Citations Affected: IC 14-8; IC 14-26; IC 14-28; IC 36-9.
Synopsis: County ditch maintenance permits. Provides that the
department of natural resources must issue a county drainage board a
permit for the reconstruction or maintenance of a regulated drain within
150 days after a complete request is submitted to the department.
Allows the department to make recommendations to the county
drainage board. Provides exemption from certain permit requirements
for all reconstruction or maintenance projects on a stream or an open
regulated drain, regardless of the length of the stream or open drain.
(Under current law, the exemption applies only if the total length of the
stream or open drain is not more than ten miles.) Repeals the definition
of "total length" in reference to the length of a stream. Makes certain
other changes.
Effective: July 1, 2002.
January 14, 2002, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources.
January 29, 2002, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
government.
SECTION 1.
IC 14-26-5-7.4
IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2002]: Sec. 7.4. If a request for a
permit is submitted under this chapter by or for a county drainage
board for a project for the reconstruction or maintenance of a regulated
drain under
IC 36-9-27
, the department shall approve or refuse the
request within one hundred fifty (150) calendar days after the request
is deemed complete by the department. A request held more than one
hundred fifty (150) calendar days by the department without being
either approved or refused shall be considered approved.
SECTION 2.
IC 14-26-5-7.6
IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2002]: Sec. 7.6. (a) If the
department refuses to issue a permit after an investigation under
section 5 of this chapter, the department shall promptly cause a public
notice to be given by one (1) publication in a newspaper of general
circulation published in the county in which the lake or any part of the
lake is located. The notice must state that, on the date set forth in the
notice, which may not be less than ten (10) days after the publication,
at a designated place in the county, the department will hold a hearing
on the request and any interested person appearing at the hearing will
have the right to be heard. The notice must contain a brief description
of the proposed work and a statement of the department's reasons for
refusing to issue a permit, and of the safeguards, if any, that the
department considers necessary to protect the water level of the lake.
The hearing shall be held by the director of the department or by the
director's designee. A hearing held under this subsection is a
nonevidentiary hearing. The rules of evidence and IC 4-21.5 do not
apply to the hearing.
(b) If the request of a county drainage board for a permit for a
project for the reconstruction and maintenance of a regulated drain
under IC 36-9-27 is refused, the department shall publish the public
notice required by subsection (a) within sixty (60) days after the permit
is refused.
SECTION 3.
IC 14-28-1-22
IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2002]: Sec. 22. (a) As used in
subsection (b)(1) with respect to a stream, "total length" means the
length of the stream, expressed in miles, from the confluence of the
stream with the receiving stream to the upstream or headward
extremity of the stream, as indicated by the solid or dashed, blue or
purple line depicting the stream on the most current edition of the
seven and one-half (7 1/2) minute topographic quadrangle map
published by the United States Geological Survey, measured along the
meanders of the stream as depicted on the map.
(b) (a) This section does not apply to the following:
(1) A reconstruction or maintenance project (as defined in
IC 36-9-27
) on a stream or an open regulated drain. if the total
length of the stream or open drain is not more than ten (10) miles.
(2) A construction or reconstruction project on a state or county
highway bridge in a rural area that crosses a stream having an
upstream drainage area of not more than fifty (50) square miles
and the relocation of utility lines associated with the construction
or reconstruction project if confined to an area not more than one
hundred (100) feet from the limits of the highway construction
right-of-way.
(3) The performance of an activity described in subsection (c)(1)
(b)(1) or (c)(2) (b)(2) by a surface coal mining operation that is
operated under a permit issued under IC 14-34.
(4) Any other activity that is determined by the commission,
according to rules adopted under
IC 4-22-2
, to pose not more than
a minimal threat to floodway areas.
this section to each river basin commission organized under:
(1)
IC 14-29-7
or
IC 13-2-27
(before its repeal); or
(2)
IC 14-30-1
or
IC 36-7-6
(before its repeal);
that is affected.
(i) (h) The permit holder shall post and maintain a permit issued
under this section at the authorized site.
SECTION 4.
IC 14-28-1-34
IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2002]: Sec. 34. A person who fails
to comply with section 22(i) 22(h) of this chapter commits a Class D
infraction. Each day a person violates section 22(i) 22(h) of this
chapter constitutes a separate infraction.
SECTION 5.
IC 36-9-27-53.5
IS AMENDED TO READ AS
FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2002]: Sec. 53.5. (a) A county
surveyor or board planning to perform a project for the reconstruction
or maintenance of a regulated drain under
IC 36-9-27
that:
(1) is subject to regulation under:
(A)
IC 14-26-5
; or
(B)
IC 14-28-1
; or
(2) requires an individual permit under Section 404 of the federal
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344);
shall request an onsite field review of the project through a written
notification of the division of water of the department of natural
resources (referred to as "the division" in this section).
(b) Not more than fourteen (14) days after it receives a notification
under subsection (a), the division shall contact the county surveyor or
the designee of the county surveyor and the department of
environmental management to establish a date, time, and location for
the onsite field review.
(c) The onsite field review shall be conducted by a team consisting
of:
(1) one (1) or more representatives of the county;
(2) one (1) or more representatives of the department of natural
resources, including an engineer from the division of water;
(3) one (1) or more representatives of the department of
environmental management; and
(4) if applicable, representatives of the local soil and water
conservation district.
(d) Not more than thirty (30) calendar days after the completion of
an onsite field review under this section, the division shall provide the
county surveyor with a written summary of the review. The summary
must contain the following:
(1) A narrative and map defining the project location.
conditions:
(1) are binding upon the department of natural resources; and
(2) may not be changed by the department of natural resources.
However, subdivisions (1) and (2) cease to apply to the permit
conditions disclosed under subsection (d)(3) concerning a project if an
application for a permit for the project is not submitted within two (2)
years after the onsite field review.
SECTION 6.
IC 14-8-2-281.5
IS REPEALED [EFFECTIVE JULY
1, 2002].