SUBCHAPTER 59h – COMMUNITY CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
FOR NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION CONTROL
Section .0100 – COMMUNITY CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
02 NCAC 59H .0101 PURPOSE
This Subchapter describes the operating procedures for the
division under the guidance of the commission implementing the Community
Conservation Assistance Program for Nonpoint Source Pollution Control.
Procedures and guidelines for participating districts are also described. The
purpose of the voluntary program is to reduce the delivery of nonpoint source
(NPS) pollution into the waters of the State.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-840; 106-860; 139‑4;
139‑8;
Eff. December 1, 2007;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0101 Eff. May 1, 2012.
02 NCAC 59H .0102 DEFINITIONS FOR
SUBCHAPTER 59H
The following terms used in this Subchapter have the
following meanings:
(1) Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution means pollution
originating from a diffuse source.
(2) Allocation means the annual share of the state's
appropriation to participating districts.
(3) Applicant means a person(s) who applies for best
management practice cost sharing monies from the district. An applicant may
also be referred to as a cooperator.
(4) Average Costs means the calculated cost, determined
by averaging actual costs and current cost estimates necessary for best
management practice implementation. Actual costs include labor, supplies, and
other direct costs required for physical installation of a practice.
(5) Best Management Practice (BMP) means a practice
used to reduce nonpoint source inputs to receiving waters, including both those
types of practices which are structural or nonstructural management practices.
(6) Conservation Plan of Operation (CPO) means a
written plan scheduling the applicant's decisions concerning land use, and both
cost shared and non‑cost shared BMPs to be installed and maintained on
the operating unit.
(7) Cost Share Agreement means an agreement between the
applicant and the district which defines the BMPs to be cost shared, rate and
amount of payment, minimum practice life, and date of BMP installation. The
agreement shall state that the recipient shall maintain and repair the
practice(s) for the specified minimum life of the practice. The Cost Share
Agreement shall have a maximum contract life of three years for BMP
installation. The district shall perform an annual status review during the
installation period.
(8) Cost Share Incentive (CSI) means a predetermined
fixed payment paid to an applicant for implementing a nonstructural management
BMP in lieu of cost share on a structural practice.
(9) Cost Share Rate means a cost share percentage paid
to an applicant for implementing BMPs.
(10) Detailed Implementation Plan means the plan approved
by the commission that specifies the guidelines for the current program year
pursuant to the Rules of the Commission.
(11) District BMP means a BMP designated by a district to
reduce the delivery of NPS pollution and which is reviewed and approved by the
Division to be technically adequate prior to funding.
(12) Encumbered Funds means monies from a district's
allocation, which have been committed to an applicant after initial approval of
the cost share agreement.
(13) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) means 2,080 hours per
annum which equals one full time technical position.
(14) In‑kind Contribution means a contribution by
the applicant towards the implementation of BMPs. In‑kind contributions
shall be approved by the district and may include labor, fuel, machinery use,
and supplies and materials necessary for implementing the approved BMPs.
(15) Landowner means any natural person or other legal
entity, including a governmental agency, who holds either an estate of freehold
(such as a fee simple absolute or a life estate) or an estate for years or from
year to year in land, but does not include an estate at will or by sufferance
in land. A governmental or quasi‑governmental agency such as a drainage
district or a soil and water conservation district, or any such agency, by
whatever name called, exercising similar powers for similar purposes, can be a
landowner for the purposes of this Subchapter if the governmental agency holds
an easement in land.
(16) Program Year means the period from July 1 through
June 30 for which funds are allocated to districts.
(17) Proper Maintenance means that a practice(s) is being
maintained such that the practice(s) is successfully performing the function
for which it was originally implemented.
(18) Strategy Plan means the annual plan for the
Community Conservation Assistance Program for Nonpoint Source Pollution Control
to be developed by each district. The plan identifies pollution treatment
needs and the level of cost sharing and technical assistance monies required to
address those annual needs in the respective district.
(19) Technical Representative of the district means a
person designated by the district to act on their behalf who participates in
the planning, design, implementation and inspection of BMPs.
