Virginia Law

For the purposes of this article only, the following words and terms have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Aquatic bench" means a 10-foot to 15-foot wide bench around the inside perimeter of a permanent pool that ranges in depth from zero to 12 inches. Vegetated with emergent plants, the bench augments pollutant removal, provides habitats, conceals trash and water level fluctuations, and enhances safety.

"Average land cover condition" means a measure of the average amount of impervious surfaces within a watershed, assumed to be 16% or a calculated watershed-specific value for the average land cover condition as approved by the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board prior to September 13, 2011.

"Bioretention basin" means a water quality BMP engineered to filter the water quality volume (i) through an engineered planting bed consisting of a vegetated surface layer (vegetation, mulch, ground cover), planting soil, and sand bed and (ii) into the in-situ material.

"Bioretention filter" means a bioretention basin with the addition of a sand filter collector pipe system beneath the planting bed.

"Constructed wetlands" means areas intentionally designed and created to emulate the water quality improvement function of wetlands for the primary purpose of removing pollutants from stormwater.

"Development" means a tract of land developed or to be developed as a unit under single ownership or unified control that is to be used for any business or industrial purpose or is to contain three or more residential dwelling units.

"Grassed swale" means an earthen conveyance system that is broad and shallow with erosion resistant grasses and check dams, engineered to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff by filtration through grass and infiltration into the soil.

"Infiltration facility" means a stormwater management facility that temporarily impounds runoff and discharges it via infiltration through the surrounding soil. While an infiltration facility may also be equipped with an outlet structure to discharge impounded runoff, such discharge is normally reserved for overflow and other emergency conditions. Since an infiltration facility impounds runoff only temporarily, it is normally dry during nonrainfall periods. Infiltration basin, infiltration trench, infiltration dry well, and porous pavement shall be considered infiltration facilities.

"Layout" means a conceptual drawing sufficient to provide for the specified stormwater management facilities required at the time of approval.

"Nonpoint source pollutant runoff load" or "pollutant discharge" means the average amount of a particular pollutant measured in pounds per year, delivered in a diffuse manner by stormwater runoff.

"Planning area" means a designated portion of the parcel on which the land development project is located. Planning areas shall be established by delineation on a master plan. Once established, planning areas shall be applied consistently for all future projects.

"Sand filter" means a contained bed of sand that acts to filter the first flush of runoff. The runoff is then collected beneath the sand bed and conveyed to an adequate discharge point or infiltrated into the in-situ soils.

"Shallow marsh" means a zone within a stormwater extended detention basin that exists from the surface of the normal pool to a depth of six to 18 inches, and has a large surface area and, therefore, requires a reliable source of baseflow, groundwater supply, or a sizeable drainage area to maintain the desired water surface elevations to support emergent vegetation.

"Stormwater detention basin" or "detention basin" means a stormwater management facility that temporarily impounds runoff and discharges it through a hydraulic outlet structure to a downstream conveyance system. While a certain amount of outflow may also occur via infiltration through the surrounding soil, such amounts are negligible when compared to the outlet structure discharge rates and are, therefore, not considered in the facility's design. Since a detention facility impounds runoff only temporarily, it is normally dry during nonrainfall periods.

"Stormwater extended detention basin" or "extended detention basin" means a stormwater management facility that temporarily impounds runoff and discharges it through a hydraulic outlet structure over a specified period of time to a downstream conveyance system for the purpose of water quality enhancement or stream channel erosion control. While a certain amount of outflow may also occur via infiltration through the surrounding soil, such amounts are negligible when compared to the outlet structure discharge rates and, therefore, are not considered in the facility's design. Since an extended detention basin impounds runoff only temporarily, it is normally dry during nonrainfall periods.

"Stormwater extended detention basin-enhanced" or "extended detention basin-enhanced" means an extended detention basin modified to increase pollutant removal by providing a shallow marsh in the lower stage of the basin.

"Stormwater retention basin" or "retention basin" means a stormwater management facility that includes a permanent impoundment, or normal pool of water, for the purpose of enhancing water quality and, therefore, is normally wet even during nonrainfall periods. Storm runoff inflows may be temporarily stored above this permanent impoundment for the purpose of reducing flooding or stream channel erosion.

"Stormwater retention basin I" or "retention basin I" means a retention basin with the volume of the permanent pool equal to three times the water quality volume.

"Stormwater retention basin II" or "retention basin II" means a retention basin with the volume of the permanent pool equal to four times the water quality volume.

"Stormwater retention basin III" or "retention basin III" means a retention basin with the volume of the permanent pool equal to four times the water quality volume with the addition of an aquatic bench.

"Vegetated filter strip" means a densely vegetated section of land engineered to accept runoff as overland sheet flow from upstream development. It shall adopt any natural vegetated form, from grassy meadow to small forest. The vegetative cover facilitates pollutant removal through filtration, sediment deposition, infiltration, and absorption and is dedicated for that purpose.

"Water quality volume" means the volume equal to the first 1/2-inch of runoff multiplied by the impervious surface of the land development project.