The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and enforcement of this article:
Administration.
The director of public works and the director’s authorized
representatives are authorized to administer, implement, and enforce
the provisions of this article.
Agricultural Stormwater Runoff.
Any stormwater runoff from orchards, cultivated crops, pastures,
range lands, and other nonpoint source agricultural activities, but
not discharges from concentrated animal feeding operations as defined
in 40 CFR §122.23 or discharges from concentrated aquatic production
facilities as defined in 40 CFR §122.24.
Best Management Practice or BMP.
Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance
procedures, and other management practices to prevent the pollution
of the MS4 and waters in the state. Best management practices also
include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices
to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal,
or drainage from raw materials storage areas.
Cellar Dirt.
Construction site waste materials, such as natural rock and
soil overburden.
Clean Water Act or CWA.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water
Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972; legislation which provides
statutory authority for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System program.
Code of Federal Regulations or CFR.
A codification of the general and permanent rules published
in the federal register by the executive department and agencies of
the federal government.
Commencement of Construction.
The initial disturbance of soils associated with clearing,
grading or excavation activities, as well as other construction-related
activities (e.g. stockpiling of fill material, demolition).
Commercial.
Pertaining to any business, trade, industry or other activity
engaged in for profit.
Common Plan of Development or Sale.
A construction activity that is completed in separate stages,
separate phases, or in combination with other construction activities.
A common plan of development or sale is identified by the documentation
for the construction project that identifies the scope of the project,
and may include plats, blueprints, marketing plans, contracts, building
permits, a public notice or hearing, zoning requests, or other similar
documentation and activities. A common plan of development does not
necessarily include all construction projects with the jurisdiction
of a public entity (e.g., a city or university). Construction of roads
or buildings in different parts of the jurisdiction would be considered
separate common plans with only the interconnected parts of a project
being considered part of a common plan (e.g., a building and its associated
parking lot and driveways, airport runway and associated taxiways,
a building complex, etc.). Where discrete construction projects occur
within a larger common plan of development or sale but are located
one-quarter (1/4) mile or more apart, and the area between the projects
is not being disturbed, each individual project can be treated as
a separate plan of development or sale, provided that any interconnecting
road, pipeline, or utility project that is part of the same common
plan is not included in the area to be disturbed.
Construction Activity.
Construction activities including clearing, grading, and
excavation that are subject to TPDES general construction permits.
It does not include routine maintenance that is performed to maintain
the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, and original purpose
of a ditch, channel, or other similar stormwater conveyance. Additionally,
it does not include the routine grading of existing dirt roads, asphalt
overlays of existing roads, the routine clearing of existing rights-of-way,
and similar maintenance activities.
Construction Permit.
The TPDES construction general permit TXR150000, any successor
permit, or any alternative TPDES permit for stormwater discharges
associated with construction activity (if the activity does not qualify
for coverage under general permit TXR150000) or the NPDES permit for
oil and gas exploration activities.
Construction Site Operator or Operator.
The person or persons associated with a small or large construction
activity that meets either of the following criteria:
(1)
Primary Operator.
The person or persons associated with a large or small construction
activity that meets either of the following two criteria:
(A)
The person or persons that have operational control over construction
plans and specifications, including the ability to make modifications
to those plans and specifications; or
(B)
The person or persons that have day-to-day operational control
of those activities at a construction site that are necessary to ensure
compliance with a stormwater pollution prevention plan for the site
or other permit conditions (e.g. they have day-to-day responsibility
for directing workers at a construction site to carry out activities
required by the stormwater pollution prevention plan or comply with
other permit conditions).
(2)
Secondary Operator.
The person whose operational control is limited to the employment
of other operators or to the ability to approve or disapprove changes
to plans and specifications. A secondary operator is also defined
as a primary operator and shall comply with the permit requirements
for primary operators if there are no other operators at the construction
site.
Any person(s) contracted by the town to conduct the day-to-day
operational activities at a site of municipal construction activity
shall be considered a primary operator for the purposes of this article.
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Contamination.
The presence of or entry into a public water supply system,
the MS4 or water in the state, any substance which may be detrimental
to the public health and/or the quality of water.
Contractor.
For the purposes of this article, the contractor is the person
or persons that have day-to-day operational control of those activities
at a construction site that are necessary to ensure compliance with
local pollution prevention requirements, although they do not qualify
as an operator under the construction permit.
Control Authority.
The director of public works of the town (or other official
designated by the town), or his duly authorized agent or representative.
For the purposes of this article, control authority shall be synonymous
with MS4 operator.
Conveyance.
Curbs, gutters, manmade channels and ditches, drains, pipes,
and other constructed features designed or used for flood control
or to otherwise transport stormwater runoff.
