The Department of Public Works shall administer,
implement and enforce this bylaw. Any powers granted to or duties
imposed upon the Department of Public Works may be delegated in writing
by the Board of Public Works to employees or agents of the Department
of Public Works.
For purposes of this bylaw, the following shall
mean:
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP)
An activity, procedure, restraint, or structural improvement
that helps to reduce the quantity or improve the quality of stormwater
runoff.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.) as hereafter amended.
DISCHARGE OF POLLUTANTS
The addition from any source of any pollutant or combination
of pollutants into storm drain systems or into the waters of the United
States or commonwealth from any source.
GROUNDWATER
All water beneath the surface of the ground.
ILLEGAL DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to storm drain systems, except as specifically exempted in §
162-6. The term does not include a discharge in compliance with an NPDES stormwater discharge permit or resulting from the activities exempted pursuant to §
162-6D of this bylaw.
ILLICIT CONNECTION
Any surface or subsurface drain or conveyance, which allows
an illegal discharge into storm drain systems. Illicit connections
include conveyances which allow a nonstormwater discharge to storm
drain systems including sewage, process wastewater or wash water and
any connections from indoor drains sinks, or toilets, regardless of
whether said connection was previously allowed, permitted, or approved
before the effective date of this bylaw.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
Any material or structure on or above the ground that prevents
water from infiltrating the underlying soil.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4) or MUNICIPAL STORM
DRAIN SYSTEM
The system of conveyances designed or used for collecting
or conveying stormwater, including any road with a drainage system,
street, gutter, curb, inlet, piped storm drain, pumping facility,
retention or detention basin, natural or man-made or altered drainage
channel, reservoir, and other drainage structure that together comprise
the storm drainage system owned or operated by the Town of Sterling.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, association, firm, company,
trust, corporation, and any agency, authority, department or political
subdivision of the commonwealth or the federal government, to the
extent permitted by law, and any officer, employee, or agent of such
person.
POLLUTANT
Any element or property of sewage, agricultural, industrial
or commercial waste, runoff, leachate, heated effluent, or other matter
whether originating at a point or nonpoint source, that is or may
be introduced into any sewage treatment works or waters of the commonwealth.
Pollutants shall include:
A.
Paints, varnishes, and solvents;
B.
Oil and other automotive fluids;
C.
Nonhazardous liquid and solid wastes and yard
wastes;
D.
Refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded
or abandoned objects, accumulations and floatables;
E.
Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers;
F.
Hazardous materials and wastes; sewage, fecal
coliform and pathogens;
G.
Dissolved and particulate metals;
J.
Construction wastes and residues;
K.
Noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
PROCESS WASTEWATER
Any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes
into direct contact with or results from the production or use of
any material, intermediate product, finished product, or waste product.
RECHARGE
The process by which groundwater is replenished by precipitation
through the percolation of runoff and surface water through the soil.
STORMWATER
Runoff from precipitation or snow melt.
STORM DRAIN SYSTEM
The system of conveyances designed or used for collecting
or conveying stormwater, including any road with a drainage system,
street, gutter, curb, inlet, piped storm drain, pumping facility,
retention or detention basin, natural or man-made or altered drainage
channel, reservoir, and other drainage structure that together comprise
the storm drainage system on public or private ways within the Town
of Sterling.
TOXIC OR HAZARDOUS MATERIAL OR WASTE
Any material, which because of its quantity, concentration,
chemical, corrosive, flammable, reactive, toxic, infectious or radioactive
characteristics, either separately or in combination with any substance
or substances, constitutes a present or potential threat to human
health, safety, welfare, or to the environment. Toxic or hazardous
materials include any synthetic organic chemical, petroleum product,
heavy metal, radioactive or infectious waste, acid and alkali, and
any substance defined as toxic or hazardous under MGL c. 21C and c.
21E, and the regulations at 310 CMR 30.000 and 310 CMR 40.000.
WATERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
All waters within the jurisdiction of the commonwealth, including,
without limitation, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, springs, impoundments,
estuaries, wetlands, coastal waters, and groundwater.
WASTEWATER
Any sanitary waste, sludge, or septic tank or cesspool overflow,
and water that during manufacturing, cleaning or processing comes
into direct contact with or results from the production or use of
any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, by-product
or waste product.
This bylaw shall apply to flows entering the
stormwater and drainage system on public or private ways with the
Town of Sterling.
The Board of Public Works may promulgate rules,
regulations and a permitting process to effectuate the purposes of
this bylaw. Failure by the Board of Public Works to promulgate such
rules and regulations shall not have the effect of suspending or invalidating
this bylaw.
Notwithstanding any other requirements of local,
state, or federal law, as soon as any person responsible for a facility
or operation or responsible for emergency response for a facility
or operation has information of any known or suspected release of
materials at that facility or operation which is resulting or may
result in illegal discharge of pollutants, that person shall take
all necessary steps to ensure containment and cleanup of the release.
In the event of a release of oil or hazardous materials, the person
shall immediately notify the municipal Fire and Police Departments,
Department of Public Works and Board of Health. In the event of a
release of nonhazardous material, said person shall notify the authorized
enforcement agency no later than the next business day. Written confirmation
of all telephone, facsimile or in-person notifications shall be provided
to the authorized enforcement agency within three business days thereafter.
If the discharge of prohibited materials is from a commercial or industrial
facility, the facility owner or operator of the facility shall retain
on site a written record of the discharge and the actions taken to
prevent its recurrence. Such records shall be retained for at least
three years.
If any provision, paragraph, sentence, or clause,
of this bylaw shall be held invalid for any reason, all other provisions
shall continue in full force and effect.
Residential property owners shall comply with
this bylaw on a schedule set forth in the Department of Public Works
compliance order, but such property owners shall in no case have more
than six months from the effective date of the bylaw to comply with
its provisions, unless good cause is shown for the failure to comply
with the bylaw during that period.