The following definitions shall apply in the
interpretation and implementation of this bylaw:
AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
The Board of Health and its employees or agents are designated
to enforce this bylaw. For the purposes of this bylaw, agents of this
board include the Town Health Agent, the Superintendent of Public
Works, or the Town Building Inspector.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP)
An activity, procedure, restraint, or structural improvement
that helps to reduce the quantity or improve the quality of stormwater
runoff. It also includes 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.
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 the municipal storm drain system or into the waters
of the United States or commonwealth from any source.
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 that is not composed entirely of stormwater, except as exempted in §
131-8. The term does not include a discharge in compliance with an NPDES stormwater discharge permit or a surface water discharge permit, or resulting from fire-fighting activities exempted pursuant to §
131-8 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.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
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 Dalton.
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.
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 without limitation:
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; sewage, fecal
coliform and pathogens;
G.
Dissolved and particulate metals;
J.
Construction wastes and residues; and
K.
Noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land whether
improved or unimproved.
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.
STORMWATER
Stormwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface water runoff
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.
SURFACE WATER DISCHARGE PERMIT
A permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) pursuant to 314 CMR 3.00 that authorizes the discharge of pollutants
to waters of the Commonwealth of 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.
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, costal waters, and groundwater.
This bylaw shall apply to all water entering
the municipally owned storm drainage system unless explicitly exempted
by an authorized enforcement agency.
This bylaw is adopted under the authority granted
by the Home Rule Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution and the
Home Rule Procedures Act, and pursuant to the regulations of the Federal
Clean Water Act found at 40 CFR 122.34.
The Board of Health shall administer, implement
and enforce this bylaw. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon
the Board of Health may be delegated in writing by the Board of Health
to employees or agents of the Board of Health.
The Board of Health is authorized to promulgate
rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this bylaw. Failure
by the Board of Health to promulgate such rules and regulations shall
not have the effect of suspending or invalidating this bylaw.
Any person subject to an industrial or construction
activity NPDES 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 Board of Health, its employees or agents
designated to enforce this bylaw prior to the allowing of discharges
to the municipal storm drain system.
The Board of Health, its employees or agents
shall enforce this bylaw, regulations, orders, violation notices,
and enforcement orders, and may pursue all civil and criminal remedies
for such violations as noted below:
A. Civil relief. If a person violates the provisions
of this bylaw, regulations, permit, notice, or order issued thereunder,
the Board of Health 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 Board of Health, its employees or agents designated
to enforce this bylaw may issue a written order to enforce the provisions
of this bylaw or the regulations thereunder, which may include:
(a)
Elimination of illicit connections or discharges
to the MS4;
(b)
Performance of monitoring, analyses, and reporting;
(c)
That unlawful discharges, practices, or operations
shall cease and desist; and
(d)
Remediation of contamination in connection therewith.
(2) If the enforcing person 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.
C. Criminal penalty. Any person who violates any provision
of this bylaw, regulation, order or permit issued thereunder shall
be punished by a fine of not more than $300. Each day or part thereof
that such violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate
offense.
D. Noncriminal disposition. As an alternative to criminal prosecution or civil action, the Town of Dalton may elect to utilize the noncriminal disposition procedure set forth in MGL c. 40, § 21D, which has been adopted by the Town in Chapter
1, Article
II, Noncriminal Disposition, of the Code of the Town of Dalton, in which case the Town Health Agent, Town Environmental Engineer, Town Engineer, the Superintendent of Public Works, or the Town Building Inspector of the Town of Dalton shall be the enforcing persons. The penalty for the first violation shall be $100. The penalty for the second violation shall be $200. 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.
E. Appeals. The enforcement decisions or orders of the
Board of Health, its employees or agents shall be final. Persons aggrieved
by an enforcement action by the Board of Health, its employees or
agents designated to enforce this bylaw may request a public hearing
with the Board of Health within 14 days of receipt of written enforcement
action to review the circumstances and decisions related to the enforcement
action. The Board of Health will hold a public hearing within 30 days
of receipt of a request for a public hearing. Further relief shall
be to a court of competent jurisdiction.
F. Remedies not exclusive. The remedies listed in this
bylaw are not exclusive of any other remedies available under any
applicable federal, state or local bylaw.
In lieu of enforcement proceedings, penalties,
and remedies authorized by this bylaw, the Board of Health, at its
discretion, may agree to allow the violator to undertake alternative
compensatory actions such as storm drain stenciling, attendance at
compliance workshops, creek cleanup, etc.
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.
Residential property owners shall have 60 days
from the effective date of the bylaw to comply with its provisions,
provided that good cause is shown for the failure to comply with the
bylaw during that period.