The terms used in this chapter or in documents prepared or reviewed
under this chapter 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.
APPLICANT
A property owner or agent of a property owner who has filed an application
for a land development activity.
BUILDING
Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having walls and a
roof, designed for the shelter of any person, animal or property, and occupying
more than 100 square feet of area.
CHANNEL
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks
that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
CLEARING
Any activity that removes the vegetative surface cover.
DEDICATION
The deliberate appropriation of property by its owner for general
public use.
DEPARTMENT
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
DESIGN MANUAL
The New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, most recent
version, including applicable updates, that serves as the official guide for
stormwater management principles, methods and practices.
DEVELOPER
A person who undertakes land development activities.
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."
GRADING
Excavation or fill of material, including the resulting conditions
thereof.
IMPERVIOUS COVER
Those surfaces, improvements and structures that cannot effectively
infiltrate rainfall, snowmelt and water (e.g., building rooftops, pavements,
sidewalks, driveways, etc.).
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.
JURISDICTIONAL WETLAND
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."
LAND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY
Construction activity including clearing, grading, excavating, soil
disturbance or placement of fill that results in land disturbance of equal
to or greater than one acre, or activities disturbing less than one acre of
total 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.
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL
A person currently licensed to practice engineering in New York State,
a registered landscape architect, or a certified professional in erosion and
sediment control (CPESC).
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 conveyances, and shall include, but not be limited to, pollutants
from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction, subsurface disposal
and urban runoff sources.
PHASING
Clearing a parcel of land in distinct pieces or parts, with the stabilization
of each piece completed before the clearing of the next.
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.
RECHARGE
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
SENSITIVE AREAS
Cold water fisheries, shellfish beds, swimming beaches, groundwater
recharge areas, water supply reservoirs, habitats for threatened, endangered
or special concern species.
STABILIZATION
The use of practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
STOP-WORK ORDER
An order issued which requires that all construction activity on
a site be stopped.
STORMWATER
Rainwater, surface runoff, snow melt 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. This work shall
be done in coordination with other municipal agencies.
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.
WATERCOURSE
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water, either
natural or man-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or to the
public storm drain.
Stormwater pollution prevention plan requirement: No application for
approval of a land development activity shall be approved until the appropriate
board has received a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) prepared
in accordance with the specifications in this chapter.
A. Contents of stormwater pollution prevention plans. All
SWPPPs shall provide the following background information and erosion and
sediment controls:
(1) Background information about the scope of the project,
including location, type and size of project;
(2) Site map/construction drawing(s) for the project, including
a general location map. At a minimum, the site map shall be at a scale no
smaller than one inch equals 100 feet and shall show the total site area;
all improvements; areas of disturbance; areas that will not be disturbed;
existing vegetation; on-site and adjacent off-site surface water(s); wetlands
and drainage patterns that could be affected by the construction activity;
existing and final slopes; locations of off-site material, waste, borrow or
equipment storage areas; and location(s) of the stormwater discharge(s);
(3) Description of the soil(s) present at the site;
(4) Construction phasing plan describing the intended sequence
of construction activities, including clearing and grubbing, excavation and
grading, utility and infrastructure installation and any other activity at
the site that results in soil disturbance. Consistent with the New York Standards
and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control (Erosion Control Manual),
not more than five acres shall be disturbed at any one time unless pursuant
to an approved SWPPP;
(5) Description of the pollution prevention measures that
will be used to control litter, construction chemicals and construction debris
from becoming a pollutant source in stormwater runoff;
(6) Description of construction and waste materials expected
to be stored on-site with updates as appropriate, and a description of controls
to reduce pollutants from these materials, including storage practices to
minimize exposure of the materials to stormwater, and spill prevention and
response;
(7) Temporary and permanent structural and vegetative measures
to be used for soil stabilization, runoff control and sediment control for
each stage of the project from initial land clearing and grubbing to project
close-out;
(8) A site map/construction drawing(s) specifying the location(s),
size(s) and length(s) of each erosion and sediment control practice;
(9) Dimensions, material specifications and installation
details for all erosion and sediment control practices, including the siting
and sizing of any temporary sediment basins;
(10) Temporary practices that will be converted to permanent
control measures;
(11) Implementation schedule for staging temporary erosion
and sediment control practices, including the timing of initial placement
and duration that each practice should remain in place;
(12) Maintenance schedule to ensure continuous effective operation
of the erosion and sediment control practices;
(13) Names(s) of the receiving water(s);
(14) Delineation of SWPPP implementation responsibilities
for each part of the site,
(15) Description of structural practices designed to divert
flows from exposed soils, store flows, or otherwise limit runoff and the discharge
of pollutants from exposed areas of the site to the degree attainable; and
(16) Any existing data that describes the stormwater runoff
at the site.
