[Adopted 5-9-2006 by L.L. No. 9-2006]
The purpose of this article is to provide for
the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the Town
of Clarkstown through the regulation of nonstormwater discharges to
the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) to the maximum extent
practicable as required by federal and New York State law. This article
establishes methods for controlling the introduction of pollutants
into the MS4 in order to comply with requirements of the SPDES General
Permit for municipal separate storm sewer systems. The objectives
of this article are:
A. To meet the requirements of the SPDES General Permit
for Stormwater Discharges from MS4s, Permit No. GP-02-02 or as amended
or revised;
B. To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the
MS4 since such systems are not designed to accept, process or discharge
nonstormwater wastes;
C. To prohibit illicit connections, activities and discharges
to the MS4;
D. To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection,
surveillance and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance
with this article; and
E. To promote public awareness of the hazards involved
in the improper storage and/or discharge of trash, yard waste, lawn
chemicals, pet waste, wastewater, grease, oil, petroleum products,
cleaning products, paint products, hazardous waste, sediment, snow
and ice control materials, and other pollutants into the MS4.
Whenever used in this article, unless a different
meaning is stated in a definition applicable to only a portion of
this article, the following terms will have meanings set forth below:
BMPs (BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES)
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.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.) and any subsequent amendments thereto.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Activities requiring authorization under the SPDES General
Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activity, GP-02-01,
as amended or revised, and any land disturbance requiring a municipal,
New York State, or federal permit. These activities include construction
projects resulting in land disturbance. Such activities include but
are not limited to clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating, and
demolition.
DISCHARGER
Any person who owns or is in control of real or personal
property that discharges, directly or indirectly, any material into
the MS4.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
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.
ILLICIT CONNECTION
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface,
which allows an illegal discharge to enter the MS4, including but
not limited to:
A.
Any conveyances that allow any nonstormwater
discharge, including treated or untreated sewage, process wastewater,
and wash water, to enter the MS4 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
B.
Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial
or industrial land use to the MS4 which has not been documented in
plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an authorized enforcement
agency.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the MS4, except as exempted in §
249A-5 of this article.
INDIVIDUAL SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM
A facility, including septics, cesspools and similar facilities,
serving one or more parcels of land or residential households, or
a private, commercial or institutional facility, that treats sewage
or other liquid wastes for discharge into the groundwaters of New
York State, except where a permit for such a facility is required
under the applicable provisions of Article 17 of the Environmental
Conservation Law.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activity requiring the SPDES permit for discharges from industrial
activities except construction. GP-98-03, as amended or revised.
MS4
Municipal separate storm sewer system.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains):
A.
Owned or operated by the Town of Clarkstown;
B.
Designed or used for collecting or conveying
stormwater;
C.
Which is not a combined sewer; and
D.
Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment
works (POTW) as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
NONSTORMWATER DISCHARGE
Any discharge to the MS4 that is not composed entirely of
stormwater. This includes any pollutants, as well as but not limited
to trash, yard waste, or pet waste.
NYS DEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
PERSON
Any individual, association, organization, partnership, firm,
corporation or other entity owning the property or having control
of the property.
POLLUTANT
Dredged spoil, filter backwash, solid waste, incinerator
residue, treated or untreated sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions,
chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat,
wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, soil and industrial, municipal,
or agricultural waste and ballast discharged into water or any substance
that may cause or might reasonably be expected to cause pollution
of the waters of the state in contravention of the standards.
PROPERTY
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips
and all chattel.
SMO (STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER)
An employee, the municipal engineer or other public official(s)
designated by the Town of Clarkstown to enforce this article. The
SMO may also be designated by the municipality to accept and review
stormwater pollution prevention plans, forward the plans to the applicable
municipal board and inspect stormwater management practices and designate
certain responsibilities pursuant to this article to other employees
or agents of the municipality.
SPECIAL CONDITION
A.
Discharge compliance with water quality standards.
The condition that applies where a municipality has been notified
by the NYS DEC that the discharge of stormwater authorized under its
MS4 permit may have caused or has the reasonable potential to cause
or contribute to the violation of an applicable water quality standard.
Under this condition, the municipality must take all necessary actions
to ensure future discharges do not cause or contribute to a violation
of water quality standards.
B.
