[Adopted 3-27-2007 by L.L. No. 3-2007 (Ch.
245, Art. I, of the 1984 Code)]
The purpose of this article is to provide for
the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the Village
of Dobbs Ferry through the regulation of connections to the Village's
municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) and the regulation of
nonstormwater discharges to the (MS4) to the maximum extent practicable
as required by federal and state law. This article establishes methods
for controlling the introduction of pollutants into the MS4 in order
to comply with requirements of the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC) SPDES General Permit (GP-02-02) for municipal
separate storm sewer systems. The objectives of this article 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 unauthorized and 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 article; and
E. To promote public awareness of the hazards involved
in the improper discharge of trash, yard waste, lawn chemicals, pet
waste, wastewater, grease, oil, petroleum products, cleaning products,
paint products, hazardous waste, sediment and other pollutants into
the MS4.
Whenever used in this article, unless a different
meaning is stated in a definition applicable to only a portion of
this article, the following terms will have the meanings set forth
below:
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPS)
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 (CWA)
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
CHAPTER
Chapter of the Code of the Village of Dobbs Ferry, New York.
CONNECTION PERMIT
An authorization for connection as well as a discharge permitted under §
220-12 of this article, as well as a discharge permitted under a SPDES permit, waiver, or waste discharge order issued to the discharger and administered under the authority of the NYSDEC. This permit is subject to special terms and conditions by the SMO. The permit will expire on or before the expiration of the NYSDEC SPDES permit, waiver or order or upon change of ownership or use of the property.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Activities requiring authorization under a NYSDEC SPDES permit
for stormwater discharges from construction activity, GP-02-01, as
amended or revised, or activities covered by erosion and sediment
control or pollution prevention plan laws, ordinances or regulations
of the Village. These activities include construction projects resulting
in land disturbance equal to or greater than the area stipulated in
statutes or regulations of the state, county or the Village, whichever
is most restrictive. Such activities include, but are not limited
to, clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating, and demolition.
COUNTY
The County of Westchester.
GENERAL PERMIT
An authorization for the connection as well as the discharge of stormwater or authorized nonstormwater (per §
220-5B of this article) from properties occupied by private dwellings.
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 ACTIVITY
Any action or condition, active or passive, that results
in nonstormwater entering the Village's MS4.
ILLICIT CONNECTION
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.
Any 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;
C.
Any building or structure floor drain or trench
drain; and
D.
Any unauthorized connection as defined elsewhere
in this section.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE
Any discharge through an unauthorized connection, and any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the MS4, except as exempted in §
220-5 of this article.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM
A facility 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 storm sewer system owned by the Village
or another municipal entity.
MS4 SPECIAL PERMIT
An authorization for the connection as well as the discharge of stormwater or authorized nonstormwater (per §
220-5B of this article) from all properties occupied by other than private dwellings.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM
A conveyance or system of conveyances and retention and infiltration
facilities (including roads with drainage systems, curbs and gutters
on municipal streets, manholes, catch basins, ditches, man-made channels,
or storm drains, stormwater basins, drainage reserve areas, dry wells
or any other component of a stormwater system), that is:
A.
Owned or operated by the Village or another
municipal entity;
B.
Designed or used for collecting or conveying
or storing or infiltrating or managing stormwater;
C.
Not a combined sewer; and
D.
Not part of a publicly owned treatment works
(POTW) as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
MUNICIPALITY
A county, town, city, village or other unit of government.
NYSDEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
PERSON
Any individual, association, organization, partnership, firm,
corporation or other entity recognized by law and acting as either
the owner or as the owner's agent.
POLLUTANT
Anything which causes or contributes to pollution. Pollutants
may include, but are not limited to, dredged spoil, filter backwash,
solid waste, incinerator residue, treated or untreated sewage, garbage,
sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive
materials, hazardous materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment,
rock, sand and industrial, municipal, agricultural waste and ballast
discharged into water which may cause or might reasonably be expected
to cause pollution of the waters of the state in contravention of
the standards. Also, paints, varnishes and solvents; oil and other
automotive fluids; hazardous or nonhazardous liquid and solid wastes,
yard wastes including branches, grass clippings and leaves; refuse,
rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded or abandoned objects
and accumulations so that same may cause or contribute to pollution;
and discharges of soaps, detergents, or floatables; pesticides, herbicides,
and fertilizers; sewage, fecal coliforms and pathogens; dissolved
and particulate metals; animal wastes; wastes and residues that result
from constructing a building, structure or site improvements; cement,
gravel, sand, silt, mud, other soils, and noxious or offensive matter
of any kind.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
A.
