This chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Ephrata
Borough Stormwater Management (SWM) Ordinance."
The Borough Council of Ephrata Borough finds that:
A. Inadequate management of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting
from development throughout a watershed increases flood flows and
velocities, contributes to erosion and sedimentation, overtaxes the
carrying capacity of existing streams and storm sewers, greatly increases
the cost of public facilities to carry and control stormwater, undermines
floodplain management and flood-control efforts in downstream communities,
reduces groundwater recharge, threatens public health and safety,
and increases nonpoint source pollution of water resources.
B. A comprehensive program of SWM, including reasonable regulation of
development and activities causing accelerated runoff and based on
the concepts of low-impact development (LID), is fundamental to the
public health, safety, welfare, and the protection of the people of
Ephrata Borough and all of the people of the commonwealth, their resources,
and the environment.
C. Stormwater is an important water resource, which provides groundwater
recharge for water supplies and supports the base flow of streams,
which also protects and maintains surface water quality.
D. The use of green infrastructure and LID are intended to address the
root cause of water quality impairment by using systems and practices
which use or mimic natural processes to: 1) infiltrate and recharge,
2) evapotranspire, and/or 3) harvest and use precipitation near where
it falls to earth. Green infrastructure practices and LID contribute
to the restoration or maintenance of predevelopment hydrology.
E. Federal and state regulations require certain municipalities to implement
a program of stormwater controls. These municipalities are required
to obtain a permit for stormwater discharges from their municipal
separate storm sewer systems (MS4) under the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) program.
F. Riparian forest buffers enhance water quality by filtering pollutants
in runoff, providing light control and temperature moderation, processing
pollutants, increasing infiltration and providing channel and shoreline
stability thus decreasing erosion (DEP Riparian Forest Buffer Guidance,
November 27, 2010).
The purpose of this chapter is to restore and maintain the water quality of surface waters and waters of the commonwealth and further promote and ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens within Ephrata Borough and its watershed by minimizing the harms and maximizing the benefits described in §
275-102 of this chapter, including reducing pollutants in discharges to the maximum extent practicable through provisions designed to:
A. Meet legal water quality requirements under state law, including
regulations at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 93 to protect, maintain, reclaim,
and restore the existing and designated uses of the waters of this
commonwealth and the MS4 permit.
B. Preserve the natural drainage systems as much as practicable.
C. Manage stormwater runoff close to the source, reduce runoff volumes
and mimic predevelopment hydrology.
D. Provide procedures and performance standards for stormwater planning
and management.
E. Maintain groundwater recharge to prevent degradation of surface and
groundwater quality and to otherwise protect water resources.
F. Prevent scour and erosion of stream banks and streambeds.
G. Provide proper operation and maintenance of all stormwater management
facilities and best management practices (SWM BMPs) that are implemented
within the Borough.
H. Provide standards to meet NPDES permit requirements.
I. Promote stormwater runoff prevention through the use of nonstructural
best management practices (BMPs).
J. Provide a regulatory environment that supports the proportion, density
and intensity of development called for in the comprehensive plan;
allow for creative methods of improving water quality and managing
stormwater runoff; and promote a regional approach to water resource
management.
K. Help preserve and protect exceptional natural resources, and conserve
and restore natural resource systems.
L. Promote stormwater management practices that emphasize infiltration,
evaporation, and transpiration.
M. Effectively prohibit nonstormwater discharges, including spills,
dumping, and disposal of materials other than stormwater to the MS4.
All regulated activities and all activities that may affect
stormwater runoff, including land development and earth-disturbance
activity, are subject to regulation by this chapter.
Any provisions of any ordinance of the Borough inconsistent
with any of the provisions of this chapter is hereby repealed to the
extent of the inconsistency only.
Should any section, provision or part thereof of this chapter
be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision
shall not affect the validity of any of the remaining provisions of
this chapter.
Approvals issued and actions taken pursuant to this chapter
do not relieve the applicant of the responsibility to secure required
permits or approvals for activities regulated by any other applicable
code, rule, act, regulation, or ordinance.
Any permit or authorization issued or approved based on false,
misleading or erroneous information provided by an applicant is void
without the necessity of any proceedings for revocation. Any work
undertaken or use established pursuant to such permit or other authorization
is unlawful. No action may be taken by a board, agency or employee
of the Borough purporting to validate such a violation.
