[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees
of the Village of Woodbury 8-12-2008 by L.L. No. 6-2008. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to provide for
the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the Village
of Woodbury through the regulation of nonstormwater discharges to
the storm drainage system to the maximum extent practicable as required
by federal and state law. This chapter establishes methods for controlling
the introduction of pollutants into the Village of Woodbury's separate
storm sewer system some of which is a designated municipal separate
storm sewer system (MS4) in order to comply with requirements of the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit process
and to meet Village objectives to protect the environment. The objectives
of this chapter are:
A.Â
To regulate the contribution of pollutants to storm
sewers, including the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4),
by stormwater discharges by any user.
B.Â
To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to
the storm sewer system, including MS4s.
C.Â
To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection,
surveillance and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance
with this chapter.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
shall mean:
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.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
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.
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharges to the storm drain system, except as exempted in § 185-7 of this chapter.
An illicit connection is defined as either of the following:
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, which
allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system, 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 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 any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial
or industrial land use to the storm drain system which has not been
documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an
authorized enforcement agency.
Activities subject to NPDES Industrial Permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
Construction activity, including clearing, grading, excavating,
soil disturbance or placement of fill that results in land disturbance
of equal to or greater than one acre, or activities disturbing less
than one acre of total land area that is part of a larger common plan
of development or sale, even though multiple separate and distinct
land development activities may take place at different times on different
schedules.
Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed
entirely of stormwater.
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.
Anything which causes or contributes to pollution. Pollutants
may include, but are not limited to: paints, varnishes, and solvents;
oil and other automotive fluids; nonhazardous liquid and solid wastes
and yard wastes; refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded
or abandoned objects, ordnance, 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.
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (SPDES) issued to developers of construction activities to
regulate disturbance of one or more acres of land.
A permit under the New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (SPDES) issued to municipalities to regulate discharges from
municipal separate storm sewers for compliance with EPA established
water quality standards and/or to specify stormwater control standards.
Publicly owned facilities by which stormwater is collected
and/or conveyed, including but not limited to any roads with drainage
systems, municipal streets, gutters, curbs, inlets, piped storm drains,
pumping facilities, retention and detention basins, natural and human-made
or altered drainage channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures.
Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely
of water from any form of natural precipitation and resulting from
such precipitation.
An employee or officer 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.
A plan for controlling stormwater runoff and pollutants from
a site during and after construction activities.
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water,
either natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
This chapter shall apply to all water entering
the storm drain system generated on any developed and undeveloped
lands unless explicitly exempted by the Stormwater Management Officer.
The municipality shall designate a Stormwater
Management Officer who may:
The provisions of this chapter are hereby declared
to be severable. If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph
of this chapter 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 chapter.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated
pursuant to this chapter are minimum standards; therefore, this chapter
does not intend nor imply that compliance by any person will ensure
that there will be no contamination, pollution, nor unauthorized discharge
of pollutants.
A.Â
Prohibition of illegal discharges. No person shall
discharge or cause to be discharged into the municipal storm drain
system or watercourses any materials, including but not limited to
pollutants or waters containing any pollutants that cause or contribute
to a violation of applicable water quality standards, other than stormwater.
The commencement, conduct or continuance of any illegal discharge
to the storm drain system is prohibited except as described as follows:
(1)Â
The following discharges are exempt from discharge
prohibitions established by this chapter: water line flushing or other
potable water sources, landscape irrigation or lawn watering, diverted
stream flows, rising groundwater, groundwater infiltration to storm
drains, uncontaminated pumped groundwater, foundation or footing drains
(not including active groundwater dewatering systems), crawl space
pumps, air-conditioning condensation, springs, noncommercial washing
of vehicles, natural riparian habitat or wetland flows, swimming pools
(if dechlorinated), fire-fighting activities, and any other water
source not containing pollutants.
(2)Â
Discharges specified, in writing, by the Stormwater
Management Officer as being necessary to protect public health and
safety.
(3)Â
Dye testing is an allowable discharge, but requires
a verbal notification to the Stormwater Management Officer prior to
the time of the test.
(4)Â
The prohibition shall not apply to any nonstormwater
discharge permitted under a SPDES permit, waiver, or waste discharge
order issued to the discharger and administered under the authority
of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC),
provided that the discharger is in full compliance with all requirements
of the permit, waiver, or order and other applicable laws and regulations,
and provided that written approval has been granted for any discharge
to the storm drain system.
B.Â
Prohibition of illicit connections.
(1)Â
The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence
of illicit connections to the storm drain system is prohibited.
(2)Â
This prohibition expressly includes, without limitation,
illicit connections made in the past, regardless of whether the connection
was permissible under law or practices applicable or prevailing at
the time of connection.
(3)Â
A person is considered to be in violation of this
chapter if the person connects a line conveying sewage to the stormwater
system (including MS4) or allows such a connection to continue.
A.Â
Suspension due to illicit discharges in emergency
situations. The Stormwater Management Officer may, without prior notice,
suspend stormwater discharge access to a person when such suspension
is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents
or may present imminent and substantial danger to the environment,
or to the health or welfare of persons, or to the storm system or
waters of the United States. If the violator fails to comply with
a suspension order issued in an emergency, the authorized enforcement
agency may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize
damage to the storm system and MS4 or waters of the United States,
or to minimize danger to persons.
B.Â
Suspension due to the detection of illicit discharge.
Any person discharging to the storm system and/or MS4 in violation
of this chapter may have his/her access terminated if such termination
would abate or reduce an illicit discharge. The authorized enforcement
agency will notify a violator of the proposed termination of its access.
The violator may petition the authorized enforcement agency for a
reconsideration and hearing.
