Virginia Law

A. The design guidelines set forth in Part III (9VAC25-790-310 et seq.) of this chapter specify general criteria and minimum standards for the design and construction of sewerage systems and treatment works and are not intended to be used as a substitute for engineering experience and judgment used in accordance with standards of practice.

B. Additional standards. The director may impose standards and requirements which are more stringent than those contained in Part III of this chapter when required for critical areas or special conditions. Any such special standards and requirements including those associated with a State Revolving Loan program shall take precedence over the criteria in Part III of this chapter and will be items that warrant careful consideration at the preliminary engineering conference referenced in this chapter. Designs submitted for sewerage systems or treatment works must demonstrate that the system or works will adequately safeguard public health and welfare and will comply with the CTO and VPDES or VPA permit requirements, as appropriate.

C. Substantial compliance. Submissions that are in substantial compliance with Part III (9VAC25-790-310 et seq.) of this chapter or additional requirements of the department as noted above will be approved. Justification for a design may be required for those portions of the submitted design which differ from these criteria. The design engineer shall identify and justify noncompliance with specific design standards or "shall" criteria that the department identifies, or that the design engineer, in his judgment, believes to be substantial in nature. The department may request changes in designs that are not in substantial compliance with Part III of this chapter and that are not adequately justified by the engineer/owner.

D. Exceptions. Compliance with Part III of this chapter will not be required for sewerage systems or treatment works that have received the approval of the Virginia Department of Health and the board and on which modifications and construction have been commenced prior to February 27, 2002, or January 1, 2008, for biosolids use facilities. Construction or modification of sewerage systems or treatment works is deemed to be commenced for purposes of this chapter upon receipt of complete final engineering documents by the area engineer. The fact that significant work was accomplished on a specific project prior to adoption of this chapter and standards contained in this chapter shall be a consideration when evaluating applications.