(A) The department shall develop a State Stormwater Management and Sediment Reduction Program.

(B) In carrying out this chapter, the department shall:

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 48-14-50

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Department: means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 48-14-20
  • Erosion: means the wearing away of land surface by the action of wind, water, gravity, ice, or any combination of those forces. See South Carolina Code 48-14-20
  • Land disturbing activity: means any use of the land by any person that results in a change in the natural cover or topography that may cause erosion and contribute to sediment and alter the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff. See South Carolina Code 48-14-20
  • Sediment: means solid particulate matter, both mineral and organic, that has been or is being transported by water, air, ice, or gravity from its site of origin. See South Carolina Code 48-14-20
  • Stormwater management: means , for:

    (a) quantitative control, a system of vegetative or structural measures, or both, that control the increased volume and rate of stormwater runoff caused by manmade changes to the land;

    (b) qualitative control, a system of vegetative, structural, or other measures that reduce or eliminate pollutants that might otherwise be carried by stormwater runoff. See South Carolina Code 48-14-20
  • Stormwater Management and Sediment Control Plan: means a set of drawings, other documents, and supporting calculations submitted by a person as a prerequisite to obtaining a permit to undertake a land disturbing activity, which contains all of the information and specifications required by an implementing agency. See South Carolina Code 48-14-20
  • Stormwater runoff: means direct response of a watershed to precipitation and includes the surface and subsurface runoff that enters a ditch, stream, storm sewer, or other concentrated flow during and following the precipitation. See South Carolina Code 48-14-20

(1) provide technical and other assistance to local governments and others in implementing this chapter;

(2) require that appropriate stormwater management and sediment control provisions be included in all stormwater management and sediment control plans developed pursuant to this chapter;

(3) cooperate with appropriate agencies of this State, the United States, other states, or any interstate agency with respect to stormwater management and sediment control;

(4) conduct studies and research regarding the causes, effects, and hazards of stormwater and sediment and methods to control stormwater runoff and sediment;

(5) conduct and supervise educational programs with respect to stormwater management and sediment control;

(6) require the submission to the department of records and periodic reports by implementing agencies as may be necessary to carry out this chapter;

(7) establish a means of communications, such as a newsletter, so that information regarding program development and implementation can be distributed to interested individuals;

(8) assist conservation districts and local governments involved in the local stormwater management and sediment control program; and

(9) develop a schedule for implementing this chapter in the counties and municipalities of this State.

(C) The department shall promulgate regulations, minimum standards, guidelines, and criteria necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter with input from the South Carolina Erosion and Sediment Reduction Advisory Council, appointed by the Governor, in consultation with the South Carolina Association of Special Purpose Districts, and the South Carolina Municipal Association, and a task force of technical experts appointed by the department. The regulations must include, but are not limited to:

(1) criteria for the delegation of program elements and review and revocation of delegated program elements;

(2) appeal procedures for local governments requesting delegation of program elements;

(3) types of activities that require a stormwater management and sediment control permit;

(4) waivers, exemptions, variances, and appeals;

(5) stormwater management and sediment control plan application or inspection fees;

(6) criteria for distribution of funds collected by sediment and stormwater plan approval and inspection fees;

(7) criteria for implementation of a stormwater management utility;

(8) specific design criteria and minimum standards and specifications;

(9) permit application and approval requirements;

(10) specific enforcement options;

(11) criteria for approval of designated watersheds;

(12) criteria regarding correction of off-site damages resulting from the land disturbing activity;

(13) construction inspections;

(14) maintenance requirements for sediment control during construction and stormwater management structures after construction is completed;

(15) procedures to accept and respond to citizen complaints on delegated program components and individual site problems; and

(16) a schedule for implementing this chapter considering such factors as demographics, growth and development, and state and local resources.

(D) These regulations promulgated for carrying out the stormwater management and sediment control program must:

(1) be based upon relevant physical and developmental information concerning the watershed and drainage basins of the State, including but not limited to, data relating to land use, soils, hydrology, geology, grading, ground cover, size of land area being disturbed; and

(2) contain conservation standards for various types of soils and land uses, which standards must include criteria and alternative techniques and methods for the control of erosion, sediment, and stormwater runoff resulting from land disturbing activities.

(E) The department may amend, modify, or repeal these regulations in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.

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