.  A digital copy of approved construction drawings and approved site planClosed, where applicable, shall also be provided upon their approval.

2. A sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed shall contain site drawings, vicinity maps, assumptions, calculations, narrative statements, and a construction sequence as needed to adequately describe the proposed developmentClosed and the measures proposed to comply with the requirements of this Article.

3. A sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed shall be prepared by, and bear the seal and signature of, a registered professional engineer, registered landscape architect, registered architect, registered land surveyor, or certified professional in erosionClosed and sedimentClosed control. The County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee may, however, deem such a seal and signature not necessary due to site simplicity (as the absence of sensitive geographical features and receiving watercoursesClosed) and the limited nature of the sedimentationClosed and erosionClosed control measures required. In the case of a single-familyClosed lot in a common plan of developmentClosed where the developerClosed and builder are different, such a seal and signature is not required unless there is a design feature requiring such under federal or State law or regulation.

4. The approval of sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed is conditioned on the applicant’s compliance with Federal, State and local water quality laws, regulations, and rules.

5. An approved sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed shall be kept on file at the job site.

B. Land-Disturbing Permit

1. A land-disturbing permit may be obtained by submitting the following:

a. Applicable fee;

b. Verification of an approved site planClosed or written approval issued by the Durham City-County Planning Department;

c. Completed Durham County Financial Responsibility/Ownership Form With Landowner Consent Form (FRO);

d. Approved sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed, if required;

e. Improvement security, if required;

f. Certification that tree protection fencing has been installed, if required; and

g. Approval of the proposed project by the City or County as applicable.

2. No permit shall be issued until such time as the SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee is assured that the proposed land-disturbing activity will be carried out in accordance with this section and Sec. 12.10, Sedimentation and Erosion Control, and the approved sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed, if required. A land-disturbing permit application may be disapproved for the same reasons that a sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed may be disapproved, as set forth in paragraph 3.8.7, Disapproval of Plan, of this Ordinance.

3. The SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee shall require security to assure performance of the conditions of the permit whenever a land-disturbing activity is in excess of five acres or whenever the OfficerClosed or designee determines that the activity may result in significant off-site damage. The applicant shall file with the OfficerClosed or designee an improvement security in the form of a performance bond or letter of credit. The amount shall be that which the OfficerClosed or designee deems sufficient to cover all costs of protection or other improvements required for conformity with standards specified in this section and Sec. 12.10, Sedimentation and Erosion Control. The security may be adjusted or released as the amount of disturbed area changes. The security shall be released when the OfficerClosed or designee has certified that all of the requirements of such sections have been met. Forfeiture of the improvement security shall not release the personClosed conducting the land disturbing activityClosed of their obligation to install and maintain necessary erosionClosed control measures, to stabilize the site, or any other obligation of this section or Sec. 12.10, SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control, or any rule or order promulgated in furtherance thereof.

4. Prior to initiating land-disturbing activity, the permitee shall notify the SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficeClosed of the date that such activity will begin.

5. A land-disturbing permit issued shall be prominently displayed at the job site until all construction is completed, all permanent sedimentationClosed and erosionClosed control measures are removed, and the site has been stabilized as required.

3.8.3. Fees

The fees charged for the administration and enforcement of this Article shall be as prescribed by the Board of Commissioners.

3.8.4. Action by Sedimentation and Erosion Control Office

A. The County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee shall review each complete sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed submitted and within 30 days of receipt shall notify the personClosed submitting the plan that it has been approved, approved with modifications, or disapproved. Failure to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove a complete plan within 30 days of receipt shall be deemed approval. Failure to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove a revised plan within 15 days of receipt shall be deemed approval. Disapproval of a plan must specifically state in writing the reasons for disapproval.

B. If, following commencement of a land-disturbing activity pursuant to an approved sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed, the County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee determines that the plan is inadequate to meet the requirements of this section or Sec. 12.10, Sedimentation and Erosion Control, the OfficerClosed or designee may require such revisions as it deems necessary to comply with such sections. Failure to approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove a revised plan within 15 days of receipt shall be deemed approval. Pending approval of a revised plan, work shall cease or shall continue only as authorized by the OfficerClosed or designee.

C. The County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee shall review each permit application that does not require an approved sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed and within 14 calendar days of receipt shall notify the personClosed submitting the application that it has been issued or denied.

3.8.5. Preconstruction Conference

When deemed necessary by the SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed, or designee, a preconstruction conference may be required.

3.8.6. Self-Inspections

The landowner, the financially responsible party, or the landowner’s or the financially responsible party’s agent of all permit holders, except for individual residential lots smaller than 1 acre, shall perform an inspection of the area covered by the plan after each phase of the plan has been completed and after establishment of temporary ground coverClosed in accordance with Sec. 12.10. The personClosed who performs the inspection shall maintain and make available a record of the inspection at the site of the land-disturbing activity. The record shall set out any significant deviation from the approved erosion control planClosed, identify any measures that may be required to correct the deviation, and document the completion of those measures. The record shall be maintained until permanent ground coverClosed has been established as required by the approved erosionClosed and sedimentationClosed control plan. The inspections required by this subsection shall be in addition to inspections conducted by the Durham County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficeClosed.

