(a) 
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the municipal storm drain system or watercourses any materials, including but not limited to pollutants or waters containing any pollutants that cause or contribute to a violation of applicable water quality standards, other than stormwater.
(b) 
The commencement, conduct or continuance of any illegal discharge to the storm drain system is prohibited except as described as follows:
(1) 
The following discharges are exempt from discharge prohibitions established by this article: water line flushing or other potable water sources, landscape irrigation or lawn watering, diverted stream flows, rising groundwater, groundwater infiltration to storm drains, uncontaminated pumped groundwater, foundation or footing drains (not including active groundwater dewatering systems), crawl space pumps, air-conditioning condensation, springs, individual residential washing of vehicles, natural riparian habitat or wetland flows, swimming pools (if dechlorinated - less than one PPM chlorine), firefighting activities, and any other water source not containing pollutants.
(2) 
Discharges or flow from firefighting, and other [discharges] specified in writing by the city as being necessary to protect public health and safety.
(3) 
Dye testing is an allowable discharge, but requires a verbal notification to the city prior to the time of the test.
(4) 
The prohibition shall not apply to any nonstormwater discharge permitted under an NPDES or TPDES permit, waiver, or waste discharge order issued to the discharger and administered under the authority of the EPA or TCEQ, provided that the discharger is in full compliance with all requirements of the permit, waiver, or order and other applicable laws and regulations, and provided that written approval has been granted for any discharge to the storm drain system.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
(a) 
The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence of illicit connections to the storm drain system is prohibited.
(b) 
This prohibition expressly includes, without limitation, illicit connections made in the past, regardless of whether the connection was permissible under law or practices applicable or prevailing at the time of connection.
(c) 
A person is considered to be in violation of this article if the person connects a line conveying sewage to the MS4, or allows such a connection to continue.
(d) 
Improper connections in violation of this article must be disconnected and redirected, if necessary, to an approved on-site wastewater management system or the sanitary sewer system upon approval of the city.
(e) 
Any drain or conveyance that has not been documented in plans, maps or equivalent, and which may be connected to the storm sewer system, shall be located by the owner or occupant of that property upon receipt of written notice of violation from the city requiring that such locating be completed. Such notice will specify a reasonable time period within which the location of the drain or conveyance is to be determined, that the drain or conveyance be identified as storm sewer, sanitary sewer or other, and that the outfall location or point of connection to the storm sewer system, sanitary sewer system or other discharge point be identified. Results of these investigations are to be documented and provided to the city.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
The city may, without prior notice, suspend MS4 discharge access to a person when such suspension is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present imminent and substantial danger to the environment, or to the health or welfare of persons, or to the MS4 or waters of the United States. If the violator fails to comply with a suspension order issued in an emergency, the authorized enforcement agency may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize damage to the MS4 or waters of the United States, or to minimize danger to persons.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
(a) 
Any person discharging to the MS4 in violation of this article may have their MS4 access terminated if such termination would abate or reduce an illicit discharge. The authorized enforcement personnel will notify a violator of the proposed termination of its MS4 access. The violator may petition the authorized enforcement agency for a reconsideration and hearing.
(b) 
A person commits an offense if the person reinstates MS4 access to premises terminated pursuant to this section, without the prior approval of the authorized enforcement personnel.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
Any person subject to an industrial or construction activity NPDES or TPDES 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 city prior to the allowing of discharges to the MS4.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
(a) 
Applicability.
This section applies to all facilities that have stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity, including construction activity.
(b) 
Access to facilities.
(1) 
The authorized enforcement personnel shall be permitted to enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this article as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this article. If a discharger has security measures in force which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the discharger shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to the authorized enforcement personnel.
(2) 
Facility operators shall allow the authorized enforcement personnel ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, examination and copying of records that must be kept under the conditions of an NPDES or TPDES permit to discharge stormwater, and the performance of any additional duties as defined by state and federal law.
(3) 
The authorized enforcement personnel shall have the right to set up on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the authorized enforcement agency to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility’s stormwater discharge.
(4) 
The authorized enforcement personnel has the right to require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary. The facility’s sampling and monitoring equipment shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition by the discharger at its own expense. All devices used to measure stormwater flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
(5) 
Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be promptly removed by the operator at the written or oral request of the city and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(6) 
Unreasonable delays in allowing the authorized enforcement personnel access to a permitted facility is a violation of a stormwater discharge permit and of this article. A person who is the operator of a facility with a NPDES or TPDES permit to discharge stormwater associated with industrial activity commits an offense if the person denies the authorized enforcement agency reasonable access to the permitted facility for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized or required by this article.
(7) 
If the authorized enforcement personnel has been refused access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged, and he/she is able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this article, or that there is a need to inspect and/or sample as part of a routine inspection and sampling program designed to verify compliance with this article or any order issued hereunder, or to protect the overall public health, safety, and welfare of the community, then the authorized enforcement agency may seek issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
The city will adopt requirements identifying best management practices for any activity, operation, or facility which may cause or contribute to pollution or contamination of stormwater, the storm drain system, or waters of the United States. 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 municipal storm drain system or watercourses through the use of these structural and nonstructural BMP’s. Further, any person responsible for a property or premises, which is, or may be, the source of an illicit discharge, may be required to implement, at said person’s expense, additional structural and nonstructural BMP’s to prevent the further discharge of pollutants to the municipal separate storm sewer system. Compliance with all terms and conditions of a valid NPDES or TPDES permit authorizing the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial activity, to the extent practicable, shall be deemed compliance with the provisions of this section. These BMP’s shall be part of a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) as necessary for compliance with requirements of the NPDES or TPDES permit.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
Every person owning property through which a watercourse passes, or such person’s lessee, shall keep and maintain that part of the watercourse within the property free of trash, debris, excessive vegetation, and other obstacles that would pollute, contaminate, or significantly retard the flow of water through the watercourse. In addition, the owner or lessee shall maintain existing privately owned structures within or adjacent to a watercourse, so that such structures will not become a hazard to the use, function, or physical integrity of the watercourse.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)
Notwithstanding other requirements of law, as soon as any person responsible for a facility or operation, or responsible for emergency response for a facility or operation has information of any known or suspected release of materials which are resulting or may result in illegal discharges or pollutants discharging into stormwater, the storm drain system, or water of the U.S. said person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment, and clean up of such release. In the event of such a release of hazardous materials said person shall immediately notify emergency response agencies of the occurrence via emergency dispatch services. In the event of a release of nonhazardous materials, said person shall notify the authorized enforcement agency in person or by phone or facsimile no later than the next business day. Notifications in person or by phone shall be confirmed by written notice addressed and mailed to the city’s director of public works within three business days of the phone 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.
(Ordinance 12-02 adopted 4/19/12)