This chapter is enacted pursuant to the direction set forth
in the municipal NPDES permit issued by the California Regional Water
Quality Control Board Santa Ana Region, pursuant to Section 402(p)
of the Clean Water Act and the California Porter-Cologne Water Quality
Control Act,
Water Code § 13000 et seq.
(Code 1980, § 19.20.010; Ord. No. 740, § 1, 2005; Ord. No. 870 (Recodification), 2014)
This chapter shall be known as the "City of Rancho Cucamonga
Storm Water and Urban Runoff Management and Discharge Control Ordinance."
The intent of this chapter is to protect and enhance the quality of
watercourses, water bodies and wetlands within the city in a manner
consistent with the federal Clean Water Act, the California Porter-Cologne
Water Quality Control Act and the municipal NPDES permit. This chapter
is also intended to confirm and consolidate the city's legal authority
necessary to control discharges to and from those portions of the
municipal separate storm sewer system over which it has jurisdiction
as required by the municipal NPDES permit, and thereby fully and timely
comply with the terms of the municipal NPDES permit. This chapter
is also intended to ensure the health, safety and general welfare
of the residents of the city by prescribing reasonable regulations
to effectively control the non-stormwater discharges containing pollutants
into the city's municipal separate storm sewer system to the maximum
extent practicable and to specifically achieve the following objectives:
A. Control
discharges from spills, dumping or disposal of materials other than
stormwater;
B. Reduce
the discharge of pollutants in all stormwater discharges to the maximum
extent practicable;
C. Protect
and enhance the water quality of local, state and federal watercourses,
water bodies, groundwater and wetlands in a manner pursuant to and
consistent with the Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality
Act;
D. Establish
penalties for violations of the provisions of this chapter.
(Code 1980, § 19.20.020; Ord. No. 740, § 1, 2005; Ord. No. 870 (Recodification), 2014)
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms will be
defined as set forth below. Words used in this chapter in the singular
may include the plural and the plural may include the singular. Use
of masculine shall also mean feminine and neuter.
"Basin plan"
means the "Water Quality Control Plan for the Santa Ana River
Basin" (1995) adopted by the regional board, or any successor plan.
"Best management practice or BMP"
means any best management practice, as defined in 40 CFR
122.2, best management guideline, or best management requirement as
adopted by any federal, state, regional or local agency to prevent
or reduce the pollution of waters of the United States. The term "best
management practices" includes activities, practices, facilities and/or
procedures that, when implemented to the maximum extent practicable,
will prevent or reduce pollutants in discharges, any program, technology,
process, siting criteria, operational methods or measures, or engineered
systems, which, when implemented, prevent, control, remove or reduce
pollution. Examples of BMPs may include public education and outreach,
proper planning of development projects, proper cleaning of catch
basin inlets, and proper sludge or waste handling and disposal, among
others. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures,
and practices to control plan site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge
or waste storage and disposal, or drainage from raw material or chemical
storage.
"City"
means the City of Rancho Cucamonga.
"City engineer"
means the city engineer for the City of Rancho Cucamonga,
or the engineer's designee.
"Compliance schedule"
means the time period allowed by the city for a discharger
to achieve compliance with the city's stormwater regulations and this
chapter. The compliance schedule shall contain specific dates by which
adequate treatment facilities, devices, or other related equipment
and/or procedures must be installed or implemented.
"Construction activity"
means any activity used in the process of developing, redeveloping,
enhancing or maintaining land, including, but not limited to: land
disturbance, building construction, paving and resurfacing, storage
and disposal of construction-related materials, including clearing,
grading or excavation that results in soil disturbance. Construction
includes structure teardown. The term "construction activity" does
not include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade,
hydraulic capacity or original purpose of facility; emergency construction
activities required to immediately protect public health and safety;
interior remodeling with no outside exposure of construction material
or construction waste to stormwater; mechanical permit work; or sign
permit work.
"Contamination"
as defined in the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act
(
Water Code § 13050(k)), means an impairment of the quality
of waters of the state by waste to a degree which creates a hazard
to the public health through poisoning or through the spread of disease.
The term "contamination" includes any equivalent effect resulting
from the disposal of waste whether or not waters of the state are
affected.
"Control"
means the minimization, reduction, elimination or prohibition
by technological, legal, contractual or other means of the discharge
of pollutants from an activity or activities.
"CWA"
means the federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known
as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251 et seq.
"Developed parcel"
means any lot or parcel of land altered from its natural
state by the construction, creation and addition of impervious area,
except public streets or highways.
"Developer"
means a person, firm, corporation, partnership, association
or other entity who proposes to develop, develops or causes to be
developed real property for himself or for others, except that employees
and consultants of such persons or entities acting in such capacity
are not considered developers.
