Calaveras County Municipal Code Art. II Permits

A. No person shall undertake to dig, bore or drill any well, including but not limited to a water well, test hole, monitoring well, cathodic protection well, groundwater monitoring well or geothermal heat exchange well, or to deepen, perforate or re-perforate such a well, or to abandon or destroy such a well, unless the person responsible for that construction, alteration, destruction, or abandonment possesses a C-57 water well drilling contractor license.

B. All other work on wells shall be performed by the property owner or an individual under the appropriate license as issued by the contractors state license board.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

A. No person, whether as principal, or authorized agent thereof, shall commence to dig, bore or drill a new well or to deepen, seal, perforate, re-perforate, abandon or destroy, or otherwise commence work on a well in Calaveras County without first having received a permit to do such work.

B. An application for a well permit shall be made in such a manner and on such forms as deemed necessary by the director. An application for a permit does not constitute a permit.

C. When a well permit is issued, the director may impose any condition deemed necessary to comply with the requirements of this chapter, to protect groundwater resources, or to protect public health and safety.

D. All well permits shall be valid for one year from the date of site approval. The director, upon receipt of a written request documenting exceptional circumstances, may grant the applicant an extension of up to one year. Upon expiration of the permit, no further work shall be done, unless and until the applicant has received an extension or has received a new permit.

E. A well permit, when issued, shall be valid for only one proposed well site. If an alternate well site is required, the well driller, or the authorized agent, shall make application and receive a new permit for the alternate site. A site inspection must be completed before the permit is valid.

F. Additional permits, as required by the county building department, shall be obtained for work associated with wells, but not specifically addressed in this chapter, examples include, but are not limited to, the installation of electrical wiring, connections and plumbing to the well.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

It shall be the responsibility of the well driller to retain a copy of the applicable permit at the work site during all stages of work on the subject well.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

A. A permit for work on a well may be denied, at the discretion of the director, for any of the following reasons:

1. Construction of the well will knowingly prohibit the use of surrounding property for any of the uses for which it is zoned;

2. The well may be subject to contamination or pollution;

3. The well is located on a flood plain or may be subject to flooding;

4. Construction of the well will be in violation of this chapter; or

5. Construction of the well will constitute a potential hazard to public health and safety.

B. Denied permits may be appealed pursuant to Section 8.20.720 of this chapter.

C. No new well permits shall be issued to any well contractor, or authorized agent thereof, who has unpaid fees outstanding for more than ninety days.

D. The director may refuse to accept any application from any C-57 licensed well contractor having any unresolved violation of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

Any person who commences any work, for which a permit is required pursuant to this chapter, without having first obtained a permit for such work, is in violation of this chapter and is subject to enforcement actions and penalties.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

Permits shall be issued only to a C-57 licensed, well contractor, or the authorized agent, and shall not be transferable to any other person, entity, C-57 licensed well contractor, or any authorized agent.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

All fees specified in this chapter shall be adopted by county ordinance as approved at the discretion of the board of supervisors.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

A. If a well contractor is retained to work on a well for which another well contractor previously received a well permit, the new well contractor must submit a new application (complete with applicable maps and plot plans) with a new well permit. Fees applied to the original application may be re-applied to the new application. If the fee is transferred, the original permit shall become null and void. The new application shall have the same application number as the original application.

B. The new well contractor shall be charged a file processing fee.

C. If a site re-inspection is required, the new well contractor shall be charged a re-inspection fee.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

The director may assess a file processing fee to recover costs incurred by the department for completing any application that is deemed by the director to be incomplete, inaccurate or inadequate.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

A. A permit fee shall be charged at the time a well permit application is submitted.

B. Permit fees are not refundable beyond the life of the permit.

C. The director may exercise enforcement authority, as set forth in this chapter, to recover costs incurred by the department in the recovery of any unpaid fee, late fee, assessment or administrative penalty.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

If for any reason, it becomes necessary to conduct a re-inspection, the director may assess a re-inspection fee and may assess an hourly fee, to recover costs incurred by the department in conducting the re-inspection.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

The director may assess a late fee for any unpaid fee, late fee, assessment or administrative penalty that is not received within thirty days of the date specified in the first over due notice.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

To convert a permitted test hole, or any other type of well, to another use, such as a water well, the well driller must submit a new well permit application and pay a permit conversion fee.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

The director may assess a fee to recover costs incurred by the department in conducting an expedited inspection.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

A. The issuance of a permit or the approval of site plans or specifications shall not be deemed or construed to be a permit for, or an approval of, any violation of any provision of this chapter.

B. The issuance of a permit or the approval of site plans and site specifications shall not prevent the director from requiring the correction of errors or from issuing a stop work order, if work on the well is found to be in violation of this chapter, any county, state or federal statute, ordinance, regulation, rule or law or any other applicable law or constitutes a potential hazard to public health and safety.

C. All work on a well shall be completed in compliance with this chapter and as approved by the director. Any variations from approved site plans or site specifications shall require submission to and approval by the director.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

The director may waive the above provisions for emergency work that is required to maintain a supply of water for human consumption or for agricultural, industrial or commercial needs. In such cases, the person responsible for emergency work shall:

1. Notify the director within twenty-four hours of the nature of the emergency and receive authorization to complete work on the well;

2. Apply for a permit within three working days after commencement of the work;

3. Demonstrate to the satisfaction of the director that such work was urgently necessary; and

4. Demonstrate that all work was performed in conformance with:

a. Technical standards, as cited in this chapter;

b. The Department of Water Resources, Bulletin 74-81, Water Well Standards: State of California;

c. The Department of Water Resources, Bulletin 74-90, California Well Standards (Supplement to Bulletin 74-81);

d. Any subsequent revisions thereof; and

e. This chapter.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

A. A well contractor, or authorized agent, shall make application for a well permit on forms provided by the director.

B. The application shall include maps and plot plans, as necessary, drawn to scale and containing the following information:

1. An outline of the property with property dimensions, acreage, location of property access points and a depiction of the North compass heading at the top of all plot plans and maps;

2. The names and locations of streets and roads near, or bordering the property;

3. The location of any easements including identification of any applicable road or utility rights-of-way;

4. The outlines, dimensions and locations of all existing and proposed structures, including covered areas such as patios, driveways and walkways;

5. The location of the sewer lateral, any public sewer main, domestic sewage disposal system or proposed domestic sewage disposal system, tight lines (sanitary building sewage disposal system), and proposed expansion area for the domestic sewage disposal system;

6. The location and nature of any possible or known source of contamination or pollution;

7. The location of the proposed new well, the location of any other existing wells and sewage disposal systems on the property and any adjoining property, that is within one hundred feet of the proposed well site; and

8. A map of the general region indicating the location of the property, surrounding communities, roads and highways.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

All well permit applications must be submitted by a well contractor, or the authorized agent, and shall bear the signature of a well contractor certifying that the proposed well site has been properly staked and that the well permit application, including maps and directions, has been reviewed and is correct, accurate and complete.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).