A.
This chapter is adopted in accordance with the Home Rule City Act,
as amended, being MCLA § 117.1 et seq.; the Drain Code of
1956, as amended, being MCLA § 280.1 et seq.; the Land Division
Act, as amended, being MCLA § 560.101 et seq.; the Revenue
Bond Act, as amended, being MCLA § 141.101 et seq.; the
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, as amended, being
MCLA § 324.101 et seq.; Section 401(p) of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act), as amended,
being 33 U.S.C. § 1342(p) and 40 CFR Parts 9, 122, 123,
and 124; and other applicable state and federal laws.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General
Provisions, Art. I)]
B.
The City shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions
of this chapter. Any powers granted, or duties imposed, upon the City
may be delegated, in writing, by the City Council of the City of Bridgman
to persons or entities acting in the beneficial interest of, or in
the employ of, the City.
The City Council of the City of Bridgman finds that:
A.
Illicit discharges contain pollutants that will significantly degrade
the stream and Lake Michigan and water resources of the City, thus
threatening the health, safety, and welfare of the citizenry.
B.
Illicit discharges enter the stormwater drainage system through either
direct connections (e.g., wastewater piping either mistakenly or deliberately
connected to the storm drains) or indirect connections (e.g., infiltration
into the storm drain system or spills connected by drain inlets).
C.
Establishing the measures for controlling illicit discharges and
connections contained in this chapter and implementing the same will
address many of the deleterious effects of illicit discharges.
D.
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.
It is the purpose of this chapter to establish minimum stormwater
management requirements and controls to accomplish, among others,
the following objectives:
A.
To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the stormwater drainage
system and natural water bodies by stormwater discharges by any user.
B.
To prohibit illicit discharges and connections to the stormwater
drainage system and natural water bodies.
C.
To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, surveillance,
and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with this
chapter.
D.
To provide appropriate remedies for failure to comply with this chapter.
This chapter shall apply to all discharges entering the stormwater
drainage system and natural water bodies generated on any developed
and undeveloped lands within the City.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section,
unless the context in which they are used specifically indicates otherwise:
The City of Bridgman, and/or any persons or agencies designated
to act as the authorized enforcement agency by the City Council of
the City of Bridgman.
Structural devices or nonstructural practices that are designed
to prevent pollutants from entering stormwater flows, to direct the
flow of stormwater, or to treat polluted stormwater flows. Many BMPs
may include, but shall not be limited to, those described in the Michigan
Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Guidebook
of BMPs for Michigan watersheds. Equivalent practices and design criteria
that accomplish the purposes of this chapter (including, but not limited
to, minimizing stormwater runoff and preventing the discharge of pollutants
into stormwater) shall be as determined by the City Engineer.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq., as amended, and the applicable regulations promulgated thereunder.
The introduction (intentionally or unintentionally, and directly
or indirectly) of any liquid, substance, pollutant, or other material
into a stormwater drainage system or natural water body.
Any person or entity who directly or indirectly discharges
stormwater from any premises or property. "Discharger" also includes
any employee, officer, director, partner, contractor, or other person
who participates in, or is legally or factually responsible for, any
act or omission that is, or results in, a violation of this chapter.
Any and all conduits, facilities, measures, areas, and structures
that serve to convey, catch, hold, filter, store, and/or receive stormwater
or groundwater, either on a temporary or permanent basis.
The collection, conveyance, or discharge of groundwater and/or
surface water.
A drain, water body, or floodplain.
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The area, usually low lands, adjoining the channel of a river,
stream, or watercourse or lake, or other body of standing water, that
has been or may be covered by floodwater.
Any solid, liquid, semisolid, or gaseous substance or material
that because of its quantity, quality, concentration, or physical,
chemical, or infectious characteristics may cause or significantly
contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible
illness or serious incapacitating but reversible illness, or may pose
a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment
if improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise
managed.
Any method or means or conduit for conveying an illicit discharge
into a natural water body or a stormwater drainage system.
Any discharge to a water body or a stormwater drainage system
that does not consist entirely of stormwater, that is not authorized
by the terms of an NPDES permit, or that is not an authorized discharge
as defined by this chapter.
A permit issued by the EPA or a state under authority delegated
pursuant to the Clean Water Act that authorizes the discharge of pollutants
to waters of the United States.
Any discharge to the stormwater drainage system or a water
body that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
An individual, firm, partnership, association, public or
private corporation, public agency, instrumentality, or any other
legal entity.
The term pollutant includes, but is not limited to, the following:
any dredged spoil, solid waste, vehicle fluids, yard wastes, animal
wastes, agricultural waste products, sediment, incinerator residue,
sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological
wastes, radioactive materials, hazardous materials, wrecked or discharged
equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, commercial,
and agricultural waste, or any other contaminant or other substance
defined as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act. "Pollutant" also
includes properties or characteristics of water, including, but not
limited to, pH, heat, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, and
odor.
Any building, structure, lot, parcel of land, or portion
of land, or property, whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent
sidewalks and parking strips.
Any person having legal or equitable title to property or
premises or any person having or exercising care, custody, or control
over any property or premises.
All applicable state rules, regulations, and laws pertaining
to water quality, including the provisions of Section 3106 of Part
31 of 1994 P.A. 451,[1] as amended.
A system of open or enclosed conduits and appurtenant structures
intended to convey or manage stormwater runoff, groundwater, and drainage.
Storm sewers, conduits, curbs, gutters, catch basins, drains,
ditches, pumping devices, parking lots, roads, or other man-made channels
that are designed or used, singly or together in combination with
one another, for collecting or conveying stormwater.
A document that describes the BMPs 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, a storm drain or stormwater drainage system, and/or
a water body to the maximum extent practicable.
The runoff and drainage of precipitation resulting from rainfall,
snowmelt, or other natural event or process.
Any pollutant or combination of pollutants that is or can
potentially be harmful to the public health or the environment, including,
without limitation, those listed in 40 CFR 401.15 as toxic under the
provisions of the Clean Water Act, or listed in the Critical Materials
Register promulgated by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great
Lakes and Energy (EGLE), or as otherwise provided by local, state,
or federal laws, rules, or regulations.
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a property or premises. The term includes any water
that has in any way been used and degraded or physically or chemically
altered.
A river, lake, stream, creek, or other watercourse or wetlands.
[1]
Editor's Note: See MCLA § 324.101 et seq., the Natural
Resources and Environmental Protection Act.