Except as specifically provided by the Pennsylvania Stormwater
Management Act, Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864, No. 167, as amended,
32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq., the making of any administrative
decision by the Borough or any of its officials or employees shall
not constitute a representation, guarantee or warranty of any kind
by the Borough of the practicability or safety of any proposed structure
or use with respect to damage from erosion, sedimentation, stormwater
runoff, flood, or any other matter, and shall create no liability
upon or give rise to any cause of action against the Borough and its
officials and employees. The Borough Council of Ephrata Borough, by
enacting and amending this chapter, does not waive or limit any immunity
granted to the Borough and its officials and employees by the Governmental
Immunity Act, 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8541 et seq., and does not
assume any liabilities or obligations.
Notwithstanding any provision(s) of this chapter, including
exemptions, any landowner or any person engaged in the alteration
or development of land which may affect stormwater runoff characteristics
shall implement such measures as are reasonably necessary to prevent
injury to health, safety, or other property. Such measures also shall
include actions as are required to manage the rate, volume, direction,
and quality of resulting stormwater runoff in a manner which otherwise
adequately protects health, property, and water quality.
Any person or entity owning or occupying a premises through
which the MS4 passes, or conducts activities subject to this chapter
in which the MS4 passes or receives drainage from the site in which
the activities are subject to this chapter, shall:
A. Keep and maintain that part of the premises reasonably free of trash,
debris, sediment, and other obstacles which may pollute, contaminate,
or restrict the flow of water to or through the MS4.
B. Maintain existing structures within or adjacent to the MS4 so that
those structures will not become a hazard to the use, function, or
physical integrity of the MS4.
C. Protect inlets or other entry points to the MS4 to the maximum extent
practicable in which activities, equipment, or materials could result
in the discharge of a pollutant or a nonstormwater discharge.
Any person or entity engaged in activities which may result
in discharges to the MS4 shall, to the maximum extent practicable,
undertake all measures to reduce the risk of nonstormwater discharges
and polluted discharges. The following requirements shall apply:
A. Every person or entity undertaking an activity or use of a premise
that may cause contribute to stormwater pollution or contamination,
illicit discharges, or nonstormwater discharges to the MS4 shall implement
structural and/or nonstructural BMPs to reduce or prevent a polluted
discharge. BMPs shall be maintained routinely throughout the life
of the activity.
If the Borough determines that any requirement under this chapter
cannot be achieved for a particular regulated activity, the Borough
may, after an evaluation of alternatives, approve measures other than
those in this chapter, subject to the following:
A. Waivers or modifications of the requirements of this chapter may
be approved by the Borough if enforcement will exact undue hardship
because of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question,
provided that the modifications will not be contrary to the public
interest and that the purpose of the Ordinance is preserved. Cost
or financial burden shall not be considered a hardship. Modification
may be considered if an alternative standard or approach will provide
equal or better achievement to the maximum extent practicable of the
purpose of the ordinance. A request for waiver or modifications shall
be in writing and accompany the stormwater management site plan submission.
The request shall provide the facts on which the request is based,
the provision(s) of the ordinance involved and the proposed modification.
B. No waiver or modification of any regulated stormwater activity involving
earth disturbance greater than or equal to one acre may be granted
by the Borough unless that action is approved in advance by the Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) or the delegated county conservation
district.
C. The provisions of this chapter not relating to water quality are
intended as minimum standards for the protection of the public health,
safety, and welfare. The Borough reserves the right to modify or to
extend them conditionally in individual cases as may be necessary
in the public interest; provided, however, that such variation shall
not have the effect of nullifying the intent and purpose of this chapter,
and that the applicant shows that to the satisfaction of the Borough
that the applicable regulation is unreasonable, or will cause undue
hardship, or that an alternative proposal will allow for equal or
better results. The list of such modifications, along with an explanation
of and justification for each modification, shall be included on the
plan. This section does not apply during an enforcement action.
D. In granting waivers/modifications for provisions of this chapter
not relating to water quality, the Borough may impose such conditions
as will, in its judgment, secure substantially the objectives of the
standards and requirements of this chapter.