Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this article, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
Authorized enforcement agency.Employees or designees of the city engineer that are designated to enforce this article or the TCEQ have authority to enforce this article and/or the TPDES regulations.
Best management practices.Schedule 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 into stormwater receiving waters, or stormwater conveyance systems. BMPs also include treatment practices, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spills or leaks, sludge or wastewater disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.
Channel.A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
City.The City of Midlothian, Texas, or any authorized person acting in its behalf.
Clean Water Act.The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. section 1251 et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
Commercial activity.Pertaining to any business, trade, industry, or other activity engaged in for profit.
Construction activity.Soil disturbance, including clearing, grading, and excavating. This does not include routine maintenance that is performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or 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).
(1) Large construction activity.Construction activity that results in land disturbance of equal to or greater than five (5) acres of land. Large construction activity also includes the disturbance of less than five (5) 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.
(2) Small construction activity.Construction activity that results in land disturbances equal to or greater than one (1) acre and less than five (5) acres of land. Small construction activity also includes the disturbance of less than one (1) 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 (1) and less than five (5) acres of land.
Control authority.The city engineer (or other official designated by the city manager), or his duly authorized agent or representative. For the purposes of this article, control authority shall be synonymous with MS4 operator.
Detention.The temporary storage of storm runoff in a stormwater management practice with the goals of controlling peak discharge rates and providing gravity settling of pollutants.
Detention facility.A detention basin or alternative structure designed for the purpose of temporary storage of stream flow or surface runoff and gradual release of stored water at controlled rates.
Developer.An individual, entity or corporation that undertakes land disturbing activities.
Drainage easement.A legal right granted by a landowner to a grantee allowing the use of private land for stormwater management purposes.
Erosion control plan.A plan that clearly and legibly defines existing property lines, features and utilities, defines limits of proposed work, shows proposed construction improvements and features, shows existing drainage patterns and facilities and specifies BMPs to be used including location, extent, type and construction details.
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 at least 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;
For individual lots in a residential construction site, the homebuilder has completed final stabilization on the individual lots(s) as specified in subsection
(1) above;
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 requirements of subsection
(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.
Floatables.Waterborne litter and debris, which mainly come from street litter that ends up in the city’s storm drains (catchbasins) and sewers.
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 managed.
Illicit connections.An illicit connection is defined as either of the following:
(1) Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, that allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system including but not limited to any conveyances that allow any nonstormwater discharge including sewage, process wastewater, and washwater to enter the storm drain system and any connections to the storm drain system from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of whether said drain or connection had been previously allowed, permitted, or approved by an authorized enforcement agency; or
Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial land use to the storm drain system that has not been documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an authorized enforcement agency.
Illicit discharge.Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the storm drain system, except as exempted in section
13.09.032 of this article.
A surface that cannot effectively infiltrate rainfall (e.g., building rooftops, pavement, sidewalks, driveways, etc.).
Industrial activity.Activities subject to NPDES industrial stormwater permits as defined in 40 CFR, section 122.26(b)(14).
Industrial stormwater permit.A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued to a commercial industry or group of industries which regulates the pollutant levels associated with industrial stormwater discharges or specifies on-site pollution control strategies.
Infiltration.The process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
Infiltration facility.Any structure or device designed to infiltrate retained water to the subsurface. These facilities may be above grade or below grade.
Jurisdictional wetland.An area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly known as hydrophytic vegetation.
Land disturbing activity.Any activity which changes the volume or peak flow discharge rate of rainfall runoff from the land surface. This may include the grading, digging, cutting, scraping, or excavating of soil, placement of fill materials, paving, construction, substantial removal of vegetation, or any activity which bares soil or rock or involves the diversion or piping of any natural or manmade watercourse.
Municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4).The system of conveyances (including sidewalks, roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catchbasins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels, or storm drains) owned and operated by the city and designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater, and that is not used for collecting or conveying sewage.
Nonpoint source pollution.Pollution from any source other than from any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyances, and shall include, but not be limited to, pollutants from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction, subsurface disposal and urban runoff sources.
Off-site facility.A stormwater management measure located outside the subject property boundary described in the permit application for land development activity.
On-site facility.A stormwater management measure located within the subject property boundary described in the permit application for land development activity.
Person.A natural person, which includes heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, and also includes a firm, partnership or corporation, its or their successors or assigns, or the agent of the aforesaid.
Pollutant.In accordance with the Texas Water Code section 26.001(13), a pollutant includes the following: dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, 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 any water in the state.
Pollution.In accordance with the Texas Water Code, section 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.
Premises.Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land whether improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
Redevelopment.Any construction, alteration or improvement exceeding square feet in areas where existing land use is high density commercial, industrial, institutional or multifamily residential.
Release.Any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) or water in the state.
Stop-work order.An order issued which requires that all construction activity on a site be stopped.
Storm drainage system.Publicly owned facilities by which stormwater is collected and/or conveyed, including but not limited to any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, gutters, curbs, inlets, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, retention and detention basins, natural and humanmade or altered drainage channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures.
Stormwater.Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely of water from any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation.
Stormwater management.The use of structural or nonstructural practices that are designed to reduce storm water runoff pollutant loads, discharge volumes, peak flow discharge rates and detrimental changes in stream temperature that affect water quality and habitat.
Stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP).A document that describes the best management practices and activities to be implemented by a person or entity to identify sources of pollution or contamination at a site and the actions to eliminate or reduce pollutant discharges to stormwater, stormwater conveyance systems, and/or receiving water to the maximum extent practicable.
Stormwater retrofit.A stormwater management practice designed for an existing development site that previously had either no stormwater management practice in place or a practice inadequate to meet the stormwater management requirements of the site.
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.
Watercourse.A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water, either natural or manmade, which gathers or carries surface water.
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 water 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 section 122.2; but not including any waste treatment systems, treatment ponds, or lagoons designed to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act.
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 chapter 307 of title 31 of the Texas Administrative Code.
Wastewater.Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater, discharged from a facility.
Yard waste.Any leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris, and brush that results from landscaping maintenance and land-clearing operations.
(Ordinance 2016-01, ex. A, adopted 1/12/16)