Unless a different definition is indicated in other sections
of this bylaw, the following definitions and provisions shall apply
throughout this bylaw:
ALTERATION OF DRAINAGE CHARACTERISTICS
Any activity on an area of land that changes the water quality,
force, direction, timing or location of runoff flowing from the area.
Such changes include: change from distributed runoff to confined or
discrete discharge; change in the volume of runoff from the area;
change in the peak rate of runoff from the area; and change in the
recharge to groundwater on the area.
APPLICANT
Any person, individual, partnership, association, firm, company,
corporation, trust, authority, agency, department, or political subdivision
of the commonwealth or the federal government, to the extent permitted
by law, requesting a land disturbance permit or administrative land
disturbance review.
AS-BUILT DRAWING
Drawings that completely record and document applicable aspects
and features of conditions of a project following construction using
stormwater management plans derived from a land disturbance permit.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP)
An activity, procedure, restraint, or structural improvement
that helps to reduce the quantity or improve the quality of stormwater
runoff.
CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL (CPESC)
A certified specialist in soil erosion and sediment control.
This certification program, sponsored by the Soil and Water Conservation
Society in cooperation with the American Society of Agronomy, provides
the public with evidence of professional qualifications.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), as hereafter amended.
CLEARING
Any activity that removes the vegetative surface cover.
DEVELOPMENT
The modification of land to accommodate a new use or expansion
of use, usually involving construction.
DISCHARGE OF POLLUTANTS
The addition from any source of any pollutant or combination
of pollutants into the municipal storm drain system or into the waters
of the United States or commonwealth from any source.
EROSION
The wearing away of the land surface by natural or artificial
forces such as wind, water, ice, gravity, or vehicle traffic and the
subsequent detachment and transportation of soil particles.
EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION CONTROL PLAN
A document containing narrative, drawings and details developed
by a qualified professional engineer (PE) or a certified professional
in erosion and sedimentation control (CPESC), which includes best
management practices, or equivalent measures designed to control surface
runoff, erosion and sedimentation during preconstruction and construction
related land-disturbing activities.
GRADING
Changing the level or shape of the ground surface.
GRUBBING
The act of clearing land surface by digging up roots and
stumps.
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
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 40.0000.
HUC 12
Unites States Geologic Survey twelve-digit hydrologic unit
code.
ILLICIT CONNECTION
A surface or subsurface drain or conveyance which allows
an illicit discharge into the municipal storm drain system, including
without limitation 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.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE
Direct or indirect discharge to the municipal storm drain system or into a watercourse or the waters of the commonwealth that is not composed entirely of stormwater, except as exempted in Article
II, §
386-12. The term does not include a discharge in compliance with a NPDES stormwater discharge permit or resulting from firefighting activities exempted pursuant to Article
II, §
386-12D(1), of this bylaw.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
Any material or structure on or above the ground that prevents
water infiltrating the underlying soil. Impervious surface includes
without limitation roads, paved parking lots, sidewalks, and rooftops.
For the purpose of this bylaw, conversion of any land that increases
the USDA NRCS (United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources
Conservation Service) curve number to greater than 75 shall also be
considered impervious.
IMPOUNDMENT
A stormwater pond created by either constructing an embankment
or excavating a pit which retains a permanent pool of water.
INFEASIBLE
Not technologically possible, or not economically practicable
and achievable in light of best industry practices.
INFILTRATION
The act of conveying surface water into the ground to permit
groundwater recharge and the reduction of stormwater runoff from a
project site.
LAND DISTURBANCE PERMIT
A permit issued by the Stormwater Authority pursuant to this
bylaw prior to commencement of land-disturbing activity or redevelopment.
LAND-DISTURBING ACTIVITY
Any activity that causes a change in the position or location
of soil, sand, rock, gravel, or similar earth material, results in
an increased amount of runoff or pollutants; measurably changes the
ability of a ground surface to absorb waters, involves clearing and
grading; or results in an alteration of drainage characteristics.
LOAD ALLOCATION
The maximum concentration or mass of a pollutant which can
be discharged to a waterway by nonpoint sources without causing a
violation of surface water quality standards as established in an
applicable TMDL.
LOT
An individual tract of land as shown on the current Assessor's
Map for which an individual tax assessment is made. For the purposes
of these regulations, a lot also refers to an area of a leasehold
on a larger parcel of land, as defined in the lease agreement and
shown by approximation on the Assessor's Map.
MASSACHUSETTS STORMWATER MANAGEMENT STANDARDS
The standards issued by the Department of Environmental Protection,
and as amended, that coordinate the requirements prescribed by state
regulations promulgated under the authority of the Massachusetts Wetlands
Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and Massachusetts Clean
Waters Act, MGL c. 21, §§ 23 through 56. The standards
address stormwater impacts through implementation of performance standards
to reduce or prevent pollutants from reaching water bodies and control
the quantity and quality of runoff from a site.
