Section 62.1-44.15:65 - Authorization for more stringent ordinancesA. As part of a VESCP, a locality is authorized to adopt more stringent soil erosion and sediment control ordinances than those necessary to ensure compliance with the Board's regulations, provided that the more stringent ordinances are based upon factual findings of local or regional comprehensive watershed management studies or findings developed through the implementation of a locally adopted watershed management study and are determined by the locality to be necessary to prevent any further degradation to water resources, to address total maximum daily load requirements, to protect exceptional state waters, or to address specific existing water pollution including nutrient and sediment loadings, stream channel erosion, depleted groundwater resources, or excessive localized flooding within the watershed and that prior to adopting more stringent ordinances, a public hearing is held. Notice of such hearing shall be given by publication once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality seeking to adopt the ordinance, with the first publication appearing no more than 14 days before the hearing. The VESCP authority shall report to the Board when more stringent erosion and sediment control ordinances are determined to be necessary pursuant to this section. This process shall not be required when a VESCP authority chooses to reduce the threshold for regulating land-disturbing activities to a smaller area of disturbed land pursuant to § 62.1-44.15:55. This section shall not be construed to authorize any VESCP authority to impose any more stringent ordinances for land-disturbance review and approval than those specified in § 62.1-44.15:55.B. Any provisions of an erosion and sediment control program in existence before July 1, 2012, that contains more stringent provisions than this article shall be exempt from the analysis requirements of subsection A.1973, c. 486, § 21-89.12; 1988, c. 891, § 10.1-570; 2012, cc. 785, 819; 2013, cc. 756, 793; 2023, cc. 506, 507.