Section 155-E:4-a Minimum and Express Operational Standards. - New Hampshire Statutes

It shall be a violation of this chapter for any person to excavate, or for any owner to permit excavation on his excavation site, when such excavation is subject to a permit under this chapter, without complying with the following minimum standards or when such excavation is not subject to a permit under this chapter pursuant to RSA 155-E:2 without complying with the following express standards:
   I. No excavation shall be permitted below road level within 50 feet of the right of way of any public highway as defined in RSA 229:1 unless such excavation is for the purpose of said highway.
   II. No excavation shall be permitted within 50 feet of the boundary of a disapproving abutter, within 150 feet of any dwelling which either existed or for which a building permit has been issued at the time the excavation is commenced.
   II-a. No excavation shall be permitted within 75 feet of any great pond, navigable river, or any other standing body of water 10 acres or more in area or within 25 feet of any other stream, river or brook which normally flows throughout the year, or any naturally occurring standing body of water less than 10 acres, prime wetland as designated in accordance with RSA 482-A:15, I or any other wetland greater than 5 acres in area as defined by the department of environmental services.
   III. Vegetation shall be maintained or provided within the peripheral areas required by paragraphs I and II.
   IV. Drainage shall be maintained so as to prevent the accumulation of free-standing water for prolonged periods. Excavation practices which result in continued siltation of surface waters or any degradation of water quality of any public or private water supplies are prohibited.
   V. No fuels, lubricants, or other toxic or polluting materials shall be stored on-site unless in compliance with state laws or rules pertaining to such materials.
   VI. Where temporary slopes will exceed a grade of 1:1, a fence or other suitable barricade shall be erected to warn of danger or limit access to the site.
   VII. Prior to the removal of topsoil or other overburden material from any land area that has not yet been excavated, the excavator shall file a reclamation bond or other security as prescribed by the regulator, sufficient to secure the reclamation of the land area to be excavated.
   VIII. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to supersede or preempt applicable environmental standards or permit requirements contained in other state laws, and no exemption under this chapter shall be construed as an exemption from any other state statute.

Source. 1989, 363:9. 1991, 310:14-17. 1996, 296:36, eff. Aug. 9, 1996.