A.
The purpose of this chapter is to protect the health, safety, general
welfare, and environment by regulating illicit connections and discharges
to the storm drain system and controlling the adverse effects of construction
site stormwater runoff and post-construction stormwater runoff which
is necessary for the protection of the City of Taunton's water
bodies and groundwater. This chapter establishes methods for controlling
the introduction of pollutants into the municipal separate storm sewer
system (MS4) in order to comply with the requirements of the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit process.
B.
The objectives of this chapter are to:
(1)
Comply with state and federal statutes and regulations relating to
stormwater discharges;
(2)
Prevent pollutants from entering the City's MS4;
(3)
Prohibit illicit connections and unauthorized discharges to the City's
MS4 and require their removal;
(4)
Establish minimum construction and post-construction stormwater management
standards and design criteria for the regulation and control of stormwater
runoff quantity and quality;
(5)
Establish provisions for the long-term responsibility for, and maintenance
of, structural stormwater control facilities and nonstructural stormwater
management practices to ensure that they continue to function as designed,
are maintained, and pose no threat to public safety; and
(6)
Establish the City's legal authority to ensure compliance with
the provisions of this chapter through inspection, monitoring and
enforcement.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following shall mean:
The normal maintenance or improvement of land in agricultural
or aquacultural use, as defined by the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection
Act and its implementing regulations.[1]
Any activity which will measurably change the ability of
a ground surface area to absorb water or will change existing surface
drainage patterns. The term "alter" shall include "alteration of drainage
characteristics" and "conducting land disturbance activities."
The City of Taunton Department of Public Works, its employees
or agents, designated to enforce this chapter.
An activity, procedure, restraint, or structural improvement
that helps to reduce the quantity or improve the quality of stormwater
runoff.
The federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.) and any subsequent amendments thereto.
Any activity that removes vegetative surface cover.
Activities subject to NPDES construction permits. 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.
Excess or discarded building or site materials, including
but not limited to concrete truck washout, chemicals, litter and sanitary
waste at a construction site that may adversely impact water quality.
The modification of land to accommodate a new use or expansion
of use, usually involving construction.
The addition from any source of any pollutant or combination
of pollutants into the municipal separate storm sewer system, wetland
resource areas, or into the waters of the United States or Commonwealth
of Massachusetts from any source.
The wearing away of the land surface by natural or artificial
forces such as wind, water, ice, gravity, or vehicle traffic and the
subsequent detachment and transportation of soil particles.
Habitats delineated for state-protected rare wildlife and
certified vernal pools for use with the Wetlands Protection Act regulations
(310 CMR 10.00) and the Forest Cutting Practices Act regulations (304
CMR 11.00).
Changing the level or shape of the ground surface.
All water beneath the surface of the ground.
The act of clearing land surface by digging up roots and
stumps.
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 § 381-6 of this chapter.
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.
Any material or structure on or above the ground that prevents
water from infiltrating the underlying soil. "Impervious surface"
includes without limitation roads, paved parking lots, sidewalks,
and rooftops.
Activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
The act of conveying surface water into the ground to permit
groundwater recharge and the reduction of stormwater runoff from a
project site.
Construction activities, including clearing, grading, and
excavating, which remove the vegetative ground cover and/or cover
the existing vegetative cover with fill or any activity that causes
a change in the position or location of soil, sand, rock, gravel,
or similar earth material.
Low-impact development incorporates nonstructural and natural
approaches to new and redevelopment projects to reduce adverse effects
on water quality and the natural environment by conserving natural
areas, reducing impervious cover, and better integrating stormwater
treatment.
Chapter 131A of the Massachusetts General Laws and its implementing
regulations (321 CMR 10.00) which prohibit the taking of any rare
plant or animal species listed as endangered, threatened, or of special
concern.
The policy issued by the Department of Environmental Protection,
and as amended, that coordinates the requirements prescribed by state
regulations promulgated under the authority of the Massachusetts Wetlands
Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and Massachusetts Clean
Waters Act, MGL c. 21, §§ 23 to 56.
