For the purposes of this chapter, the following shall mean:
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.
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.
ILLEGAL DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect non-stormwater discharge to the storm drain system, except as exempted in §
133-7 of this chapter.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS
Either of the following:
A.
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface
that allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system,
including but not limited to any conveyances that allow any non-stormwater
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
B.
Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial
land use to the storm drain system that has not been documented in
plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an authorized enforcement
agency.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities subject to NPDES industrial stormwater permits
as defined in 40 CFR, Section 122.26(b)(14).
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
The system of conveyances (including sidewalks, roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains) owned and operated by
the Township of Grosse Ile and designed or used for collecting or
conveying stormwater, and that is not used for collecting or conveying
sewage.
NON-STORMWATER DISCHARGE
Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed
entirely of stormwater and that exceeds the established state or federal
limits.
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. Pollutants
may include, but are not limited to: paints, varnishes, and solvents;
oil and other automotive fluids; non-hazardous liquid and solid wastes
and yard wastes; refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded
or abandoned objects, ordinances, 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.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM
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.
STORMWATER
Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely
of water from any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from
such precipitation.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT 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.
WASTEWATER
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
This chapter shall apply to all water entering the storm drain
system generated on any developed and undeveloped lands unless explicitly
exempted by Grosse Ile Township and/or the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ shall administer, implement,
and enforce the provisions of this chapter. Any powers granted or
duties imposed upon Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ may be delegated
in writing by the Director of Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ
to persons or entities acting in the beneficial interest of or in
the employ of the agency.
This chapter is not intended to modify or repeal any other ordinance,
rule, regulation, or other provision of law. The requirements of this
chapter are in addition to the requirements of any other ordinance,
rule, regulation, or other provision of law, and where any provision
of this chapter imposes restrictions different from those imposed
by any other ordinance, rule, regulation, or other provision of law,
whichever provision is more restrictive or imposes higher protective
standards for human health or the environment shall control.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated pursuant to this
chapter are minimum standards; therefore this chapter does not intend
or imply that compliance by any person will ensure that there will
be no contamination, pollution, or unauthorized discharge of pollutants.
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.
Any person responsible for a property or premises that 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 MS4. 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.
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 United States, 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
Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ 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
Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ 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 seven years. Failure to
provide notification of a release as provided above is a violation
of this chapter.
Any person receiving a notice of violation may appeal the determination
of Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ. The notice of appeal must
be received within five 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 10 days from the date of receipt
of the notice of appeal. The decision of the municipal authority or
its 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 five days of the decision of the municipal authority upholding
the decision of Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ, then representatives
of Grosse Ile Township and/or the MDEQ 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 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 five 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.
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, 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.