W. Va. Code R. § 61-22B-4

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 61-22B-4 - Protection of Groundwater From Non-Point Sources

4.1. No person should apply manure or fertilizers containing nitrogen to land:

4.1.a. with less than ten (10) inches of soil over fractured bedrock;

4.1.b. that is snow-covered and frozen, frozen or saturated;

4.1.c. within fifty (50) feet of a wellhead;

4.1.d. that is in imminent danger of being inundated by floodwater; or

4.1.e. that drains into a sinkhole with an open portal unless that sinkhole has a twenty (20) foot vegetative buffer zone with at least ninety percent (90%) of the land in the buffer zone covered with vegetation.

4.2. No person should apply fertilizers containing nitrogen to land that has coarse textured soils when the application occurs in the fall, unless that application is made to support the growth of a fall cover crop.

4.3. Each person applying fertilizers or manures should:

4.3.a. utilize alternate crop rotations to reduce the amount of fertilizers or manures needed to maintain crop production and to utilize nitrogen residuals in the soil;

4.3.b. utilize practices to enhance soil condition that reduces nitrate leaching (such as practices to improve soil tilth and increase organic matter of the soil);

4.3.c. utilize conservation tillage, grassed waterways, contouring, vegetative buffer zones or other effective conservation practices to reduce fertilizer or manure residue runoff into sinkholes, wells or other potential sites for groundwater contamination;

4.3.d. plan the application of fertilizers containing nitrogen so that the application is made as close as practically possible to the time when the crop requires the nitrogen;

4.3.e. apply fertilizers or manures based on a rate recommended after soil tests, plant tissue testing and/or manure content testing;

4.3.f. apply nitrogen from a combination of fertilizer and/or manure at rates that supply no more than one hundred twenty-five percent (125%) of the demonstrated need of the crop, based on soil test, plant tissue test or estimated from yield goal, previous crop, manure management, and soil properties as recommended by a laboratory or soils specialist/agronomist;

4.3.g. calibrate application equipment to assure proper application rates; and

4.3.h. avoid application to a field that has an average slope of greater than twenty-five percent (25%) unless that application is needed to establish or maintain close-grown grasses and/or clovers for the control of erosion; provided that suitable procedures are used to prevent runoff containing these residues from moving into groundwater when application is made to slopes of greater than twenty-five percent (25%).

W. Va. Code R. § 61-22B-4