B. Land development activities as defined in §
106-6 of this article and meeting Condition A, B or C below shall also include water quantity and water quality controls (postconstruction stormwater runoff controls) as set forth in §
106-8C below, as applicable:
(1) Condition A: stormwater runoff from land development
activities discharging a pollutant of concern to either an impaired water
identified on the Department's 303(d) list of impaired waters, or a total
maximum daily load (TMDL) designated watershed for which pollutants in stormwater
have been identified as a source of the impairment.
(2) Condition B: stormwater runoff from land development
activities disturbing five or more acres.
(3) Condition C: stormwater runoff from land development
activity disturbing between one and five acres of land during the course of
the project, exclusive of the construction of single-family residences and
construction activities at agricultural properties.
C. SWPPP requirements for conditions A, B and C:
(1) All information in §
106-8A of this chapter;
(2) Description of each postconstruction stormwater management
practice;
(3) Site map/construction drawing(s) showing the specific
location(s) and size(s) of each postconstruction stormwater management practice;
(4) Hydrologic and hydraulic analysis for all structural
components of the stormwater management system for the applicable design storms;
(5) Comparison of postdevelopment stormwater runoff conditions
with predevelopment conditions;
(6) Dimensions, material specifications and installation
details for each postconstruction stormwater management practice;
(7) Maintenance schedule to ensure continuous and effective
operation of each postconstruction stormwater management practice;
(8) Maintenance easements to ensure access to all stormwater
management practices at the site for the purpose of inspection and repair.
Easements shall be recorded on the plan and shall remain in effect with transfer
of title to the property;
(9) Inspection and maintenance agreement binding on all subsequent landowners served by the on-site stormwater management measures in accordance with Article
II, §
106-9 of this chapter;
(10) The SWPPP shall be prepared by a registered landscape
architect, certified professional in erosion and sediment control (CPESC)
or licensed professional engineer and must be signed by the professional preparing
the plan, who shall certify that the design of all stormwater management practices
meets the requirements in this chapter.
D. Other environmental permits. The applicant shall assure
that all other applicable environmental permits have been or will be acquired
for the land development activity prior to approval of the final stormwater
design plan.
E. Contractor certification.
(1) Each contractor and subcontractor identified in the SWPPP
who will be involved in soil disturbance and/or stormwater management practice
installation shall sign and date a copy of the following certification statement
before undertaking any land development activity:
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"I certify under penalty of law that I understand and agree to comply
with the terms and conditions of the stormwater pollution prevention plan.
I also understand that it is unlawful for any person to cause or contribute
to a violation of water quality standards."
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(2) The certification must include the name and title of
the person providing the signature, the address and telephone number of the
contracting firm, the address (or other identifying description) of the site;
and the date the certification is made.
(3) The certification statement(s) shall become part of the
SWPPP for the land development activity.
F. A copy of the SWPPP shall be retained at the site of
the land development activity during construction from the date of initiation
of construction activities to the date of final stabilization.
All land development activities shall be subject to the following performance
and design criteria:
A. Technical standards. For the purpose of this chapter,
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 chapter:
(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");
(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 as set forth in Article
II, §
106-8A, and the SWPPP shall be prepared by a licensed professional.
C. Water quality standards. Any land development activity
shall not cause an increase in turbidity that will result in substantial visible
contrast to natural conditions in surface waters of the State of New York.
If the provisions of any article, section, subsection, paragraph, subdivision
or clause of this chapter 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
chapter.