[Ord. 2008-1, 4/1/2008, § 101]
This Part shall be known and may be cited as the "Schuylkill
River Watershed Stormwater Management Ordinance, Township of Douglass,
Berks County."
[Ord. 2008-1, 4/1/2008, § 102]
1. The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Douglass finds that:
A. Inadequate management of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting
from development throughout a watershed increases flood flows and
velocities, contributes to erosion and sedimentation, overtaxes the
carrying capacity of existing streams and storm sewers, greatly increases
the cost of public facilities to convey and manage stormwater, undermines
floodplain management and flood reduction efforts in upstream and
downstream communities, reduces groundwater recharge, and threatens
public health and safety.
B. Inadequate planning and management of stormwater runoff resulting
from land development and redevelopment throughout a watershed can
also harm surface water resources by changing the natural hydrologic
patterns, accelerating stream flows (which increase scour and erosion
of streambeds and stream banks thereby elevating sedimentation), destroying
aquatic habitat and elevating aquatic pollutant concentrations and
loadings such as sediments, nutrients, heavy metals and pathogens.
Groundwater resources are also impacted through loss of recharge.
C. A comprehensive program of stormwater management (SWM), including
minimization of impacts of development, redevelopment and activities
causing accelerated erosion, is fundamental to the public health,
safety, welfare, and the protection of the people of the Township
of Douglass and all the people of the commonwealth, their resources,
and the environment.
D. Inadequate management of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting
from development throughout a watershed poses a threat to surface
and groundwater quality.
E. Stormwater can be an important water resource by providing groundwater
recharge for water supplies and base flow of streams, which also protects
and maintains surface water quality.
F. Impacts from stormwater runoff can be minimized by using project
designs that maintain the natural hydrologic regime, and sustain high
water quality, groundwater recharge, stream baseflow and aquatic ecosystems.
The most cost effective and environmentally advantageous way to manage
stormwater runoff is through nonstructural project design, minimizing
impervious surfaces and sprawl, avoiding sensitive areas (i.e., stream
buffers, floodplains, steep slopes), and designing to topography and
soils to maintain the natural hydrologic regime.
G. Public education on the control of pollution from stormwater is an
essential component in successfully addressing stormwater.
H. Federal and state regulations require certain municipalities to implement
a program of stormwater controls. These municipalities are required
to obtain a permit for stormwater discharges from their separate storm
sewer systems under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES).
I. Nonstormwater discharges to Township separate storm sewer systems
can contribute to pollution of waters of the commonwealth by the Township
of Douglass.
[Ord. 2008-1, 4/1/2008, § 103]
1. The purpose of this Part is to promote the public health, safety, and welfare within the Schuylkill River Watershed by maintaining the natural hydrologic regime by minimizing the impacts described in §
23-102 of this Part through provisions designed to:
A. Promote alternative project designs and layout that minimizes impacts
to surface and groundwater.
B. Promote nonstructural best management practices (BMPs).
C. Minimize increases in stormwater volume.
D. Minimize impervious surfaces.
E. Manage accelerated runoff and erosion and sedimentation problems
at their source by regulating activities that cause these problems.
F. Provide review procedures and performance standards for stormwater
planning and management.
G. Utilize and preserve the existing natural drainage systems.
H. Manage stormwater impacts close to the runoff source, which requires
a minimum of structures and relies on natural processes.
I. Focus on infiltration of stormwater, to maintain groundwater recharge,
to prevent degradation of surface and groundwater quality and to otherwise
protect water resources.
J. Maintain existing base flows and quality of streams and watercourses,
where possible.
K. Meet legal water quality requirements under state law, including
regulations at 25 Pa. Code § 93.4a to protect and maintain
"existing uses" and maintain the level of water quality to support
those uses in all streams, and to protect and maintain water quality
in "special protection" streams.
L. Address the quality and quantity of stormwater discharges from the
development site.
M. Provide a mechanism to identify controls necessary to meet the NPDES
permit requirements.
N. Implement an illegal discharge detection and elimination program
to address nonstormwater discharges into the Township of Douglass's
separate storm sewer system.
O. Preserve and restore the flood-carrying capacity of streams.
P. Prevent scour and erosion of streambanks and streambeds.
Q. Provide performance standards and design criteria for watershed-wide
stormwater management and planning.
R. Provide proper operation and maintenance of all permanent stormwater
management facilities and BMPs that are implemented in the Township
of Douglass.
S. NPDES Requirements. Federal regulations approved October 1999 require
operators of small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) to
obtain NPDES Phase II permits from DEP by March 2003. (NPDES II is
an acronym for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
Phase II Stormwater Permitting Regulations.) This program affects
all municipalities in "urbanized areas" of the state. This definition
applies to all Schuylkill River watershed municipalities identified
in Table III-1 of the Schuylkill River Stormwater Management Plan
Volume II as NPDES Phase II municipalities. Therefore, these identified
municipalities will be subject to the NPDES Phase II requirements
mandated by the Federal Clean Water Act as administered by DEP. For
more information on NPDES II requirements, contact the DEP Regional
Office.
[Ord. 2008-1, 4/1/2008, § 104]
1. Primary Authority. The Township of Douglass is empowered to regulate
these activities by the authority of the Act of October 4, 1978, P.L.
864 (Act 167), 32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq., as amended, the
"Storm Water Management Act."
2. Secondary Authority. The Township of Douglass also is empowered to
regulate land use activities that affect runoff by the authority of
the Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, the Pennsylvania Municipalities
Planning Code, 53 P.S. § 10101 et seq., as amended.
[Ord. 2008-1, 4/1/2008, § 105]
1. This Part shall apply to all areas of the Township of Douglass within
the Schuylkill River watershed. All regulated activities and all activities
that may affect stormwater runoff, including land development and
earth disturbance activity, are subject to regulation by this Part.
2. A portion of the Township of Douglass is located within the Swamp
Creek watershed. A separate Township ordinance has been prepared for
regulated activities within the Swamp Creek watershed.
3. Act 167 watershed mapping and stormwater management districts identified
herein have been developed specifically for the portions of the Township
of Douglass draining to tributaries to the Schuylkill River in Berks
County (see Appendix 23-1-D). This Part also applies to unclassified
watersheds of the Township of Douglass, which are also tributaries
of the Schuylkill River, but do not join the Schuylkill River within
the Berks County limits, shown as "white," or unmapped on the map
in Appendix 23-1-D. At such time that additional Act 167 plans are
developed for these non-Berks County tributaries, ordinances adopted
wider those plans shall take precedence over this Part for the unclassified
areas.
[Ord. 2008-1, 4/1/2008, § 108]
Approvals issued and actions taken under this Part do not relieve
the applicant of the responsibility to secure required permits or
approvals for activities by any other code, law, regulation or ordinance.