The Common Council of the City of Ithaca hereby
makes the following findings:
A. Land development activities and increases in site
impervious cover permanently alter the hydrologic responses of local
watersheds and increase stormwater runoff rates and volumes, which
in turn increase flooding, stream channel erosion and sediment transport
and deposition, and decrease the recharge of groundwater resources;
B. Stormwater runoff from developed areas contributes
significant quantities of water-borne particulates and pollutants
to surface and groundwater sources, degrading the water quality of
water bodies, affecting public and private water supplies and recreational
uses, and threatening fish and other aquatic life;
C. The clearing and loss of vegetation, and the grading
of the soil for development or redevelopment purposes may increase
soil erosion, leading to siltation of water bodies, decreasing their
capacity to hold and transport water, and degrading terrestrial and
aquatic habitats;
D. The southern end of Cayuga Lake has been placed on
the New York State Section 303(d) List of Impaired Waters, with both
phosphorus and silt/sediment being major source contributors of the
impairment;
E. Improper design, construction, and implementation
of stormwater and erosion control facilities may also increase stormwater
runoff rates and volumes, leading to increased flooding, stream channel
erosion, sediment transport and deposition and overall degradation
to water bodies;
F. Substantial economic losses may result from these
adverse impacts on the public stormwater sewer conveyance systems;
G. Substantial economic losses may result from these
adverse impacts on community waters;
H. Stormwater runoff, soil erosion, and non-point source
pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of
stormwater runoff quantity and quality from new land development and
redevelopment activities, by use of both structural and nonstructural
practices;
I. In order to serve the public interest and minimize
threats to the environment and to public health and safety, it is
imperative to regulate stormwater runoff from land development activities
and other construction activities within the City of Ithaca so as
to control and minimize increases in stormwater runoff rates and volumes,
to provide for the recharge of groundwater resources, and to control
and minimize soil erosion, stream channel erosion, non-point source
pollution, and other threats to general water quality associated with
land development activities;
J. City regulation of land development activities, by
the establishment of performance standards governing stormwater management
and site design, will act to mitigate the adverse effects associated
with stormwater runoff and erosion and sedimentation caused by development.
The purpose of these Stormwater Regulations,
hereinafter also referred to as the "regulations," is to establish
minimum stormwater management requirements and controls to protect,
maintain, and enhance the health, safety and general welfare of the
citizens of the City and its natural environment.
The objectives of these Stormwater Regulations
are to:
A. Meet the requirements of minimum measures numbered
4 and 5, contained in the New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES)
General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Municipal Separate Stormwater
Sewer Systems (MS4s) No. GP-02-02, or as such requirements have been
amended or revised;
B. Require land development activities to conform to
the substantive requirements of the SPDES General Permit for Construction
Activities GP-02-01, or as such requirements have been amended or
revised;
C. Control and reduce stormwater runoff rates and volumes,
in order to reduce erosive velocities, stream bank erosion and property
damage, and to maintain the integrity of stream channels and aquatic
habitats;
D. Reduce the detrimental impacts of stormwater flows
on adjacent properties and downstream communities;
E. Control and minimize soil erosion from land development
activities and prevent the transport of sediment either through direct
discharge or conveyed by public stormwater sewer systems to water
bodies;
F. Facilitate the removal of pollutants in stormwater
runoff so as not to degrade ground and surface water quality;
G. Protect the biological, ecological, and other beneficial
functions of water bodies, such as streams, wetlands, lakes and reservoirs,
from the adverse impacts of stormwater runoff;
H. Encourage groundwater recharge so as to maintain stream
base flows, aquatic life, and adequate water supplies;
I. Establish provisions for the long-term responsibility
for and maintenance of both structural and nonstructural stormwater
control facilities and management practices to ensure that they continue
to function as designed, are adequately maintained, and pose no threat
to public safety;
J. Establish provisions to ensure that there is an adequate
funding mechanism, including financial security or surety, for the
proper review, inspection and long-term maintenance of stormwater
facilities implemented as part of these Stormwater Regulations;
K. Establish administrative procedures for the submission,
review, approval or disapproval of stormwater management plans, for
the inspection of approved active development projects, and for long-term
follow-up;
L. Establish provisions for enforcement and penalties
for noncompliance with these Stormwater Regulations.
The following terms have the following meanings
when used in these Stormwater Regulations:
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, which list is prepared periodically
by the Department as required by Section 303(d) of the Clean Water
Act. 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.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
Activities by an active farm, including grazing and watering
livestock, irrigating crops, harvesting crops, using land for growing
agricultural products, and cutting timber for sale. The construction
of any new structures associated with agricultural activity is not
an agricultural activity.
APPLICANT
A property owner or agent of a property owner who has filed
an application for any proposed land development activity.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)
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
into 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.
BUILDING
Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having walls
and a roof and designed for the shelter of any person, animal, property
or agricultural and/or business operation, and containing or sheltering
100 square feet or more of surface area.
CHANNEL
A natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and
banks created for the purpose of periodically or continuously conveying
flowing water.