"Dewatering"
means the removal and disposal of surface water or groundwater
for purposes of preparing a site for construction.
"Discharge"
means any release, spill, leak, flow or escape of any liquid
including sewage, wastewater or stormwater, semi-solid or solid substance
onto the land or into the city's MS4.
"Discharger"
means any person, property owner or occupant of a unit, building,
premises or lot in the city who discharges or causes to be discharged
any liquid, including sewage, waste water, stormwater, nonstormwater
or semi-solid or solid substances directly or indirectly into the
city's MS4.
"Environmentally sensitive area (ESA)"
means a designated area in which plant or animal life or
their habitats are either rare or especially valuable because of their
special nature or role in an ecosystem and which would be easily disturbed
or degraded by human activities and developments (Public Resources
Code § 30107.5). Areas subject to stormwater mitigation
requirements are areas designated as significant ecological areas
by the county; an area designated as a significant natural area by
the state department of fish and wildlife's significant natural areas
program, provided that area has been field verified by the state department
of fish and wildlife; an area listed in the basin plan as supporting
the rare, threatened or endangered species (RARE) beneficial use;
and an area identified by the city as environmentally sensitive.
"EPA"
means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"General construction permit"
means the current version of the general permit for stormwater
discharges from construction activity issued by the state water resources
control board that regulates stormwater discharges associated with
construction projects.
"General industrial permit"
means the current version of the general permit for stormwater
discharges from industrial activities issued by the state water resources
control board that regulates stormwater discharges associated with
industrial activities that are listed in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
"Hearing officer"
means the city engineer, or designee, who presides at the
administrative hearings authorized by this chapter and issues final
decisions on matters raised therein.
"Illegal discharge"
means any discharge or seepage into the city's MS4 that is not composed entirely of stormwater, except for the authorized discharges listed in section
19.20.100. The term "illegal discharge" includes the improper disposal of wastes into the MS4. Any discharge to the MS4 that is prohibited under local, state or federal statutes, ordinances, codes or regulations. The term "illicit discharge" includes all nonstormwater discharges except:
1.
Discharges pursuant to a NPDES permit;
2.
Discharges that were identified in the discharge limitations
prohibitions of the municipal NPDES permit; and
3.
Discharges authorized by the regional board.
"Illicit connection"
means either of the following:
1.
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface,
which allows an illegal discharge to enter the MS4, including, but
not limited to, any conveyance which allows non-stormwater discharges,
including sewage, process wastewater and wash water to enter the MS4
and any connections to the MS4 from indoor drains and sinks, regardless
of whether the drain or connection had been previously allowed, permitted
or approved by a government agency; or
2.
Any drain or conveyance connected to the MS4 that is not permitted
pursuant to a valid NPDES permit or which has not been documented
in plans, maps or equivalent records approved by the city.
"Maximum extent practicable (MEP)"
means and refers to the maximum level of pollutant reductions
or stormwater runoff reductions that can be achieved to reduce the
discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable, as required
by Section 402(p)(3)(B)(ii) of the Clean Water Act, through best management
practices in treatment, infiltration or a combination of treatment,
infiltration and best management practices.
"Municipal NPDES permit"
means the current national pollution discharge elimination
system (NPDES) permit and waste discharge requirements for the county
flood control district, the county and the incorporated cities within
the Santa Ana region.
"Municipal separate storm sewer system or MS4"
is a conveyance or system of conveyances, including roads
with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, natural drainage features or channels, modified natural channels,
manmade channels or storm drains:
1.
Owned or operated by the city;
2.
Designated or used for collecting of conveying stormwater;
3.
Which is not a combined sewer; and
4.
Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW),
as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
"New development"
means all public and private residential (whether single-family,
multi-unit or planned unit development), industrial, commercial, retailer,
and other nonresidential construction projects, or grading for future
construction, for which either a discretionary land use approval,
grading permit, building permit or nonresidential plumbing permit
is required.
"NPDES"
means the national pollutant discharge elimination system
established under the CWA to eliminate discharges of pollution into
waters of the United States.
"NPDES permit"
means any waste discharge requirements issued by the EPA,
the regional board or the state water resources control board in the
form of an NPDES permit pursuant to
Water Code § 13370 or
the Clean Water Act (other than the municipal NPDES permit), including
a general construction permit or a general industrial permit.
"Non-structural BMPs"
means any best management practices schedules or activities,
prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, managerial practices
or operational practices that aim to prevent stormwater pollution
by reducing the potential for contamination at the source of pollution.
"Notice of intent (NOI)"
means a form provided by the state water resources control
board that is required to be completed and submitted in order to obtain
coverage under one of the state's NPDES general stormwater permits
prior to the start of certain activities or construction activities.
