161A.47  Inspection of land on complaint.
  1.  The commissioners shall inspect or cause to be inspected any land within the district to determine if land is being damaged by sediment, from soil erosion occurring on neighboring land in excess of the limits established by the district’s soil erosion control regulations. If the land is privately owned, the commissioners shall make or cause to be made the inspection, upon receiving a written complaint signed by an owner or occupant of land claiming that the owner’s or occupant’s land is being damaged by sediment. If the land is subject to a public interest, the commissioners shall make or cause to be made the inspection upon a majority vote of commissioners at an open meeting held pursuant to chapter 21. Land is subject to a public interest if the land is publicly held, subject to an easement held by the public, or the subject of an improvement made at public expense.
  2.  If, after the inspection, the commissioners find that sediment damages are occurring to land which is owned or occupied by the person filing the complaint or subject to a public interest, and that excess soil erosion is occurring on neighboring land, the commissioners shall issue an administrative order to the landowner or landowners of record, and to the occupant of the land if known to the commissioners. The order shall describe the land and state as nearly as possible the extent to which soil erosion on the land exceeds the limits established by the district’s regulations.
  3.  The order shall be delivered either by personal service or by restricted certified mail to each of the persons to whom it is directed, and shall:
  a.  In the case of erosion occurring on the site of any construction project or similar undertaking involving the removal of all or a major portion of the vegetation or other cover, exposing bare soil directly to water or wind, state a time not more than five days after service or mailing of the notice of the order when work necessary to establish or maintain erosion control practices must be commenced, and a time not more than thirty days after service or mailing of the notice of the order when the work is to be satisfactorily completed.
  b.  In all other cases, state a time not more than six months after service or mailing of the notice of the order, by which work needed to establish or maintain the necessary soil and water conservation practices or erosion control measures must be commenced, and a time not more than one year after the service or mailing of the notice of the order when the work is to be satisfactorily completed, unless the requirements of the order are superseded by the provisions of section 161A.48.
[C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §467A.47]
87 Acts, ch 23, §33
; 
92 Acts, ch 1057, §1
C93, §161A.47
2009 Acts, ch 41, §202