[Adopted 8-14-2007 by L.L. No. 6-2007]
The purpose of this article is to provide for the health, safety, and
general welfare of the citizens of the Town of Ossining 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 of pollutants into the municipal
separate storm sewer system (MS4) in order to comply with requirements of
the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) process. The objectives
of this article are:
A. To regulate the contribution of pollutants to the MS4
by stormwater discharges by any user.
B. To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to the
MS4.
C. To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection,
surveillance, monitoring, and enforcement procedures necessary to ensure compliance
with this article.
For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
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 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 subject to NPDES 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.
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
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.
ILLEGAL DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the storm drain system, except as exempted in §
170-8 of this article.
ILLICIT CONNECTION
Either of the following:
A.
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, that
allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system, including but
not limited to any conveyances that allow any nonstormwater 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
B.
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 an authorized enforcement agency.
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
Activities subject to NPDES industrial stormwater permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
The system of conveyances (including sidewalks, roads with drainage
systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made
channels, or storm drains) owned and operated by the Town of Ossining and
designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater and that is not used
for collecting or conveying sewage.
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.
POLLUTANT
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, ordinances,
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.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether improved
or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM
Publicly owned facilities by which stormwater is collected and/or
conveyed, 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.
STORMWATER
Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely of water
from any form of natural precipitation and resulting from such precipitation.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN
A document that 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.
SUPERINTENDENT
All references herein to "Superintendent" shall mean the Town of
Ossining Superintendent of Highways.
WASTEWATER
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
This article shall apply to all water entering the storm drain system
generated on any developed and undeveloped lands unless explicitly exempted
by the Superintendent.
The Superintendent shall administer, implement and provide for the enforcement of this article. Any powers granted or duties imposed upon the Superintendent, other than powers and duties in the areas of compliance monitoring (§
170-11) and enforcement (§
170-14) may be delegated by the Superintendent to persons employed by the Highway Department. Powers granted and duties imposed on the Superintendent in the aforementioned areas of compliance monitoring and enforcement shall be assigned by the Superintendent to, and such powers and duties shall be shared by the Superintendent with, the Building Inspector and/or the Code Compliance Officer of the Town of Ossining.
This article is not intended to modify or repeal any other ordinance,
rule, regulation, or other provision of law. The requirements of this article
are in addition to the requirements of any other ordinance, rule, regulation,
or other provision of law, and where any provision of this article imposes
restrictions different from those imposed by any other ordinance, rule, regulation,
or other provision of law, whichever provision is more restrictive or imposes
higher protective standards for human health or the environment shall control.
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.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated pursuant to this article
are minimum standards; therefore, this article does not intend or imply that
compliance by any person will ensure that there will be no contamination,
pollution, or unauthorized discharge of pollutants.
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 operator of such activity, operation, or facility shall
provide, at his/her own expense, reasonable protection from accidental discharge
of prohibited materials or other wastes into the municipal storm drain system
or watercourses. Compliance with all terms and conditions of a valid NPDES
permit authorizing the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial
activity shall be deemed compliance with the provisions of this section.
Any person that has violated or continues to violate this article shall
be liable to criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the law and shall
be subject to a criminal penalty of $100 to $500 per violation per day and/or
imprisonment for a period of time not to exceed 30 days. Each act of violation
and each day upon which any violation shall occur shall constitute a separate
offense.
If the violation has not been corrected pursuant to the requirements
set forth in the notice of violation, then representatives of the Superintendent
may enter upon the subject private property and are authorized to take any
and all measurers necessary to abate the violation and/or restore the property.
It shall be unlawful for any person, owner, agent or person in possession
of any premises to refuse to allow the government agency or designated contractor
to enter upon the premises for the purposes set forth above.
Within 30 days after abatement of the violation, the owner of the property
will be notified of the cost of abatement, including administrative costs.
The property owner may file a written protest objecting to the amount of the
assessment within 30 days to the Town Board. The Town Board, after a hearing,
shall determine whether the assessment and the amount thereof is proper. Upon
final determination of the assessment, the property owner shall have 10 days
to pay the assessment. If not paid within that time, the charges shall become
a special assessment against the property and shall constitute a lien on the
property for the amount of the assessment. The charges shall be added to the
next Town tax levy against the property which was the source 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 Superintendent to seek cumulative remedies.