The following definitions shall be applicable when the following words or phrases are used hereafter in this chapter (including use in the city of Lemon Grove's Best Management Practices Manual), whether or not these words or phrases are capitalized.
"Authorized enforcement official"means the city manager of the city of Lemon Grove or any designee of the city manager of the city of Lemon Grove who is responsible for enforcing the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the directors, their management staff and designees.
"Basin plan"means the comprehensive water quality control plan for the San Diego Basin, adopted by the Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Diego Region in July 1975, and all subsequent amendments.
"Best management practices (BMPs)"mean schedules of activities, pollution treatment practices or devices, prohibitions of practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention and educational practices, maintenance procedures and other management practices or devices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to stormwater, receiving waters or the MS4. Best management practices also include, but are not limited to, treatment practices, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or water disposal or drainage from raw materials storage. Best management practices may include any type of pollution prevention and pollution control measure, approved by the city and consistent with the MS4 Permit, that can help to achieve compliance with this chapter.
"BMP Manual" or "Manual"means the city's BMP Manual adopted by resolution and amended from time to time by the city council. The applicable version of the BMP Manual for a development shall be the version in effect at the time of final approval of the permit or other entitlement applicable to the improvement.
"Channel"means a natural or improved watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conveys continuously or intermittently flowing water.
"City"means the city of Lemon Grove.
"Contamination,"as defined in the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, is 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. "Contamination" includes any equivalent effect resulting from the disposal of waste whether or not waters of the state are affected.
"Developer"means a person who seeks or receives permits for or who undertakes land development activity.
"Directors"means the directors of the city's development services department and the public works department.
"Discharge"when used as a verb, means to allow pollutants to directly or indirectly enter stormwater, or to allow stormwater or non-stormwater to directly or indirectly enter the MS4 or receiving waters, from an activity or operations which one owns or operates. When used as a noun, "discharge" means the pollutants, stormwater and/or non-stormwater that is discharged.
"Discharger"means any person or entity engaged in activities or operations or owning facilities, which will or may result in pollutants entering stormwater, the MS4, or receiving waters; and the owners of real property on which such activities, operations or facilities are located; provided however, that a local government or public authority is not a discharger as to activities conducted by others in public rights-of-way.
"Erosion"refers to any process in which land is diminished or worn away due to wind, water, or glacial ice. Often the eroded debris (silt or sediment) becomes a pollutant via stormwater runoff. Erosion occurs naturally but can be intensified by land clearing activities such as development, farming, road building, and timber harvesting.
"Groundwater"means subsurface water that occurs beneath the water table in soils and geologic formations that are fully saturated.
"Illegal connection"means a pipe, facility, or other device connected to the MS4 or receiving waters, which has not been reviewed and authorized by the city; or a permitted/authorized pipe, facility, or other device, which conveys illegal discharges.
"Illegal discharge"means any discharge to the MS4 or receiving waters that is prohibited by this chapter. This includes, but is not limited to, discharges of non-stormwater that are not exempt discharges listed in Section
8.48.050, discharges of irrigation runoff to the MS4, any discharge from an illegal connection and any discharge that contains additional pollutants due to the absence of a required BMP or the failure of a BMP. Discharges that require a RWQCB permit that has not been issued or has not been acknowledged by the discharger to be applicable are illegal discharges. Discharges regulated under an applicable NPDES permit are illegal discharges for purposes of this chapter unless compliance with all applicable permit and storm water pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) conditions is maintained.
means the process of percolating stormwater or non-stormwater into the soil.
"Infiltration BMPs"means any structural treatment BMP designed primarily to percolate water into the subsurface, such as an infiltration trench or infiltration basin. An infiltration BMP may include filtering prior to or during infiltration. BMPs that infiltrate some water but which are designed primarily to retain water or to treat water, such as retention basins, constructed wetlands, or filtering swales are not infiltration facilities.
"Land disturbance activity"means any activity, requiring a grading permit that moves fifty cubic yards of soils or substantially alters the pre-existing vegetated or man-made cover of any land. This includes, but is not limited to, grading, digging, cutting, scraping, stockpiling or excavating of soil; placement of fill materials; paving, pavement removal, exterior construction; substantial removal of vegetation where soils are disturbed including, but not limited to, removal by clearing or grubbing; or any activity which bares soil or rock or involves streambed alterations or the diversion or piping of any watercourse. Land disturbance activity does not include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or the original purpose of the facility, nor does it include emergency construction activities (i.e., land disturbances) required to protect public health and safety.
"Land owner"means the holder of legal title to the land, and other persons or entities who exercise control over a land development project pursuant to rights granted in a purchase agreement, joint venture agreement, development agreement, or long-term lease.
"Low impact development" or "LID"means a stormwater management and land use development strategy that emphasizes conservation and the use of on-site natural features integrated with engineered, small-scale hydrologic controls to more closely reflect pre-development hydrologic functions.
"Maintenance of a BMP"means periodic action taken to maintain the as-designed performance of a BMP, and includes, but is not limited to, repairs to the BMP as necessary, and replacement of the BMP by an equally effective or more effective BMP at the end of its useful life.
"Maximum extent practicable (MEP)"means the technology-based standard established by Congress in the Clean Water Act Section 402(p)(3)(B)(iii) that municipal dischargers of urban runoff must meet. MEP generally emphasizes pollution prevention and source control BMPs primarily (as the first line of defense) in combination with treatment methods serving as a backup (additional lines of defense). MEP is an acceptability standard for BMPs. When BMPs are required to meet this standard, the BMPs must be the most effective set of BMPs that is still practicable. A BMP is effective if it prevents, reduces or removes the pollutants that would otherwise be present in runoff due to human activity. A BMP is practicable if it complies with other regulations as well as stormwater regulations; is compatible with the area's land use, character, facilities and activities; is technically feasible (considering area soil, geography, water resources and other resources available); is economically feasible; and provides benefits that are reasonable in relation to costs.
"Municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4)"means a conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains): (1) owned or operated by a state, city, town, borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body (created by or pursuant to state law) having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, storm water, or other wastes, including special districts under state law such as a sewer district, flood control district or drainage district, or similar entity, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or designated and approved management agency under Section 208 of the CWA that discharges to waters of the United States; (2) designated or used for collecting or conveying storm water; (3) which is not a combined sewer; (4) which is not part of the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at 40 CFR
122.26.
refers to RWQCB Order No. R9-2013-0001, NPDES Permit No. CAS0109266, as may be amended.
"Natural drainage"means a natural swale or topographic depression, which gathers and/or conveys run-off to a permanent or intermittent watercourse or water body.
"New development"means land disturbing activities; structural development, including construction or installation of a building or structure, the creation of impervious surfaces; and land subdivision.
"NPDES permit"means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the SWRCB, or the RWQCB.
"Nuisance"shall have the same meaning as set forth in Lemon Grove Municipal Code Section
17.08.030 and/or applicable state law.
shall mean any agent that may cause or contribute to the degradation of water quality such that a condition of pollution or contamination is created or aggravated.
"Pollution,"as defined in the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, is the alteration of the quality of the waters of the state by waste, to a degree which unreasonably affects either of the following: (1) the waters for beneficial uses; or (2) facilities that serve these beneficial uses. "Pollution" may include contamination.
"Post-construction stormwater management plan"is a report that documents how a priority development project complies with applicable BMP requirements for land development and redevelopment activities listed in the BMP Manual and Chapter
8.52 of the municipal code. Post-construction stormwater management plans are commonly referred to by titles such as Water Quality Technical Report (WQTR) and Storm Water Quality Management Plan (SWQMP).
means any building, lot parcel, land or portion of water whether improved or unimproved.
"Priority development project"refers to new development and redevelopment project categories as more fully set forth in the BMP Manual and Chapter
8.52 of the municipal code.
means any construction, alteration or improvement at an already developed site. Redevelopment can include, but is not limited to, the expansion of building footprints, the addition or replacement of a structure, exterior construction and remodeling, replacement of existing impervious surfaces that are not part of a routine maintenance activity, and other activities that create additional impervious surface.
"Runoff"means all flows in a MS4 including stormwater (wet weather flows) and non-stormwater (dry weather flows).
"RWQCB"means the Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Diego Region.
"Sediment"means soils or other surficial materials eroded and then transported or deposited by the action of wind, water, ice, or gravity. Sediment resulting from anthropogenic sources (i.e., human induced land disturbance activities) is considered a pollutant. Sediments can increase turbidity, clog fish gills, reduce spawning habitat, lower young aquatic organisms' survival rates, smother bottom dwelling organisms, and suppress aquatic vegetation growth.
"Source control BMP (both structural and non-structural)"means land use or site planning practices, or structures that aim to prevent urban runoff pollution by reducing the potential for contamination at the source of pollution. Source control BMPs minimize the contact between pollutants and urban runoff. Examples include roof structures over trash or material storage areas, and berms around fuel dispensing areas.
"Stop work order"means an order issued which requires that specifically identified activity or all activity on a site be stopped.
"Stormwater"means surface runoff and drainage associated with storm events.
"Stormwater management"means the use of structural or non-structural BMPs that are designed to reduce urban run-off pollutant loads, discharge volumes, and/or peak discharge flow rates or velocities. When applied to the city or another municipality, stormwater management also includes planning and programmatic measures.
"Stormwater management plan"means a plan, submitted on a city form or in a city-specific format in connection with an application for a city permit or other city approval, identifying the measures that will be used for stormwater and non-stormwater management during the permitted activity.
"Structural BMP"means a BMP that relies on either a physical condition, other than an entirely natural and undisturbed condition, or on a constructed or installed device to reduce or prevent pollutants in stormwater discharges and authorized non-stormwater discharges. Constructed or enhanced BMPs that depend on natural materials and processes (e.g., constructed drainage swales or buffers, or constructed wetlands), and that require period maintenance to function as designed, are structural BMPs.
"Structural post-construction BMP"means a structural BMP, other than a temporary construction-related BMP, put in place in connection with a land development or redevelopment project to prevent or reduce pollution of stormwater or receiving waters, or to prevent or reduce erosion downstream from the project. All treatment control BMPs are structural post-construction BMPs.
"SWRCB"means the State Water Resources Control Board.
"Watercourse"means a permanent or intermittent stream, creek, or other body of water, either natural or improved, which gathers or carries surface water.
"Water quality standards"are defined as the beneficial uses (e.g., swimming, fishing, municipal drinking water supply, etc.) of water and the water quality standards adopted by the state or the United States Environmental Protection Agency to protect those uses.
"Waters of the state"means any water, surface or underground, including saline waters within the boundaries of the state (State Water Code Section
10350(e)). The definition of the "waters of the state" is broader than that for the "waters of the United States" in that all water in the state is considered to be "waters of the state" regardless of circumstances or condition.
means water subject to the regulatory jurisdiction of the United States under the Federal Clean Water Act and applicable case law. In general, this includes "navigable" waters, waters tributary to "navigable" waters, and adjacent wetlands.
(Ord. 369 § 1, 2008; Ord. 389 § 1, 2010; Ord. 428 § 1, 2015)