Current through Rules and Regulations filed through March 20, 2024
(1) Property owners who wish to have all or
portions of their property certified as environmentally sensitive for tax
assessment purposes must submit the information set forth below using an
application form provided by the Department.
(a) The qualifying property must be owned by
an entity meeting the ownership requirements of O.C.G.A. §
48-5-7.4(a)(1)(C).
(b) The application for certification must
include a property map or survey providing the total acreage of the owner's
property and showing the property boundaries. The total acreage and boundaries
should correspond to the records maintained by the county tax
assessor.
(c) The application for
certification must also include a map identifying those portions of the
property that the applicant believes meets one or more of the categories in
paragraphs (3) through (9).
(2) In order for the Department to verify the
primary use of those portions of the property identified in paragraph (1)(c),
the property owner must provide a written statement regarding the primary use
of those portions of the property. Where appropriate, the Department may also
require photographic documentation.
(a) Where
the primary use is maintenance in its natural condition, as defined in
391-3-18-.02(2),
the written statement should indicate how long those portions of the property
have been undisturbed and how they have been and will be managed. The written
statement should include as much historical information as is available to the
property owner.
(b) Where the
primary use is enhancing the water quality of surface or ground waters, the
written statement should describe how the use of those portions of the property
enhance the water quality of surface or ground waters. Any measures being taken
to reduce, control or eliminate pollution should be described.
(c) For the constructed storm water wetlands
category of paragraph (9), the applicant should provide a signed statement from
an authorized employee or agent of the local governing authority that, pursuant
to Rule 560-11-6-.04(5),
they have inspected the site and determined that the property is being used for
controlling or abating pollution of surface or ground waters of this state by
storm-water runoff or by otherwise enhancing the water quality of surface or
ground waters.
(3)
Mountainous Terrain. For this category, the property owner must
provide:
(a) a map showing the elevations on
the property and indicating the areas of the property that meet or exceed the
minimum elevations for that county that are designated on the application form
provided by the Department;
(b) an
identification on the map of the areas above the minimum elevations where the
percentage slope is 25 percent or greater, measured as the difference in
elevation between two points 500 feet apart divided by the horizontal distance
between those two points; and
(c)
an identification on the map of any crests, summits, or ridge tops that lie at
elevations higher than the areas identified in (b); and
(d) the total acreage of those portions of
the property identified under (b) and (c).
(4)
Wetlands. For this category,
the property owner must provide one of the following:
(a) A map identifying those portions of the
property containing wetlands, as depicted on maps compiled by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service pursuant to its National Wetlands Inventory Program, and the
total acreage for those portions of the property containing wetlands. The Fish
and Wildlife Service maintains an online Wetlands Mapper tool that depicts
wetlands included in the National Wetlands Inventory.
(b) A map identifying those portions of the
property containing wetlands, as depicted on maps compiled by the Department,
and the total acreage for those portions of the property containing
wetlands.
(c) A map identifying
those portions of the property containing wetlands, as determined by the United
States Army Corps of Engineers pursuant to a jurisdictional determination
completed under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act, and the total
acreage for those portions of the property containing wetlands. An expired
jurisdictional determination will be considered, as long as the property owner
can attest that the area included in the jurisdictional determination has not
been disturbed.
(5)
Significant groundwater recharge areas. For this category, the
property owner must provide a map identifying those portions of the property
containing significant groundwater recharge areas, as depicted on the digital
version of Hydrologic Atlas 18 (HA-18) that is available from the Department,
and the total acreage for those portions of the property.
(6)
Undeveloped barrier islands.
For this category, the property owner must provide a map identifying those
portions of the property that are identified as undeveloped barrier islands by
the federal Coastal Barrier Resources Act, as amended, and the total acreage
for those portions of the property. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
maintains an online Coastal Barrier Resources System Mapper tool that depicts
the undeveloped barrier islands identified in the Act.
(7)
Habitats for federal endangered or
threatened species. For this category, the property owner must make a
site-specific request to the Department for information regarding the
occurrence of federal endangered or threatened species on those portions of the
property that are and will remain undisturbed. The property owner should follow
the instructions for making a site-specific request that are included on the
application form provided by the Department.
(8)
River or stream corridors or
buffers. For this category, the property owner must provide a map
identifying the undeveloped areas of the property that meet the requirements of
(a) or (b) and the total acreage for those portions of the property.
(a) Undeveloped areas adjacent to rivers and
perennial streams that are within the 100 year flood plain, as depicted on maps
prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Department maintains
an online Georgia Flood Map Program that identifies 1% annual chance flood
zones that correspond to the 100 year flood plain.
(b) Undeveloped areas within buffer zones
adjacent to rivers or perennial streams, which buffer zones are established
under the Erosion and Sedimentation Act, O.C.G.A. Secs.
12-7-1 et seq., or by local
ordinance. Where the buffer zone is established by local ordinance, the
property owner should include a reference to the applicable local
ordinance.
(9)
Constructed storm water wetlands. For this category, the property
owner must provide a plat of the property prepared by a licensed land surveyor,
in accordance with Rule
560-11-6-.03(e),
showing the location and measured area of the constructed storm water
wetlands.
O.C.G.A. §§
48-5-7.4,
12-2-4(k),
12-2-24(a)
.
