[Adopted 11-28-2007 by L.L. No. 4-2007]
The purpose of this article is to provide for
the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the Town
of Manlius through the regulation of nonstormwater discharges to the
storm drainage system to the maximum extent practicable as required
by federal and state law. This article establishes methods for controlling
the introduction of pollutants into the municipal separate storm sewer
system (MS4) in order to comply with requirements of the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit process and
the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES). The objectives
of this article are:
A. To meet the requirements of the SPDES General Permit
for Stormwater Discharges From the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer
System (MS4), issued by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
(the "Department").
B. To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the
MS4 by discharges of pollutants that the system is not designed to
accept or process; or discharge nonstormwater wastes, by any user.
C. To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to
the municipal separate storm sewer system.
D. To establish legal authority to carry out required
inspection, surveillance and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure
compliance with this article.
E. To promote public awareness of the hazards involved
in the improper discharge of trash, yard waste, lawn chemicals, pet
wastes, wastewater, grease, oil, petroleum products, cleaning products,
paint products, hazardous wastes, sediment and other pollutants into
the MS4.
For the purposes of this article, the following
shall mean:
AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
The Director of Planning and Development; the Highway Superintendent,
and designated employees or designees of the Department of Planning
and Development and/or the Highway Department.
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
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 issued by the
Department, as amended or revised. These activities include construction
projects resulting in land disturbance of one or more acres or cumulatively
resulting in one acre or more. Such activities include but are not
limited to clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating, and demolition.
DEPARTMENT
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
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 any conveyances which allow any nonstormwater discharge
including sewage, process wastewater, and wash water to enter the
storm drain system and any connections to the MS4 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, any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or
industrial land use to the MS4 system which has not been documented
in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an authorized
enforcement agency.
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 subject to SPDES Permit for the Discharges From
Industrial Activities Except Construction, GP-98-03, as amended or
revised.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORMWATER SYSTEM (MS4)
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains) owned and operated by
the Town of Manlius, designed or used for collecting or conveying
stormwater and not used for collecting or conveying sewage.
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, including
but 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, paints,
varnishes, and solvents; oil and other automotive fluids; nonhazardous
liquid and solid wastes and yard wastes; refuse, rubbish, garbage,
litter, and accumulations, so that same may cause or contribute to
pollution; floatables; pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers; hazardous
substances and wastes; sewage, fecal coliform and pathogens; dissolved
and particulate metals; animal wastes; wastes and residues that result
from constructing a building or structure; and noxious or offensive
matter of any kind; discarded equipment or objects, 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.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Conditions which meet any of the following requirements:
A.
Discharge compliance with water quality standards:
the condition that applies where a municipality has been notified
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 any 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 into a 303(d) listed
water. Under this condition, the stormwater management program must
ensure no increase in the listed pollutant of concern to the 303(d)
listed water(s).
C.
Total maximum daily load (TMDL) 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.
D.
The condition in the municipality's 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 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 in the
TDML is achieved.
STORMWATER
Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely
of water from any form of natural precipitation, including rainwater,
surface runoff, snowmelt and drainage.
STORMWATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN
A document which describes the best management practices
and activities to be implemented by a person or business to identify
sources of pollution or contamination at a site and the actions to
eliminate or reduce pollutant discharges to stormwater, stormwater
conveyance systems, and/or receiving waters to the maximum extent
practicable.
303(d) LIST
A list of all surface waters in the state for which beneficial
uses of water (drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat, and industrial
use) are impaired by pollutants, prepared periodically by the Department
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.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL)
The maximum amount of 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
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
This article shall apply to all water entering
the storm drain system generated on any developed and undeveloped
lands unless explicitly exempted by an authorized enforcement agency.
The Department of Planning and Development shall
administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this article.
Any powers granted or duties imposed upon the Department of Planning
and Development may be delegated in writing by the Director of the
Department of Planning and Development.
No persons shall operate a failing individual
sewage treatment system in areas tributary to the municipalities 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 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.
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 Department of Planning and Development
prior to the allowing of discharges to the MS4.
Every person owning property through which a
watercourse passes, or such person's lessee, shall keep and maintain
that part of the watercourse within the property free of trash, debris,
excessive vegetation, and other obstacles that would pollute, contaminate,
or significantly retard the flow of water through the watercourse.
In addition, the owner or lessee shall maintain existing privately
owned structures within or adjacent to a watercourse, so that such
structures will not become a hazard to the use, function, or physical
integrity of the watercourse.
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
stormwater, the MS4 system, or state waters, 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 authorized
enforcement agency in person or by phone or facsimile no later than
the next business day. Notifications in person or by phone shall be
confirmed by written notice addressed and mailed to the Director of
Planning and Development within three business days of the phone 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
as required by the state record retention schedule.
Any person receiving a notice of violation may
appeal the determination of the Director of Planning and Development.
The notice of appeal must be received within five days from the date
of the notice of violation to the Town Clerk. Hearing on the appeal
before the Town Board shall take place within 30 days from the date
of receipt of the notice of appeal. The decision of the Town Board
shall be final.
If the violation has not been corrected pursuant
to the requirements set forth in the notice of violation, or, in the
event of an appeal, within 10 days of the decision of the Town Board
upholding the decision of the Director of Planning and Development,
then representatives of the Department of Planning and Development
shall enter upon the subject private property and are authorized to
take any and all measures necessary to abate the violation and/or
restore the property. It shall be unlawful for any person, owner,
agent or person in possession of any premises to refuse to allow the
government agency or designated contractor to enter upon the premises
for the purposes set forth above.
Within 10 days after abatement of the violation,
the owner of the property will be notified of the cost of abatement,
including administrative costs. The property owner may file a written
protest objecting to the amount of the assessment within five days.
If the amount due is not paid within a timely manner as determined
by the decision of the Town Attorney or by the expiration of the time
in which to file an appeal, the charges shall become a special assessment
against the property and shall constitute a lien on the property for
the amount of the assessment.
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 Director of Planning and Development 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 lieu of enforcement proceedings, penalties,
and remedies authorized by this article, the Director of Planning
and Development, upon recommendation of the Town Attorney, may impose
upon the violator alternative compensatory actions, such as storm
drain stenciling, attendance at compliance workshops, creek cleanup,
etc. This would be available where the violation was unintentional,
the violator has no previous violations of this article, environmental
damage was minimal, the violator acted quickly to remedy the violation
and the violator cooperated in the investigation and resolution.
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 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.
Any person that has violated or continues to
violate this article shall be liable to criminal prosecution to the
fullest extent of the law, and shall be subject to a criminal penalty
of $350 per violation per day and/or imprisonment for a period of
time not to exceed 60 days. The Director of Planning and Development
may recover all attorneys' fees, court costs and other expenses associated
with enforcement of this article, including sampling and monitoring
expenses.
The remedies listed in this article are not
exclusive of any other remedies available under any applicable federal,
state or other law and it is within the discretion of the authorized
enforcement agency to seek cumulative remedies.
The Town has the right to require any developer,
home owner, business owner, property owner or responsible party ("property
owner") to post a bond, letter of credit or cash in an amount to be
determined by Director of Planning and Development and the Town Engineer
to be held in escrow in the event that the Town has to undertake remediation
work for any illicit/illegal discharge by said property owner or paying
the cost of fines assessed to the Town for any illicit/illegal discharges
by said property owner.