Section 303(d)-listed water. The condition in
the municipality's MS4 permit that applies where the MS4 discharges
to a 303(d)-listed water. Under this condition, the stormwater management
program must ensure no increase of the listed pollutant of concern
to the 303(d) listed water.
C.
TMDL (total maximum daily load) strategy. The
condition in the municipality's MS4 permit where a TMDL including
requirements for control of stormwater discharges has been approved
by the EPA for a water body or watershed into which the MS4 discharges.
If the discharge from the MS4 did not meet the TMDL stormwater allocations
prior to September 10, 2003, the municipality was required to modify
its stormwater management program to ensure that reduction of the
pollutant of concern specified in the TMDL is achieved.
D.
The condition in the municipality's MS4 permit
that applies if a TMDL is approved in the future by the EPA for any
water body or watershed into which an MS4 discharges. Under this condition
the municipality must review the applicable TMDL to see if it includes
requirements for control of stormwater discharges. If an MS4 is not
meeting the TMDL stormwater allocations, the municipality must, within
six months of the TMDL's approval, modify its stormwater management
program to ensure that reduction of the pollutant of concern specified
in the TMDL is achieved.
STORMWATER
Rainwater, snowmelt, drainage and uncontaminated groundwater.
303(D) LIST
A list of all surface waters in the state for which beneficial
uses of the water (drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat, and industrial
use) are impaired by pollutants, prepared periodically by the NYS
DEC as required by Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Section
303(d)-listed waters are estuaries, lakes and streams that fall short
of state surface water quality standards and are not expected to improve
within the next two years.
TMDL
Total maximum daily load.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD
The maximum amount of a pollutant to be allowed to be released
into a waterbody so as not to impair uses of the water, allocated
among the sources of that pollutant.
WASTEWATER
Water that is not stormwater, is contaminated with pollutants
and is or will be discarded.
The Stormwater Management Officer(s) [SMO(s)]
shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this article.
The provisions of this article are hereby declared
to be severable. If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph
of this article or the application thereof to any person, establishment,
or circumstances shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not
affect the other provisions or application of this article.
No persons shall operate a failing individual
sewage treatment system in areas tributary to the municipality's MS4.
A failing individual sewage treatment system is a system that has
one or more of the following conditions:
A. The backup of sewage into a structure.
B. Discharges of treated or untreated sewage onto the
ground surface.
C. A connection or connections to a separate stormwater
sewer system.
D. Liquid level in the septic tank above the outlet invert.
E. Structural failure of any component of the individual
sewage treatment system that could lead to any of the other failure
conditions as noted in this section.
F. Contamination of off-site groundwater that can reasonably
be attributed to the individual sewage treatment system.
Any person subject to an industrial or construction
activity SPDES stormwater discharge permit shall comply with all provisions
of such permit. Proof of compliance with said permit shall be required
by the municipality in a form acceptable to the NYS DEC prior to the
allowing of discharges to the MS4.
Notwithstanding other requirements of law, as
soon as any person responsible for a property or operation, or responsible
for the emergency response for a property or operation, has information
of any known or suspected release of materials that are resulting
or may result in illegal discharges or pollutants discharging into
the MS4, 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, the municipality, and the responsible
MS4 of the occurrence via emergency dispatch services. In the event
of a release of nonhazardous materials, said person shall notify the
municipality and the responsible MS4 in person or by telephone or
facsimile no later than the next business day. Notifications in person
or by telephone shall be confirmed by written notice addressed and
mailed to the municipality within three business days of the telephone
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.
Any person receiving a notice of violation may
appeal the determination of the SMO to the Town within 15 days of
its issuance, which shall hear the appeal within 30 days after the
filing of the appeal and, within five days of making its decision,
file its decision in the office of the Municipal Clerk and mail a
copy of its decision by certified mail to said person.
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 SMO may petition for a preliminary or permanent
injunction restraining the person from activities that would create
further violations or compelling the person to perform abatement or
remediation of the violation.
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.
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.
[Adopted 6-19-2007 by L.L. No. 17-2007]
This article is adopted pursuant to the authority
granted by Article 10 of the Municipal Home Rule Law of the State
of New York.
This article shall be applicable to all land development activities as defined in §
249A-25 (Definitions) herein.
