[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Victor as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-13-2006 by L.L. No. 8-2006]
The purpose of this article is to provide for
the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of The Town
of Victor through the regulation of nonstormwater discharges to the
storm drainage system to the maximum extent practicable as required
by federal and state law. This article establishes methods for controlling
the introduction of pollutants into the municipal separate storm sewer
system (MS4) in order to comply with requirements of the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit process. The
objectives of this article are:
A.
To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the
municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) by stormwater discharges
by any user.
B.
To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to
the municipal separate storm sewer system.
C.
To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection,
surveillance and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance
with this article.
For the purposes of this article, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The Town of Victor Stormwater Program Manager as designated
to enforce this article.
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
Schedules 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
to stormwater, receiving waters, or stormwater conveyance systems.
BMPs also include treatment practices, operating procedures, and practices
to control site runoff; spillage or leaks, sludge or water disposal,
or drainage from raw materials storage.
The federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
Activities subject to NPDES construction permits. Currently,
these include construction projects resulting in land disturbance
of five acres or more. Beginning in March 2003, NPDES Stormwater Phase
II permits will be required for construction projects resulting in
land disturbance of one acre or more. Such activities include but
are not limited to clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating, and
demolition.
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.
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the storm drain system, except as exempted in § 175-9 of this article.
An illicit connection is defined as either of the following:
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface
or subsurface, which allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm
drain system, including but not limited to any conveyances which allow
any nonstormwater discharge, including sewage, process wastewater,
and wash water, 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 which has not been
documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an
authorized enforcement agency.
Activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26 (b)(14).
A permit issued by EPA [or by a state under authority delegated
pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1342(b)] that authorizes the discharge
of pollutants to waters of the United States, whether the permit is
applicable on an individual, group, or general area-wide basis.
Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed
entirely of stormwater.
Any individual, association, organization, partnership, firm,
corporation or other entity recognized by law and acting as either
the owner or as the owner's agent.
Anything which causes or contributes to pollution. Pollutants
may include, but are not limited to: paints, varnishes, and solvents;
oil and other automotive fluids; nonhazardous liquid and solid wastes
and yard wastes; refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded
or abandoned objects, ordinances, and accumulations, so that same
may cause or contribute to pollution; floatables; pesticides, herbicides,
and fertilizers; hazardous substances and wastes; sewage, fecal coliform
and pathogens; dissolved and particulate metals; animal wastes; wastes
and residues that result from constructing a building or structure;
and noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
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 human-made
or altered drainage channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures.
Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely
of water from any form of natural precipitation and resulting from
such precipitation.
A document which describes the best management practices
and activities to be implemented by a person or business 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 waters to the maximum extent
practicable.
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
This article shall apply to all water entering
the storm drain system generated on any developed and undeveloped
lands unless explicitly exempted by an authorized enforcement agency.
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
The Stormwater Program Manager shall administer, implement,
and enforce the provisions of this article. Any powers granted or
duties imposed upon the authorized enforcement agency may be delegated,
in writing, by the director of the authorized enforcement agency to
persons or entities acting in the beneficial interest of or in the
employ of the agency.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated
pursuant to this article are minimum standards; therefore, this article
does not intend nor imply that compliance by any person will ensure
that there will be no contamination, pollution, nor unauthorized discharge
of pollutants.
A.
Prohibition of illegal discharges. 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.
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: waterline 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, noncommercial washing
of vehicles, natural riparian habitat or wetland flows, swimming pools
(if dechlorinated, typically less than one ppm chlorine), fire-fighting
activities, and any other water source not containing pollutants.
(2)
Discharges specified in writing by the authorized
enforcement agency as being necessary to protect public health and
safety.
(3)
Dye testing is an allowable discharge, but requires
a verbal notification to the authorized enforcement agency prior to
the time of the test.
(4)
The prohibition shall not apply to any nonstormwater
discharge permitted under an NPDES permit, waiver, or waste discharge
order issued to the discharger and administered under the authority
of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, 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.
B.
Prohibition of illicit connections.
(1)
The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence
of illicit connections to the storm drain system is prohibited.
(2)
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.
(3)
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.
A.
Suspension due to illicit discharges in emergency situations. The
Stormwater Program Manager 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.
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
B.
Suspension due to the detection of illicit discharge.
Any person discharging to the MS4 in violation of this article may
have his/her MS4 access terminated if such termination would abate
or reduce an illicit discharge. The authorized enforcement agency
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.
C.
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 agency.
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
Any person subject to an industrial or construction activity
NPDES 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 Stormwater Program Manager prior to the
allowing of discharges to the MS4.
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
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 Stormwater Program Manager 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 representatives
of the authorized enforcement agency.
