[Adopted 5-15-2017 ATM
by Art. 37 (Ch. 12, § 12-14, of the 1988 Revised General
Bylaws)]
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and enforcement of this bylaw. Terms not defined herein shall be construed
according to their customary and usual meaning.
CLEAN WATER ACT
Shall mean the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
§ 1251 et seq.) as hereafter amended.
DISCHARGE OF POLLUTANTS
Shall mean the addition from any source of any pollutant
or combination of pollutants into the municipal storm drain system
or into the waters of the United States or Commonwealth from any source.
FACILITY or OPERATION
Shall mean any business, establishment, or performance of
work that uses, generates, or handles material that is considered
a Pollutant.
GROUNDWATER
Shall mean water below the land surface in a saturated zone,
including perched groundwater.
ILLICIT CONNECTION
Shall mean a surface or subsurface drain or conveyance, which
allows an illicit discharge into the municipal storm drain system,
including without limitation sewage, process wastewater, or wash water
and any connections from indoor drains, sinks, or toilets, regardless
of whether said connection was previously allowed, permitted, or approved
before the effective date of this bylaw.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE
Shall mean a direct or indirect discharge to the municipal storm drain system that is not composed entirely of stormwater, except as exempted in §
227-8.
(MS4) or MUNICIPAL STORM DRAIN SYSTEM
Shall mean a conveyance or system of conveyances designed
or used for collecting or conveying stormwater, including any road
with a drainage system, municipal street, catch basins, gutter, curb,
inlet, piped storm drain, pumping facility, retention or detention
basin, natural or man-made or altered drainage channel, ditch, reservoir,
and other drainage structure that together comprise the storm drainage
system owned or operated by the Town of Swansea.
NON-STORMWATER DISCHARGE
Shall mean a discharge to the municipal storm drain system
not composed entirely of stormwater.
NONPOINT SOURCE
Shall mean any source from which pollution is discharged
which is not identified as a point source, including, but not limited
to urban, agricultural, or silvicultural runoff.
PERSON
Shall mean an individual, partnership, association, firm,
company, 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.
POINT SOURCE
Means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance,
including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit,
well, discrete, fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal
feeding operation, landfill leachate collection system, vessel or
other floating craft from which pollutants are or may be discharged.
This term does not include return flows from irrigated agriculture
or agricultural storm water runoff.
POLLUTANT
Shall mean 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 any sewage treatment works or waters
of the Commonwealth. Pollutants shall include without limitation:
A.
Paints, varnishes, and solvents;
B.
Oil and other automotive fluids;
C.
Non-hazardous liquid and solid wastes and yard wastes;
D.
Refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded or abandoned
objects, ordnances, accumulations and floatables;
E.
Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers;
F.
Hazardous materials and wastes;
G.
Sewage, fecal coliform and pathogens;
H.
Dissolved and particulate metals;
J.
Rock, sand, salt, soils with the exception of winter salting
and sanding in quantities that will not clog or otherwise impair the
performance of stormwater conveyances;
K.
Construction wastes and residues; and
L.
Noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
PROCESS WASTEWATER
Shall mean 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.
RECHARGE
Shall mean the process by which groundwater is replenished
by precipitation through the percolation of runoff and surface water
through the soil.
RIPARIAN HABITAT
Shall mean the aquatic and terrestrial environment where
a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows adjacent to
streams, lakes, or other waterways.
STORMWATER
Shall mean storm water runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface
water runoff and drainage.
STORMWATER BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE
Shall mean a structural or nonstructural technique for managing
stormwater to prevent or reduce non-point source pollutants from entering
surface waters or ground waters. A structural stormwater best management
practice includes a basin, discharge outlet, swale, rain garden, biofilter
or other stormwater treatment practice or measure either alone or
in combination including without limitation any discharge pipe, overflow
pipe, conduit, weir control structure that: (a) is not naturally occurring;
(b) is not designed as a wetland replication area; and (c) has been
designed, constructed, and installed for the purpose of conveying,
collecting, storing, discharging, recharging or treating stormwater.
Nonstructural stormwater best management practices include source
control and pollution prevention measures.
SURFACE WATER DISCHARGE PERMIT
Shall mean a permit issued by the Department of Environmental
Protection pursuant to 314 CMR 3.00 that authorizes the discharge
of pollutants to waters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
TOXIC OR HAZARDOUS MATERIAL OR WASTE
Shall mean any material, which because of its quantity, concentration,
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 Massachusetts General
Laws chapters 21C and 21E, and the regulations at 310 CMR 30.000 and
310 CMR 40.0000.
WASTEWATER
Shall mean 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,
byproduct or waste product.
WATERCOURSE
Shall mean a natural or man-made channel through which water
flows or a stream of water, including a river, brook or underground
stream.
WATERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Shall mean all waters within the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth,
including, without limitation, rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, springs,
impoundments, wetlands, and groundwater.
This bylaw is adopted under the authority granted by the Home
Rule Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution and the Home Rule
Procedures Act, and pursuant to the regulations of the federal Clean
Water Act found at 40 CFR 122.34.
The Swansea Board of Health shall administer, implement and
enforce this Bylaw. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the
Swansea Board of Health may be delegated in writing by the Swansea
Board of Health to its employees or agents.
The Swansea Board of Health may adopt, and periodically amend,
rules and regulations relating to the terms, conditions, definitions,
enforcement, fees (including application, inspection, and/or consultant
fees), procedures and administration of this Illicit Discharge Bylaw
by majority vote of the Swansea Board of Health, after conducting
a public hearing to receive comments on any proposed revisions. Such
hearing dates shall be advertised in a newspaper of general local
circulation, at least seven days prior to the hearing date. After
public notice and public hearing, the Swansea Board of Health may
promulgate rules and regulations.
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 municipal storm
drain system or watercourses through the use of these structural and
non-structural Best Management Practices.
The Board of Health may suspend municipal storm drain system
access to any person or property without prior written notice when
such suspension is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge
of pollutants that presents imminent risk of harm to the public health,
safety, welfare or the environment. In the event any person fails
to comply with an emergency suspension order, the Board of Health
may take all reasonable steps to prevent or minimize harm to the public
health, safety, welfare or the environment.
Notwithstanding other requirements of local, state or federal
law, as soon as a person responsible for a facility or operation,
or responsible for emergency response for a facility or operation
has information of or suspects a release of materials at that facility
or operation resulting in or which may result in discharge of pollutants
to the municipal drainage system or waters of the Commonwealth, the
person shall take all necessary steps to ensure containment, and cleanup
of the release. In the event of a release of oil or hazardous materials,
the person shall immediately notify the municipal fire and police
departments and the Board of Health and the Highway Department. In
the event of a release of non-hazardous material, the reporting person
shall notify the Authorized Enforcement Agency no later than the next
business day. The reporting person shall provide to the Authorized
Enforcement Agency written confirmation of all telephone, facsimile
or in-person notifications within three business days thereafter.
If the discharge of prohibited materials is from a commercial or industrial
facility, the facility owner or operator of the facility shall retain
on-site a written record of the discharge and the actions taken to
prevent its recurrence. Such records shall be retained for at least
three years.
The provisions of this bylaw are hereby declared to be severable.
If any provision, paragraph, sentence, or clause, of this bylaw or
the application thereof to any person, establishment, or circumstances
shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other
provisions or application of this bylaw.
Residential property owners shall have 180 days from the effective
date of the bylaw to comply with its provisions provided good cause
is shown for the failure to comply with the bylaw during that period.
[Adopted 5-15-2017 ATM
by Art. 38 (Ch. 12, § 12-15, of the 1988 Revised General
Bylaws)]
Permit procedures and requirements, including permit submittals, right-of-entry, fee schedule, and public hearing process, shall be defined and included as part of the regulations promulgated under §
227-19B of this bylaw.
Criteria for erosion and sediment control and post-construction stormwater management, including stormwater performance standards, shall be defined and included as part of the regulations promulgated under §
227-19B of this bylaw.
The Planning Board or its authorized agent shall enforce this
bylaw and resulting regulations, orders, violation notices, and enforcement
orders, and may pursue all criminal and civil remedies, including
injunctive relief and monetary damages and costs of litigation and
attorney fees, for such violations and for abatement and mitigation
and compliance actions taken by the Planning Board. As an alternative
to criminal prosecution or civil action, the Planning Board may elect
to utilize the noncriminal disposition procedure set forth in MGL
c. 40, § 21D, and the Town of Swansea General Bylaws Noncriminal
Disposition of Bylaw Violations/Adopted June 29, 2009 - Art. #2/Amended:
May 17, 2010 - Art. #26 in which case the Planning Board shall be the enforcing person. To the extent permitted by state law, or if authorized by the owner or other party in control of the property, the Planning Board's agents, officers, and employees may enter upon privately owned property for the purpose of performing their duties under this bylaw and may make or cause to be made such examinations, surveys or sampling as the Planning Board deems reasonably necessary to determine compliance with a permit issued under this bylaw. Enforcement shall be further defined and included as part of the regulations promulgated under §
227-19B of this bylaw.
The invalidity of any section, provision, paragraph, sentence,
or clause of this bylaw shall not invalidate any section, provision,
paragraph, sentence, or clause thereof, nor shall it invalidate any
permit or determination that previously has been issued.