[Amended 12-13-2018 by L.L. No. 9-2018]
The Town Board has designated the Director of
the Department of Engineering and Facilities Management as the Stormwater
Management Officer, whose duties are to accept and review all stormwater
pollution prevention plans and forward such plans to the applicable
municipal board. The Stormwater Management Officer may (1) review
the plans, (2) upon approval by the Town Board or Planning Board,
engage the services of a registered professional engineer to review
the plans, specifications and related documents at a cost not to exceed
a fee schedule established by the Town Board, or (3) accept the certification
of a licensed professional that the plans conform to the requirements
of this article. All land development activities subject to review
and approval by the Town Board, Planning Board or Zoning Board of
Appeals under subdivision, site plan, or special permit regulations
shall be reviewed subject to the standards contained in this article.
All land development activities not subject to review as stated herein
shall be required to submit a stormwater pollution prevention plan
(SWPPP) to the Stormwater Management Officer, who shall approve the
SWPPP if it complies with the requirements of this article.
The following activities may be exempt from
review under this article:
A. Agricultural activity as defined in this article.
B. Silvicultural activity, except that landing areas
and log haul roads are subject to this article.
C. Routine maintenance activities that disturb fewer
than five acres and are performed to maintain the original line and
grade, hydraulic capacity or original purpose of a facility.
D. Repairs to any stormwater management practice or facility
deemed necessary by the Stormwater Management Officer.
E. Any part of a subdivision if a plat for the subdivision
has been approved by the Planning Board on or before the effective
date of this article.
F. Land development activities for which a building permit
has been approved on or before the effective date of this article.
H. Installation of fence, sign, telephone, and electric
poles and other kinds of posts or poles.
I. Emergency activity immediately necessary to protect
life, property or natural resources.
J. Activities of an individual engaging in home gardening
by growing flowers, vegetable and other plants primarily for use by
that person and his or her family.
K. Landscaping and horticultural activities in connection
with an existing structure.
The terms used in this article or in documents
prepared or reviewed under this article shall have the meaning as
set forth in this section.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
The activity of an active farm, including grazing and watering
livestock, irrigating crops, harvesting crops, using land for growing
agricultural products, and cutting timber for sale, but shall not
include the operation of a dude ranch or similar operation, or the
construction of new structures associated with agricultural activities.
CHANNEL
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and
banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
DESIGN MANUAL
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most
recent version, including applicable updates, which serves as the
official guide for stormwater management principles, methods and practices.
EROSION CONTROL MANUAL
The most recent version of the New York Standards and Specifications
for Erosion and Sediment Control manual, commonly known as the "Blue
Book."
INDUSTRIAL STORMWATER PERMIT
A State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued
to a commercial industry or group of industries, which regulates the
pollutant levels associated with industrial stormwater discharges
or specifies on-site pollution control strategies.
INFILTRATION
The process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
LAND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY
A.
Activity including clearing, grading, excavating,
soil disturbance or placement of fill that results in land disturbance
of equal to or greater than 10,000 square feet of land area; or
B.
Activities disturbing an aggregate total equal
to or greater than 10,000 square feet of land area that is part of
a larger common plan of development or sale, even though multiple
separate and distinct land development activities may take place at
different times on different schedules.
LANDOWNER
The legal or beneficial owner of land, including those holding
the right to purchase or lease the land, or any other person holding
proprietary rights in the land.
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed
restriction, and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater
management practices.
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Pollution from any source other than from any discernible,
confined, and discrete conveyance, and shall include, but not be limited
to, pollutants from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction,
subsurface disposal and urban runoff sources.
NYSDEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
POLLUTANT OF CONCERN
Sediment or a water quality measurement that addresses sediment
(such as total suspended solids, turbidity or siltation) and any other
pollutant that has been identified as a cause of impairment of any
water body that will receive a discharge from the land development
activity.
QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL
A certified professional in erosion and sediment control
(CPESC), professional engineer (PE), registered landscape architect
(RLA) and/or soil scientist.
RECHARGE
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
STABILIZATION
The use of practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
STORMWATER
Rainwater, surface runoff, snowmelt and drainage.
