The following definitions shall apply to this chapter as written
unless context indicates or requires a different meaning:
ALTER or ALTERATION
Any activity, which will change the ability of a ground surface
to absorb water or will change existing surface drainage patterns.
Alter may also be referred to as "alteration of drainage characteristics,"
and "conducting land disturbance activities."
APPLICANT
Any person, as defined in this chapter, who has filed an
application for a stormwater management and erosion control permit.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP)
A structural or nonstructural technique for managing stormwater
to prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollutants from entering surface
waters or ground waters. A structural stormwater best management practice
includes a basin, discharge outlet, swale, rain garden, filter, or
other stormwater treatment practice or measure either alone or in
combination, including without limitation any overflow pipe, conduit,
weir control structure that:
(1)
Is not naturally occurring;
(2)
Is not designed as a wetland replication area; and
(3)
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.
CONVEYANCE
Any structure or device, including pipes, drains, culverts,
curb breaks, paved swales and man-made swales, natural and man-made
channels, and ditches designed or utilized to move or direct stormwater
runoff or existing water flow; any impervious surface/sheet flow utilized
to remove rainfall (for example, a parking lot) which drains directly
onto a vegetated surface or public road without any curbing or drainage
system to intercept the flow.
EROSION CONTROL
The prevention or reduction of the movement of soil particles
or rock fragments due to stormwater runoff.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE OR AREA
Any material or structure on or above the ground that prevents
water from infiltrating through the underlying soil. Impervious surface
is defined to include, without limitation: paved surfaces (parking
lots, sidewalks, driveways, etc.), rooftops, swimming pools, and patios,
as well as paved, gravel, and compacted dirt surfaced roads.
INFILTRATION
Percolation of water into the subsurface. Also referred to
as "Recharge."
LAND DISTURBANCE ACTIVITY
Any activity that causes a change in the position or location
of soil, sand, rock, gravel, or similar earth material.
LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID)
A site design strategy for managing stormwater by maintaining
or replicating the predevelopment hydrologic functions through the
use of design techniques to create a functionally equivalent hydrologic
landscape.
MAINTENANCE
Maintenance of a stormwater management system means the work
necessary to keep a stormwater management system functional and in
good repair so that it may continue to operate as originally designed.
Maintenance of a stormwater management system does not include work
that:
(1)
Reduces the capacity of the system to treat stormwater, provide
recharge, or attenuate peak flow;
(2)
Increases the total or peak rate or volume of the stormwater
managed by the system;
(3)
Directs additional stormwater discharges to the system; or
(4)
Results in reduced use of above ground stormwater best management
practices.
MASSACHUSETTS STORMWATER MANAGEMENT STANDARDS
The standards issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP), codified in regulations at 310 CMR 10.05(6)(k)-(q)
and further defined and specified in the Massachusetts Stormwater
Handbook, Volumes 1 through 3, issued by the DEP. The standards address
stormwater impacts through implementation of performance standards
that reduce or prevent pollutants from reaching water bodies and control
the quantity of runoff from a site.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
The system of conveyances designed or used for collecting
or conveying stormwater, including any road with a drainage system,
street, gutter, curb, inlet, piped storm drain, pumping facility,
retention or detention basin, natural or man-made or altered drainage
channel, reservoir, and other drainage structures that together comprise
the storm drainage system owned or operated by the City of Watertown.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLAN
A plan setting up the functional, financial, and organizational
mechanisms for the ongoing operation and maintenance of a stormwater
management system to ensure that it continues to function as designed.
OVERLAY OF PAVEMENT
The placement of pavement on top of an existing impervious
surface. The underlying surface is sometimes milled (partially ground
down in thickness) before the overlay is placed.
OWNER
A person with a legal or equitable interest in land, structures,
or equipment.
PERMITTEE
The person who is issued a permit by the Watertown Department
of Public Works pursuant to this chapter.
PERSON
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.
POLLUTANT
Any substance, either man-made or man-induced, that alters
the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of water.
REDEVELOPMENT
Development, replacement, rehabilitation, expansion, demolition,
or phased projects that disturb the ground surface on previously developed
sites.
SEDIMENT
Mineral or organic soil material that is transported by wind
or water from its origin to another location; the product of erosion
processes.
SIMPLIFIED PERMIT
A permit issued for an application that meets a set of predetermined standards adopted by the Department of Public Works in accordance with §
98.01(B) of this chapter.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The collective system for conveying, collecting, storing,
discharging, recharging, or treating stormwater on-site, including
stormwater best management practices and any pipes and outlets intended
to transport and discharge stormwater to the groundwater, a surface
water, or a municipal separate storm sewer system. Also referred to
as "drainage."
STORMWATER RUNOFF
Flow over the ground surface resulting from precipitation
or snow and ice melt or through a drainage system.