Discharge.
Any addition or introduction of any pollutant, stormwater,
or any other substance whatsoever into the municipal separate storm
sewer system (MS4), surface water in the state, or into the waters
of the United States. This includes but not limited to, household
hazardous waste, used motor vehicle fluids, and collected quantities
of grass clippings, leaf litter, and animal waste.
Domestic Sewage.
Waterborne human waste and waste from domestic activities,
including the use of toilet facilities, washing, bathing, and food
preparation.
Erosion.
The process of land being diminished or worn away due to
wind, water, or glacial ice. Erosion occurs naturally, but can be
intensified by land-disturbing activities such as development, farming,
road building, timber harvesting, etc.
Facility.
Any building, structure, installation, process or activity
from which there is or may be a discharge of a pollutant.
Fertilizer.
A solid or nonsolid substance or compound that contains an
essential plant nutrient element in a form available to plants and
is used primarily for its essential plant nutrient element content
in promoting or stimulating growth of a plant or improving the quality
of a crop, or a mixture of two or more fertilizers. The term does
not include the excreta of an animal, plant remains, or a mixture
of those substances, for which no claim of essential plant nutrients
is made.
Final Stabilization.
A construction site status where any of the following conditions
are met:
(1)
All soil disturbing activities at the construction site have
been completed and a uniform (e.g. evenly distributed, without large
bare areas) perennial vegetative cover with a density of 70 percent
of the native background vegetative cover for the area has been established
on all unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent structures,
or equivalent permanent stabilization measures (such as riprap or
gabions) have been employed;
(2)
For individual lots in a residential construction site, the
homebuilder has completed final stabilization on the individual lot(s)
as specified in condition (1) above;
(3)
For construction activities on land used for agricultural purposes
(e.g. pipelines across crop or rangeland), final stabilization may
be accomplished by returning the disturbed land to its preconstruction
agricultural use. Areas disturbed that were not previously used for
agricultural activities, such as buffer strips immediately adjacent
to surface water and areas, which are not being returned to their
preconstruction agricultural use, shall meet the final stabilization
conditions of condition (1) above.
Fire Protection Water.
Any water, and any substances or materials contained therein,
used by any person other than the fire department to control or extinguish
a fire.
Groundwater Infiltration.
Groundwater that enters a storm sewer system (including sewer
service connections and foundation drains) through such means as defective
pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manholes.
Harmful Quantity.
The amount of any substance that will cause pollution of
water in the state, or that will cause lethal or sub-lethal adverse
affects on representative, sensitive aquatic monitoring organisms
belonging to the municipality or state, upon their exposure to samples
of any discharge into water in the state or the MS4.
Hazardous Waste.
Any substance identified or listed as a hazardous waste by
the EPA pursuant to 40 CFR Part 261.
Herbicide.
A substance or mixture of substances used to destroy a plant
or to inhibit plant growth.
Household Hazardous Waste or HHW.
Any material generated in a household (including single and
multiple residences, hotels and motels, bunk houses, ranger stations,
crew quarters, campgrounds, picnic grounds, and day use recreational
areas) by a consumer which, except for the exclusion provided in 40
CFR §261.4(b)(1), would be classified as a hazardous waste under
40 CFR Part 261.
Illicit Connection.
Any manmade conveyance connecting an illicit discharge directly
to a municipal separate storm sewer.
Illicit Discharge.
Any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer that is
not entirely composed of stormwater, except discharges authorized
under an NPDES or TPDES permit and discharges resulting from emergency
firefighting activities.
Industrial Permit.
The TPDES multi-sector general permit TXR050000, any successor
permit, or any alternative TPDES permit for stormwater discharges
associated with industrial activity (if the activity does not qualify
for coverage under general permit TXR050000).
Industrial Waste.
Any waterborne liquid or solid substance that results from
any process of industry, manufacturing, mining, production, trade
or business.
Large Construction Activity.
Construction activities including clearing, grading, and
excavating that result in land disturbances of equal to or greater
than five acres. Large construction activity also includes the disturbance
of less than five acres of total land area that is part of a larger
common plan of development or sale if the larger common plan will
ultimately disturb equal to or greater than five (5) acres of land.
Large construction activity does not include routine maintenance that
is performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity,
and original purpose of the site (e.g., the routine grading of existing
dirt roads, asphalt overlays of existing roads, the routine clearing
of existing rights-of-way, and similar maintenance activities).
Maximum Extent Practicable or MEP.
The technology-based discharge standard for municipal separate
storm sewer systems to reduce pollutants in stormwater discharges
that was established by CWA §402(p).
Motor Vehicle Fluid.
