[Ord. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Amity Township Stormwater Management Ordinance".
[Ord. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
The Board of Supervisors of the Township of Amity 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 stream-beds 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 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 storm water 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) 
Non-stormwater discharges to municipal separate storm sewer systems can contribute to pollution of waters of the commonwealth by the Township.
[Ord. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
The purpose of this chapter is to promote the public health, safety, and welfare within Amity Township by maintaining the natural hydrologic regime by minimizing the impacts described in § 25-102 of this chapter through provisions designed to:
(a) 
Promote alternative project designs and layout that minimizes impacts to surface and ground water.
(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 Chapter 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's separate storm sewer system.
(o) 
Preserve and restore the flood-carrying capacity of streams.
(p) 
Prevent scour and erosion of stream banks 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.
(s) 
NPDS 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. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
(a) 
Primary Authority. The Township 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" and the Pennsylvania Second Class Township Code, 53 P.S. § 65101 et seq., as amended.
(b) 
Secondary Authority. The Township 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, as amended.
[Ord. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
All regulated activities and all activities that may affect stormwater runoff, including land development and earth disturbance activity, are subject to regulation by this chapter.
[Ord. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
Any ordinance or ordinance provision of this Township inconsistent with any of the provisions of this chapter is hereby repealed to the extent of the inconsistency only.
[Ord. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
Should any section or provision of this chapter be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of any of the remaining provisions of this chapter.
[Ord. No. 243, 3/19/2008]
Approvals issued and actions taken under this chapter do not relieve the applicant of the responsibility to secure required permits or approvals for activities by any other code, law, regulation or ordinance.