(20) Unencumbered Funds means the portion of the
allocation to each district, which has not been committed for cost sharing.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-840; 106-860; 139‑4;
139‑8;
Eff. December 1, 2007;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0102 Eff. May 1, 2012.
02 NCAC 59H .0103 ALLOCATION GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES
(a) The Commission shall allocate the cost share funds to
the districts in the designated program areas. To receive fund allocations,
each district designated eligible by the commission shall submit an annual
strategy plan to the commission at the beginning of each fiscal year. Funds
may be allocated to each district and the Division for any or all of the
following purposes:
(1) Cost share and cost share incentive
payments,
(2) technical assistance and administrative
assistance, and
(3) statewide or local education and outreach
activities.
(b) The Commission shall consider the relative needs of the
program for BMP implementation, local technical assistance, and education to
determine the proportion of available funds to be allocated for each eligible
purpose prior to allocating funds to districts and the Division.
(c) Funds for cost share and cost share incentive payments
shall be allocated to the districts at the beginning of the fiscal year and
whenever the Commission determines that sufficient funds are available to
justify a reallocation. Districts shall be allocated monies based on the
identified level of nonpoint source pollution problems and the respective
district's BMP installation goals as demonstrated in the district annual
strategy plan. The allocation method used for disbursement of funds is based
on the score of each respective district for those parameters approved by the
Commission pursuant to Subparagraph (9) of this Paragraph. The points each
district scores on each parameter are totaled and proportioned to the total
dollars available under the current program year funding according to the
following formula:
(1) Sum of Parameter Points = Total
Points
(2) Percentage Total x Total
Dollars = Dollars Available
Points Each District Available to
Each District
(3) The minimum allocated to a particular
district shall be one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per program year,
unless the district requests less than one thousand five hundred dollars
($1,500).
(4) If a district requests less than the
dollars available to that district in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, then
the excess funds beyond those requested by the district shall be allocated to
the districts who did not receive their full requested allocation using the same
methodology described in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph.
(5) 95 percent of the total program funding
shall be allocated to the district accounts in the initial allocation. The
Division shall retain five percent of the total funding in a contingency fund
to be used to respond to an emergency or natural disaster. If the funds are
not needed to respond to an emergency, then the contingency fund shall be
allocated at the March meeting of the Commission.
(6) The Commission may recall funds allocated
to a district during a fiscal year that have not been encumbered to an
agreement at any time if it determines the recalled funds are needed to respond
to an emergency or natural disaster.
(7) At any time a district may submit a revised
strategy plan and apply to the Commission for additional funds.
(8) CPOs that encumber funds under the current
year must be submitted to the Division by 5:00 p.m. on the first Wednesday in
June.
(9) Districts shall be allocated funds based on
their respective data for each of the following parameters:
(A) Relative rank of the number of miles of stream
identified as less than fully supporting due to nonpoint source pollution as
reported in the North Carolina Water Quality Assessment and Impaired Waters
List and the most recent Basinwide Water Quality Plan for each river basin, where
the source of pollution is not solely due to agriculture. (20 percent) The
North Carolina Water Quality Assessment and Impaired Waters list and the
Basinwide Water Quality Plans are produced by the Division of Water Quality.
(B) Relative rank of the percentage of the county
draining to waters classified as Outstanding Resource Waters, High Quality
Waters, Trout, or Shellfishing (open) on the current schedule of Water Quality
Standards and Classifications. (20 percent)
(C) The percentage of each county covered by NPDES Phase
I and Phase II requirements. (20 percent)
(D) Relative rank of population density for the county. (20
percent)
(E) Relative rank of the percentage of a county's land
area that is located within drinking water assessment areas, as delineated by
the Public Water Supply Section of the Division of Environmental Health. (20
percent)
(d) The funds available for technical and administrative
assistance shall be allocated by the Commission based on the needs as expressed
by the district and needs to accelerate the installation of BMPs in the
respective district. Each district may use these monies to fund new positions
or to accelerate present technical assistance. Districts must provide an
itemized budget to the division in order to qualify for technical assistance
funds. N.C. Community Conservation Assistance Program technical assistance
funds may be used for technical assistance with the district matching at least
50 percent of the total. Each district to which funds are allocated for
technical assistance shall demonstrate to the Commission that matching funds
are available prior to any expenditure of funds. The allocation method used
for disbursement of funds is based on the score of each respective district for
those parameters approved by the Commission pursuant to Subparagraph (4) of
this Paragraph. The points each district scores for each parameter are totaled
and proportioned to the total dollars available under the current program year
funding according to the following formula:
(1) Sum of Parameter Points = Total
Points
(2) Percentage Total x Total
Dollars = Dollars Available
Points Each District Available to
Each District
(3) If a district requests less than the dollars
available to that district in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph, then the
excess funds beyond those requested by the district shall be allocated to the
districts who did not receive their full requested allocation using the same
methodology described in Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph.