"Non-stormwater"
means any water discharging to the city's municipal separate
storm sewer system that does not originate from precipitation events.
"Nuisance"
means any condition described by all of the following:
1.
Is injurious to health, or is indecent or offensive to the senses
or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere
with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property;
2.
Affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood
or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the
annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal; and
3.
Occurs during, or as a result of, the treatment or disposal
of wastes.
"Permit"
means any permit issued by the city.
"Permittee"
means the county flood control district; San Bernardino County;
and each of the 16 cities in the county discharging stormwater drainage
into the Upper Santa Ana River Basin and regulated by the area-wide
urban stormwater runoff permit.
"Person"
means any individual, partnership, committee, entity, association,
corporation, public agency, and any other organization, entity or
group of persons, public or private; the masculine genders shall include
the feminine, the singular shall include the plural where indicated
by context.
"Pollutant"
means any liquid, solid or semi-solid substances or combination
thereof, which causes a nuisance or contributes to a condition of
contamination or pollution of the stormwater runoff, the MS4 or the
impairment or degradation of waters of the state, including, but not
limited to, the following:
1.
Floatable materials, such as floatable plastics or wood products,
and metal shavings or materials forming films, foam or scum;
2.
Household waste, such as trash, cleaners, toxic or hazardous
chemicals, yard wastes, animal fecal materials, used oil, coolant,
gasoline and other vehicle fluids;
3.
Metals and non-metals, including compounds of metals and non-metals;
4.
Petroleum hydrocarbons, such as fuels, lubricants, surfactants,
waste oils, solvents, coolants and grease;
5.
Domestic sewage from sewer line overflows, septic tanks, port-a-potties,
boats and recreational vehicles;
6.
Animal wastes, such as wastes from confinement facilities, kennels,
pens, stables and show facilities;
7.
Substances having a pH of less than 6.5 or greater than 8.5
or unusual coloration, turbidity or odor;
8.
Materials causing an increase in biochemical oxygen demand,
chemical oxygen demand or total organic carbon;
9.
Materials containing base/neutral or acid extractable organic
compounds;
10.
Waste materials and wastewater generated on construction sites
from construction activities, such as painting and staining; use of
sealants and glues; use of lime; use of wood preservatives and solvents;
disturbance of asbestos fibers, paint flakes or stucco fragments;
application of oils, lubricants, vehicle maintenance, construction
equipment washing, concrete pouring and cleanup; use of concrete detergents;
steam cleaning or sand blasting; use of chemical degreasing or diluting
agents; and chlorinated water from potable line flushing);
11.
Those pollutants defined in Section 1362(6) of the federal Clean
Water Act; and
12.
Any other constituent or material, including, but not limited
to, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, eroded soils, sediment and
particulate materials, in quantities that have been determined by
the state or EPA to adversely affect the beneficial uses of waters
of the state.
"Redevelopment"
means the creation or addition of impervious surfaces or
the making of improvements to an existing structure on an already
developed site; replacement of impervious surfaces that are not part
of a routine maintenance activity; and land disturbing activities
related with structural or impervious surfaces for which a discretionary
land use permit or approval is required.
"Sewage"
means the wastewater of the community derived from residential,
agricultural, commercial or industrial sources, including domestic
sewage and industrial wastewater.
"SIC (standard industrial classification)"
means the statistical classification standard underlying
all establishment-based federal economic statistics classified by
industry. The standard is published in the SIC Manual (1987) Office
of Management and Budget.
"Stormwater"
means that part of precipitation (rainfall or snow melt runoff)
and associated surface runoff which travels via flow across a surface
to the municipal separate storm sewer system or receiving waters from
impervious, semi-pervious or pervious surfaces.
"Stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP)"
means the plan as described in the general construction activity
stormwater permit, as issued by the state water resources control
board on August 19, 1999, and as may be amended, or the general industrial
activities stormwater permit, as issued on April 17, 1997, and as
may be amended, which specifies BMPs that will prevent pollutants
from contacting stormwater and all products of erosion from moving
off site into receiving waters.
"Water quality management plan (WQMP)"
means a plan required of new development/redevelopment projects
specified in this chapter, outlining appropriate non-structural and
structural BMPs, including stormwater infiltration and treatment devices,
that will be implemented and installed to prevent pollutants from
being discharged into the city's municipal separate storm sewer system,
during and after construction.
"Urban runoff"
means surface water flow produced by non-stormwater resulting
from residential, commercial and industrial activities involving the
use of potable and non-potable water.
"Violation"
means a breach or violation of any provision of this chapter.
"Waters of the state"
means any surface water or groundwater, including saline
waters, within the boundaries of the state.
(Code 1980, § 19.20.030; Ord. No. 740, § 1, 2005; Ord. No. 870 (Recodification), 2014)