In this article, the following words have the meanings indicated.
(1) "Accessory" has the meaning stated in Article 18 of this Code.
(2) "Adequate outfall" means an outfall that has adequate capacity and stability as determined in the County Procedures Manual.
(3) "Administration" for the purpose of Title 4 means the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Water Management Administration (WMA).
(4) "Administrative waiver" for the purpose of Title 4 means a decision by the Anne Arundel County Office of Planning and Zoning to allow construction of a development to be governed by the stormwater management document in effect as of May 4, 2009, and is distinct from a modification granted pursuant to this article or Article 17 of this Code.
(5) "Agricultural land management practices" means those methods and procedures used in the cultivation of land in order to further crop and livestock production and conservation of related soil and water resources. Import and export of fill material, logging and timber removal operations, or the conversion of forest to pasture or cropland are not part of this definition.
(6) "As-built plan" means a plan drawn to the same scale as the approved plans which shows that the location, dimensions, elevations, and status of the resulting grading, drainage structures, drainage systems, and erosion and sediment control practices are in substantial conformance with the previously approved plans, noting any substantial deviations.
(7) "Basement" means that portion of a structure having its lowest floor below ground or grade elevation on all four sides.
(8) "Best management practice (BMP)" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(9) "Buffer management plan" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(10) "Certificate of occupancy" means an official form issued by the Director certifying that a structure has been built in accordance with approved plans and providing that the structure may be inhabited or used for the intended purpose.
(11) "Certification" means a statement signed and sealed by a design professional that specific construction, inspections, or tests have been performed and that they comply with the applicable requirements of this article.
(12) "Channel protection storage volume (CPv)" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(13) "Clearing" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(14) "Concept plan" has the same meaning as COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(15) "County Procedures Manual" means the Anne Arundel County Stormwater Management Practices and Procedures Manual.
(16) "Critical area" has the meaning stated in Article 18 of this Code.
(17) "Department" means the Department of Inspections and Permits.
(18) "Design Manual" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(19) "Design professional" means a professional engineer, professional land surveyor, or professional landscape architect licensed by the State.
(20) "Developed woodlands" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(21) "Developer" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.04.03.01-1.
(22) "Development" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code, except that as used in Title 1 and Title 2 of this article, "development" also includes farming, gardening, yard maintenance, and storage of equipment or materials..
(23) "Direct discharge" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(24) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Inspections and Permits or the Director's designee.
(25) "Disturbance" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(26) "DPW Design Manual" means the Department of Public Works Design Manual and the Standards and Specifications for Construction.
(27) "Drainage area" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(28) "Easement" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(29) "Elevation certificate" means an official FEMA form used to certify the elevation of a structure that is prepared by a design professional authorized to certify elevations.
(30) "Environmental site design (ESD)" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(31) "Erosion" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.01.01.
(32) "Estimated cost" means the total cost estimated by the Department based on unit prices adopted by the Director.
(33) "Exemption" means those land development activities that are not subject to the stormwater management requirements contained in Title 4 of this article.
(34) "Extreme flood volume (Qf)" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(35) "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)" means the federal agency responsible for floodplain management.
(36) "Fill" means a deposit of soil, rock, or other materials placed by humans.
(37) "Final stormwater management plan" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(38) "Flood" means a temporary inundation of normally dry land.
(39) "Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)" means the official map on which the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk premium zones applicable to Anne Arundel County.
(40) "Flood Insurance Study" means the official report provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that contains the Flood Insurance Rate Map, the Flood Boundary and Floodway Map, the water surface elevations of the base flood, and supporting technical data.
(41) "Flooding" means stormwater runoff from a natural or human-made stormwater runoff conveyance system that inundates an existing structure or that overflows onto land that lies outside of floodplain easements, drainage easements, or areas shown on federal insurance rate maps as flood-prone areas.
(42) "Floodplain" means an area that after total development of the watershed in accordance with applicable zoning would be inundated by water from any source as determined by the County Procedures Manual.
(43) "Floodproofing" means any combination of structural or nonstructural changes, adjustments, or actions, which reduce or eliminate flood damage to a structure, contents, utilities, and equipment.
(44) "Floodproofing certificate" means an official FEMA form prepared by a design professional and used to certify that a nonresidential structure has been designed and constructed to be floodproofed to the flood protection elevation.
(45) "Flood protection elevation" means the elevation of the 100-year flood plus one foot freeboard.
(46) "Floodway" means the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the 100-year flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one foot in height.
(47) "Forest" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(48) "Forest management plan" has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(49) "Freeboard" means an additional height used as a factor of safety in determining the elevation of a structure or floodproofing to compensate for factors that may increase the flood heights.
(50) "Grading" means to cause the disturbance of the earth, and the term includes clearing, excavating, filling, including hydraulic fill, stockpiling of earth materials, grubbing, rootmat or top soil disturbance, or a combination of any of these operations, including logging and timber removal operations.
(51) "Grading permit" means a permit issued to authorize grading to be performed in accordance with this article.
(52) "Grading unit" means the maximum contiguous area allowed to be disturbed at any one time and may not exceed 20 acres.
(53) "Highly erodible soils" has the meaning stated inArticle 17 of this Code.
(54) "Historic structure" means a structure that is listed on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties, the National Register of Historic Places, or the National Historic Landmarks, except that as used in Title 1 and Title 2 of this article, "historic structure" means a structure that is listed on the Maryland Register of Historic Properties, the National Register of Historic Places, or the National Historic Landmarks.
