[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Tolland
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-24-2010 by Ord. No. 82]
A.
The purpose
of this article is to provide for the health, safety, and general
welfare of the citizens of the Town of Tolland 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.
B.
The objectives
of this article are:
(1)
To
regulate the contribution of pollutants to the municipal separate
storm sewer system (MS4) by stormwater discharges by any user.
(2)
To
prohibit illicit connections and discharges to the municipal separate
storm sewer system.
(3)
To
establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, surveillance
and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with this
article.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Town Engineer and/or Public Works Director or their designees
designated to enforce this article.
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.
Activities subject to NPDES construction permits. These include
construction projects resulting in land disturbance of five acres
or more. Such activities include but are not limited to clearing and
grubbing, grading, excavating, and demolition.
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 discharge to the storm drain system, except as exempted in § 129-6 of this article.
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).
A permit issued by the EPA [or by a state under authority
delegated pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1342(b)] that authorizes
the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States, whether
the permit is applicable on an individual, group, or general area-wide
basis.
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.
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.
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.
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 Town of Tolland authorized enforcement agency shall administer,
implement, and enforce the provisions of this article. Any powers
granted or duties imposed by the authorized enforcement agency may
be delegated in writing by the Town of Tolland Town Engineer and/or
Public Works Director to persons or entities acting in the beneficial
interest of or in the employ of the agency.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated pursuant to this
article are minimum standards; therefore, this article 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.
Prohibition
of illegal discharges.
(1)
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.
(2)
The
commencement, conduct or continuance of any illegal discharge to the
storm drain system is prohibited except as described as follows:
(a)
The following discharges are exempt from discharge prohibitions established
by this article: 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, fire-fighting activities, and any
other water source not containing pollutants.
(b)
Water discharged from a residential swimming pool is exempt from
discharge prohibitions established by this article if water is decholorinated
(less than one PPM) and/or is discharged over lawn as approved by
the authorized enforcement agency.
(c)
Discharges specified in writing by the authorized enforcement agency
as being necessary to protect public health and safety.
(d)
Dye testing is an allowable discharge, but requires a verbal notification
to the authorized enforcement agency prior to the time of the test.
(e)
The prohibition shall not apply to any nonstormwater discharge permitted
under an NPDES permit, waiver, or waste discharge order issued to
the discharger and administered under the authority of the federal
Environmental Protection Agency, 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.
Prohibition
of illicit connections.
(1)
The
construction, use, maintenance or continued existence of illicit connections
to the storm drain system is prohibited.
(2)
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)
A person
is considered to be in violation of this article if the person connects
a line conveying sewage to the MS4, or allows such a connection to
continue.
A.
Suspension
due to illicit discharges in emergency situations. The Town of Tolland
authorized enforcement agency may, without prior notice, suspend MS4
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 MS4 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 MS4 or waters
of the United States, or to minimize danger to persons.
B.
Suspension
due to the detection of illicit discharge. Any person discharging
to the MS4 in violation of this article may have his or her MS4 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 MS4 access. The violator may petition the authorized
enforcement agency for a reconsideration and hearing.
C.
A person
commits an offense if the person reinstates MS4 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
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 Town of Tolland authorized enforcement
agency prior to the allowing of discharges to the MS4.
A.
Applicability.
This section applies to all facilities that have stormwater discharges
associated with industrial activity, including construction activity.
B.
Access
to facilities.
(1)
The
Town of Tolland authorized enforcement agency shall be permitted to
enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this article
as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this article.
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)
Facility
operators shall allow the Town of Tolland authorized enforcement agency
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)
The
Town of Tolland authorized enforcement agency 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)
The
Town of Tolland authorized enforcement agency 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)
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 Town of Tolland
authorized enforcement agency and shall not be replaced. The costs
of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(6)
Unreasonable
delays in allowing the Town of Tolland authorized enforcement agency
access to a permitted facility is a violation of a stormwater discharge
permit and of this article. 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 article.
(7)
If
the Town of Tolland authorized enforcement agency 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 article, 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 article 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 owner or operator of a commercial or industrial establishment
shall provide, at his or 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 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 NPDES 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 (SWPP) as necessary for compliance with requirements
of the NPDES 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 is resulting or may result
in illegal discharges or pollutants discharging into stormwater, the
storm drain system, or water 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 authorized
enforcement agency 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.
Whenever
the authorized enforcement agency finds that a person has violated
a prohibition or failed to meet a requirement of this article, the
authorized enforcement agency may order compliance by written notice
of violation to the responsible person.
B.
Such notice
may require without limitation:
(1)
The
performance of monitoring, analyses, and reporting;
(2)
The
elimination of illicit connections or discharges;
(3)
That
violating discharges, practices, or operations shall cease and desist;
(4)
The
abatement or remediation of stormwater pollution or contamination
hazards and the restoration of any affected property;
(5)
Payment
of a fine to cover administrative and remediation costs; and
(6)
The
implementation of source control or treatment BMPs.
C.
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 to the Tolland Water Pollution
Control Authority, in its capacity as the appellate authority under
this article ("WPCA"). The notice of appeal must be received by the
authorized enforcement agency by certified mail within 30 days from
the date of the notice of violation. Hearing on the appeal before
the WPCA shall take place within 60 days from the date of receipt
of the notice of appeal. The WPCA shall decide whether a public hearing
should take place to hear argument and/or evidence concerning the
appeal. The decision of the WPCA 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 WPCA 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.
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 15 days after receiving the notification
referred to above in this section, which protest will be directed
by the owner of the property to the authorized enforcement agency.
All written protests must be delivered by regular and certified mail.
If the amount due is not paid within a timely manner as determined
by the decision of the WPCA 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. Notice of such special assessment shall be filed
upon the land records of the Town of Tolland.
B.
Any person
violating any of the provisions of this article shall become liable
to the Town of Tolland 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 first 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 article. If
a person has violated or continues to violate the provisions of this
article, 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 any court of competent
jurisdiction. The authorized enforcement agency may recover all attorneys’
fees, court costs and other expenses associated with enforcement of
this article, including sampling and monitoring expenses.
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. In the event a
nuisance exists which the authorized enforcement agency deems an emergency
which requires an immediate response, and utilizing the enforcement
processes specified in this article would be untenable, said nuisance
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 who has violated or continues to violate this article
shall be liable to criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the
law.
The remedies listed in this article 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.
This article shall be in full force and effect 15 days after
publication date of August 27, 2010, which is September 11, 2010.
All prior ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with this
article are hereby repealed.
