Erosion Control Plan:No erosion control plan was required by local erosion and sedimentation control standards and codes for this project, as the site was not sufficiently disturbed, nor impervious area increased, to require one. Therefore, no "Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan" was shown on any construction drawings. However, because the project intends to earn LEED certification, much attention has been paid to preventing loss of soil to wind or water during construction. Our team plans to demonstrate compliance with this prerequisite by documenting, in narrative form, how it complied with the provisions of the 2003 EPA Construction General Permit requirements.Disturbed Site Area:The total site occupies 11, 446 square feet (.26 acres); this LEED project was a major renovation of one of two existing buildings and its immediate surrounding area sitting on 3,990 square feet of the total site. Within this work area, only 1,083 square feet of earth was disturbed (less than 10% of the total site area). Earthwork disturbance involved laying new sidewalk, repair of an existing retaining wall, installation of new drop inlets and installation of foundation waterproofing. A site plan will be provided in our LEED application.Work performed and measures taken:Approximately 750 cubic-feet of soil were removed to accomplish work described above. Said soil was deposited on tarps and covered to prevent wash-away or contamination. Following successful completion of below-grade work, some of the soil was returned as on-site fill. A large portion (approx 639 cubic-feet) was hauled away and used as clean fill by Renewable Resources, Inc. All soil was tested for lead content and shown to be safe for re-use.New Drop Inlets:Three new drop inlets were installed in the yard to facilitate drainage and prevent excess water from congregating around the foundations. Following installation, these inlets were covered for the remainder of construction to prevent soils from entering drainage system.New Plantings:All areas where soil was disturbed were planted with new landscaping suitable to stabilize soils. A Landscape Plan will be provided in our LEED application.Run-off:By virtue of the above listed measures it was observed that no soils washed off the site, wind erosion was minimized, and no contaminants were introduced into the aquifer.Question:Please confirm that our approach to documenting compliance with SSp1 through the narrative above will be acceptable to the USGBC. If not acceptable, please advise what documentation will be required to demonstrate compliance.
The applicant is requesting confirmation of compliance with SSp1 requirements, although the project did not have an Erosion and Sedimentation Control (ESC) Plan. The area of disturbance was relatively small and therefore the project was not required by local standards and codes to have an ESC Plan.
The requirement of the prerequisite is to create an Erosion and Sedimentation Control (ESC) Plan for all construction activities associated with the project. The ESC Plan should conform to the erosion and sedimentation requirements of the 2003 EPA Construction General Permit (see www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/chap03_conguide.pdf for more information) or local erosion and sedimentation control standards and codes, whichever is more stringent. Where no local standards and codes are present, the plan must conform to the requirements of the 2003 EPA Construction General Permit ("While the Construction General Permit only applies to construction sites greater than 1 acre, the requirements are applied to all projects for the purposes of this prerequisite.") If the project can demonstrate that measures implemented conform with Construction General Permit requirements and the objectives identified in the prerequisite, the prerequisite may be achieved.