(2)
Facility operators shall allow the Stormwater Program Manager 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 permit to discharge stormwater, and the
performance of any additional duties as defined by state and federal
law.
(3)
The Stormwater Program Manager 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 Stormwater Program Manager 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 Stormwater Program
Manager and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access
shall be borne by the operator.
(6)
Unreasonable delays in allowing the Stormwater Program Manager 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
an NPDES 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 Stormwater Program Manager 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.
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
The Stormwater Program Manager 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 his/her 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
BMPs. 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 BMPs to prevent the further discharge of pollutants
to the municipal separate storm sewer system. Compliance with all
terms and conditions of a valid NPDES 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
BMPs shall be part of a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPP)
as necessary for compliance with requirements of the NPDES permit.
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.
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
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 waters of the United States, said person shall
take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment, and
cleanup 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 Stormwater Program Manager 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.
A.
Notice of violation. Whenever the Stormwater Program Manager finds
that a person has violated a prohibition or failed to meet a requirement
of this article, the authorized enforcement agency may order compliance
by written notice of violation to the responsible person. Such notice
may require, without limitation:
[Amended 8-13-2018 by L.L. No. 11-2018; 2-26-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024]
(1)
The performance of monitoring, analyses, and reporting;
(2)
The elimination of illicit connections or discharges;
(3)
That violating discharges, practices, or operations shall cease and
desist;
(4)
The abatement or remediation of stormwater pollution or contamination
hazards and the restoration of any affected property;
(5)
Payment of a fine to cover administrative and remediation costs;
and
(6)
The implementation of source control or treatment BMPs.
B.
Abatement of violation. If abatement of a violation
and/or restoration of affected property is required, the notice shall
set forth a deadline within which such remediation or restoration
must be completed. Said notice shall further advise that, should the
violator fail to remediate or restore within the established deadline,
the work will be done by a designated governmental agency or a contractor
and the expense thereof shall be charged to the violator.
Any person receiving a notice of violation may
appeal the determination of the authorized enforcement agency. The
notice of appeal must be received within 15 days from the date of
the notice of violation. Hearing on the appeal before the appropriate
authority or his/her designee shall take place within 15 days from
the date of receipt of the notice of appeal. The decision of the municipal
authority or its designee shall be final.
If the violation has not been corrected pursuant
to the requirements set forth in the notice of violation or, in the
event of an appeal, within 15 days of the decision of the municipal
authority upholding the decision of the authorized enforcement agency,
then representatives of the authorized enforcement agency shall enter
upon the subject private property and are authorized to take any and
all measures necessary to abate the violation and/or restore the property.
It shall be unlawful for any person, owner, agent or person in possession
of any premises to refuse to allow the government agency or designated
contractor to enter upon the premises for the purposes set forth above.
Within 45 days after abatement of the violation,
the owner of the property will be notified of the cost of abatement,
including administrative costs. The property owner may file a written
protest objecting to the amount of the assessment within 15 days.
If the amount due is not paid within a timely manner as determined
by the decision of the municipal authority or by the expiration of
the time in which to file an appeal, the charges shall become a special
assessment against the property and shall constitute a lien on the
property for the amount of the assessment. Any person violating any
of the provisions of this article shall become liable to the town
by reason of such violation. The liability shall be paid in not more
than 12 equal payments. Interest at the rate of 9% per annum shall
be assessed on the balance beginning on the first day of the month
following discovery of the violation.
It shall be unlawful for any person to violate
any provision or fail to comply with any of the requirements of this
article. If a person has violated or continues to violate the provisions
of this article, the authorized enforcement agency may petition for
a preliminary or permanent injunction restraining the person from
activities which would create further violations or compelling the
person to perform abatement or remediation of the violation.
In lieu of enforcement proceedings, penalties,
and remedies authorized by this article, the authorized enforcement
agency may impose upon a violator alternative compensatory actions,
such as storm drain stenciling, attendance at compliance workshops,
creek cleanup, etc.
In addition to the enforcement processes and
penalties provided, any condition caused or permitted to exist in
violation of any of the provisions of this article is a threat to
public health, safety, and welfare, and is declared and deemed a nuisance,
and may be summarily abated or restored at the violator's expense,
and/or a civil action to abate, enjoin, or otherwise compel the cessation
of such nuisance may be taken.
Any person that has violated or continues to
violate this article shall be liable to criminal prosecution to the
fullest extent of the law and shall be subject to a criminal penalty
of $500 per violation per day and/or imprisonment for a period of
time not to exceed 15 days. The authorized enforcement agency may
recover all attorney's fees, court costs and other expenses associated
with enforcement of this article, including sampling and monitoring
expenses.
The remedies listed in this article are not
exclusive of any other remedies available under any applicable federal,
state or local law, and it is within the discretion of the authorized
enforcement agency to seek cumulative remedies.
