[Adopted 1-2-2008 by L.L.
No. 1-2008]
The purpose of this article is to protect the health, safety,
and general welfare of the citizens of the Town of Dryden through
the regulation of nonstormwater discharges to the municipal separate
storm sewer system (MS4) and surface waters to the maximum extent
practicable as required by federal and state law. This article establishes
methods for controlling the introduction of pollutants into the MS4
in order to comply with requirements of the SPDES General Permit for
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems. The intent of this article
is:
A. To meet the requirements of the SPDES General Permit for Stormwater
Discharges from the MS4 (Permit No. GP-02-02);
B. To regulate the introduction of pollutants to the MS4 since such
systems are not designed to accept, process or discharge nonstormwater
wastes;
C. To prohibit illicit discharges, activities and connections to the
MS4 and surface waters;
D. To establish legal authority to carry out inspection, surveillance
and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with this
article; and
E. To promote public awareness of the hazards involved in the improper
discharge of trash, yard waste, lawn chemicals, pet waste, wastewater,
grease, oil, petroleum products, cleaning products, paint products,
hazardous waste, sediment and other pollutants into the MS4 and surface
waters.
Whenever used in this article, unless a different meaning is
stated in a definition applicable to only a portion of this article,
the following terms will have meanings set forth below:
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)
Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general
good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention and educational
practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices
to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly
to stormwater, receiving waters, or stormwater conveyance systems.
BMPs also include treatment practices, operating procedures, and practices
to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or water disposal,
or drainage from raw materials storage.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.).
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Activities requiring authorization under the SPDES Permit
GP-02-01 for stormwater discharges from construction activity. These
activities include construction projects resulting in land disturbance
of one or more acres. Such activities include but are not limited
to clearing, grubbing, grading, excavating, and demolition.
DEPARTMENT
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
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 improperly managed.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface,
which allows an illegal discharge to enter the MS4 or surface water,
including but not limited to:
A.
Conveyances which allow any nonstormwater discharge including
treated or untreated sewage, process wastewater, and wash water to
enter the MS4 or surface water and any connections to the storm drain
system or surface water from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of
whether said drain or connection had been previously allowed, permitted,
or approved; or
B.
Drains or conveyances connected from a commercial or industrial
use to the MS4 or surface water which have not been shown on Town-approved
plans, maps, or equivalent records.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the MS4 or surface water, except those exempted in §
229-6 of this article.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM
A facility serving one or more parcels of land or residential
households, or a private, commercial or institutional facility, that
treats sewage or other liquid wastes for discharge into the ground
waters of New York State, except those for which a permit for such
a facility is required under the applicable provisions of Article
17 of the Environmental Conservation Law.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities requiring the SPDES Permit GP-90-03 for discharges
from industrial activities except construction.
MS4
Municipal separate storm sewer system.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches,
man-made channels, or storm drains):
A.
Owned or operated by the Town of Dryden;
B.
Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;
C.
Which is not a combined sewer; and
D.
Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW)
as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
PERSON
Includes an individual, corporation, limited liability company,
partnership, limited partnership, business trust, estate, trust, association,
or any other legal or commercial entity of any kind or description,
and acting as either the owner or the owner's agent.
POLLUTANT
Any material which may cause or might reasonably be expected
to cause pollution of the waters of the state in contravention of
the standards, including but not limited to: dredged spoil, filter
backwash, solid waste, incinerator residue, treated or untreated sewage,
detergents, automotive fluid or residue, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions,
chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat,
wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, industrial waste, municipal
waste, agricultural waste, or ballast discharged into water.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking areas.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
A.
DISCHARGE COMPLIANCE WITH WATER QUALITY STANDARDSThe condition that applies where the Town has been notified that the discharge of stormwater authorized under its MS4 permit may have caused or has the reasonable potential to cause or contribute to the violation of an applicable water quality standard. Under this condition, the Town must take all necessary actions to ensure future discharges do not cause or contribute to a violation of water quality standards.
B.
LISTED WATERSTERS — The condition in the Town's MS4 permit that applies where the MS4 discharges to a 303(d) listed water. Under this condition, the stormwater management program must ensure no increase of the listed pollutant of concern to the 303(d) listed water.
C.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL) STRATEGYThe condition in the Town's MS4 permit where a TMDL including requirements for control of stormwater discharges has been approved by EPA for a water body or watershed into which the MS4 discharges. If the discharge from the MS4 did not meet the TMDL stormwater allocations prior to September 10, 2003, the municipality was required to modify its stormwater management program to ensure that reduction of the pollutant of concern specified in the TMDL is achieved.
D.
The condition in the Town's MS4 permit that applies if a TMDL
is approved in the future by EPA for any water body or watershed into
which an MS4 discharges. Under this condition, the municipality must
review the applicable TMDL to see if it includes requirements for
control of stormwater discharges. If an MS4 is not meeting the TMDL
stormwater allocations, the Town must, within six months of the TMDL's
approval, modify its stormwater management program to ensure that
reduction of the pollutant of concern specified in the TMDL is achieved.
