For the purposes of this chapter, the terms and words used herein
shall be interpreted as follows:
A.
Words used in the present tense include the future tense; the singular
number includes the plural, and the plural number includes the singular;
words of masculine gender include feminine gender; and words of feminine
gender include masculine gender.
B.
The word "includes" or "including" shall not limit the term to the
specific example but is intended to extend its meaning to all other
instances of like kind and character.
C.
The words "shall" and "must" are mandatory; the words "may" and "should"
are permissive.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The removal of the surface of the land through the combined
action of human activities and the natural processes at a rate greater
than would occur because of the natural process alone.
The Stormwater Management Act, Act of October 4, 1978, P.L.
864, No. 167, as amended by the Act of May 24, 1984, No. 63, 32 P.S.
§ 680.1 et seq. The Municipality is empowered to regulate
land use activities that affect runoff and surface and groundwater
quality and quantity by the authority of the Act, the "Stormwater
Management Act."
Activities associated with agriculture, such as agricultural
cultivation, agricultural operation, and animal heavy-use areas. This
includes the work of producing crops and raising livestock, including
tillage, land clearing, plowing, disking, harrowing, planting, harvesting
crops, or pasturing and raising of livestock and installation of conservation
practices. Except for high tunnels that are exempt pursuant to the
provisions of Act 15 of 2018, construction of new buildings or impervious
areas is not considered an agricultural activity.
A barnyard, feedlot, loafing area, exercise lots, or other
similar animal confinement areas that will not maintain a growing
crop, or where deposited manure nitrogen is in excess of crop needs,
but excluding areas managed as pastures or other cropland, and pasture
accessways, if they do not cause direct flow of nutrients to surface
water or groundwater.
A landowner, developer or other person who has filed an application
for development or for approval to engage in any regulated earth disturbance
activity at a project site in the Municipality of Murrysville.
Activities, facilities, designs, measures or procedures used
to manage stormwater impacts from regulated development activities,
to meet state water quality requirements, to promote groundwater recharge
and to otherwise meet the purposes of this chapter. BMPs include,
but are not limited to, infiltration, filter strips, low-impact design,
bioretention, wet ponds, permeable paving, grassed swales, forested
buffers, sand filters and detention basins.
A perceptible natural or artificial waterway which periodically
or continuously contains moving water or which forms a connecting
link between two bodies of water. It has a definite bed and banks
which confine the water.
25 Pa. Code, Chapter 102, Erosion and Sedimentation Control.
25 Pa. Code, Chapter 105, Dam Safety and Waterway Management.
A sewer system designed to serve as both sanitary sewer and
storm sewer.
The Westmoreland Conservation District (WCD), as defined in Section 3(c) of the Conservation District Law [3 P.S. § 851(c)] that has the authority under a delegation agreement executed with DEP to administer and enforce all or a portion of the regulations promulgated under 25 Pa. Code, Chapter 102.
A plan written by an NRCS- or SCS-certified planner that
identifies conservation practices and includes site-specific BMPs
for agricultural plowing or tilling activities and animal concentration
areas.
Practices installed on agricultural lands to improve farmland,
soil and/or water quality which have been identified in a current
conservation plan.
An intermittent flow or other untreated discharge from a
municipal combined sewer system (including domestic, industrial and
commercial wastewater and stormwater) which results from a flow in
excess of the dry-weather carrying capacity of the system.
A closed conduit for the free passage of surface drainage
under a highway, railroad, canal or other embankment.
A stormwater management project on an alternative site(s)
within the same watershed as the proposed development that will provide
equal or better achievement of the purpose of this chapter and will
not substantially or permanently impair the appropriate use or development
of adjacent property. Examples include stream bank stabilization,
creation or enhancement of riparian buffers, removal of existing impervious
surfaces and establishment of "green" easements, installation of stormwater
management and water quality facilities, etc.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
See "storm frequency."
The slowing, dampening or attenuating of runoff flows entering
the natural drainage pattern or storm drainage system by temporarily
holding water on a surface area in a detention basin or within the
drainage system.
A pond, basin, reservoir or underground system constructed
to impound or retard surface runoff temporarily.
A person that seeks to undertake or undertakes the activities
associated with changes in land use or seeks to undertake or undertakes
any regulated earth disturbance activities at a project site in the
Municipality. The term "developer" includes, but is not limited to,
the terms subdivider, owner and builder, even though the person involved
in successive stages of a project may change or vary.