The system of conveyances designed or used for collecting
or conveying stormwater, including any road with a drainage system,
street, gutter, curb, inlet, piped storm drain, pumping facility,
retention or detention basin, natural or man-made or altered drainage
channel, reservoir, and other drainage structure that together comprise
the storm drainage system owned or operated by the City of Taunton.
A permit issued by the Environmental Protection Agency or
jointly with a state that authorizes the discharge of pollutants to
waters of the United States.
Any construction or land disturbance on a lot, or on a portion
of a lot, that is currently in a vegetated state.
Pollution from many diffuse sources caused by rainfall or
snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves,
it picks up and carries away natural and man-made pollutants, finally
depositing them into water resource areas.
Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed
entirely of stormwater.
An activity or condition posing a danger to public health
and safety.
The point at which stormwater flows out from a point source
(discernible, confined and discrete conveyance) into waters of the
commonwealth.
A person with a legal or equitable interest in property.
Any individual, association, organization, partnership, firm,
trust, corporation, agency, authority, department or political subdivision
of the commonwealth or the federal government, to the extent permitted
by law, and any officer, employee, or agent of such person.
Any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including
but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well,
discrete fissure, or container from which pollutants are or may be
discharged.
Any element or property of sewage, agricultural, industrial
or commercial waste, runoff, leachate, heated effluent, or other matter,
whether originating at a point or nonpoint source, that is or may
be introduced into the City of Taunton municipal storm drain system
or waters of the United States or waters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
"Pollutant" shall include without limitation:
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, accumulations and floatables;
Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers;
Hazardous materials and wastes;
Sewage, fecal coliform and pathogens;
Dissolved and particulate metals;
Animal wastes;
Rock, sand, salt, and soils;
Construction wastes and residues;
Vegetable oil and waste vegetable oil; and
Noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
All activity in preparation for construction.
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
Habitats delineated for rare plant and animal populations
protected pursuant to the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act and
its regulations.
Water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into
direct contact with or results from the production or use of any material,
intermediate product, finished product, or waste product.
The process by which groundwater is replenished by precipitation
through the percolation of runoff and surface water through the soil.
Development, rehabilitation, expansion, demolition or phased
projects that disturb the ground surface or increase the impervious
area on previously developed sites.
Rainfall, snowmelt, or irrigation water flowing over the
ground surface.
Mineral or organic soil material that is transported by wind
or water from its origin to another location; the product of erosion
processes.
The process or act of deposition of sediment.
Any lot or parcel of land or area of property where land
disturbing activities are, were, or will be performed.
The incline of a ground surface expressed as a ratio of horizontal
distance to vertical distance.
Any earth, sand, rock, gravel, or similar material.
The use, singly or in combination, of mechanical, structural,
or vegetative methods to prevent or retard erosion.
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 activity which removes the vegetative ground surface
cover, including tree removal, clearing, grubbing, and storage or
removal of topsoil.
A permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) pursuant to 314 CMR 3.00 that authorizes the discharge of pollutants
to waters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Any material which because of its quantity, concentration, or
chemical, corrosive, flammable, reactive, toxic, infectious or radioactive
characteristics, either separately or in combination with any substance
or substances, constitutes a present or potential threat to human
health, safety, welfare, or to the environment. Toxic or hazardous
materials include any synthetic organic chemical, petroleum product,
heavy metal, radioactive or infectious waste, acid and alkali, and
any substance defined as toxic or hazardous under MGL c. 21C and MGL
c. 21E and the regulations at 310 CMR 30.000 and 310 CMR 40.000.
Water containing no pollutants.
Any sanitary waste, sludge, or septic tank or cesspool overflow
and water that, during manufacturing, cleaning or processing, comes
into direct contact with or results from the production or use of
any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, by-product
or waste product.
A natural or man-made channel through which water flows or
a stream of water, including a river, brook or underground stream.
All waters within the jurisdiction of the commonwealth, including,
without limitation, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, springs, impoundments,
estuaries, wetlands, coastal waters, and groundwater.
All wetlands and watercourses protected under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and Chapter 432, Wetlands Protection, of these Revised Ordinances.
[1]
Editor's Note: See MGL c. 131, § 40, and 310 CMR
10.00.