CITY
The City of Ithaca, New York.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
CLEARING
Any activity, including, but not limited to, grubbing, wasting,
or razing, that removes vegetative surface cover and/or its related
root structures.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Activities requiring authorization under the SPDES permit
for stormwater discharges from construction activity, GP-02-01, as
amended or revised. These activities include construction projects
resulting in land disturbance of one or more acres. Such activities
include but are not limited to clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating,
and demolition.
CURVE NUMBER
An indexed hydrologic parameter developed by the Soil Conservation
Service (SCS) used to describe the runoff potential of stormwater.
The curve number is typically based on soils type, plant cover, amount
of impervious areas, interception, and surface storage.
DEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation;
the regulatory environmental control authority for the State of New
York.
DEDICATION
The donation of land or creation of an easement for general
public use and the acceptance of said land or easement by the municipality.
DESIGN MANUAL
The current or most recent version of the New York State
Stormwater Design Manual, including applicable updates, which herein
serves as the state-approved, official guide for stormwater control
principles, methods, and practices.
DEVELOPER
Any person or entity undertaking land development activities.
ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREA
Any area that is especially vulnerable to a negative environmental
impact from construction activity and its related stormwater runoff,
due to factors such as unstable soil, fragile or ecologically unique
habitat, or the ecological importance of the physical area to the
neighborhood form or character. Environmentally sensitive areas may
include, but are not limited to, cold-water fisheries, shellfish beds,
swimming beaches, groundwater recharge areas, water supply reservoirs,
steep, vegetated hillsides or buffers, and habitats for threatened,
endangered, or special-concern species.
EROSION
The act of wearing away the surface of the land through natural
means or by aggravation from land development activities.
EROSION CONTROL MANUAL
The current or most recent version of the New York Standards
and Specifications for Erosion and Sediment Control Manual, commonly
referred to as the "Blue Book."
FULL STORMWATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN (FULL SWPPP)
The basic SWPPP plus that portion as identified in §
282-10C of these regulations which addresses post-construction stormwater controls, hydraulic and hydrologic analyses, and other items necessary to control runoff to better than or equal to predeveloped conditions for the rainfall frequencies as defined in that section.
GRADING
Excavation and/or fill of rock, soil, or other material(s),
including the resulting conditions thereof.
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.
HUMAN-MADE CONVEYANCE SYSTEM
Any human-made structure created for the purpose of hydraulically
conveying stormwater runoff to the surface waters of the State of
New York. Structures include but are not limited to: catch basins,
pipe, road ditches, and swales.
HYDROLOGY
The study of water behavior on and beneath the surface of
the land with respect to precipitation, evaporation, and infiltration
for the purpose of predicting the rates and amounts of runoff.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS
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 conveyance which allows any nonstormwater
discharge including treated or untreated sewage, process wastewater,
and/or wash water to enter the MS4, and any connection to the storm
drain system from an indoor drain or sink, 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 §
282-23 of this chapter.
IMPAIRED WATER
Water whose purity has been diminished by pollution and/or
sedimentation. The southern end of Cayuga Lake is on the New York
State 303(d) List of Impaired Water Bodies for both phosphorus and
silt/sediment.
IMPERVIOUS COVER
Those surfaces, improvements and/or structures that do not
effectively absorb rainfall, snow melt and water (e.g., building rooftops,
pavement, sidewalks) or otherwise act to prevent infiltration and
increase stormwater runoff or other water-accumulating conditions.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities requiring the SPDES permit for discharges from
industrial activities except construction, GP-98-03, as amended or
revised.
INDUSTRIAL STORMWATER PERMIT
A New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("SPDES")
permit, issued to a commercial industry that regulates the pollutant
levels associated with nondomestic stormwater discharges or specifies
on-site pollution control strategies.
INFILTRATION
The act or process by which stormwater or other water percolates
into the soil or 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
Any construction activity that includes clearing, grading,
excavating, or general soil disturbance and/or placement of fill (including
but not limited to stockpiling, site storage, temporary parking, mobilizing
and demobilizing activities, etc.) that results in land disturbance.
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 to the land.
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL
A professional engineer, professional landscape architect,
certified professional in erosion and sediment control, certified
professional in stormwater quality.
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT
A legally recorded document that acts as a property deed
restriction, and which provides for long-term maintenance of stormwater
management practices.
MS4
The municipal separate storm sewer system.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM
A system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems,
municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made
channels, or storm drains) which are:
A.
Owned or operated by the City of Ithaca;
B.
Designed or used for collecting or conveying
stormwater;
C.
That which is not a combined sewer; and
D.
That which is not part of a publicly owned treatment
works (POTW) as defined under 40 CFR 122.2
NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Pollution that originates from any source other than from
any specific discernible, confined, and discrete conveyances, and
can include, but not be limited to, pollutants from agricultural activities,
silviculture, mining, construction, subsurface disposal, and urban
runoff sources.
PARCEL
A distinct tract, lot, portion, or piece of land upon which
an applicant, developer, landowner, or any other person or entity
conducts or proposes to conduct a land development activity.