Discharge compliance with water quality standards.
The condition that applies where an MS4 has been notified that the
discharge of stormwater authorized under its MS4 SPDES 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 MS4 must take all necessary actions to ensure future
discharges do not cause or contribute to a violation of water quality
standards.
B.
Clean Water Act § 303(d) listed waters.
The condition in an MS4 SPDES permit that applies where the MS4 discharges
to a CWA § 303(d) listed water. Under this condition the
MS4's stormwater management program must ensure no increase of the
listed pollutant of concern to the § 303(d) listed water.
C.
Total maximum daily load (TMDL) strategy. The
condition in an MS4 SPDES permit where a TMDL including requirements
for control of stormwater discharges has been approved by the 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 MS4 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 an MS4 permit that applies
if a TMDL is approved in the future by the EPA for any water body
or watershed into which an MS4 discharges. Under this condition, the
MS4 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 MS4 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, surface runoff, subsurface drainage and snowmelt.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER (SMO)
The Village Engineer of the Village of Dobbs Ferry (or the
person serving in the capacity of the Village Engineer) or his/her
authorized deputies, agents or representatives, including employees
of other Village departments, as appropriate, or any other duly authorized
individual designated by the Village Board of Trustees. The SMO is
to enforce this article, review stormwater pollution prevention plans,
forward the plans to the applicable municipal board and inspect stormwater
management practices.
SECTION 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 NYSDEC
as required by § 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Section
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 allowed to be released
into a water body so as not to impair uses of the water, allocated
among the sources of that pollutant.
UNAUTHORIZED CONNECTION
A permanent or temporary unapproved direct or indirect conveyance
to the Village's MS4. Any connection, pipe, hose or other conveyance
that is not documented on plans, maps or equivalent records signed
by the SMO or that is not approved by a permit issued by the SMO is
considered unauthorized regardless of whether the discharge is otherwise
allowed by this article.
VILLAGE
The Village of Dobbs Ferry, New York.
WASTEWATER
Water that is not stormwater, is contaminated with pollutants,
and is or will be discarded.
This article shall apply to discharged connections
to the Village's MS4. This includes activities that result in discharge,
seepage or deposition into the Village's MS4, and all water entering
the MS4 generated on any developed and undeveloped lands unless explicitly
exempted by an authorized enforcement agency and allowed by a discharge
or connection permit or other document approved by the SMO. This article
shall also apply to discharges and connections entering another MS4
that is tributary to the Village's MS4.
The Village Engineer of the Village of Dobbs
Ferry, as the Stormwater Management Officer (SMO) for the Village,
or duly authorized deputies, agents or representatives, including
employees of other Village departments, as appropriate, or any other
duly authorized individual designated by the Village Board of Trustees
shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this article.
No persons shall operate a failing individual
sewage treatment system in areas tributary to the Village's MS4. A
failing individual sewage treatment system is one 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 components 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.
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 may be required
in a form acceptable to the SMO prior to the allowing of discharges
to the MS4.
Notwithstanding other requirements of 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 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 of the occurrence via emergency
dispatch services. In the event of a release of nonhazardous materials,
said person shall notify the SMO 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 SMO 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 within 15 calendar days of its issuance. The SMO shall hear
the appeal within 30 days after the filing of the appeal, and within
five days of making his/her decision, issue a decision by certified
mail to the discharger. The SMO may conduct the hearing and take evidence
or may designate any officer or employee of the SMO to do so.
It shall be unlawful for any person to violate
any provision or fail to comply with any of the requirements of this
article. If a person has violated or continues to violate the provisions
of this article, the SMO may petition a court of competent jurisdiction
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 article is a threat to
public health, safety and welfare, and is declared and deemed a public
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 article and regulations
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.