Any vehicle crankcase oil, antifreeze, transmission fluid,
brake fluid, differential lubricant, gasoline, diesel fuel, gasoline/alcohol
blend, and any other fluid used in a motor vehicle.
MS4 Operator.
The public entity, and/or the entity contracted by the public
entity, responsible for management and operation of the municipal
separate storm sewer system.
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System or MS4.
The system of conveyances (including roads with drainage
systems, municipal streets, alleys, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, manmade channels, or storm drains) owned and operated by
the town and designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater,
and which is not used for collecting or conveying sewage.
Municipal Solid Waste.
Solid waste resulting from or incidental to municipal, community,
commercial, institutional, or recreational activities, and includes
garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned
automobiles, and other solid waste other than industrial waste.
Nonpoint Source.
Any source of any discharge of a pollutant that is not a
point source.
Notice of Change or NOC.
A written submission to the executive director of the permitting
authority, from a permittee, identifying any incorrect information,
changes in information, or relevant facts that were not provided in
the notice of intent.
Notice of Intent or NOI.
A written submission to the executive director of the permitting
authority, from an applicant, requesting coverage under a general
permit.
Notice of Termination or NOT.
A written submission to the executive director of the permitting
authority, from a permittee authorized under a general permit, requesting
termination of coverage under such permit.
NPDES Permit.
A permit issued by the EPA that authorizes the discharge
of pollutants to waters of the United States, whether the permit is
applicable on an individual, group, or general basis. In the State
of Texas, the EPA retains authority for permitting oil and gas exploration
activities and Indian Country land.
Oil.
Any kind of oil in any form, including, but not limited to,
petroleum, fuel oil, crude oil or any fraction thereof which is liquid
at standard conditions of temperature and pressure, sludge, oil refuse,
and oil mixed with waste.
Outfall.
A point source at the point where a municipal separate storm
sewer discharges to water in the state and does not include open conveyances
connecting two municipal separate storm sewers, or pipes, tunnels,
or other conveyances that connect segments of the same stream or other
waters of the U.S. and are used to convey waters of the U.S.
Owner.
For the purposes of this article, the owner is the person
or persons that have operational control over construction plans and
specifications, including the ability to make modifications to those
plans and specifications, although they do not qualify as an operator
under the construction permit.
Permit.
Either an NPDES or TPDES permit, whichever is applicable.
Permittee.
An operator authorized under an NPDES or TPDES permit.
Permitting Authority.
For the purposes of this article, the permitting authority
for stormwater discharges is the state commission on environmental
quality, or any successor agency.
Person.
Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company,
corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental
entity, or any other legal entity; or their legal representatives,
agents, or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state, and
local governmental entities.
Pesticide.
A substance or mixture of substances intended to prevent,
destroy, repel, or mitigate any pest, or any substance or mixture
of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or
desiccant (as these terms are defined in Section 76.001 of the Texas
Agriculture Code).
Point Source.
(From 40 CFR §122.22) Any discernable, 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 stormwater runoff.
Pollutant.
Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, garbage,
sewage, sewage sludge, filter backwash, munitions, chemical wastes,
biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded
equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and
agricultural waste discharged into water. The term pollutant does
not include tail water or runoff water from irrigation or rainwater
runoff from cultivated or uncultivated rangeland, pastureland, and
farmland.
Pollution.
(From Texas Water Code §26.001(14)) The alteration of
the physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the
contamination of, any water in the state that renders the water harmful,
detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property,
or to the public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness
or the public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable
purpose.
Release.
Any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying,
discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing
into the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) or water in the
state.
Riparian.
Any area relating to or located on the bank of a natural
watercourse.
Runoff.
Drainage or flood discharge that leaves an area as surface
flow or as pipeline flow.
Sanitary Sewer.
The system of pipes, conduits, and other conveyances which
carry industrial waste and domestic sewage from residential dwellings,
commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and
institutions, whether treated or untreated, to a sewage treatment
plant (and to which stormwater, surface water, and groundwater are
not intentionally admitted).
Sediment.
Soil, sand, and minerals washed from land into water, usually
after rain.
Separate Storm Sewer System.
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, manmade channels, outfalls, or storm drains), 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.
Septic tank waste.
Any domestic sewage removed from holding tanks such as vessels,
chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
Sewage (or sanitary sewage).
The domestic sewage and industrial waste that is discharged
into the town sanitary sewer system and passes through the sanitary
sewer system to a sewage treatment plant for treatment.
Shall.
Wherever used in this article will be interpreted in its
mandatory sense; may is permissive.
Site.