An "earth disturbance activity," as herein defined, and any
activity, construction, alteration, change in land use or practice
that affects stormwater runoff characteristics. The term also includes
redevelopment.
The specific tract of land where any development or earth
disturbance activities in the Municipality are planned, conducted,
undertaken or maintained.
The flow or rate of flow from a canal, conduit, channel or
other hydraulic structure.
A land area where an earth disturbance activity is occurring
or has occurred.
In general, the removal of surface water from a given area
commonly applied to surface water and groundwater.
Any of the following activities:
A construction or other human activity which disturbs the
surface of the land, including, but not limited to, clearing and grubbing,
grading, excavations, embankments, road maintenance, land development,
building construction, oil and gas activities, well drilling, mineral
extraction, and the moving, depositing, stockpiling, or storing of
soil, rock or earth materials.
Any structure or activity which in any manner changes, expands
or diminishes the course, current or cross-section of any watercourse,
floodway or body of water.
The process by which land, including channels, is worn away
by water, wind, or chemical action.
A plan for a project site which identifies BMPs to minimize
accelerated erosion and sedimentation of land.
The application of measures to reduce erosion of land surfaces.
The dominant land cover during the five-year period immediately
preceding a proposed regulated activity.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Any land area susceptible to inundation by water from any
natural source or delineated by applicable FEMA maps and studies as
being a special flood hazard area. It also includes areas that comprise
Group 13 soils, as listed in Appendix A of the Pennsylvania DEP Technical
Manual for Sewage Enforcement Officers (as amended or replaced from
time to time by DEP).
The channel of the watercourse and those portions of the
adjoining floodplains that are reasonably required to carry and discharge
the 100-year flood. Unless otherwise specified, the boundary of the
floodway is as indicated on maps and flood insurance studies provided
by FEMA. In an area where no FEMA maps or studies have defined the
boundary of the 100-year floodway, it is assumed – absent evidence
to the contrary – that the floodway extends from the stream
to 50 feet from the top of the bank of the stream.
Planning and activities necessary for the management of forestland.
These include conducting a timber inventory, preparation of forest
management plans, silvicultural treatment, cutting budgets, logging
road design and construction, timber harvesting, site preparation,
and reforestation.
Systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes
to infiltrate, evapotranspire, or reuse stormwater on the site where
it is generated.
Materials and/or vegetation covering the ground surface.
Subsurface water occupying the saturation zone, from which
wells and springs are fed.
Replenishment of existing natural underground water supplies.
A structure which meets the following:
Is used for the production, processing, keeping, storing, sale
or shelter of an agricultural commodity as defined in Section 2 of
the Act of December 19, 1974 (P.L. 973, No. 319), known as the Pennsylvania
Farmland and Forestland Assessment Act of 1974,[1] or for the storage of agricultural equipment and supplies.
Areas where land use or activities generate highly contaminated
runoff, with concentrations of pollutants that are higher than those
typically found in stormwater (e.g., vehicle salvage yards and recycling
facilities, vehicle fueling stations, fleet storage areas, vehicle
equipment and cleaning facilities, vehicle service and maintenance
facilities, and certain industrial/commercial activity areas).
Infiltration rates of soils vary widely and are affected
by subsurface permeability as well as surface intake rates. Soils
are classified into four HSGs (A, B, C, and D) according to their
minimum infiltration rate, which is obtained for bare soil after prolonged
wetting. The NRCS defines the four groups and provides a list of most
of the soils in the United States and their group classification.
The soils in the area of the development site may be identified from
a soil survey report that can be obtained from local NRCS offices
or Conservation District offices. Soils become less permeable as the
HSG varies from A to D (NRCS[2]).
A surface that prevents the infiltration of water into the
ground. Impervious surfaces (or areas) shall include, but not be limited
to: roofs, additional indoor living spaces, patios, garages, storage
sheds, and similar structures; and any new streets or sidewalks. Decks,
parking areas, gravel areas, and driveway areas are counted as impervious
areas if they directly prevent infiltration.
Any of the following activities:
Any of the following activities:
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential
building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or
tenure.
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of, or for the purpose of, streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
A subdivision of land.
Any activity involving the changing, grading, transportation,
or fill of land and any other activity which causes land to be exposed
to the danger of erosion.