(4) Priority for funding shall be based upon
the following parameters:
(A) Whether the position is presently funded by
Community Conservation Assistance Program technical assistance funds. (25
percent)
(B) The proportion of Community Conservation Assistance
Program funds for cost share and cost share incentive allocated to districts
served by this technical assistance request (normalized to 1 to 100 scale by
multiplying each district's score by a factor such that the product of the
highest score for this parameter is 100) (50 percent), and
(C) The amount of additional funds leveraged by grants
and other funds committed to districts served by this technical assistance
request (normalized to 1 to 100 scale by multiplying each district's score by a
factor such that the product of the highest score for this parameter is 100). (25
percent)
(5) Subject to availability of funds and local
match, provide support for technical assistance for every district.
(6) District technicians may be jointly funded
by more than one district to accelerate the program in each participating
district. Each district must be eligible for cost sharing in the program.
Requests for funding (salary, FICA, insurance, etc.) of a shared position must
be presented to the division by all concerned districts and the division shall
cost share to the billing district at a 50‑50 rate based on the portion
of the FTE provided each respective district. A shared position must be
officially housed in one specific district and cost share for support items
(office rent, telephone, etc.) shall be paid to one district only.
(7) Funds, if available, may be allocated to
each participating district to provide for administrative costs under this
program. These funds shall be used for clerical assistance and other related
program administrative costs and shall be matched with in‑kind funds of
an equal amount from the district.
(e) The funds available for the education and outreach
purpose shall be allocated by the Commission based on the needs as expressed by
the district and needs to accelerate the installation of BMPs in that
respective district. Districts and the Division may use these funds for
holding workshops for potential applicants and for developing, duplicating, and
distributing outreach materials or signs. Districts must provide an itemized
budget to the Division in order to qualify for education and outreach funds.
Education and outreach funds shall be allocated to each district in accordance
with the following formula:
(1) Each district shall receive the lesser of
one thousand dollars ($1,000) or the result of the following equation:
Total Dollars Available
x
Total Dollars Requested
by Each District
÷
Total Dollars Requested
by All Districts
=
Dollars Available to Each District
(2) If more funds are available for allocation
than are requested by districts or the Division, then the excess funds shall be
added to the funds to be allocated for cost share and cost share incentive
payments.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-840; 106-860; 139‑4;
139‑8;
Eff. January 1, 2008;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0103 Eff. May 1, 2012.
02 NCAC 59H .0104 BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ELIGIBLE FOR
COST SHARE PAYMENTS
(a) BMPs eligible for cost sharing are restricted to those
BMPs listed in the Detailed Implementation Plan approved by the commission for
the current program year. BMPs shall meet the following criteria to be listed
in the Detailed Implementation Plan:
(1) All eligible BMPs must be designed to
reduce the input of nonpoint source pollution into the water courses of the
state.
(2) Information establishing the average cost
of the specified BMP must be available. District BMPs may use actual costs as
indicated by receipts, if average costs are not available.
(3) Eligible BMPs shall have technical
specifications as set forth in Paragraph (b) of this Rule.
(b) BMP definitions and specifications shall be determined
by the Commission using the process outlined in 02 NCAC 59G .0103 Approval of
Best Management Practices.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-840; 106-860; 139‑4;
139‑8;
Eff. December 1, 2007;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0104 Eff. May 1, 2012.