PERSON
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.
PHASING
The act of clearing a parcel of land in distinct divisions,
with the purpose of stabilizing each section once completed before
the clearing of the next.
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, by-products of rock or sand, industrial,
municipal or agricultural waste, and ballast discharged into water,
any of which may cause or might reasonably be expected to cause pollution
of the surface waters of the State of New York in contravention of
the standards.
POLLUTANT OF CONCERN
Sediment or a water quality measurement that addresses sediment
(such as total suspended solids, turbidity, siltation, etc.) 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.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips
if associated with a proposed project.
PROJECT
A land development activity.
QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL
A technically competent person operating on behalf of a licensed
professional in applications such as, but not limited to, field inspection,
document review and administration.
RECHARGE
The replenishment of underground water reserves.
SEDIMENT
Any chemical, mineral, metal, rock, soil or other compound,
or mixture thereof, that has been exposed and/or eroded which is subject
to sedimentation by naturally occurring means.
SEDIMENTATION
The process by which sediment is transported and deposited
from one area to another by naturally occurring means.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Conditions in an MS4 permit where any of the following apply:
A.
Discharge compliance with water quality standards:
the condition that applies where a municipality has been notified
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.
303(d) listed waters: 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 and regulation
plan must ensure no increase of the listed pollutant of concern to
the 303(d) listed water.
C.
Total maximum daily load (TMDL) 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 and regulation plan to ensure that reduction
of the pollutant of concern specified in the TMDL is achieved.
D.
Future TMDL approval: When a TMDL is approved
in the future by the EPA for any water body or watershed into which
an MS4 discharges, 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.
STABILIZATION
The use and practices that prevent exposed soil from eroding.
STATE
The State of New York.
STOP-WORK ORDER
Any order issued by the City of Ithaca that requires all
construction activities occurring on a site to be immediately stopped.
STORMWATER
Any precipitation in the form of rainwater, snowmelt, ice
melt, and related naturally occurring surface water accumulation which
forms drainage caused by surface runoff.
STORMWATER HOTSPOT
A land use or activity that generates higher concentrations
of hydrocarbons, trace metals, or toxicants than is found in typical
stormwater runoff, based on monitoring studies.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
The use of structural and/or nonstructural practices that
are designed to reduce stormwater runoff and mitigate adverse effects
on property, natural resources, and the environment.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITY
One or a series of stormwater management devices or practices,
instituted or installed, stabilized and operating for the purpose
of controlling stormwater runoff.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT OFFICER (SMO)
An individual designated by the City of Ithaca to enforce
these regulations. 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, inspect stormwater management
practices and perform related duties.
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 non-point 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 in 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.
TIME OF CONCENTRATION
The time it takes for runoff to travel to a particular point,
from the hydraulically most distant point.
TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL)
The maximum amount of a pollutant to be allowed to be released
into a water body 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.
WATERCOURSE
A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water,
either natural or human-made, which gathers or carries surface water.
WATERSHED
The geographic area of land that drains water to a shared
destination from the highest ridgeline to the lowest point.
WATERWAY
A channel that directs surface runoff to a watercourse or
to the public storm drain.
WETLAND
A low-lying area saturated with water whose ecosystem is
unique to the soil type, topography, climate, hydrology, water chemistry,
vegetation and other limiting or defining factors.
The New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation (NYSDEC), pursuant to the Federal Clean Water Act, 33
U.S.C. §§ 1251 to 1387, created a State Pollution Discharge
Elimination System (SPDES) which mandates, in Phase II, that certain
municipalities [municipal separate stormwater sewer systems (MS4s)]
of which the City of Ithaca is one, must establish a stormwater management
and regulation plan that reduces the discharge of pollutants to the
maximum extent practicable, by no later than January 8, 2008.
The following activities are exempt from review
under this chapter:
A. Agricultural activities as defined in §
282-4;
B. Logging activity undertaken pursuant to an approved
timber management plan prepared or approved by the County Soil and
Water Conservation District or the DEC, except that landing areas
and log haul roads are subject to this chapter;
C. Routine maintenance activities by the City of Ithaca,
such as ditch cleaning, that disturb less than one acre of land and
are performed to maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity
or original purpose of a preexisting facility, building, and/or impervious
surface associated with these facilities;
D. Repairs to any stormwater management facility deemed
necessary by the SMO or other qualified, authorized official of the
City of Ithaca;
E. Land development/disturbance activities for which
a building permit, special permit, or site plan review has been approved
on or before the effective date of this chapter;
G. Installation of fence, sign, telephone, and electric
poles and other kinds of posts or poles, in which the cumulative soil
disturbance totals less than one acre in size;
H. Emergency activity immediately necessary to protect
life, property, or natural resources;
I. Home gardening activities such as growing flowers,
vegetables, or other plants primarily for use by the grower's family;
J. A land disturbance activity that does not meet or exceed any of the minimum thresholds set forth in the requirements of §
282-6C.