Section 530. Land acquisition

A. When an application to permit land application of biosolids is submitted to the department, the permit applicant shall ensure the continued availability of the land and protection from improper concurrent use during the utilization period.

B. Land acquisition requirements.

1. Permit holders shall use a unique control number assigned by the department as an identifier for fields permitted for land application.

2. A written agreement shall be established between the landowner and permit applicant or permit holder to be submitted with the permit application, whereby the landowner shall consent to apply biosolids on his property. The landowner agreement shall include:

a. A statement certifying that the landowner is the sole owner or one of multiple owners of the property or properties identified on the landowner agreement;

b. A statement certifying that no concurrent agreements are in effect for the fields to be permitted for biosolids application;

c. An acknowledgement that the landowner shall notify the permittee when land is sold or ownership transferred;

d. An acknowledgement that the landowner shall notify the permittee if any conditions change such that any component of the landowner agreement becomes invalid;

e. Permission to allow department staff on the landowner's property to conduct inspections;

f. An acknowledgement by the landowner of any site restrictions identified in the regulation;

g. An acknowledgement that the landowner has received a biosolids fact sheet approved by the department; and

h. An acknowledgement that the landowner shall not remove notification signs placed by the permit holder.

3. New landowner agreements using the most current form provided by the board shall be submitted to the department for proposed land application sites identified in each application for issuance or reissuance of a permit or the modification to add land to an existing permit that authorizes the land application of biosolids.

4. For permits modified in order to incorporate changes to this regulation, the permit holder shall, within 60 days of the effective date of the permit modification, advise the landowner by certified letter of the requirement to provide a new landowner agreement. The letter shall include instructions to the landowner for signing and returning the new landowner agreement, and shall advise the landowner that the permit holder's receipt of such new landowner agreement is required prior to application of biosolids to the landowner's property.

5. The responsibility for obtaining and maintaining the agreements lies with the permit holder. The written agreement shall be submitted to the department with the permit application.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 24, Issue 06, eff. January 1, 2008; amended, Virginia Register Volume 29, Issue 24, eff. September 1, 2013.

Statutory Authority

§ 62.1-44.15 of the Code of Virginia.