Section 155.12. Definitions.

  In this chapter:

(1)  "Applicant" means a governmental unit or Board of Regents when applying for a grant under this chapter.

(2)  "Board of Regents" means the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

(3)  "Certification" means that an authorized representative has attested in writing that the statement is true.

(4)  "Cost-effective" means economical in terms of the tangible benefits produced by the money spent. Tangible benefits include pollution control, fish and wildlife habitat enhancement, enhancements to recreation, public safety, economical operation, economical maintenance and enhanced life expectancy of the urban best management practice.

(5)  "Cost-share agreement" means the agreement established between the governmental unit and the cost-share recipient which identifies the urban best management practices to be used on the cost-share recipient's lands and the cost estimate, installation schedule and operation and maintenance requirements for these urban best management practices.

(6)  "Department" means the Wisconsin department of natural resources.

(7)  "Force account work" means the use of the governmental unit's or board of regent's own employees and equipment for project planning, design, construction, construction related activities, inspections, repair, or improvement to an urban best management practice.

(8)  "Governmental unit" means any unit of government including, but not limited to, a county, city, village, town, metropolitan sewerage district created under ss. 200.01 to 200.15 or 200.21 to 200.65 , Stats., town sanitary district, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district, regional planning commission or drainage district operating under ch. 89 , 1961 Stats., or ch. 88 , Stats. "Governmental unit" does not include the state or any state agency.

(9)  "Grant period" means the time period during which a governmental unit or the Board of Regents is eligible to incur eligible costs and obtain reimbursement from the department for a project under a runoff management grant agreement or a local assistance grant agreement.

(10)  "Grantee" means a governmental unit or the Board of Regents that receives funding from the department under a runoff management grant agreement or a local assistance grant agreement.

(11)  "Grantor" means the department when serving to provide funds under this chapter to a grantee.

(12)  "Landowner" means any individual, partnership, corporation, municipality or person holding title to land.

(13)  "Land operator" means any individual, partnership, corporation, municipality or person having possession of or holding a lease in land and is not a landowner.

(14)  "Local assistance grant agreement" means an agreement between the department and a governmental unit or the Board of Regents for the purpose of providing funds for staffing activities to carry out the tasks identified in an urban runoff project selected for funding under this chapter.

(15)  "Local share" means that portion of the best management practice installation cost funded under sources other than those authorized in s. 92.14 , 281.65 , 281.66 or 281.665 , Stats.

(16)  "Nonpoint source" means a land management activity which contributes to runoff, seepage or percolation which adversely affects or threatens the quality of waters of this state and which is not a point source under s. 283.01 (12) , Stats.

(17)  "Operation and maintenance period" means the length of time an urban best management practice included on a cost-share agreement or a runoff management grant agreement shall be operated and maintained.

(18)  "Point source" has the meaning in s. 283.01 (12) , Stats.

(19)  "Population" means population shown by the last federal census or by subsequent population estimate under s. 16.96 , Stats.

(20)  "Priority lake area" means a hydrologic unit which drains to a lake or group of lakes and serves as the project boundary for watershed projects identified through the process in s. 281.65 (3m) (b) , Stats., and implemented through the process in ch. NR 120 .

(21)  "Priority watershed" means any watershed that is identified under s. 281.65 (3) (am) or (4) (cm) or (co) , Stats.

(22)  "Priority watershed plan" means the detailed portion of the area-wide water quality management plans prepared for priority watersheds as described in s. NR 120.08 .

(23)  "Project" means an urban runoff project.

(24)  "Project area" means the geographic extent of a targeted runoff management project.

(25)  "Project completion" means the expiration date of a runoff management grant agreement.

(26)  "Provider" means a governmental unit when serving to administer cost-share funds through a cost-share agreement with a private landowner or land operator.

(27)  "Recipient" means the receiver of cost-share funds from a provider.

(28)  "Runoff management grant agreement" means an agreement entered into between the department and a governmental unit or the Board of Regents which establishes the terms under which funds are provided by the department for the installation of urban best management practices or the purchase of property or easements in an urban runoff project funded under this chapter.

(29)  "Source area" means a component of urban land use including rooftops, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, storage areas, streets and lawns from which urban runoff pollutants are generated during periods of snow melt and rainfall runoff.

(30)  "Structural urban best management practices" means detention basins, wet basins, infiltration basins and trenches and wetland basins.

(31)  "Urban area" means an area with a population density of 1,000 or more per square mile, or an area of industrial or commercial land uses, or an area that is surrounded by an area described in this definition.

(32)  "Urban best management practice" means structural urban best management practices and other source area measures, transport system and end-of-pipe measures designed to control storm water runoff rates, volumes and discharge quality.

(33)  "Urban runoff" means runoff from rainfall or snow melt that is either a point source discharge as defined under s. 283.01 (12) , Stats., or a nonpoint source discharge as defined under s. 281.65 (2) (b) , Stats.

(34)  "Watershed" means a region or area bounded peripherally by a divide and draining ultimately to a water of the state.

(35)  "Wetland" or "wetlands" has the meaning specified under s. 23.32 (1) , Stats.

(36)  "WPDES" means Wisconsin pollutant discharge elimination system.

CR 00-025 : cr. Register September 2002 No. 561 , eff. 10-1-02; CR 09-112 : am. (7) Register December 2010 No. 660 , eff. 1-1-11; 2015 Wis. Act 330 s. 20 : am. (1), (2), (9), (10), (14), (28) Register April 2016 No. 724 , eff. 5-1-16.