For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
AGRICULTURAL USE. Use of land for the production of livestock, dairy animals, dairy products, poultry or poultry products, fur-bearing animals, horticultural or nursery stock, including sod, fruit, vegetables, forage and cash grains, forestry, or bees and apiary products. Wetlands, pasture, and woodlands accompanying land in agricultural use are also in AGRICULTURAL USE.
CITY. The elected governing body of the City of Scandia, or its designated officials or agents. Agents may include districts, water management organization, joint powers boards, watershed districts, or other governmental entities responsible for resource management within the city. After adopting a soil loss ordinance, the city may enter into an agreement with its agent allowing the agent to administer the functions and perform the duties of the city set out in §§ 150.07 to 150.11 and 150.14.
CONSERVATION PLAN. A document listing a set of practices that when implemented will decrease soil erosion to the soil loss limits on a particular parcel of land.
CONSERVATION PRACTICES.
(1) Practices and standards containing a definition, purpose, and conditions under which the practice applies, including design requirements and specifications containing a statement of details required for installing a conservation practice, including kinds, quality, and quantity of work and materials needed to meet the standards.
(2) A CONSERVATION PRACTICE may be a permanent or temporary, vegetative, or structural measure that when applied to the land will contribute to the control of wind and water erosion and sedimentation. CONSERVATION PRACTICES may be used in a development activity area or an agricultural use area.
(3) Permanent practices are those that have an effective life of ten years or more and include grassed waterways, terraces, field windbreaks, water control structures, grade stabilization structures, sediment retention structures, stripcropping, water and sediment control basins, and other permanent practices approved by the state’s Board of Water and Soil Resources.
(4) Temporary practices include conservation tillage, contour farming, grasses and legumes in rotation, emergency tillage, fabric filter barriers, filter strips, stormwater inlet and outlet protection and any other cultural practices approved by the state’s Board of Water and Soil Resources.
(5) The field office technical guide or other recognized technical procedures must be used to design, install, and certify practices.
DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY. A physical disturbance, excluding agricultural use, of the land associated with activities that may result in sedimentation of adjacent lands or waters. These activities include, but are not limited to, clearing, grading, excavating, transporting, draining, and filling lands. Federal, state, county, and municipal road construction designed and installed according to Department of Transportation standard specifications for construction are not DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.
DISTRICT. A soil and water conservation district organized under M.S. Ch. 40A, as it may be amended from time to time.
EROSION. Any process that wears away the surface of the land by the action of water, wind, ice, or gravity. EROSION can be accelerated by the activities of people and nature.
EXCESSIVE SOIL LOSS. Soil loss that is greater than the soil loss limits set out in § 150.15, or which causes sedimentation on adjoining land or in a body of water, watercourse, or wetland.
FIELD OFFICE TECHNICAL GUIDE. The guide developed by the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service and adopted by the district. The TECHNICAL GUIDE contains methods and procedures by which the various types of erosion can be estimated and conservation practice standards and specifications required in the application of soil and water conservation practices.
LAND OCCUPIER. A person, firm, corporation, municipality, or other legal entity that holds title to or is in possession of any land as owner, lessee, renter, tenant, or otherwise. The term includes both the owner and the occupier of the land if they are not the same.
SEDIMENT. Solid mineral or organic material that, in suspension, is being transported or has been moved from its original site by air, water, gravity, or ice and has been deposited at another location.
SEDIMENTATION. The process or action of depositing sediment that, upon inspection, is determined to have been caused by erosion.
SEDIMENTATION CONTROL PLAN. A document listing a set of practices that, when implemented, will decrease sedimentation to the allowable level on a particular parcel of land.
SOIL. The unconsolidated mineral and organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for growth of land plants.
SOIL LOSS LIMIT. The maximum amount of soil loss from water or wind erosion, expressed in tons per acre per year, allowed on a particular soil. The United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service has prepared a soil survey that sets out the soil loss tolerances, according to the Field Office Technical Guide, for each soil found in the county. The aforementioned soil survey, together with the tolerance and soil loss limits set forth therein, is hereby adopted by reference as the official city soil survey and declared to be a part of this subchapter. The official Washington County Soil Survey shall be on file in the office of the Soil Conservation Service, County Auditor, and the County Zoning Administrator as well as the City Clerk. The SOIL LOSS LIMIT for each soil series found in the city shall be as set forth in the aforementioned soil survey. Any other soil found in the city and not set forth in the soil survey has a maximum soil loss tolerance of five tons per acre per year.
SOIL LOSS TOLERANCE. The maximum level of soil erosion that will permit a high level crop productivity to be sustained economically and indefinitely.
TIME SCHEDULE. Must set times to implement, make satisfactory progress on, and complete the sedimentation control plan.
(Ord. 30, passed 1-20-1990)