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 Plainville.
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Pollution from many diffuse sources caused by rainfall or
snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves,
it picks up and carries away natural and man-made pollutants finally
depositing them into a water resource area.
OFF-SITE COMPLIANCE
An approach whereby pollutant removal practices are implemented
at redevelopment or retrofit sites at another location in the same
HUC 12 watershed, as the original project, as approved by the Stormwater
Authority.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLAN
A plan setting up the functional, financial and organizational
mechanisms for the ongoing operation and maintenance of a stormwater
management system to insure that it continues to function as designed.
OUTFALL
The point at which stormwater flows out from a point source
into waters of the commonwealth.
OWNER
A person with a legal or equitable interest in property.
PERSON
An individual, partnership, association, firm, company, trust,
corporation, 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.
POINT SOURCE
Any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including,
but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well,
discrete fissure, or container from which pollutants are or may be
discharged.
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, watercourse, or waters
of the commonwealth. Pollutants include, but are not limited to:
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, ordnance, accumulations and floatables;
E.
Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers;
F.
Hazardous materials and wastes;
G.
Sewage, fecal coliform and pathogens;
H.
Dissolved and particulate metals;
K.
Construction wastes and residues; and
L.
Noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
PROCESS WASTEWATER
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.
REDEVELOPMENT
Development, rehabilitation, expansion, demolition, construction,
land alteration, or phased projects that disturb the ground surface,
including impervious surfaces, on previously developed sites. The
creation of new areas of impervious surface or new areas of land disturbance
on a site constitutes development, not redevelopment, even where such
activities are part of a common plan which also involves redevelopment.
Redevelopment includes maintenance and improvement of existing roadways,
including widening less than a single lane, adding shoulders, correcting
substandard intersections, improving existing drainage systems and
repaving; and remedial projects specifically designed to provide improved
stormwater management such as projects to separate storm drains and
sanitary sewers and stormwater retrofit projects.
RUNOFF
Rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation water flowing over the
ground surface.
SEDIMENT
Mineral or organic soil material that is transported by wind
or water, from its origin to another location; the product of erosion
processes.
SITE
Any lot or parcel of land or area of property where land-disturbing
activities are, were, or will be performed.
SOIL
Any earth, sand, rock, gravel, or similar material.
STABILIZATION
The use, singly or in combination, of mechanical, structural,
or vegetative methods to prevent or slow erosion.
STORMWATER
Runoff from precipitation or snow melt and surface water
runoff and drainage.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD or TMDL
The greatest amount of a pollutant that a water body can
accept and still meet water quality standards for protecting public
health and maintaining the designated beneficial uses of those waters
for drinking, swimming, recreation, and fishing. A TMDL is also a
plan, adopted under the Clean Water Act, specifying how much of a
specific pollutant can come from various sources, including stormwater
discharges, and identifies strategies for reducing the pollutant discharges
from these sources so as not to violate Massachusetts surface water
quality standards (314 CMR 4.00 et seq.).
TOWN
The Town of Plainville, Massachusetts.
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 40.0000.
VERNAL POOLS
Temporary bodies of freshwater which provide critical habitat
for a number of vertebrate and invertebrate wildlife species.
WASTE LOAD ALLOCATION
The maximum concentration or mass of a pollutant which can
be discharged to a waterway from point sources without causing a violation
of surface water quality standards as established in an applicable
TMDL.
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.
WATERCOURSE
A natural or man-made channel through which water flows or
a stream of water, including a river, brook or underground stream.
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, groundwater, and Waters of the
United States as defined under the Federal Clean Water Act as hereafter
amended.
WETLANDS
As specifically defined in the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection
Act and the Plainville Wetlands Protection Bylaw, but generally include, without limitation, tidal and nontidal
areas characterized by saturated or nearly saturated soils most of
the year that are located between terrestrial (land-based) and aquatic
(water) environments, including freshwater marshes around ponds and
channels (rivers and streams), brackish and salt marshes; common names
include marshes, swamps and bogs.
This bylaw is adopted under authority granted by the Home Rule
Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution, the Massachusetts home
rule statutes, the regulations of the Federal Clean Water Act found
at 40 CFR 122.34.
The Stormwater Authority shall administer, implement and enforce
this bylaw. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the Stormwater
Authority may be delegated in writing by the Stormwater Authority
to any agents.
The Stormwater Authority or its authorized agent shall enforce
this bylaw, and any associated regulations, orders, violation notices,
and enforcement orders, and may pursue all civil and criminal remedies
for such violations.
A. Criminal and civil relief.
(1) Any person who violates the provisions of this bylaw, or any associated
regulations, permit, notice, or order issued thereunder, may be subject
to criminal penalties and prosecution in a court of competent jurisdiction
and shall result in a criminal fine of not more than $300. Each day
or part thereof that such violation occurs or continues shall constitute
a separate offense.