STORMWATER HOTSPOT
A land use or activity that generates higher concentrations
of hydrocarbons, trace metals or toxicants than are found in typical
stormwater runoff, based on monitoring studies.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
The use of structural or nonstructural practices that are
designed to reduce stormwater runoff and mitigate its adverse impacts
on property, natural resources and the environment.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITY
One or a series of stormwater management practices installed,
stabilized and operating for the purpose of controlling stormwater
runoff.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER
An employee or officer designated by the municipality to
accept and review stormwater pollution prevention plans, forward the
plans to the applicable municipal board and inspect stormwater management
practices. The Town Board has designated the Director of the Department
of Engineering and Facilities Management as the Stormwater Management
Officer for the Town of Clarkstown.
[Amended 12-13-2018 by L.L. No. 9-2018]
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (SMPS)
Measures, either structural or nonstructural, that are determined
to be the most effective, practical means of preventing flood damage
and preventing or reducing point source or nonpoint source pollution
inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
SURFACE WATERS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs,
wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals,
the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial seas of the State of New
York and all other bodies of surface water, natural or artificial,
inland or coastal, fresh or salt, public or private (except those
private waters that do not combine or effect a junction with natural
surface or underground waters), which are wholly or partially within
or bordering the state or within its jurisdiction. [Storm sewers and
waste treatment systems, including treatment ponds or lagoons, which
also meet the criteria of this definition, are not waters of the state.
This exclusion applies only to man-made bodies of water, which neither
were originally created in waters of the state (such as a disposal
area in wetlands) nor resulted from impoundment of waters of the state.]
TOWN
The Town of Clarkstown.
WATERCOURSE
Any permanent or intermittent natural or artificial stream,
river, creek, ditch, channel, canal, conduit, culvert, drain, waterway,
gully, or ravine, in and including any area adjacent thereto, in which
water normally flows.
WETLANDS
An area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or
groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence
of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions,
commonly known as "hydrophytic vegetation."
All land development activities shall be subject
to the following performance and design criteria:
A. Technical standards. For the purpose of this article, the following
documents shall serve as the official guides and specifications for
stormwater management. Stormwater management practices that are designed
and constructed in accordance with these technical documents shall
be presumed to meet the standards imposed by this article:
[Amended 2-5-2019 by L.L.
No. 2-2019]
(1) The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual (New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation, most current version
or its successor, hereafter referred to as the "Design Manual") with
amendments:
(a)
Manual Section 4.5 — Overbank Flood Control Criteria (Qp) shall be revised to state "Overbank Control requires
storage to reduce the post-development ten-year, twenty-four-hour
peak discharge rate (Qp) to 10% less than predevelopment
rates."
(b)
Manual Section 4.6 — Extreme Flood Control Criteria (Qr) shall be revised to state "100-Year Control requires
storage to reduce the post-development 100-year, twenty-four-hour
peak discharge rate (Qr) to 10% less than predevelopment
rates."
(2) New York Standards and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control
(Empire State Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society,
2004, most current version or its successor, hereafter referred to
as the "Erosion Control Manual").
B. Equivalence to technical standards. Where stormwater management practices are not in accordance with technical standards, the applicant or developer must demonstrate equivalence to the technical standards set forth in Subsection
A and the SWPPP shall be prepared by a licensed professional.
C. Water quality standards. No land development activity
shall cause an increase in turbidity that will result in substantial
visible contrast to natural conditions in surface waters of the State
of New York (6 NYCRR Part 703.2).
The Town may require any person undertaking
land development activities regulated by this article to pay reasonable
costs at prevailing rates for review of SWPPPs, inspections, or SMP
maintenance performed by the Town or performed by a third party for
the Town. The municipality shall determine the amount to be paid by
said person into an escrow account to be held by the Town. The costs
incurred by the Town shall be reimbursed from the escrow account.
The person undertaking the land development activity shall replenish
the escrow account on an as-needed basis.
The SMO may, without prior notice, suspend MS4
discharge access to a person when such suspension is necessary to
stop an action which presents or may present imminent and substantial
danger to the environment, to the health or welfare of persons, or
to the MS4. The SMO shall notify the person of such suspension within
a reasonable time thereafter, in writing, including the reasons for
the suspension. If the violator fails to comply with a suspension
order issued in an emergency, the SMO may take such steps as deemed
necessary to prevent or minimize damage to the MS4 or to minimize
danger to persons.
If the provisions of any article, section, subsection,
paragraph, subdivision or clause of this article shall be judged invalid
by a court of competent jurisdiction, such order of judgment shall
not affect or invalidate the remainder of any article, section, subsection,
paragraph, subdivision or clause of this article.