Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 391-3-18-.03 - Environmentally Sensitive Property

(1) Environmentally sensitive property includes real property that meets the definition of one or more categories of paragraph (2) and where the primary use of such property is:

(a) for categories (2)(a) through (2)(f), maintenance in its natural condition; or

(b) for categories (2)(a) through (2)(c), enhancing the water quality of surface or ground waters; or

(c) for category (2)(g), controlling or abating pollution of surface or ground waters by storm water runoff or otherwise enhancing the water quality of surface or ground waters.

(2) In accordance with O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(a)(2), the categories of environmentally sensitive property are:

(a) Mountainous Terrain, defined as any land area 1,000 feet or more above the lowest elevation of the county in which such area is located that has a percentage slope of 25 percent or greater, including the crests, summits, and ridge tops which lie at elevations higher than any such area;

(b) Wetland areas that are determined by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to be wetlands under their jurisdiction pursuant to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, as amended, or wetland areas that are depicted or delineated on maps compiled by the Department or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to its National Wetlands Inventory Program;

(c) Significant groundwater recharge areas as identified on maps or data compiled by the Department;

(d) Undeveloped barrier islands or portions thereof as provided for in the federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act, as amended;

(e) Habitats certified by the Department as containing species that have been listed as either endangered or threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended;

(f) River or stream corridors or buffers which shall be defined as those undeveloped lands which are:

1. Adjacent to rivers and perennial streams that are within the 100 year flood plain as depicted on official maps prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; or

2. Within buffer zones adjacent to rivers or perennial streams, which buffer zones are established by law or local ordinance and within which land-disturbing activity is prohibited; and

(g) Constructed storm-water wetlands of the free-water surface type certified by the Department under O.C.G.A. § 12-2-4(k) and approved for such use by the local governing authority.

Notes

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 391-3-18-.03

O.C.G.A. §§ 48-5-7.4, 12-2-4(k), 12-2-24(a) .

Original Rule entitled "Environmentally Sensitive Lands" adopted. F. Feb. 7, 1992; eff. Feb. 27, 1992. Amended: New title "Environmentally Sensitive Property." F. July 22, 2019; eff. August 11, 2019.