The purpose of this chapter is to provide for
the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the unincorporated
area of the Village of Spring Valley through the regulation of nonstormwater
discharges to the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) to the
maximum extent practicable as required by federal and New York State
law. This chapter establishes methods for controlling the introduction
of pollutants into the MS4 in order to comply with requirements of
the SPDES General Permit for Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems.
The objectives of this chapter are:
A. To meet the requirements of the SPDES General Permit
for Stormwater Discharges From MS4s, Permit No. GP-02-02 or as amended
or revised;
B. To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the
MS4 since such systems are not designed to accept, process or discharge
nonstormwater wastes;
C. To prohibit illicit connections, activities and discharges
to the MS4;
D. To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection,
surveillance and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance
with this chapter; and
E. To promote public awareness of the hazards involved
in the improper storage and/or discharge of trash, yard waste, lawn
chemicals, pet waste, wastewater, grease, oil, petroleum products,
cleaning products, paint products, hazardous waste, sediment, snow
and ice control materials, and other pollutants into the MS4.
Whenever used in this chapter, unless a different
meaning is stated in a definition applicable to only a portion of
this chapter, the following terms will have meanings set forth below:
BMPs (BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES)
Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general
good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention and educational
practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices
to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly
to stormwater, receiving waters, or stormwater conveyance systems.
BMPs also include treatment practices, operating procedures, and practices
to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or water disposal,
or drainage from raw materials storage.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Activities requiring authorization under the SPDES Permit
for Stormwater Discharges From Construction Activity, GP-02-01, as
amended or revised and any land disturbance requiring a municipal,
New York State, or federal permit. These activities include construction
projects resulting in land disturbance. Such activities include but
are not limited to clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating, and
demolition.
DISCHARGER
Any person who owns or is in control of real or personal
property that discharges, directly or indirectly, any material into
the MS4.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Any material, including any substance, waste, or combination
thereof, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical,
chemical, or infectious characteristics may cause, or significantly
contribute to, a substantial present or potential hazard to human
health, safety, property, or the environment when improperly treated,
stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface,
which allows an illegal discharge to enter the MS4, including but
not limited to:
A.
Conveyances which allow any nonstormwater discharge
including treated or untreated sewage, process wastewater, and wash
water to enter the MS4 and any connections to the storm drain system
from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of whether said drain or
connection had been previously allowed, permitted, or approved by
an authorized enforcement agency; or
B.
Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial
or industrial land use to the MS4 which has not been documented in
plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an authorized enforcement
agency.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the MS4, except as exempted in §
227-4 of this chapter.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM
A facility including septics, cesspools and similar facilities
serving one or more parcels of land or residential households, or
a private, commercial or institutional facility, that treats sewage
or other liquid wastes for discharge into the groundwaters of New
York State, except where a permit for such a facility is required
under the applicable provisions of Article 17 of the Environmental
Conservation Law.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities requiring the SPDES Permit for Discharges From
Industrial Activities Except Construction, GP-98-03, as amended or
revised.
MS4
Municipal separate stormwater sewer system.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORMWATER SEWER SYSTEM
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains):
A.
Owned or operated by the Village of Spring Valley;
B.
Designed or used for collecting or conveying
stormwater;
C.
Which is not a combined sewer; and
D.
Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment
works (POTW) as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
NYSDEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
NONSTORMWATER DISCHARGE
Any discharge to the MS4 that is not composed entirely of
stormwater. This includes any pollutants, as well as but not limited
to, trash, yard waste, or pet waste.
PERSON
Any individual, association, organization, partnership, firm,
corporation or other entity owning the property or having control
of the property.
POLLUTANT
Dredged spoil, filter backwash, solid waste, incinerator
residue, treated or untreated sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions,
chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat,
wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, soil and industrial, municipal,
agricultural waste and ballast discharged into water or any substance;
which may cause or might reasonably be expected to cause pollution
of the waters of the state in contravention of the standards.
PROPERTY
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips
and all chattel.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
A.
Discharge compliance with water quality standards:
the condition that applies where a municipality has been notified
by NYSDEC that the discharge of stormwater authorized under their
MS4 permit may have caused or has the reasonable potential to cause
or contribute to the violation of an applicable water quality standard.
Under this condition, the municipality must take all necessary actions
to ensure future discharges do not cause or contribute to a violation
of water quality standards.
B.
303(d) listed waters: the condition in the municipality's
MS4 permit that applies where the MS4 discharges to a 303(d) listed
water. Under this condition, the stormwater management program must
ensure no increase of the listed pollutant of concern to the 303(d)
listed water.
C.
TMDL (total maximum daily load) strategy: the
condition in the municipality's MS4 permit where a TMDL including
requirements for control of stormwater discharges has been approved
by EPA for a water body or watershed into which the MS4 discharges.