Site design approaches and small-scale stormwater management
practices that promote the use of natural systems for infiltration,
evapotranspiration, and reuse of rainwater. LID can be applied to
new development, urban retrofits, and revitalization projects. LID
utilizes design techniques that infiltrate, filter, evaporate, and
store runoff close to its source. Rather than rely on costly large-scale
conveyance and treatment systems, LID addresses stormwater through
a variety of small, cost-effective landscape features located on site.
The upkeep necessary for efficient operation of physical
properties.
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains):
Owned or operated by a state, city, town, borough, county, parish,
district, association, or other public body (created by or pursuant
to state law), including special districts under state law such as
a sewer district, flood control district or drainage district, or
similar entity, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal
organization, or a designated and approved management agency under
Section 208 of the Clean Water Act that discharges into waters of
the United States;
Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;
Which is not a combined sewer; and
Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW)
as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
Act 247 of 1968, as amended by Act 170 of 1988, 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq.
The Municipality of Murrysville, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Plant species that have historically grown in Pennsylvania
and are not invasive species, controlled plants or noxious weeds as
defined by the PA DCNR or PA Department of Agriculture.
A watershed where natural surface configurations, runoff
characteristics and defined drainage conveyances have attained the
conditions of equilibrium.
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, the
federal government's system for issuance of permits under the
Clean Water Act, which is delegated to the DEP in Pennsylvania.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (previously Soil
Conservation Service).
"Point source," as described in 40 CFR 122.2, at the point
where the Municipality of Murrysville's storm sewer system discharges
to surface waters of the commonwealth; also the point, location or
structure where drainage discharges from a sewer, drain or other conduit
as well as the conduit leading to the ultimate discharge point.
The means of controlling the relationship between the headwater
elevation and the discharge, placed at the outlet or downstream end
of any structure through which water may flow.
Flooding that occurs for a variety of reasons, all stemming
from excessive stormwater runoff, including too much rain in too little
time, added impervious development, change in land use, malfunction
or clogging of existing stormwater systems.
The maximum rate of stormwater runoff from a specific storm
event.
Maximum flow.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
A standard which establishes an end result or outcome which
is to be achieved but does not prescribe specific means for achieving
it.
An individual, partnership, public or private association
or corporation, firm, trust, estate, municipality, governmental unit,
public utility or any other legal entity whatsoever which is recognized
by law as the subject of rights and duties. Whenever used in any section
prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "person" shall include
the members of a partnership, the officers, members, servants and
agents of an association, officers, agents and servants of a corporation,
and the officers of a municipality or county, but shall exclude any
department, board, bureau or agency of the commonwealth.
Any material or surface that allows water to pass through
at a rate equal to or greater than natural ground cover.
Any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including,
but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, or conduit from
which stormwater is or may be discharged, as defined in state regulations
at 25 Pa. Code § 92.1.
A plan required by the MS4 permit to calculate existing pollutants
of concern and the minimum reduction in loading from stormwater discharges,
and to select the best management practices to achieve the minimum
reductions.
The specific area of land where any development or regulated
earth disturbance activities in the Municipality are planned, conducted,
undertaken or maintained.
Any person licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of State
or otherwise qualified under Pennsylvania law to perform the work
required by this chapter.
Drawings showing the stormwater management system of a site
as built, created after the completion of construction and intended
for use as a permanent record of the stormwater management system.
Earth disturbance activities on land which has previously
been disturbed or developed.
Any earth disturbance activities or any activities that involve the change of land cover, alteration or development of land in a manner that may affect stormwater runoff as listed in the Regulated Development Activity Table. This includes earth disturbance on any portion of, part of, or during any stage of a larger common plan of development. With regard to road maintenance activities, the term only includes activities involving one acre or more of earth disturbance. Refer to the Regulated Development Activity Table in Article III of this chapter.[3]
The percentage of existing conditions' peak rate of runoff
from a site or subarea to which the proposed conditions' peak rate
of runoff must be reduced to protect downstream areas.
The watershed factor determined by comparing the maximum
rate of runoff from a subbasin to the contributing rate of runoff
to the watershed peak rate at specific points of interest.
Any activity that involves withdrawing materials from the
natural environment.
A pond or basin, usually enclosed by artificial dikes, that
is used to retard stormwater runoff by temporarily storing the runoff
and releasing it at a predetermined rate.
The volume of runoff that is captured and not released directly
into the surface waters of this commonwealth during or immediately
after a storm event.