02 NCAC 59h .0105 COST SHARE AND INCENTIVE PAYMENTS
(a) Cost share and incentive payments shall be made through
Cost Share Agreements between the district and the applicant.
(b) For all practices except those eligible for CSI, the
state shall provide a percentage of the average cost for BMP installation not
to exceed the maximum cost share percentages shown in subdivision (4) of G.S.
143-215.74M(b),and the applicant shall contribute the remainder of the cost.
In‑kind contributions by the applicant shall be included in the
applicants' cost share contribution. In‑kind contributions shall be
specified in the agreement for cost sharing and shall be approved by the
district.
(c) CSI payments shall be limited to a maximum of three
years per applicant per incentive practice.
(d) Average installation costs for each comparative area or
region of the state and the amount of cost share incentive payments shall be
updated and revised at least triennially by the Division for approval by the
Commission.
(e) The total annual cost share payments to an applicant
shall not exceed the maximum funding authorized in subdivision (4) of G.S.
143-215.74M(b).
(f) Cost share payments to implement BMPs under this
program may be combined with other funding programs, as long as the combined
cost share rate does not exceed the amount and percentages set forth in
Paragraphs (b) and (e) of this Rule. Community Conservation Assistance Program
funding shall not exceed the maximum cost share percentages shown in
subdivision (4) of G.S. 143-215.74M(b).
(g) Use of cost share payments is restricted to land
located within the county approved for funding by the Commission. However, in
the situation where an applicant's land is not located solely within a county,
the entire tract, if contiguous, is eligible for cost share payments.
(h) The district Board of Supervisors may approve Cost
Share Agreements with cost share percentages or cost sharing amounts less than
the maximum allowable in subdivision (4) of G.S. 143-215.74M(b) if:
(1) The Commission allocates insufficient cost
share BMP funding to the district to enable it to award funding to all
applicants; or
(2) The district establishes other criteria in
its annual strategy plan for cost sharing percentages or cost sharing amounts
less than those allowable in subdivision (4) of G.S. 143-215.74M(b).
(i) For purposes of determining eligible payments under
practice-specific caps described in the detailed implementation plan, all
business entities with which the applicant is associated by ownership or
partnership interest, including those in other counties, shall be considered
the same applicant for purposes of calculating caps.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-840; 106-860; 139‑4;
139‑8;
Eff. December 1, 2007;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0105 Eff. May 1, 2012.
02 NCAC 59H .0106 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FUNDS
(a) Technical assistance funds may be used for salary,
benefits, social security, field equipment and supplies, office rent, office
equipment and supplies, postage, telephone service, travel and mileage or for a
contracted technical employee.
(b) Technical assistance funds may not be used to fund
provision of service by any technical assistance local district personnel who
do not meet the following minimum requirements:
(1) associates degree in engineering,
agriculture, forestry or related field, or
(2) high school diploma with two years
experience in the fields listed in Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph, or
(c) Cost shared positions must be used to accelerate the
program activities in the district. A district technician cost shared with
program funds may work on other activities as delegated by the field office
supervisor but the total hours charged to the program by field office personnel
must equal or exceed those hours funded through the program. Also, these hours
must be in addition to those hours normally spent in BMP planning and
installation by district personnel.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-840; 106-860; 139‑4;
139‑8;
Eff. December 1, 2007;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0106 Eff. May 1, 2012.
02 NCAC 59h .0107 COST SHARE AGREEMENT
(a) The landowner shall be required to sign the agreement
for all practices. An applicant who is not the landowner may submit a long
term written lease or other legal document, indicating control over the land in
lieu of the landowner's signature, provided the control runs the life of the
practice as listed in the respective Program Year's Implementation Plan.
Signature on the agreement constitutes responsibility for BMP maintenance and
continuation.
(b) As a condition for receiving cost share or cost share
incentive payments for implementing BMP's, the applicant shall agree to
continue and maintain those practices for the minimum life as set forth in the
Detailed Implementation Plan, effective the date the BMP's are implemented.
