A. 
This chapter shall apply to those areas of the Township that are located within the Neshaminy Creek and Delaware River South watersheds, as those watersheds are delineated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or other governmental agency with jurisdiction.
B. 
This chapter shall only apply to permanent structural and nonstructural stormwater management BMPs constructed as part of any of the regulated activities listed in this section.
C. 
This chapter contains only the stormwater management performance standards and design criteria that are necessary or desirable from a watershed-wide perspective. Localized stormwater management design criteria (e.g., inlet spacing, inlet type, collection system design and details, outlet structure design, etc.) shall continue to be regulated by Chapter 440, Subdivision and Land Development (SALDO), and other applicable state regulations. In the event of a conflict between the standards and design criteria of this chapter and those of the SALDO, those which are more restrictive and minimize to a greater degree the impacts identified in § 430-102 of this chapter, shall control.
D. 
The following activities are defined as "regulated activities" within the Neshaminy Creek and Delaware River South watersheds and shall be and hereby are regulated by this chapter, unless exempted by § 430-302 of this chapter:
(1) 
Land development;
(2) 
Subdivisions;
(3) 
Alteration of the natural hydrologic regime;
(4) 
Construction or reconstruction of or addition of new impervious or semipervious surfaces (i.e., driveways, parking lots, roads, etc.), except for reconstruction of roads;
(5) 
Construction of new buildings or additions to existing buildings;
(6) 
Redevelopment;
(7) 
Diversion piping or encroachments in any natural or man-made channel;
(8) 
Nonstructural and structural stormwater management BMPs or appurtenances thereto;
(9) 
Earth disturbance greater than 5,000 square feet;
(10) 
Any of the above regulated activities which were approved more than five years prior to the effective date of this chapter and resubmitted for Township approval.
A. 
Exemptions for regulated activities within the Neshaminy Creek Watershed are as follows:
(1) 
The following land use activities are exempt from the drainage plan submission requirements of Article IV of this chapter:
(a) 
Use of land for gardening for home consumption.
(b) 
Agriculture when operated in accordance with a conservation plan, nutrient management plan or erosion and sedimentation control plan approved by the County Conservation District, including activities such as growing crops, rotating crops, tilling of soil and grazing animals. Installation of new or expansion of existing farmsteads, animal housing, waste storage and production areas having impervious surfaces that result in a net increase in earth disturbance of greater than 5,000 square feet shall not be exempt under this section.
(c) 
Forest management operations which are following the Department of Environmental Protection's management practices contained in its publication "Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Guidelines for Forestry" and are operating under an approved E&S Plan; except that such operations shall comply with stream buffer requirements of § 430-506G of this chapter.
(d) 
Development, or redevelopment that has less than 2,000 square feet of new/additional/replaced impervious surface/cover, or in the case of earth disturbance only, less than 5,000 square feet of disturbance, is exempt from this chapter.
(e) 
Road replacement or repairing. The foregoing criterion shall apply to the total development even if the development is to take place in phases. The date of the Township ordinance adoption shall be the starting point from which to consider tracts as "parent tracts" in which future subdivisions and respective earth disturbance computations shall be cumulatively considered.
(2) 
The following land development and earth disturbance activities are exempt from the water quantity control requirements of § 430-508 this chapter:
(a) 
A maximum of 2,000 square feet of new, additional or replacement impervious surface, or in the case of earth disturbance only, that which results in less than 5,000 square feet of impervious cover.
(b) 
Earth disturbance activities up to a maximum of 5,000 square feet. The foregoing criteria shall apply to the total development even if the development is to take place in phases. The date of the Township ordinance adoption shall be the starting point from which to consider tracts as "parent tracts" in which future subdivisions and respective earth disturbance computations shall be cumulatively considered. Impervious areas existing on the parent tract prior to adoption of this chapter shall not be considered in cumulative impervious area calculations for exemption purposes. An exemption shall not relieve the applicant from implementing such measures as are necessary to protect health, safety and property.
(c) 
The water quality requirements of § 430-506 and groundwater recharge goals of § 430-505 of this chapter shall be met even though a regulated activity may be exempt from § 430-508 based on the criteria above.
B. 
Exemptions for regulated activities within the Delaware River South Watershed are as follows:
(1) 
Any regulated activity that meets the exception criteria in the following table is exempt from the drainage plan (Article IV) requirements of this chapter:
Total Parcel Size
(acre)
Impervious Area Exemption
(square feet)
Less than or equal to 1/4
1,200
Greater than 1/4 to 1
2,500
Greater than 1
5,000
(a) 
This criterion shall apply to the total development even if development is to take place in phases. The date of the Township ordinance adoption shall be the starting point from which to consider tracts as parent tracts in which future subdivisions and respective impervious area computations shall be cumulatively considered.
(b) 
This exemption shall not relieve the applicant from meeting the special requirements for watersheds draining to high quality (HQ) or exceptional value (EV) waters (§ 430-504) and requirements for groundwater recharge (§ 430-505), water quality (§ 430-506) and stream-bank erosion (§ 430-503).
C. 
Additional exemption criteria for the Neshaminy Creek and Delaware River South Watersheds:
(1) 
An exemption shall not relieve the applicant from implementing such measures as are necessary to protect the public health, safety and property.
(2) 
An exemption shall not relieve the applicant from meeting the requirements, design standards and/or criteria of any other applicable section of this chapter, including the special requirements for watersheds draining to high quality (HQ) or exceptional value (EV) waters identified and source water protection areas (SWPA) and requirements for nonstructural project design sequencing (§ 430-504).
(3) 
If a drainage problem is documented or known to exist downstream of or reasonable expected from the proposed activity, or if site conditions, topography and/or soils warrant, then the Township may require the applicant to comply with the drainage plan provisions of this chapter.
(4) 
Emergency maintenance work performed for the protection of public health, safety and welfare shall be exempt from the requirements of this chapter. A written description of the scope and extent of any emergency work performed shall be submitted to Middletown Township within two calendar days of the commencement of the activity. If Middletown Township finds that the work is not an emergency, then the work shall cease immediately and the requirements of this chapter shall be addressed as applicable.
(5) 
Maintenance exemption. Any maintenance to an existing stormwater management system made in accordance with plans and specifications approved by Middletown Township and the Township Engineer.