The Township shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this chapter. Any powers granted, or duties imposed, upon the Township may be delegated in writing by the Board of the Township to persons or entities acting in the beneficial interest of, or the employ of, the Township.
The Township finds that:
A.
Illicit discharges contain pollutants that will significantly degrade the water bodies and water resources of the Township, thus threatening the health, safety, and welfare of the citizenry.
B.
Illicit discharges enter the stormwater drainage system through either direct connections (e.g., wastewater piping either mistakenly or deliberately connected to the storm drains) or indirect connections (e.g., infiltration into the storm drain system or spills connected by drain inlets).
C.
Establishing the measures for controlling illicit discharges and connections contained in this chapter and implementing the same will address many of the deleterious effects of illicit discharges.
D.
Any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is a threat to public health, safety, and welfare and is declared and deemed a nuisance.
It is the purpose of this chapter to establish minimum stormwater management requirements and controls to accomplish, among others, the following objectives:
A.
To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the stormwater drainage system and water bodies by stormwater discharges by any user.
B.
To prohibit illicit discharges and connections to the stormwater drainage system and water bodies.
C.
To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, surveillance, and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter.
D.
To provide appropriate remedies for failure to comply with this chapter.
This chapter shall apply to all discharges entering the stormwater drainage system and water bodies generated on any developed and undeveloped lands.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III)]
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Means the Township and/or any persons or agencies designated to act as the authorized enforcement agency by the Township.
Means structural devices or nonstructural practices that are designed to prevent pollutants from entering stormwater flows, to direct the flow of stormwater, or to treat polluted stormwater flows. BMPs may include, but shall not be limited to, those described in the State Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy guidebook of BMPs for the state watersheds. Equivalent practices and design criteria that accomplish the purposes of this chapter (including, but not limited to, minimizing stormwater runoff and preventing the discharge of pollutants into stormwater) shall be as determined by the Township Engineer.
Means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., as amended, and the applicable regulations promulgated thereunder.
Means the introduction (intentionally or unintentionally, and directly or indirectly) of any liquid, substance, pollutant, or other material into a stormwater drainage system or water body.
Means any person who directly or indirectly discharges stormwater from any premises. "Discharger" also includes any employee, officer, director, partner, contractor, or other person who participates in, or is legally or factually responsible for, any act or omission that is, or results in, a violation of this chapter.
Means any and all conduits, facilities, measures, areas, and structures that serve to convey, catch, hold, filter, store, and/or receive stormwater or groundwater, either on a temporary or permanent basis.
Means the collection, conveyance, or discharge of groundwater and/or surface water.
Means a drain, water body, or floodplain.
Means the State Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
Means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Means the area, usually lowlands, adjoining the channel of a river, stream, or watercourse or lake or other body of standing water that has been or may be covered by floodwater.
Means any solid, liquid, semisolid, or gaseous substance or material that, because of its quantity, quality, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics, may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible illness or serious incapacitating but reversible illness, or may pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment if improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed.
Means any method, means, or conduit for conveying an illicit discharge into a water body or a stormwater drainage system.
Means any discharge to a water body or a stormwater drainage system that does not consist entirely of stormwater, that is not authorized by the terms of an NPDES permit, or that is not an authorized discharge as defined in this chapter.
Means a permit issued by the EPA or a state under authority delegated pursuant to the Clean Water Act[1] that authorizes the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States.
Means any discharge to the stormwater drainage system or a water body that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
Means an individual, firm, partnership, association, public or private corporation, public agency, instrumentality, or any other legal entity.
Means and includes, but is not limited to, the following: any dredged spoil, solid waste, vehicle fluids, yard wastes, animal wastes, agricultural waste products, sediment, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological wastes, radioactive materials, hazardous materials, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, commercial, and agricultural waste, or any other contaminant or other substance defined as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act.[2] The term "pollutant" also includes properties or characteristics of water, including, but not limited to, pH, heat, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, and odor.
Means any building, structure, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, or property, whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
Means any person having legal or equitable title to premises or any person having or exercising care, custody, or control over any premises.
Means all applicable state rules, regulations and laws pertaining to water quality, including the provisions of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (MCL 324.3106).
Means storm sewers, conduits, curbs, gutters, catchbasins, drains, ditches, pumping devices, parking lots, roads, or other man-made channels that are designed or used, singly or together in combination with one another, for collecting or conveying stormwater.
Means a document that describes the BMPs 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, a stormwater drainage system, and/or a water body to the maximum extent practicable.
Means the runoff and drainage of precipitation resulting from rainfall, snowmelt, or other natural event or process.
Means any pollutant or combination of pollutants that is or can potentially be harmful to the public health or the environment, including, without limitation, those listed in 40 CFR 401.15 as toxic under the provisions of the Clean Water Act,[3] or listed in the critical materials register promulgated by the State Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or as otherwise provided by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.
Means any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater, discharged from any premises. The term includes any water that has in any way been used and degraded or physically or chemically altered.
Means a river, lake, stream, creek, or other watercourse or wetlands.