For purposes of the Erosion and Sediment Control Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Commission means the Nebraska Natural Resources Commission;

(2) Conservation agreement means an agreement between the owner or operator of a farm unit and the district in which the owner or operator agrees to implement a farm unit conservation plan or, with the approval of the district within which the farm unit is located, a portion of a farm unit conservation plan. The agreement shall include a schedule for implementation and may be conditioned on the district or other public entity furnishing technical, planning, or financial assistance in the establishment of the soil and water conservation practices necessary to implement the plan or a portion of the plan;

(3) Director means the Director of Natural Resources;

(4) District means a natural resources district;

(5) Erosion or sediment control practice means:

(a) The construction or installation and maintenance of permanent structures or devices necessary to carry, to a suitable outlet away from any building site, any commercial or industrial development, or any publicly or privately owned recreational or service facility not served by a central storm sewer system, any water which would otherwise cause erosion in excess of the applicable soil-loss tolerance level and which does not carry or constitute sewage or industrial or other waste;

(b) The employment of temporary devices or structures, temporary seeding, fiber mats, plastic, straw, diversions, silt fences, sediment traps, or other measures adequate either to prevent erosion in excess of the applicable soil-loss tolerance level or to prevent excessive downstream sedimentation from land which is the site of or is directly affected by any nonagricultural land-disturbing activity; or

(c) The establishment and maintenance of vegetation upon the right-of-way of any completed portion of any public street, road, or highway or the construction or installation thereon of permanent structures or devices or other measures adequate to prevent erosion of the right-of-way in excess of the applicable soil-loss tolerance level;

(6) Excess erosion means the occurrence of erosion in excess of the applicable soil-loss tolerance level which causes or contributes to an accumulation of sediment upon the lands of any other person to the detriment or damage of such other person;

(7) Farm unit conservation plan means a plan jointly developed by the owner and, if appropriate, the operator of a farm unit and the district within which the farm unit is located based upon the determined conservation needs for the farm unit and identifying the soil and water conservation practices which may be expected to prevent soil loss by erosion from that farm unit in excess of the applicable soil-loss tolerance level. The plan may also, if practicable, identify alternative practices by which such objective may be attained;

(8) Nonagricultural land-disturbing activity means a land change, including, but not limited to, tilling, clearing, grading, excavating, transporting, or filling land, which may result in soil erosion from wind or water and the movement of sediment and sediment-related pollutants into the waters of the state or onto lands in the state but does not include the following:

(a) Activities related directly to the production of agricultural, horticultural, or silvicultural crops, including, but not limited to, tilling, planting, or harvesting of such crops;

(b) Installation of aboveground public utility lines and connections, fenceposts, sign posts, telephone poles, electric poles, and other kinds of posts or poles;

(c) Emergency work to protect life or property;

(d) Activities related to the construction of housing, industrial, and commercial developments on sites under two acres in size; and

(e) Activities related to the operation, construction, or maintenance of industrial or commercial public power district or public power and irrigation district facilities or sites when such activity is conducted pursuant to state or federal law or is part of the operational plan for such facility or site;

(9) Person means any individual, partnership, limited liability company, firm, association, joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission, board, institution, utility, cooperative, municipality or other political subdivision of this state, interstate body, or other legal entity;

(10) Soil and water conservation practice means a practice which serves to prevent erosion of soil by wind or water in excess of the applicable soil-loss tolerance level from land used only for agricultural, horticultural, or silvicultural purposes. Soil and water conservation practice includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Permanent soil and water conservation practice, including the planting of perennial grasses, legumes, shrubs, or trees, the establishment of grassed waterways, the construction of terraces, and other permanent soil and water practices approved by the district; and

(b) Temporary soil and water conservation practice, including the planting of annual or biennial crops, use of strip-cropping, contour planting, minimum or mulch tillage, and other cultural practices approved by the district; and

(11) Soil-loss tolerance level means the maximum amount of soil loss due to erosion by wind or water, expressed in terms of tons per acre per year, which is determined to be acceptable in accordance with the Erosion and Sediment Control Act. Soil loss may be impacted by water erosion which may include (a) sheet and rill erosion which includes relatively uniform soil loss across the entire field slope which may leave small channels located at regular intervals across the slope and (b) ephemeral gully erosion which occurs in well-defined depressions or natural drainageways where concentrated overland flow results in the convergence of rills forming deeper and wider channels.