STORMWATER
Rainwater, surface runoff, snowmelt and drainage.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER (SMO)
An employee of the Town or Town officer designated by the
Town Board to enforce this article. The SMO is also designated by
the Town to accept and review stormwater pollution prevention plans,
forward the plans to the applicable board and inspect stormwater management
practices.
SURFACE WATERS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs,
wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals,
the Atlantic ocean within the territorial seas of the State of New
York and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial,
inland or coastal, fresh or salt, public or private (except those
private waters that do not combine or effect a junction with natural
surface or underground waters), which are wholly or partially within
or bordering the state or within its jurisdiction. Storm sewers and
waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons which
also meet the criteria of this definition are not waters of the state.
This exclusion applies only to man-made bodies of water which neither
were originally created in waters of the state (such as a disposal
area in wetlands) nor resulted from impoundment of waters of the state.
303(d) LIST
A list of all surface waters in the state for which beneficial
uses of the water (drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat, and industrial
use) are impaired by pollutants. The list is prepared periodically
by the Department as required by Section 303(d) of the Clean Water
Act. Section 303(d) listed waters are estuaries, lakes and streams
that fall short of state surface water quality standards and are not
expected to improve within the next two years.
TMDL
Total maximum daily load.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD
The maximum amount of a pollutant to be allowed to be released
into a water body so as not to impair uses of the water, allocated
among the sources of that pollutant.
TOWN
The Town of Dryden, Tompkins County, New York.
WASTEWATER
Water that is not stormwater, is contaminated with pollutants
and is or will be discarded.
WETLAND
Any area which meets one or more of the following criteria:
A.
Lands and waters that meet the definition provided in New York
State Environmental Conservation Law, Article 24, Freshwater Wetlands
Act. The approximate boundaries of such lands and waters are indicated
on the official wetlands map promulgated by the Commissioner of the
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, or as amended
and updated.
B.
Areas which meet the definition used by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: "Areas that
are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency
and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances
do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life
in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes,
bogs and similar areas."
This article shall apply to all stormwater and wastewater entering
the MS4 or surface waters generated on any lands within the Town unless
explicitly exempted.
The Stormwater Management Officer shall administer, implement,
and enforce the provisions of this article. Such powers granted or
duties imposed upon the SMO may be delegated in writing by the SMO
as authorized by the Town.
The provisions of this article are hereby declared to be severable.
If any section, provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph of this
article or the application thereof to any person, premises or circumstances
shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other
provisions or application of this article.
Where the SMO has identified illicit discharges or activities
contaminating stormwater, the Town may require implementation of best
management practices (BMPs) to control such illicit discharges and
activities.
A. 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 MS4 or
into surface waters through the use of BMPs.
B. Any person responsible for a premises or operations, which are, or
may be, the source of an illicit discharge or an activity contaminating
stormwater, may be required to implement, at said person's expense,
additional BMPs to reduce or eliminate the source of pollutant(s)
to the MS4 or to surface waters.
C. Compliance with all terms and conditions of a valid SPDES permit
authorizing the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial
activity, to the extent practicable, shall be deemed compliance with
the provisions of this section.
Any person subject to an industrial or construction activity
SPDES 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 Town prior to the allowing of discharges
or as a condition of continuing discharges to the MS4.
Notwithstanding other requirements of law, as soon as any person
responsible for premises or operations, or responsible for emergency
response for premises or operations, has information of any known
or suspected release of materials which results or may result in illegal
discharges or pollutants discharged into the MS4 or a surface water,
said person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the containment
and cleanup of such release. In the event of such a release of hazardous
materials, said person shall immediately notify the relevant emergency
response agencies of the occurrence, and then notify the SMO as soon
as possible. In the event of a release of nonhazardous materials,
said person shall notify the SMO in person or by telephone or facsimile
no later than the next business day. Notifications in person or by
telephone shall be confirmed by written notice addressed and mailed
to the SMO within three business days of telephone notice. If the
discharge of prohibited materials emanates from a commercial or industrial
establishment, the owner or operator of such establishment shall also
retain an on-site written record of the discharge and the actions
taken to prevent its recurrence. Such records shall be retained for
at least three years.
Any person receiving a notice of violation may appeal the determination
of the SMO to the Town Board within 15 days of the receipt of such
notice. The Town Board shall hear the appeal within 30 days after
the filing of the appeal. Within five days of making its decision,
the decision shall be filed in the office of the Town Clerk and a
copy of such decision shall be mailed by certified mail to the discharger.
It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provisions
of this article or fail to comply with any of the requirements of
this article. If a person has violated or continues to violate the
provisions of this article, the SMO may petition a court of competent
jurisdiction for a preliminary or permanent injunction restraining
the person further violations or compelling the person to perform
abatement or remediation of violations.
In addition to the enforcement processes and penalties provided
herein, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of
any of the provisions of this article is a threat to public health,
safety, and welfare, and is declared and deemed to be a nuisance,
and may be abated or restored at the violator's expense, by a civil
action to abate, enjoin, or otherwise compel the cessation of such
nuisance.
The remedies listed in this article are not exclusive of any
other remedies available under any applicable federal, state or local
law and it is within the sole and absolute discretion of the SMO whether
to seek cumulative remedies.
This article shall be effective upon filing with the office
of the Secretary of State.