If the discharge from the MS4 did not meet the TMDL stormwater allocations
prior to September 10, 2003, the municipality was required to modify
its stormwater management program to ensure that reduction of the
pollutant of concern specified in the TMDL is achieved.
D.
The condition in the municipality's MS4 permit
that applies if a TMDL is approved in the future by EPA for any water
body or watershed into which an MS4 discharges. Under this condition,
the municipality must review the applicable TMDL to see if it includes
requirements for control of stormwater discharges. If an MS4 is not
meeting the TMDL stormwater allocations, the municipality must, within
six months of the TMDL's approval, modify its stormwater management
program to ensure that reduction of the pollutant of concern specified
in the TMDL is achieved.
STORMWATER
Rainwater, snowmelt, drainage and uncontaminated groundwater.
SMO (STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER)
An employee, the municipal engineer or other public official(s)
designated by the Village of Spring Valley to enforce this chapter.
The SMO may also be designated by the municipality to accept and review
stormwater pollution prevention plans, forward the plans to the applicable
municipal board and inspect stormwater management practices and designate
certain responsibilities pursuant to this chapter to other employees
or agents of the municipality.
303(d) LIST
A list of all surface waters in the state for which beneficial
uses of the water (drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat, and industrial
use) are impaired by pollutants, prepared periodically by the New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation as required by
Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. 303(d) listed waters are estuaries,
lakes and streams that fall short of state surface water quality standards
and are not expected to improve within the next two years.
TMDL
Total maximum daily load.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD
The maximum amount of a pollutant to be allowed to be released
into a water body so as not to impair uses of the water allocated
among the sources of that pollutant.
WASTEWATER
Water that is not stormwater, is contaminated with pollutants
and is or will be discarded.
The Stormwater Management Officer(s) [SMO(s)]
shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
No persons shall operate a failing individual
sewage treatment system in areas tributary to the municipality's MS4.
A failing individual sewage treatment system is a system which has
one or more of the following conditions:
A. The backup of sewage into a structure.
B. Discharges of treated or untreated sewage onto the
ground surface.
C. A connection or connections to a separate stormwater
sewer system.
D. Liquid level in the septic tank above the outlet invert.
E. Structural failure of any component of the individual
sewage treatment system that could lead to any of the other failure
conditions as noted in this section.
F. Contamination of off-site groundwater that can reasonably
be attributed to the individual sewage treatment system.
Any person subject to an industrial or construction
activity SPDES stormwater discharge permit shall comply with all provisions
of such permit. Proof of compliance with said permit shall be required
by the municipality in a form acceptable to the NYSDEC prior to the
allowing of discharges to the MS4.
Notwithstanding other requirements of law, as
soon as any person responsible for a property or operation, or responsible
for emergency response for a property or operation has information
of any known or suspected release of materials which are resulting
or may result in illegal discharges or pollutants discharging into
the MS4, said person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the
discovery, containment, and cleanup of such release. In the event
of such a release of hazardous materials, said person shall immediately
notify emergency response agencies, the municipality, and the responsible
MS4 of the occurrence via emergency dispatch services. In the event
of a release of nonhazardous materials, said person shall notify the
municipality and responsible MS4 in person or by telephone or facsimile
no later than the next business day. Notifications in person or by
telephone shall be confirmed by written notice addressed and mailed
to the municipality within three business days of the telephone notice.
If the discharge of prohibited materials emanates from a commercial
or industrial establishment, the owner or operator of such establishment
shall also retain an on-site written record of the discharge and the
actions taken to prevent its recurrence. Such records shall be retained
for at least three years.
Any person receiving a notice of violation may
appeal the determination of the SMO to the Village Board within 15
days of its issuance, which shall hear the appeal within 30 days after
the filing of the appeal, and within five days of making its decision,
file its decision in the office of the municipal clerk and mail a
copy of its decision by certified mail to said person.
It shall be unlawful for any person to violate
any provision or fail to comply with any of the requirements of this
chapter. If a person has violated or continues to violate the provisions
of this chapter, the SMO may petition for a preliminary or permanent
injunction restraining the person from activities which would create
further violations or compelling the person to perform abatement or
remediation of the violation.
In addition to the enforcement processes and
penalties provided, any condition caused or permitted to exist in
violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is a threat to
public health, safety, and welfare, and is declared and deemed a nuisance,
and may be summarily abated or restored at the violator's expense,
and/or a civil action to abate, enjoin, or otherwise compel the cessation
of such nuisance may be taken.
The remedies listed in this chapter are not
exclusive of any other remedies available under any applicable federal,
state or local law and it is within the discretion of the authorized
enforcement agency to seek cumulative remedies.