On December 22, 2011, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) revised the Virginia Impounding Structure Regulations (Regulations)¹ by extending the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Certificates for some dam owners by six years to allow additional time to construct necessary upgrades, which is helping to reduce the burden of the revised Regulations. To view the latest revision to the Regulations, click here.

The revised Regulations state that if a dam owner received an Alteration or Construction Permit prior to September 26, 2008 and completed construction for that dam before September 26, 2011, the owner will be considered compliant for the first full six-year permit cycle following the renewal of the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) certification.² This is beneficial to owners meeting these criteria, as Regulations previously required them to apply for a Regular six-year O&M certificate immediately upon completion of construction, which includes compliance with new current dam safety regulations. As mentioned previously, the 2011 revision now allows for an additional six years for owners to construct any necessary upgrades that are required to meet the new current regulations.

For example, if you received a permit on 2/1/08 and completed your alterations on 9/1/11, these alterations may not have brought the dam into compliance with the major Regulation changes that became effective on Sept. 26, 2008. However, under the revised Regulations you would still be able to receive your O&M renewal certification on 12/1/11 and be considered compliant with the Regulations until 12/1/17.

All other dam owners that do not meet the criteria outlined in the 2011 revision will need to have their structures analyzed to see what alterations may be necessary to keep their dams compliant with the current Regulations and renew their O&M Certificate prior to their individual expiration date.

If you have questions concerning compliance with Virginia dam safety regulations or would like to request an analysis of your dam, please contact Mike Marsala at 703-679-5600 or via email at mmarsala@wetlandstudies.com.

For detailed discussion from the Virginia Register of Regulations, click here.

For historical information leading up to major regulatory changes occurring in 2008, please see Field Notes Vol. 16, No. 6.

¹ These regulations do not reflect the most current revisions discussed in this article.

² This assumes all conditions of the permit and previous Operations and Maintenance Certificate have been met.