(2) The Stormwater Authority may seek injunctive relief in a court of
competent jurisdiction restraining the person from activities which
would create further violations or compelling the person to perform
abatement or remediation of the violation.
B. Orders.
(1) The Stormwater Authority or its authorized agent may issue a written
order to enforce the provisions of this bylaw or any regulations thereunder,
which may include:
(a)
Elimination of illicit connections or discharges to the MS4;
(b)
Elimination of discharges to the MS4 or, directly or indirectly,
into a watercourse or into the waters of the commonwealth;
(c)
Performance of monitoring, analyses, and reporting;
(d)
Cessation of unlawful discharges, practices, or operations;
(e)
Implementation of measures to minimize the discharge of pollutants
until such time as the illicit connection or discharge shall be eliminated;
and
(f)
Remediation of contamination in connection therewith.
(2) If the Stormwater Authority determines that a person's failure
to follow the requirements of a land disturbance permit and the related
erosion and sedimentation control plan, or operation and maintenance
plan or any other authorization issued pursuant to this bylaw or regulations
issued hereunder, then the Authority may issue a written order to
the person to remediate the noncompliance and/or any adverse impact
caused by it, which may include:
(a)
A requirement to cease and desist from the land-disturbing activity
until there is compliance with the bylaw and provisions of the land
disturbance permit or other authorization;
(b)
Maintenance, installation or performance of additional erosion
and sediment control measures;
(c)
Monitoring, analyses, and reporting;
(d)
Remediation of erosion and sedimentation resulting directly
or indirectly from the land-disturbing activity; and/or
(e)
A requirement to eliminate discharges, directly or indirectly,
into a watercourse or into the waters of the commonwealth.
(3) If the Stormwater Authority or its authorized agent determines that
abatement or remediation of contamination is required, the order shall
set forth a deadline by which such abatement or remediation must be
completed. Said order shall further provide that, should the violator
or property owner fail to abate or perform remediation within the
specified deadline, the Town may, at its option, undertake such work,
and expenses thereof shall be charged to the violator.
(4) Within 30 days after completing all measures necessary to abate the
violation or to perform remediation, the violator and the property
owner will be notified of the costs incurred by the Town, including
administrative costs. The violator or property owner may file a written
protest objecting to the amount or basis of costs with the Stormwater
Authority within 30 days of receipt of the notification of the costs
incurred. If the amount due is not received by the expiration of the
time in which to file a protest or within 30 days following a decision
of the Stormwater Authority affirming or reducing the costs, or from
a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, the costs shall
become a special assessment against the property owner and shall constitute
a lien on the owner's property for the amount of said costs.
Interest shall begin to accrue on any unpaid costs at the statutory
rate provided in MGL c. 59, § 57, after the 31st day at
which the costs first become due.
C. Noncriminal disposition. As an alternative to criminal prosecution or civil action, the Town may elect to utilize the noncriminal disposition procedure set forth in MGL c. 40, § 21D, and the Town of Plainville General Bylaws in Chapter
277, in which case the agent of the Stormwater Authority shall be the enforcing person. The penalty for the first violation shall be a warning. The penalty for the second violation shall be $100. The penalty for the third and subsequent violations shall be $300. Each day or part thereof that such violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense.
D. Entry to perform duties under this bylaw. To the extent permitted
by local, state or federal law, or if authorized by the owner or other
party in control of the property, the Stormwater Authority, its agents,
officers, and employees may enter upon privately owned property for
the purpose of performing their duties under this bylaw and regulations
and may make or cause to be made such examinations, surveys or sampling
as the Stormwater Authority deems reasonably necessary.
E. Appeals. The decisions or orders of the Stormwater Authority shall
be final. Further relief shall be appealed to a court of competent
jurisdiction.
F. Remedies not exclusive. The remedies listed in this section are not
exclusive of any other remedies available under any applicable federal,
state or local law.
This bylaw is intended to further the objectives of and to act
in concert with any existing federal, state or local laws concerning
stormwater discharges in the Town of Plainville, including but not
limited to the requirements of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency's most recent General Permit for MS4s, and nothing in
this bylaw is intended to limit or restrict the authority of any board,
commission or officer of the Town to act in accordance with any federal,
state and local laws within their jurisdiction, and in the event of
a conflict, the more stringent requirements will control.
The Stormwater Authority is authorized to retain a registered
professional engineer (PE) or other professional technical or legal
consultant to advise the Stormwater Authority on any or all aspects
of the application and/or the project's compliance with conditions
of a review or permit. The Stormwater Authority may require the applicant
to pay reasonable costs to be incurred by the Stormwater Authority
for the employment of outside consultants, as authorized by MGL c.
44, § 53G.
The provisions of this bylaw are hereby declared to be severable.
If any provision, paragraph, sentence, or clause of this bylaw or
the application thereof to any person, establishment, or circumstances
shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other
provisions or application of this bylaw.