As used in this article, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the following definitions apply:
Accelerated erosion means any increase over the rate of natural erosion as a result of land-disturbing activity.
Act means the North Carolina Sedimentation Pollution Control Act of 1973 and all rules and orders adopted pursuant to it.
Adequate erosion control measure, structure, or device means one which controls the soil material within the land area under responsible control of the person conducting the land-disturbing activity.
Affiliate means a person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control of another person.
Approving authority means Johnston County, as the government agency that has been delegated erosion and sedimentation plan review responsibilities in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
Being conducted means a land-disturbing activity has been initiated and permanent stabilization of the site has not been completed.
Borrow means fill material which is required for on-site construction and is obtained from other locations.
Buffer zone means the strip of land adjacent to a lake or natural watercourse. In this section of the ordinance, buffer zone does NOT mean the same as riparian buffer zone found in Article VII Section 14-393.
Commission means the North Carolina Sedimentation Control Commission.
Common plan of development means a contiguous area where multiple separate and distinct land disturbing activities may be taking place at different times and on different schedules under one common plan. The “common plan” of development or sale is broadly defined as any announcement or piece of documentation indicating construction activities are planned to occur on a specific plot regardless of ownership of the parcels.
Completion of construction or development means that no further land-disturbing activity is required on a phase of a project except that which is necessary for establishing a permanent ground cover.
Department means the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Director means the Director of the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Discharge point means that point at which storm water runoff leaves a tract of land where a land-disturbing activity has occurred or enters a lake or natural watercourse.
Energy dissipator means a structure or a shaped channel section with mechanical armoring placed at the outlet of pipes or conduits to receive and break down the energy from high velocity flow.
Erosion means the wearing away of land surfaces by the action of wind, water, gravity, or any combination thereof.
Ground cover means any natural vegetative growth or other material which renders the soil surface stable against accelerated erosion.
High quality waters means those classified as such in 15A NCAC 2B.0101(e) (5) - General Procedures, which is incorporated herein by reference to include further amendments pursuant to G.S. 150B-14(c).
High Quality Water (HQW) Zones means areas within one mile and draining to HQW's.
Lake or natural watercourse means any stream, river, brook, swamp, sound, bay, creek, run, branch, canal, waterway, estuary, and any reservoir, lake or pond, natural or impounded in which sediment may be moved or carried in suspension, and which could be damaged by accumulation of sediment.
Land-disturbing activity means any use of the land by any person in residential, industrial, education, institutional, or commercial development, highway and road construction and maintenance that results in a change in the natural cover or topography and that may cause or contribute to sedimentation.
Limits of disturbance means the outermost boundary of proposed disturbance on a development.
Local government means any county, incorporated village, town or city, or any combination of counties, incorporated villages, towns, and cities, acting through a joint program pursuant to the provisions of the Act.
Natural erosion means the wearing away of the earth's surface by water, wind, or other natural agents under natural environmental conditions undisturbed by man.
Parent means an affiliate that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls another person.
Person means any individual, partnership, firm, association, joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission, board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative, interstate body, or other legal entity.
Person conducting land-disturbing activity means any person who may be held responsible for violation unless expressly provided otherwise by this article, the
Act, or any order adopted pursuant to this article or the Act.
Person responsible for the violation means:
(1) The developer or other person who has or holds himself out as having financial or operation control over the land- disturbing activity; or
(2) The landowner or person in possession or control of the land that has directly or indirectly allowed the land- disturbing activity, or benefited from it or failed to comply with a duty imposed by any provision of this article, the Act, or any order adopted pursuant to this article or the Act.
Phase of grading plan means a proposed erosion control plan for initial clearing and grubbing (rough grading) or final grading (fine grading).
Plan means an erosion and sedimentation control plan.
Sediment means solid particulate matter, both mineral and organic, that has been or is being transported by water, air, gravity, or ice from its site of origin.
Sedimentation means the process by which sediment resulting from accelerated erosion has been or is being transported off the site of the land-disturbing activity or into a lake or natural watercourse.
Siltation means sediment resulting from accelerated erosion which is settleable or removable by properly designed, constructed, and maintained control measures; and which has been transported from its point of origin within the site of a land-disturbing activity; and which has been deposited, or is in suspension in water.
Storm drainage facilities means the system of inlets, conduits, channels, ditches and appurtenances which serve to collect and convey storm water through and from a given drainage area.
Stormwater manager means the personnel within the Johnston County Public Utilities Department whose job responsibility includes the administration and enforcement of the Johnston County Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance.
Stormwater runoff means the surface flow of water resulting from precipitation in any form and occurring immediately after rainfall or melting.
Subsidiary means an affiliate that is directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controlled by another person.
Ten-year storm means the stormwater runoff resulting from precipitation of an intensity expected to be equaled or exceeded, on the average, once in ten years, and of a duration which will produce the maximum peak rate of runoff for the watershed of interest under average antecedent wetness conditions.
Tract means a parcel of land or contiguous combination thereof and bodies of water being disturbed or to be disturbed as a unit, regardless of ownership.
Twenty-five year storm means the storm water runoff resulting from precipitation of an intensity expected to be equaled or exceeded on the average, once in 25 years, and of a duration which will produce the maximum peak rate of runoff for the watershed of interest under average antecedent wetness conditions.
Uncovered means the removal of ground cover from, on, or above the soil surface.
Undertaken means the initiating of any activity, or phase of activity, which results or will result in a change in the ground cover or topography of a tract of land.
Velocity means the speed of flow through a cross section perpendicular to the direction of the main channel at the peak flow of the storm of interest but not exceeding bank full flows.
Waste means surplus materials resulting from on-site land-disturbing activities and being disposed of at other locations.
Working days means days exclusive of Saturday and Sunday during which weather conditions or soil conditions permit land-disturbing activity to be undertaken.
(Ord. of 6-3-2013; Amend. of 12-13-2023)