The land or water area where any facility or activity is
physically located or conducted, including adjacent land used in connection
with the facility or activity.
Small Construction Activity.
Construction activities including clearing, grading, and
excavating that result in land disturbances of equal to or greater
than one acre and less than five acres of land. Small construction
activity also includes the disturbance of less than one acre of total
land area that is part of a larger common plan of development or sale
if the larger common plan will ultimately disturb equal to or greater
than one and less than five acres of land. Small construction activity
does not include routine maintenance that is performed to maintain
the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, and original purpose
of the site (e.g., the routine grading of existing dirt roads, asphalt
overlays of existing roads, the routine clearing of existing rights-of-way,
and similar maintenance activities).
Storm Drain.
An opening leading to an underground pipe or an open ditch
for carrying surface runoff.
Stormwater.
Any flow occurring during or after any form of natural precipitation,
including rainfall runoff, snowmelt runoff, and surface runoff and
drainage.
Stormwater Associated with Construction Activity.
Stormwater runoff from a construction activity where soil
disturbing activities (including clearing, grading, and excavating)
result in the disturbance of one or more acres of total land area,
or are part of a larger common plan of development or sale that will
ultimately result in the disturbance of one or more acres of total
land area.
Stormwater Associated with Industrial Activity.
Stormwater runoff that exits any system that is used for
collecting and conveying stormwater that originates from manufacturing,
processing, material storage, and waste material disposal areas (and
similar areas where stormwater can contact industrial pollutants related
to the industrial activity) at an industrial facility described by
one or more sectors of the TPDES multi-sector general permit.
Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan or SWPPP.
A plan required by a permit to discharge stormwater associated
with industrial activity, including construction, and which describes
and ensures the implementation of practices that are to be used to
reduce the pollutants in stormwater discharges associated with construction
or other industrial activity at the facility.
Structural Control (or Practice).
A pollution prevention practice that requires the construction
of a device, or the use of a device, to capture or prevent pollution
in stormwater runoff. Structural controls and practices may include
but are not limited to: wet ponds, infiltration basins, stormwater
wetlands, silt fences, earthen dikes, drainage swales, sediment traps,
check dams, stabilized construction entrances, subsurface drains,
storm drain inlet protection, rock outlet protection, reinforced soil
retaining systems, gabions, and temporary or permanent sediment basins.
Temporary Stabilization.
A condition where exposed soils or disturbed areas are provided
a protective cover or other structural control to prevent the migration
of pollutants. Temporary stabilization may include temporary seeding,
geotextiles, mulches, perimeter controls, and other techniques to
reduce or eliminate erosion until either final stabilization can be
achieved or until further construction activities take place.
Town.
The Town of Double Oak, Texas, or any authorized person acting
in its behalf.
TPDES Permit.
A permit issued by the state that authorizes discharges of
pollutants to water in the state and waters of the United States,
whether the permit is applicable on an individual, group or general
basis.
Used Oil (or Used Motor Oil).
Any oil that has been refined from crude oil or synthetic
oil that, as a result of use, storage, or handling, has become unsuitable
for its original purpose because of impurities or the loss of original
properties but that may be suitable for further use and is recyclable
in compliance with state and federal law.
Water in the State.
Any groundwater, percolating or otherwise, lakes, bays, ponds,
impounding reservoirs, springs, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries,
marshes, inlets, canals, the Gulf of Mexico inside the territorial
limits of the state, and all other bodies of surface water, natural
or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, navigable or non-navigable,
and including the beds and banks of all watercourses and bodies of
surface water, that are wholly or partially inside or bordering the
state or inside the jurisdiction of the state.
Water Quality Standard.
The designation of a body or segment of surface water in
the state for desirable uses and the narrative and numerical criteria
deemed by the state to be necessary to protect those uses, as specified
in Title 30, Chapter 307 of the Texas Administrative Code.
Waters of the United States.
All waters which are currently used, were used in the past,
or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including
all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide; all
interstate waters, including interstate wetlands; all other waters
the use, degradation, or destruction of which would affect or could
affect interstate or foreign commerce; all impoundments of waters
otherwise defined as waters of the United States under this definition;
all tributaries of waters identified in this definition; all wetlands
adjacent to waters identified in this definition; and any waters within
the federal definition of “waters of the United States”
at 40 CFR §122.2; but not including any waste treatment systems,
treatment ponds, or lagoons designed to meet the requirements of the
Federal Clean Water Act.
Wetland.
An area that is inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater
at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under
normal circumstances does support, a prevalence of vegetation typically
adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally
include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
Yard waste.
Leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris, and brush
that results from landscaping maintenance and land-clearing operations.
(Ordinance 11-03 adopted 4/4/11)