The average interval, in years, over which an event of a
given magnitude can be expected to recur.
A permanent area of native vegetation, including herbaceous
material, shrubs and/or trees, located adjacent to streams, lakes,
ponds and wetlands.
Earth disturbance activities within the existing road cross-section,
such as grading and repairing existing unpaved road surfaces, cutting
road banks, cleaning or clearing drainage ditches and other similar
activities.
That part of precipitation which flows over the land.
The surface components of any watershed which affect the
rate, amount and direction of stormwater runoff. These may include,
but are not limited to, vegetation, soils, slopes and man-made landscape
alterations.
The Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.[4]
Mineral or organic solid material that is being transported
or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water or ice and
has come to rest.
The process by which mineral or organic matter is accumulated
or deposited by moving water, wind or gravity.
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, man-made channels or storm drains) primarily used for collecting
and conveying stormwater runoff. Refer to MS4.
Regulated development activities that, measured on a cumulative
basis from five years prior to the application, create additional
impervious areas of more than 1,000 square feet and less than 5,000
square feet or involve earth disturbance activity of an area less
than 5,000 square feet and do not involve the alteration of stormwater
facilities or watercourses.
As defined under state regulations – protection of
designated and existing uses (See 25 Pa. Code, Chapters 93 and 96)
– including:
Each stream segment in Pennsylvania has a "designated use,"
such as "cold water fishery" or "potable water supply," which are
listed in 25 Pa. Code, Chapter 93. These uses must be protected and
maintained, under state regulations.
"Existing uses" are those attained as of November 1975, regardless
of whether they have been designated in 25 Pa. Code, Chapter 93. Regulated
earth disturbance activities must be designed to protect and maintain
existing uses and maintain the level of water quality necessary to
protect those uses in all streams, and to protect and maintain water
quality in special-protection streams.
Water quality involves the chemical, biological and physical
characteristics of surface water bodies. After regulated earth disturbance
activities are complete, these characteristics can be impacted by
addition of pollutants, such as sediment, and changes in habitat through
increased flow volumes and/or rates as a result of changes in land
surface area from those activities. Therefore, permanent discharges
to surface waters must be managed to protect the stream bank, stream
bed and structural integrity of the waterway, to prevent these impacts.
Any surface or subsurface facility that stores stormwater
runoff. See "detention basin" and "retention basin."
The average interval, in years, over which a storm event
of a given precipitation volume can be expected to occur. The magnitude
and temporal distribution of precipitation from a storm event, measured
in probability of occurrence (e.g., a five-year storm) and duration
(e.g., 24 hours), used in the design and evaluation of stormwater
management systems. Also see "return period."
A sewer that carries intercepted surface runoff, street water
and other drainage but excludes domestic sewage and industrial waste.
Drainage runoff from the surface of the land resulting from
precipitation or snow or ice melt.
Natural or man-made structures that collect and transport
stormwater through or from a drainage area to the point of final outlet,
including, but not limited to, any of the following: conduits and
appurtenant features, canals, channels, ditches, streams, culverts,
streets and pumping stations.
A constructed measure for detention, retention, infiltration
and water quality treatment of stormwater runoff.
An area designated by the Watershed Stormwater Performance
District Map which includes standards for stormwater rate, volume
and water quality. Refer to Appendix A.[5]
The plan for managing stormwater runoff rate, volume and
water quality as required by the Stormwater Management Act, 32 P.S.
§ 680.1 et seq.
As defined in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,
Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, as amended.
A low-lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface
water runoff.
The United States Department of Agriculture.
A channel or conveyance of surface water, such as a run,
stream or creek, having a defined bed and banks, whether natural or
artificial, with perennial or intermittent flow.
Any and all rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, impoundments,
ditches, watercourses, storm sewers, lakes, dammed water, wetlands,
ponds, springs, and all other bodies or channels of conveyance of
surface water, or parts thereof, whether natural or artificial, within
or on the boundaries of this commonwealth.
The entire region or area drained by a river or other body
of water, whether natural or artificial. A "designated watershed"
is an area delineated by the Pennsylvania DEP and approved by the
Environmental Quality Board for which counties are required to develop
watershed stormwater management plans.
The plan for managing stormwater runoff throughout a designated
watershed as required by the Pennsylvania Stormwater Management Act
(Act 167), 32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq.
Areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or
groundwater 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, including
swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
