[Adopted 3-3-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-2]
A.
The purpose of this article is to provide environmental
protection of the local and state water bodies and groundwater, 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
pollutants into the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) in
order to comply with requirements the Rhode Island Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (RIPDES) permit process.
B.
The objectives of this article are:
(1)
To prevent (or reduce to the maximum extent possible)
pollutants from entering the Town's municipal separate storm sewer
system (MS4).
(2)
To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to
the municipal separate storm sewer system.
(3)
To require the removal of all such illicit connections
and discharges.
(4)
To comply with state law and federal statutes and
regulations relating to stormwater discharges.
(5)
To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection,
monitoring, and enforcement procedures necessary to ensure compliance
with this article.
This article is promulgated pursuant to the
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management's (RIDEM) General
Permit Rhode Island Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Stormwater
Discharge from Small Municipal Storm Sewer Systems and from Industrial
Activity at Eligible Facilities Operated by Regulated Small MS4s and
in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act, R.I.G.L. § 42-35-1
et seq.
For the purposes of this article, the following
shall mean:
Discharges not comprised of stormwater are allowed under
the MS4 General Permit but are limited to the following, provided
these are not significant contributors of pollutants to the MS4: discharges
which result from the washdown of vehicles at retail dealers selling
new and used automobiles where no detergents are used and individual
residential car washing; external building washdown where no detergents
are used; the use of water to control dust; fire-fighting activities;
fire hydrant flushings; natural springs; uncontaminated groundwater;
dechlorinated pool discharges; air-conditioning condensate; lawn watering;
potable water sources, including water line flushings; irrigation
drainage; pavement wash waters where spills or leaks of toxic or hazardous
materials have not occurred (unless all spilled materials have been
removed) and where detergents are not used; discharges from foundation
or footing drains where flows are not contaminated with process materials
such as solvents, or contaminated by contact with soils where spills
or leaks of toxic or hazardous materials have occurred; uncontaminated
utility vault dewatering; dechlorinated water line testing water;
hydrostatic test water that does not contain any treatment chemicals
and is not contaminated with process chemicals.
Employees or designees of the Director of Public Works designated
to enforce this article.
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 erosion and 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 RIPDES construction permits. These
include 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 person or business entity that causes, allows, permits,
or is otherwise responsible for a discharge, including, without limitation,
any operator of a construction site or industrial facility.
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.
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 non-stormwater 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.
Any direct or indirect non-stormwater discharge to the storm
drain system, except as exempted in allowable non-stormwater discharges
as defined within this article and discharges permitted pursuant to
an RIPDES permit.
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, human-made channels or storm drains) designed or used for
collecting or conveying stormwater and which is not a combined sewer.
Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed
entirely of stormwater.
The party or parties that either individually or taken together
have the day-to-day operational control over the facility activities
and the ability to make modifications to such activities.
The party or parties that either individually or taken together
have legal title to any premises.
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;
refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter or other discarded or abandoned objects
and accumulations of the same that 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.
Any building, lot, parcel of land or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
A permit issued by the RIDEM 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 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.
A discharge of stormwater not authorized by an RIPDES permit
or an allowable stormwater discharge found to be a significant contributor
of pollutants to the MS4.
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
A natural or human-made surface drainage channel or body
of water (including a lake or pond) through which a water flow occurs,
either continuously or intermittently.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
into the municipal storm drain system or watercourses any pollutants
or non-stormwater discharge unless:
A.
The non-storm water discharge is permitted with a
Rhode Island Pollution Discharge Elimination System (RIPDES) permit;
or
B.
The discharges are included in one of the following
categories of discharges:
(1)
Discharges which result from the washdown of vehicles
at retail dealers selling new and used automobiles where no detergents
are used and individual residential car washing;
(2)
External building washdown where no detergents are
used;
(3)
The use of water to control dust;
(4)
Fire-fighting activities;
(5)
Fire hydrant flushings;
(6)
Natural springs;
(7)
Uncontaminated groundwater;
(8)
Dechlorinated pool discharges;
(9)
Air-conditioning condensate;
(10)
Lawn watering;
(11)
Potable water sources, including water line flushings;
(12)
Irrigation drainage;
(13)
Pavement washwaters where spills or leaks of toxic
or hazardous materials have not occurred (unless all spilled materials
have been removed) and where detergents are not used;
(14)
Discharges from foundation or footing drains where
flows are not contaminated with process materials such as solvents,
or contaminated by contact with soils where spills or leaks of toxic
or hazardous materials have occurred;
(15)
Uncontaminated utility vault dewatering;
(16)
Dechlorinated water line resting water;
(17)
Hydrostatic test water that does not contain any treatment
chemicals and is not contaminated with process chemicals.
A.
The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence
of illicit connections to the storm drain system is prohibited. This
prohibit 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.
B.
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.
The Town 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 persons or to the MS4 or waters the state. 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 state or
to minimize danger to persons.
Any person discharging to the MS4 in violation
of this article may have their MS4 access terminated it 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. 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.
To the extent permitted by state law or if authorized
by the owners or other party in control of the property, the authorized
enforcement agency, its agents, officers and employees may enter upon
privately owned property for the purpose of performing their duties
under this ordinance and may make or cause to be made such examinations,
surveys or sampling as the authorized enforcement agency deems reasonably
necessary.
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
or 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 water of the state, 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 Director of Public Works 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. Nothing in this section shall preclude any
owner/lessee from compliance with relevant provisions of the Rhode
Island Clean Water Act, R.I.G.L. § 46-12-1 et seq. or other
applicable laws or regulations.
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. The owner or lessee shall not remove
healthy bank vegetation beyond that actually necessary for maintenance,
nor remove said vegetation in such a manner as to increase the vulnerability
of the watercourse to erosion. The property owner or lessee shall
be responsible for maintaining and stabilizing that portion of the
watercourse that is within their property lines in order to protect
against erosion and degradation of the watercourse originating or
contributed from their property. Nothing in this section shall preclude
any owner/lessee from compliance with relevant provisions of the Rhode
Island Freshwater Wetlands Act, R.I.G.L. § 2-1-18 et seq.,
or other applicable laws or regulations.
A.
Whenever the authorized enforcement agency 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;
(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;
and
(5)
Payment of a fine to cover administrative and remedial
costs; and
(6)
The implementation of source control or treatment
BMPs.
B.
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.