(55) "Impervious surface" means a human-made surface through which water does not penetrate, including hot bituminous asphaltic pavement, cold mix asphaltic pavement, compacted gravel surfacing, and portland cement concrete used for roads, sidewalks, driveways, curb and gutter, patios, porches, swimming pools, tennis courts, parking areas, and principal and accessory structure coverage areas but does not include surfaces covered by pervious concrete.
(56) "Individual lot development" means development on a site for which subdivision approval is not required.
(57) "Infiltration" means the passage or movement of water into the soil surface.
(58) "Lowest floor" means the lowest floor of the lowest enclosed area including basements, except that an unfinished or flood-resistant enclosure used solely for parking, building access, or storage may not be considered the lowest floor, provided that such enclosure is not built so as to render the structure in violation of the applicable non-elevation design requirements.
(59) "Manufactured home" means a structure transportable in one or more sections that is built on a permanent chassis and is designed for use as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to the required utilities, and the term includes manufactured homes, trailers, and other similar vehicles placed on a site for more than 180 consecutive days.
(60) "Maximum extent practicable (MEP)" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(61) "Mean high-water line" has the meaning stated in Article 18 of this Code.
(62) "New construction" means structures for which construction commenced on or after May 2, 1983.
(63) "New development" means development on a site where subdivision, site development plan, or permit approval is required.
(64) “Nonstructural stormwater management practice” means those practices set forth in COMAR 26.17.02.08B.
(65) "Offsite stormwater management" means the design and construction of a facility necessary to control stormwater from more than one development site.
(66) "One-hundred year flood" means a flood that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in a given year.
(67) "Onsite stormwater management" means the design and construction of systems necessary to control stormwater within an immediate development site.
(68) "Outfall" means the point at which a proposed stormwater conveyance system carrying stormwater runoff from a site discharges into an existing stormwater conveyance system.
(69) "Overbank flood protection volume (Qp)" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(70) "Planning and Zoning Officer" means the Planning and Zoning Officer or the Officer's designee.
(71) "Planning techniques" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(72) "Point of investigation" means the point located downstream from a site discharge where the post-development runoff is less than or equal to 10 % of the total runoff to that point. All runoff computations shall be based on the 10-year storm, curve number and time of concentration based on ultimate development and no peak management for the total runoff to that point.
(73) "Private stormwater management" means the ESD planning techniques, treatment practices, and structural stormwater measures used to satisfy the minimum control requirements of Title 4 of this article that are not considered public stormwater management.
(74) "Public stormwater management" means the ESD planning techniques, treatment practices, and structural stormwater measures used to satisfy the Minimum Control requirements of Title 4 of this article for projects where the stormwater management system is owned or maintained by the Department of Public Works, the Department of Recreation and Parks, the Department of Central Services, or any other County agency or department.
(75) "Recharge volume (REv)" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(76) "Redevelopment" has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(77) "Regenerative step pool conveyance system" has the meaning stated in the County Procedures Manual.
(78) “Responsible personnel” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.01.01.
(79) “Retrofitting” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(80) “Sediment” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.01.01.
(81) “Site” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(82) “Site improvement” means storm drains, roads, curbs and gutters, concrete work, stabilization, stormwater management facilities, and other structural improvements.
(83) “Slope” means an inclined surface of a fill, excavation, or natural terrain.
(84) “Stabilization” means the prevention of soil movement by vegetative or structural means.
(85) “Standard grading plan” means a plan that may be used in lieu of a grading permit only for certain minor grading and earth disturbance associated with minor commercial and residential construction, and, if necessary, may include soil and erosion control plans.
(86) “Steep slope” has the meaning stated in Article 17.
(87) “Stormwater” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(88) “Stormwater management system” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(89) “Stormwater management site development plan” has the same meaning as “site development plan” as defined in COMAR 27.17.02.02.
(90) “Structural stormwater management practice” means those practices set forth in COMAR 26.17.02.08C.
(91) “Structure” has the meaning stated in Article 18 of this Code.
(92) “Subdivision” has the meaning stated in Article 17 of this Code.
(93) “Substantial improvement” means any reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement to a structure other than an historic structure, the cost of which equals or exceeds 50% of the State’s assessed value of the structure or, an appraisal performed by a professional real estate appraiser of the market value of the structure (less land value) before commencement of the reconstruction, rehabilitation, addition or other improvement or, if the structure has been damaged and is being restored, before the damage occurred, but the term does not include the minimum repairs needed to correct violations of State or County health, safety, or sanitary codes.
(94) “Tributary streams” has the meaning stated in Article 17.
(95) (i) “Water quality improvement project” means a project that is:
(1) designed to reduce pollutants to local waterways, including a stream or wetland restoration project or stormwater outfall enhancement project; and
(2) implemented to meet the water quality goals associated with the County’s national pollutant discharge elimination system municipal separate storm sewer system permit or Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load.
(ii) “Water quality improvement project” does not include stormwater management required for development under Article 17 of this Code, except for an element of a project that corrects pre-existing site and downstream deficiencies, such as unstable stormwater outfall points and conveyances.
(96) “Water quality volume (WQv)” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(97) “Watercourse” means any natural or artificial stream, river, creek, ditch, channel, canal, conduit, culvert, drain, waterway, gully, ravine, or wash in which water flows continuously or intermittently, and the term includes any adjacent area that is subject to inundation from overflow or floodwater.
(98) “Watershed” has the meaning stated in COMAR 26.17.02.02.
(Bill No. 58-10; Bill No. 74-11; Bill No. 93-12; Bill No. 9-15; Bill No. 83-15; Bill No. 66-16; Bill No. 15-17; Bill No. 10-23)