The purpose of this article is to provide for the health, safety
and general welfare of the citizens of Middlefield 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 storm drainage system in order to comply with requirements
of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit
process. The objectives of this article are:
A. To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the storm drainage
system through stormwater discharges by any user.
B. To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to the storm drainage
system.
C. To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, surveillance
and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with this
article.
For the purposes of this article, the following definitions
shall apply:
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)
Schedules of activities, prohibition 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.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Activities subject to NPDES construction permits. Currently
these include construction projects resulting in land disturbance
of one acre or more. Such activities include but are not limited to
clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating and demolition.
FACILITY
Any building, lot, parcel of land or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
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.
HEARING OFFICER
The person or persons designated from time to time by the Board of Selectmen to hear appeals in accordance with §
380-14 herein. The hearing officer shall not be a police officer, Middlefield Town employee, or person authorized to issue a citation for violation of this article.
ILLEGAL DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the storm drain system, except as exempted in §
380-6 of this article.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS
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 the
Board of Selectmen; 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 the
Board of Selectmen or other public official or body having jurisdiction
thereof.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
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; nonhazardous 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.
STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM
The 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 POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN
A document that 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.
WATERCOURSE
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water,
either natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
This includes but is not limited to lakes, ponds, rivers, streams
and any other surface water defined as a watercourse by the Town's
inland wetland regulations.
WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES
Surface watercourses and water bodies as defined at 40 CFR
122.2, including without limitation intrastate lakes, rivers, streams
(including intermittent streams), mud flats, wetlands, sloughs, wet
meadows or natural ponds, the use, degradation or destruction of which
could affect interstate or foreign commerce.
This article shall apply to all water entering the storm drainage
system, whether generated on developed or undeveloped lands, unless
explicitly exempted by the First Selectman.
The Board of Selectmen shall, in consultation with the Town
Engineer, administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this
article. The Board of Selectmen may delegate its powers and duties
under this article to an authorized designee, except that the Board
of Selectmen shall not delegate the power to appoint the hearing officer.
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.
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 Board of Selectmen prior to the allowing
of discharges to the storm drainage system.
The Board of Selectmen 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 drainage system, or waters of the United States. The owner
or operator of a commercial or industrial establishment shall provide,
at its own expense, reasonable protection from accidental discharge
of prohibited materials or other wastes into the storm drainage system
or watercourses through the use of these structural and nonstructural
BMPs. Further, any person responsible for a property or facility 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 storm drainage system, as directed by the Board of Selectmen.
Compliance with all terms and conditions of a valid NPDES permit authorizing
the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial or construction
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 this section, all activities within
a wetland or watercourse are further subject to the jurisdiction of
the Middlefield Inland Wetlands Commission.
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 drainage 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
the First Selectman in person or by phone, electronic mail 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 Board of Selectmen 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.
If the violation has not been corrected and no appeal from the
notice of violation has been timely taken or if, in the event of an
appeal, the violation has not been corrected within seven days of
the decision of the hearing officer upholding the decision of the
Board of Selectmen, then the Board of Selectmen or its designated
contractor may enter upon the facility and is 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 the facility to refuse to allow the First Selectman
or his designated contractor to enter upon the facility for the purposes
set forth in this section.
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 Board of Selectmen 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 article, the Board of Selectmen may impose upon a violator
alternative compensatory actions, such as storm drain stenciling,
attendance at compliance workshops, watershed cleanup, or other related
activities.
In addition to the enforcement processes and penalties provided
in this article, 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 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.
Any person that has violated or continues to violate this article
shall be liable to criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the
law. The Board of Selectmen may recover all attorneys' fees, court
costs and other expenses associated with enforcement of this article,
including sampling and monitoring expenses.
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 Board of Selectmen to
seek cumulative remedies.