Template - Notification of Noncompliance
Delete the above text, any red-italicized instructions, and fill in information in the brackets.

[Today’s Date]

[Name of the contact person for the county, watershed district, or Board of Water and Soil Resources, depending on who has jurisdiction]
[Address]

RE:	Notification of Noncompliance – [Insert name of landowner; if landowner is a business entity, insert legal name of the business from the Secretary of State’s website] (“Landowner”)
	
	[Property Identification Number - list parcel identification number for the individual parcel of property] or [list address & legal description of the parcel of property] (“Property”) [County]

Dear ________________:

On [Month, day, year] the ___________ Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff determined that the Property described above  is not in compliance with the Riparian Protection and Water Quality Practices according to Minn. Stat. § 103F.48, also known as the Buffer Law, and has identified the following noncompliance.

NONCOMPLIANCE

1.	Minn. Stat. § 103F.48, RIPARIAN PROTECTION AND WATER QUALITY PRACTICES.
Subd. 3.  Riparian protection; requirements on public waters and public drainage systems.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), landowners owning property adjacent to a water body identified and mapped on a buffer-protection map must maintain a buffer to protect the state's water resources as follows:

(1)	for all public waters, the more restrictive of:

(i) a 50-foot average width, 30-foot minimum width, continuous buffer of perennially rooted vegetation; or
(ii) the state shoreland standards and criteria adopted by the commissioner under section 103F.211; and

(2) for public drainage systems established under chapter 103E, a 16.5-foot minimum width continuous buffer as provided in section 103E.021, subdivision 1. The buffer vegetation shall not impede future maintenance of the ditch.

(b) A landowner owning property adjacent to a water body identified in a buffer-protection map and whose property is used for cultivation farming may meet the requirements under paragraph (a) by adopting an alternative riparian water quality practice, or combination of structural, vegetative, and management practices, based on the Natural Resources Conservation Service Field Office Technical Guide, common alternative practices adopted and published by the board, other practices approved by the board, or practices based on local conditions approved by the local soil and water conservation district that are consistent with the Field Office Technical Guide, that provide water quality protection comparable to the buffer protection for the water body that the property abuts. Included in these practices are retention ponds and alternative measures that prevent overland flow to the water resource.

(c) The width of a buffer on public waters must be measured from the top or crown of the bank. Where there is no defined bank, measurement must be from the edge of the normal water level. The width of the buffer on public drainage systems must be measured as provided in section 103E.021, subdivision 1.
FINDINGS OF FACT

[List the noncompliance and the facts that support the determination of noncompliance. Describe what was observed at the Property or what was determined based on other evidence, the noncompliance, and the facts supporting why the situation on the ground is not in compliance with the Buffer Law.  If the width is insufficient, state the actual width observed.  If the buffer is only partial (rather than continuous), describe how much of the buffer was not in compliance and where the noncompliance occurred.  If the vegetation is not perennially rooted vegetation, describe what types of vegetation, if any, that is present and why that does not meet the requirement of perennially rooted vegetation.  If applicable, specify that an alternative practice was not present on the Property or would need further evaluation to determine if it provides comparable water quality protection as a buffer would for the Property.  List the name of the water body and whether the water body is identified and mapped on the buffer-protection map.  Attach all evidence that was gathered to support the noncompliance – e.g. photographs, aerial photographs, inspection notes, notes of communications with the landowner, correspondence or emails with the landowner, etc.]  
	
Based on this Notification of Noncompliance, Minn. Stat. § 103F.48, subd. 7 provides that [choose one: the county, the watershed district, or the Board of Water and Soil Resources] will provide the landowner with a list of corrective actions needed to come into compliance and a timeline for completing the requirements.  

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact me by telephone at ___________________ or by email at ____________.

Sincerely,

[Type name]
[Title]
_________ Soil and Water Conservation District
[Address]

[XX:xx]

Enclosure[s]: [Include documents that support the determination of non-compliance]

cc:	[Applicable County Staff] (w/enclosure[s])
	[Applicable SWCD Staff] (w/enclosure[s])
BWSR: David Weirens, Tom Gile, [Buffer & Soil Loss Specialist] [include these if this notice is addressed to the county or watershed district, rather than BWSR] (w/enclosure[s])