3 Del. Admin. Code § 401-5.0

Current through Register Vol. 28, No. 5, November 1, 2024

Section 401-5.0 - Regulatory Procedures

5.1 Operators and buyers will provide written notification to Delaware Forest Service (DFS) at least 10 business days prior to the initiation of covered silvicultural operations greater than or equal to 43,560 square feet of area (1 acre).

5.2 Operators and buyers will notify the Department by completing and signing Delaware's Forestry Practices Erosion and Sediment Law Notification Form and Permit, as provided by the Delaware Forest Service (DFS). No covered silvicultural activity will start prior to the date that an Erosion & Sediment Control Permit is approved.

5.3 This notification form will include:

5.3.1 The forest land acreage and type of covered silvicultural activity planned;

5.3.2 Statement that land will remain under forest management;

5.3.3 Signed statements stating the operators' intent to use forestry BMPs to prevent pollution;

5.3.4 Specific Forestry BMPs to be used on the site;

5.3.5 Maps of the site, including location of any water bodies, streams, ponds, Streamside Management Zones, roads, stream crossings, landings, and other pertinent site specific information as appropriate;

5.3.6 Estimated start and completion dates;

5.3.7 County tax parcel identification number; and

5.3.8 Whether the property is covered by the Delaware Seed Tree Law and, if so, how the owner intends to reforest the property.

5.4 Notification forms will be sent to the local Delaware Forest Service office for the county in which the activity is to occur. Technical assistance, forms, topographic maps, and other assistance are available at these offices as well.

5.4.1 Kent County:

Delaware Department of Agriculture Forest Service

2320 South Dupont Highway

Dover, DE 19901

(302) 698-4500 In-state 1-800-282-8685

5.4.2 Sussex County:

Redden State Forest

18074 Redden Forest Drive

Georgetown, DE 19947

(302) 856-2893

5.4.3 New Castle County:

Blackbird State Forest

502 Blackbird Forest Road

Smyrna, DE 19977

(302) 653-6505

5.5 The Delaware Forest Service will approve, approve with modifications, or deny all applications within 10 business days of their receipt. In cases where denial of the application is issued, the Delaware Forest Service will provide technical assistance to the landowner, buyer, or operator to develop modifications necessary to bring the application into compliance.

5.6 The operator on the site is responsible for following BMPs as indicated on the Erosion and Sediment Law Notification Form and Permit until a forester has made a final inspection of the site and issued a final inspection report on BMP Site Inspection Form.

5.7 A copy of the approved Erosion and Sediment Law Notification Form and Permit shall be kept on the site at all times during the harvest operation and shown on demand to any forester or DNREC Environmental Protection Officer.

5.8 The permittee/operator shall, following the approval of the Delaware's Forestry Practices Erosion and Sediment Law Notification Form and Permit, provide the DFS with the following notifications of intent:

5.8.1 Starting a permitted harvest operation - not less than 2 days prior to desired start date.

5.8.2 Completion of the harvest operation - not less than 1 day prior to completion.

5.8.3 Returning to a site if the operator has vacated the site for weather-related or similar reasons - not less than 1 day prior to return.

5.9 Special Consideration - Streamside Management Zones:

5.9.1 All open water bodies, perennial streams, intermittent streams with a well-defined channel, and streams that have been hydrologically modified by dredging or straightening, and have no established maintenance right-of-way, shall have a Streamside Management Zone (SMZ), unless the property or a portion of the property is covered by an approved Delaware Seed Tree Law application ( 3 Del.C.Ch. 10, Subchapter V) and is located on slopes of less than 3%.

5.9.2 A Streamside Management Zone shall not be required on any water bodies not specified in subsection 5.9.1 as long as Best Management Practices are followed to prevent the movement of sediment and debris into the ditch. The alteration of any berm or bank, structure, or control inlet culvert in or adjacent to tax ditches, as defined by Delaware Code Title 7, Chapter 41, is prohibited unless written approval from both the appropriate tax ditch managers and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), Division of Soil and Water Conservation, Drainage Section is obtained. The use of a tax ditch right-of-way, as defined by Delaware Code Title 7, Chapter 41, as a skid trail is prohibited.

5.9.3 The minimum width for an SMZ is 50 feet, measured in lineal feet perpendicular from the edge (top of the bank or channel) on either side of a qualifying water body as defined in subsection 5.9.1. Listed in this subsection are the minimum SMZ widths based on slope. Slope shall be defined as average slope of 100 contiguous feet measured on a horizontal plane perpendicular to the water body. All slope measurements shall begin at the crest of the water body, thus measurements adjacent to channelized streams will begin at top of the channel. SMZ width is measured in linear feet perpendicular from the perimeter of the water body. For tidal waters, the high water line should be used as the perimeter. The SMZ must be plainly designated with surveyors ribbon or durable paint before submitting the permit application.

Minimum Streamside Management Zone Width

Percent Slope

0-10% 11- 20% 21- 45%

Horizontal distance 50 feet 75 feet 100 feet

5.9.4 Within a Streamside Management Zone, at least 60 square feet of basal area per acre of trees well distributed throughout the area shall be retained, or at least 60% of the forestry. These trees should be equally divided among diameter classes. The landowner may desire to leave up to 80% of the crown cover to provide shading for streams.

5.9.5 Felling trees across a perennial or intermittent stream, or hydrologically modified channel, and dragging any part of the tree over or through the stream channel is not permitted. Any occurrence shall result in the operator making immediate repairs to the waterway bank. All trees will be felled away from the SMZ to avoid depositing logging debris in the SMZ.

5.9.6 The remainder of the specifications for Streamside Management Zones is found in Delaware's Forestry Best Management Practices Manual, September 1995, Document Control No. 65-01-04/95/09/01. Copies of this manual and current topographic maps are available at all Delaware Forest Service offices.

5.10 Special Consideration - Multiple Silvicultural Practices:

5.10.1 If more than 1 silvicultural activity is covered by an approved Forestry Practices E & S permit, the landowner will notify the local Delaware Forest Service office at least 10 business days prior to the initiation of the subsequent operation. For example, if an E & S permit is approved for the harvesting operation and shearing and piling, the local DFS office must be notified 10 business days before starting the shearing and piling operation.

5.11 Special Consideration - Adverse Weather Conditions:

The notification form, which becomes the E&S permit once approved, requires projected start and completion dates. Should environmental conditions create circumstances which either delay or accelerate the projected start or completion of operations, the operator or landowner will verbally notify the local DDAFS office. One example of such a circumstance is excessive rain causing saturated soils during forest harvest operations; as a result to comply with BMPs, operations are terminated with plans to resume the operations in the drier summer months.

3 Del. Admin. Code § 401-5.0

17 DE Reg. 722 (1/1/2014)
28 DE Reg. 287 (10/1/2024) (Final)