There is hereby created Fund No. 405, to be known as the “storm drainage and surface water utility,” from which the expenditures for operation, maintenance and improvement of the runoff drainage systems of the city of Omak shall be paid, which fund shall have ownership of the present system and any future improvements to the system, and shall obtain revenues from charges made monthly to real property owners in the city of Omak, and from other sources as appropriate to balance the budget of the fund.
(Ord. 949 § 1, 1984)
(a) 
“Beneficiaries of drainage service”
includes all real properties within the city of Omak which benefit by the provision, maintenance, operation and improvement of the storm and surface water control system by the city of Omak, regardless of how that system may be constituted. Such benefits may include, but are not limited to, the provision of adequate systems of collection, conveyance, detention, treatment, and release of stormwater, the reduction of hazard to property and life resulting from stormwater runoff, improvement in the general health and welfare through reduction of undesirable stormwater conditions, improvements in the water quality in the stormwater and surface water system and its receiving waters, and the limitation of potentially harmful land uses and land alteration activities which might otherwise negatively impact the stormwater and surface water system.
(b) 
“Contributors of drainage waters”
includes all real properties within the city from which flows stormwaters or surface waters, or waters provided by the municipal or other sources which exit the property as surface flows and/or enter the storm and surface water utility system of the city of Omak.
(c) 
“Impervious surfaces”
means those hard surfaced areas which either prevent or retard the entry of water into the soil mantle, as it entered under natural conditions pre-existent to development, and/or cause the water to run off the surface in greater quantities or at an increased rate of flow from that present under natural conditions pre-existent to development. Common impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to, rooftops, concrete or asphalt sidewalks and paving, walkways, patio areas, driveways, parking lots or storage areas and gravel, oiled macadam or other surfaces which similarly impact the natural infiltration or runoff patterns which existed prior to development.
(d) 
“Best management practices (BMPs)”
means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention, educational practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to stormwater, receiving waters, or to the storm sewer system. 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.
(e) 
“Construction activity”
means clearing, grading, excavation, and any other activity that results in a land disturbance. Such activities may include, but are not limited to, road building, construction of residential homes, office buildings, commercial establishments, industrial facilities, and demolition activity.
(f) 
“Illegal discharge”
means any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer that is not composed entirely of stormwater except discharges pursuant to an NPDES permit (other than the NPDES permit for discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer) and discharges resulting from emergency fire fighting activities.
(g) 
Illicit Connections.
An “illicit connection” is defined as the following: Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, which allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm sewer system including, but not limited to, any conveyances which allow any nonstormwater discharge including sewage, process wastewater, wash water, any connections to the storm sewer system from indoor drains and sinks, and any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial land use to the storm drain system that has not been documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by the city.
(h) 
“Industrial activity”
means activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
(i) 
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4).
Also known as “storm sewer system.” City-owned facilities 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: (1) designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater; (2) which is not a combined sewer; and (3) which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
(j) 
“NPDES permit”
means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Washington Department of Ecology that authorizes the discharge of pollutants to waters of the U.S.
(k) 
“Nonstormwater discharge”
means any discharge to the storm sewer system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
(l) 
“Permittee”
means 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.
(m) 
“Pollutant”
means anything that 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, articles, 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.
(n) 
“Premises”
means any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
(o) 
“Stormwater”
means any surface flow, runoff, or drainage consisting entirely of water from any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation.
(p) 
“Stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP)”
means 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, the storm sewer system, and/or receiving waters to the maximum extent practicable. The term “stormwater pollution prevention plan” is interchangeable with the term “stormwater management plan.”
(q) 
“Wastewater”
means any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater, discharged from a facility.
(r) 
“WDOE”
means the Washington State Department of Ecology.
(Ord. 949 § 2, 1984; Ord. 1705 § 2, 2011)
All real property in the city of Omak shall be classified by the storm and surface utility according to the use of the property, and the intensity of development as set forth below:
(a) 
Undeveloped. Real property which is undeveloped and unaltered by buildings, roads, impervious surfaces of other physical improvements which change the infiltration or run-off patterns from its natural state;
(b) 
Medium Development. Developed real property defined in Omak Municipal Code Title 18 as residential single-family, mobile homes, and multifamily units up to but not including six-unit multifamily dwellings;
(c) 
Heavy Development. Real property which contains a land use other than as defined in subsection (b) of this section, but which does not overcover the real property with impervious surfaces;
(d) 
Very Heavy Development. Real property completely overcovered with impervious surface.
(Ord. 949 § 3, 1984)
It is recognized that some properties, due either to their unique topographical, vegetative, surficial geologic, soil moisture, and/or groundwater characteristics, or to the construction and maintenance of stormwater and surface water control or detention facilities thereon, have an infiltration and run-off pattern substantially similar to properties of a lower classification of intensity of development. The storm and surface water utility may adjust the intensity of development classification of an individual parcel of property to a classification different than would be indicated by its development with impervious surfaces based on information to be submitted by the property owner or his agent to said utility, demonstrating such.
(Ord. 949 § 4, 1984)
There is levied upon all real property within the city of Omak which contributes drainage water to or which benefits from the function of the storm and surface water utility of the city of Omak, and there shall be collected from the owners thereof, monthly charges specified in the current city of Omak fee schedule and based on the development classification of the properties, as follows:
(a) 
Undeveloped;
(b) 
Medium development;
(c) 
Heavy development;
(d) 
Very heavy development.
(Ord. 94 § 5, 1985; Ord. 1009 § 1, 1986; Ord. 1039 § 1, 1987; Ord. 1086 § 1, 1988; Ord. 1123 § 1, 1990; Ord. 1634 § 1, 2008; Ord. 1933 § 1, 2024)
If any provision of this article or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
(Ord. 949 § 7, 1984)