[Adopted 1-4-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-01]
The purpose of this article is to provide for the health, safety,
and general welfare of the citizens of the Town of Smithfield through
the regulation of nonstormwater discharges into the municipal storm
drainage system and state waters as authorized by federal and state
law. This article establishes methods for controlling the introduction
of pollutants into the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4)
and state waters. The objectives of this article are to:
A. Prevent illicit discharges into the municipal separate storm sewer
system.
B. Prohibit illicit connections to the municipal separate storm sewer
system.
C. Require the cessation and removal of any and all such illicit connections
and discharges.
D. Establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, monitoring
and enforcement activities necessary to ensure compliance with this
article.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
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.
DISCHARGE PERMIT
A permit issued by the EPA (or by a state under authority
delegated pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1342) 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.
GROUNDWATER
Natural water that occurs below the surface of the earth,
where it occupies spaces in soils or geologic strata and flows within
aquifers below the water table. Groundwater is replenished from surface
water which gradually percolates into the earth and eventually flows
to the surface or streams naturally.
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.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface,
which allows an illicit discharge to enter the storm drainage system,
including but not limited to any conveyance which allows any nonstormwater
discharge, including sewage, process wastewater, and wash water to
enter the storm drain system, and any connections to the storm drainage
system from indoor drains and sinks not authorized by the appropriate
permitting authority.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
Any facility designed or used for collecting and/or conveying
stormwater, including but not limited to any roads with drainage systems,
highways, Town of Smithfield streets, curbs, gutters, inlets, catch
basins, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, structural stormwater
controls, ditches, swales, natural and man-made or altered drainage
channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures, and which is:
A.
Owned or maintained by the Town of Smithfield;
B.
Not a combined sewer; and
C.
Not part of a publicly owned treatment works.
POLLUTANT
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,
sediment from land disturbances, floatables, pesticides, herbicides,
and fertilizers and nutrients, hazardous substances and wastes, sewage,
pet waste, fecal coli form 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
that may cause or contribute to pollution.
SMITHFIELD ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
The Town of Smithfield department primarily responsible for
administering, implementing, and enforcing the provisions of this
article.
STATE WATERS
Any and all rivers, streams, creeks, branches, lakes, reservoirs,
ponds, drainage systems, springs, wells, and other bodies of surface
and subsurface water, natural or artificial, lying within or forming
a part of the boundaries of the State of Rhode Island, which are not
entirely confined and retained completely upon the property of a single
person.
STORMWATER
Any surface flow, runoff, and/or drainage consisting entirely
of water from any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from
such precipitation.
TOWN
Town of Smithfield, Rhode Island.
WASTEWATER
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
This article shall apply to all nonstormwater entering a storm
drainage system generated on any developed and undeveloped lands unless
explicitly authorized or exempted by the terms of this article or
a discharge permit.
The Town of Smithfield Engineering Department shall administer,
implement, and enforce the provisions of this article. Other duly
authorized officers of the Town of Smithfield may also enforce the
provisions of this article.
A connection or discharge to the MS4 may be made only after
the issuance of a permit from the Smithfield Engineering Department
and the payment of a permit fee of $50.
It shall be unlawful for any person to make any connection to
the Town's MS4 without written authorization from the Town, or
to reconnect access when it has been suspended or terminated due to
an illicit discharge without the prior approval of the Town.
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.