(c) As a condition for receiving cost share payments, the
applicant shall agree to submit a soil test sample for analysis and follow the
fertilizer application recommendations as close as reasonably and practically
possible.
(d) The technical representative of the district shall
determine if the practice(s) implemented have been installed according to
specifications approved by the Commission pursuant to 02 NCAC 59G .0103 or by
the Division for district BMP's based on the criteria established in 02 NCAC
59G .0103(c). The district shall be responsible for making an annual spot
check of five percent of all cost share agreements for which the required BMP
maintenance period has not expired.
(e) If the technical representative of the district
determines that a BMP for which program funds were received has been destroyed
or has not been properly maintained, the applicant will be notified that the
BMP must be repaired or re-implemented within 30 working days. For vegetative
practices, applicants are given one calendar year to re-establish the
vegetation. The district may grant a prescribed extension period if it
determines compliance can not be met due to circumstances beyond the applicants
control.
(f) If the practices are not repaired or reimplemented
within the specified time, the applicant shall be required to repay to the
Division a prorated refund for cost share BMPs as shown in Table 1 and 100
percent of the cost share incentive payments received.
Table
1
PRORATED
REFUND SCHEDULE FOR NONCOMPLIANCE
OF
COST SHARE PAYMENTS
Percent Age of Practice Life Percent
Refund
0 100
10 95
20 89
30 82
40 74
50 65
60 55
70 44
80 31
90 17
100 0
(g) An applicant, who has been found in noncompliance and
who does not agree to repair or reimplement the cost shared practices, and a
District may jointly request the commission to informally mediate the case. To
invoke this method of mediation, both parties must stipulate that the
commission mediation is binding.
(h) An applicant shall have 180 days to make repayment to
the Division following the final appeals process.
(i) The inability to properly maintain cost shared
practices or the destruction of such practices through no fault of the
applicant shall not be considered as noncompliance with the cost share
agreement.
(j) When land under cost share agreement changes owners the
new landowner shall be strongly encouraged by the district to accept the
remaining maintenance obligation. If the new landowner does not accept the
maintenance requirements in writing, then the original applicant shall be
required to refund 100% of all CSI payments and a prorated portion of cost
share payments in accordance with Table 1 in paragraph (f) of this rule.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-860; 139-4; 139‑8;
Eff. June 1, 2008;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0107 Eff. May 1, 2012.
02 NCAC 59h .0108 DISTRICT PROGRAM OPERATION
(a) As a component of the annual strategy plan district
shall prioritize all natural resource concerns according to pollution
potential. The district shall target technical and financial assistance to facilitate
BMP implementation on the identified critical areas.
(b) Priority by the district may be given to implementing
systems of BMP's which provide the most cost effective reduction of nonpoint
source pollution.
(c) All applicants shall apply to the district and complete
the necessary forms in order to receive cost share payments.
(d) The district shall review each application and the
feasibility of each application. The district shall review and approve the
evaluation and assign priority for cost sharing. All applicants shall be
informed of cost share approval or denial.
(e) Upon approval of the application by the district, the
applicant and the district shall enter into a cost share agreement. The cost
share agreement shall list the practices to be cost shared with state funds.
The agreement shall also include the average cost of the recommended
practice(s), cost incentive payment of the practice(s), and the expected
implementation date of the practice(s). The district shall develop CPOs, which
shall become a part of the cost share agreement.
(f) Upon completion of practice(s) implementation, the
technical representative of the district shall notify the district of
compliance with design specifications.
(g) Upon notification, the district shall review the CPO.
Upon approval, the district shall certify the practices in the CPO and notify
the Division to make payment to the applicant.
(h) Upon receipt of a quarterly statement from the
district, the Division shall reimburse to the district the appropriate amount
for technical and clerical assistance.
(i) The district shall be responsible for and approve all
BMP inspections as set forth in Rule .0107(d) of this Section to insure proper
maintenance and continuation under the cost share agreement.
(j) The district shall keep appropriate records dealing
with the program.
History Note: Authority G.S. 106-840;
Eff. March 1, 2008;
Transferred from 15A NCAC 06I .0108 Eff. May 1, 2012.