3.8.7. Disapproval of Plan

A. An erosion control planClosed may be disapproved upon a finding that an applicant, or a parentClosed, subsidiaryClosed or other affiliateClosed of the applicant:

1. Is conducting or has conducted land-disturbing activity without an approved plan;

2. Has received notice of violationClosed of a plan previously approved by the North Carolina SedimentationClosed Control Commission or a local government pursuant to the North Carolina SedimentationClosed Pollution Control Act of 1973, as amended, and all rules and orders adopted pursuant to it (the Act) or local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Act, and has not or had not complied with the notice within the time specified in the notice;

3. Has failed to pay a civil penalty assessed pursuant to the Act or a local ordinance adopted pursuant to the Act by the time the payment is due; or

4. Has failed to substantially comply with State rules or local ordinances and regulations adopted pursuant to the Act.

B. For purposes of this subsection, an applicant’s record may be considered for only the two years prior to the application date.

C. Any personClosed engaged in land-disturbing activity who fails to file a plan in accordance with this Article, or who conducts a land-disturbing activity except in accordance with provisions of an approved plan, shall be deemed in violationClosed of this Article.

3.8.8. Amendment of Plan

Applications for amendment of an erosion control planClosed in written and/or graphic form may be made at any time under the same conditions as described in this section for a new application. Until such time as such amendment is approved by the SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee, the land-disturbing activity shall not proceed except in accordance with the erosion control planClosed as originally approved.

3.8.9. Appeals

A. Except as provided in paragraph B. of this subsection, the appealClosed of a disapproval or approval with modifications of a plan shall be governed by the following provisions:

1. The disapproval or modification of any proposed erosion control planClosed or the refusal to issue a land-disturbing permit by the SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee shall entitle the personClosed submitting the plan, or applying for the permit, to a hearing if such personClosed submits written demand to the Clerk to the Board of Commissioners for a hearing within 15 days after receipt of written notice of disapproval or modifications. The written demand must specify, with particularity, the factual and/or legal basis for the appealClosed. No grounds, other than those so specified, may be argued;

2. Hearings held pursuant to this section shall be conducted by the Board of Commissioners within 15 days after the date of the appealClosed or request for a hearing, or at the next regularly scheduled meeting, whichever is later; and

3. If the Board of Commissioners upholds the disapproval or modification of a proposed erosion control planClosed or refusal to issue a permit following the public hearing, the personClosed submitting the plan or permit application shall then be entitled to appealClosed the Board of Commissioners’ decision to the State SedimentationClosed Control Commission as provided in NCGS § 113A-61(c) and Title 15 NCAC 4B.0018(d).

B. Appeals

In the event that an erosion control planClosed is disapproved pursuant to paragraph 3.8.7, Disapproval of Plan, the County SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficeClosed shall notify the Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (within the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality [DEQ]) of such disapproval within ten days. The OfficeClosed shall advise the applicant and the Director in writing as to the specific reasons that the plan was disapproved. The applicant may appealClosed the OfficeClosed’s disapproval of the plan pursuant to paragraph 3.8.7, Disapproval of Plan, directly to the State SedimentationClosed Control Commission.

3.8.10. Expiration

A. A land-disturbing permit shall expire at the end of:

1. One year from the date of issuance if no land-disturbing activity has been undertakenClosed in that period. No land-disturbing activity may take place following expiration until the personClosed responsible has applied for, and received, a new land-disturbing permit. The fee for the new permit shall be 100% of the current applicable fee; or

2. A two-year period, unless it is extended by the SedimentationClosed and ErosionClosed Control OfficerClosed or designee upon written request of the permit holder. The request for extension shall include reasons for incompletion of the work. After review of the original plan and an on-site inspection of the completed work, the permit may be extended effective for a period not to exceed six months from the date of expiration of the original permit. The fee for the extended permit shall be 25% of the current applicable fee. If work cannot be completed and the site permanently stabilized prior to expiration of the permit extension, then a new land-disturbing permit must be applied for and obtained as described in this section.

B. An approved sedimentationClosed and erosion control planClosed for which no permit has been issued shall expire one year from the approval date. If a plan has been disapproved, a revised plan must be submitted within one year from the disapproval date or the file will be closed.

3.8.11. Transfer of Permits

Land disturbance permits may be transferred from one financially responsible party to another within the permit term.  Transfer of a permit does not extend the permit term.

A. All Permit Transfers 

1. In order to transfer a land disturbance permit from one financially responsible party to another, the following documents must be submitted under the name of the new financially responsible party:

a. Completed Durham County Financial Responsibility/Ownership Form with Landowner Consent Form (FRO);

b. Improvement security, if required.

2. Transfer of permit shall include entirety of original permitted area, unless approved in writing by the Durham County ErosionClosed Control OfficeClosed.

B. Single Family Lots:

For land-disturbing activities on a single-familyClosed residential lot involving new constructionClosed with land disturbance of less than one acre where the builder or developerClosed is the ownerClosed of the lot being developedClosed and the personClosed financially responsible for the land-disturbing activity, the financial responsibility for land-disturbing activity on that lot transfers to the new ownerClosed upon the builder's or developerClosed's conveyance of the lot to the new ownerClosed, recording of the deed in the officeClosed of the register of deeds, and notification to the Durham County ErosionClosed control OfficeClosed.