The purpose of this chapter, which shall be known as the "Illicit
Discharge and Connection to Stormwater Drainage Systems Ordinance,"
is to provide for the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens
of the Town of North Haven through the regulation of nonstormwater
discharges to the storm drainage system to the maximum extent practicable
as required by federal and state law. This chapter establishes methods
for controlling the introduction of pollutants into the municipal
separate storm sewer system ("MS4") to comply with requirements of
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") permit
process. The objectives of this chapter are:
A. To prohibit and eliminate illicit connections and discharges to the
municipal separate storm sewer system; and
B. To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, surveillance,
and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with the
chapter.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following shall mean:
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)
Schedules of activities, practices (and prohibitions of practices),
structures, vegetation, maintenance procedures, and other management
practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants to waters
of the state consistent with state, federal or other equivalent and
technically supported guidance. BMPs also include treatment requirements,
operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage
or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from material storage.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Any activity associated with construction at a site, including,
but not limited to, clearing and grubbing, grading, excavation, demolition,
and dewatering.
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.
ILLEGAL CONNECTION
Either of the following:
A.
Any pipe, open channel, drain, or conveyance, whether on the
surface or subsurface, which allows an illicit 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 pipe, open channel, drain, or connection
had been previously allowed, permitted, or approved by an authorized
enforcement agency; or
B.
Any pipe, open channel, drain, or conveyance connected to the
municipal separate storm sewer system which has not been documented
in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an authorized
enforcement agency.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the storm drain system, except as exempted in §
133-6 of this chapter.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14) or Connecticut General Statutes, § 22a-430b.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM
Any facility designed or used for collecting and/or conveying
stormwater, including, but not limited to, any roads with drainage
systems, highways, municipal streets, curbs, gutters, inlets, catch
basins, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, structural stormwater
controls, ditches, swales, natural and man-made or altered drainage
channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures, and which is
owned or maintained by the Town of North Haven.
NONSTORMWATER DISCHARGE
Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed
entirely of stormwater. See definitions of "stormwater" and "stormwater
runoff."
PERSON
Any individual, association, organization, partnership, firm,
joint venture, public or private corporation, trust, estate, commission,
board, public or private institution, utility, cooperative, or other
entity recognized by law.
POLLUTANT
Anything which causes or contributes to pollution. Pollutants
may include, but are not limited to: paints, varnishes, and solvents;
petroleum hydrocarbons; oil and other automotive fluids; cooking grease;
detergents (biodegradable or otherwise); degreasers, cleaning chemicals;
nonhazardous liquid and solid wastes and yard wastes; refuse, rubbish,
garbage, litter, or other discarded or abandoned objects, articles,
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; silt, sand and/or exposed earth and wastes
and residues that result from constructing a building or structure;
concrete and cement; and noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
STORMWATER or STORMWATER RUNOFF
Any surface flow, runoff, or drainage consisting entirely
of water from any form of natural precipitation and resulting from
such precipitation.
STORMWATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN
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.
WASTEWATER
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
This chapter shall apply to all water entering the stormwater
drainage system throughout the Town of North Haven.
The Director of Public Works, in consult with the Town Engineer,
the Land Use Administrator, the Zoning and Inland Wetlands Enforcement
Officer, and any other appropriate Town official of the Town of North
Haven, shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of
this chapter. The Director of Public Works may delegate his/her powers
and duties under this chapter to an authorized designee.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated pursuant to this
chapter are minimum standards; therefore, this chapter 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 Director of Public Works or his/her designee
prior to the allowing of discharges to the MS4.
If an illicit discharge or illegal connection has either occurred
or is ongoing at any property or facility, then the Director of Public
Works or his/her designee shall have the right:
A. To set up on any such property or facility any and all devices as
are necessary in his/her opinion to conduct monitoring and/or sampling
of the facility's stormwater discharge.
B. To require the owner of the property or operator of the facility
to install monitoring equipment and perform monitoring as necessary
and make the monitoring data available to the Director of Public Works
and his/her designee. The sampling and monitoring equipment shall
be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition
at the property owner's or facility operator's expense.
All devices used to measure stormwater flow and quality shall be calibrated
to ensure their accuracy.
C. To require the property owner or facility operator to provide continuous
safe and easy access to the property or facility, including by requiring
removal of any temporary or permanent obstruction at his/her/its expense
and/or by providing such security pass or other documentation as may
be required.
The Director of Public Works 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 drain system, or waters of the United States. The owner
or operator of a commercial or industrial establishment shall provide,
at their own expense, reasonable protection from accidental discharge
of prohibited materials or other wastes into the municipal storm drain
system or watercourses through the use of these structural and nonstructural
BMPs. Further, any person responsible for a property or premises 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 municipal separate storm sewer system. Compliance with all
terms and conditions of a valid NPDES permit authorizing the discharge
of stormwater associated with industrial 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.
In addition to the enforcement processes and penalties provided,
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, 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.
The remedies listed in this chapter are not exclusive of any
other remedies available under any applicable federal, state, or local
law, and it is within the discretion of the Town of North Haven to
seek cumulative remedies.