C.Â
A person commits an offense if the person reinstates
access to premises terminated pursuant to this section without the
prior approval of the authorized enforcement agency.
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 Stormwater Management Officer prior to the
allowing of discharges to the storm system.
A.Â
Applicability. This section applies to all facilities
that have stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity,
including construction activity.
B.Â
Access to facilities.
(1)Â
The Stormwater Management Officer shall be permitted
to enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this chapter
as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this chapter.
If a discharger has security measures in force which require proper
identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the discharger
shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to representatives
of the authorized enforcement agency.
(2)Â
Facility operators shall allow the Stormwater Management
Officer ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes
of inspection, sampling, examination and copying of records that must
be kept under the conditions of an NPDES permit to discharge stormwater,
and the performance of any additional duties as defined by state and
federal law.
(3)Â
The Stormwater Management Officer shall have the right
to set up on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary,
in the opinion of the authorized enforcement agency, to conduct monitoring
and/or sampling of the facility's stormwater discharge.
(4)Â
The Stormwater Management Officer has the right to
require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary.
The facility's sampling and monitoring equipment shall be maintained
at all times in a safe and proper operating condition by the discharger
at its own expense. All devices used to measure stormwater flow and
quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
(5)Â
Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and
easy access to the facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be
promptly removed by the operator at the written or oral request of
the Stormwater Management Officer and shall not be replaced. The costs
of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(6)Â
Unreasonable delays in allowing the Stormwater Management
Officer access to a permitted facility is a violation of a stormwater
discharge permit and of this chapter. A person who is the operator
of a facility with a NPDES permit to discharge stormwater associated
with industrial activity commits an offense if the person denies the
authorized enforcement agency reasonable access to the permitted facility
for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized or required
by this chapter.
(7)Â
If the Stormwater Management Officer has been refused
access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged,
and he/she is able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there
may be a violation of this chapter, or that there is a need to inspect
and/or sample as part of a routine inspection and sampling program
designed to verify compliance with this chapter or any order issued
hereunder or to protect the overall public health, safety, and welfare
of the community, then the authorized enforcement agency may seek
issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.
The Stormwater Management Officer will adopt
requirements identifying best management practices for any activity,
operation, or facility which may cause or contribute to pollution
or contamination of stormwater, the storm drain system, or waters
of the U.S. The owner or operator of a commercial or industrial establishment
shall provide, at his/her own expense, reasonable protection from
accidental discharge of prohibited materials or other wastes into
the municipal storm drain system or watercourses through the use of
these structural and nonstructural BMPs. Further, any person responsible
for a property or premises which is or may be the source of an illicit
discharge, may be required to implement, at said person's expense,
additional structural and nonstructural BMPs to prevent the further
discharge of pollutants to the municipal separate storm sewer system.
Compliance with all terms and conditions of a valid SPDES permit authorizing
the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial activity, to
the extent practicable, shall be deemed compliance with the provisions
of this section. These BMPs shall be part of a stormwater pollution
prevention plan (SWPPP) as necessary for compliance with requirements
of the SPDES permit.
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 storm drain system, or waters of the U.S., 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 Stormwater Management Officer 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 for at least three years.
A.Â
Notice of violation. Whenever the Stormwater Management
Officer finds that a person has violated a prohibition or failed to
meet a requirement of this chapter, the authorized enforcement agency
shall order compliance by written notice of violation to the responsible
person. Such notice may require, without limitation:
(1)Â
The performance of monitoring, analyses, and reporting;
(2)Â
The elimination of illicit connections or discharges;
(3)Â
That violating discharges, practices, or operations
shall cease and desist;
(4)Â
The abatement or remediation of stormwater pollution
or contamination hazards and the restoration of any affected property;
and
(5)Â
Payment of a fine to cover administrative and remediation
costs; and
(6)Â
The implementation of source control or treatment
BMPs.
B.Â
If abatement of a violation and/or restoration of
affected property is required, the notice shall set forth a deadline
within which such remediation or restoration must be completed. Said
notice shall further advise that, should the violator fail to remediate
or restore within the established deadline, the work will be done
by a designated governmental agency or a contractor and the expense
thereof shall be charged to the violator.
Any person receiving a notice of violation may
appeal the determination of the authorized enforcement agency. In
the case of an enforcement action by the municipal Stormwater Management
Officer, the appeal shall be submitted to the Justice Court. The notice
of appeal must be received within 15 days from the date of the notice
of violation. Hearing on the appeal before the appropriate authority
or his/her designee shall take place within 15 days from the date
of receipt of the notice of appeal. The decision of the municipal
authority or their designee 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 15 days of the decision of the municipal
authority upholding the decision of the authorized enforcement agency,
then representatives of the authorized enforcement agency 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.
A.Â
Within 30 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 10 days. If the amount
due is not paid within a timely manner as determined by the decision
of the municipal authority 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.
B.Â
Any person violating any of the provisions of this
chapter shall become liable to the Village by reason of such violation.
The liability shall be paid in not more than 12 equal payments. Interest
at the rate of 18% per annum shall be assessed on the balance beginning
on the 30th day following discovery of the violation.
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 authorized enforcement agency 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 chapter, the municipality may impose
upon a violator alternative compensatory actions, such as storm drain stenciling, attendance at compliance workshops, creek
cleanup, etc.
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,
shall 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 shall be taken.
Any person that has violated or continues to
violate this chapter 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 180 days. The municipality may recover all attorneys'
fees, court costs and other expenses associated with enforcement of
this chapter, including sampling and monitoring expenses.
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 municipality
to seek cumulative remedies.
This chapter shall take effect immediately upon
its filing with the Secretary of State in Albany. All prior ordinances
and parts of ordinances in conflict with this chapter are hereby repealed.
