For the purposes of this chapter, any word or term not defined shall
be used with a meaning of standard usage.
The following words and phrases shall have for the purposes of this
chapter the following meanings indicated:
ACCELERATED EROSION
The removal of the surface of the land through the combined action
of man's activity and the natural processes of a rate greater than would
occur because of the natural process alone.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
The work of producing crops and raising livestock, including tillage,
plowing, discing, harrowing, pasturing and installation of conservation measures.
Construction of new buildings or impervious area is not considered an "agricultural
activity."
ALTERATION
As applied to land, a change in topography as a result of the moving
of soil and rock from one location or position to another; also the changing
of surface conditions by causing the surface to be more or less impervious;
land disturbance.
APPLICANT
A landowner or developer who has filed an application for approval to engage in any regulated activities as defined in §
140-5 of this chapter.
CHANNEL EROSION
The widening, deepening and headword cutting of small channels and
waterways due to erosion caused by moderate to large floods.
CULVERT
A pipe, conduit or similar enclosed structure, including appurtenant
works, which carries surface or stormwater.
DESIGNEE
The agent of the Bradford County Conservation District and/or agent
of the governing body involved with the administration, review or enforcement
of any provisions of this chapter by contract or memorandum of understanding.
DESIGN STORM
The magnitude of precipitation from a storm event measured in probability
of occurrence (e.g., fifty-year storm) and duration (e.g., twenty-four-hour),
and used in computing stormwater management control systems.
DETENTION BASIN
A basin designed to retard stormwater runoff by temporarily storing
the runoff and releasing it at a predetermined rate. A "detention basin" can
be designed to drain completely after a storm event, or it can be designed
to contain a permanent pool of water.
DEVELOPER
A person or persons, partnership, association, corporation or other
entity, or any responsible person therein or agent thereof, that undertakes
the activities covered by this chapter.
DEVELOPMENT SITE
The specific tract of land for which a regulated activity is proposed.
DIVERSION
A ditch, berm or terrace built to protect downslope areas by diverting
runoff from its natural course.
DRAINAGE EASEMENT
A right granted by a land owner to a grantee allowing the use of
private land for stormwater management purposes.
DRAINAGE PERMIT
A permit issued by the borough governing body after the drainage
plan has been approved. Said permit is issued with the final borough approval.
DRAINAGE PLAN
The combined stormwater management site plan and narrative, the erosion
and sediment pollution control plan and narrative and the nonpoint source
pollution control plan and narrative.
EARTH DISTURBANCE
Any activity, including but not limited to construction, mining,
farming, timber harvesting and grubbing which alters, disturbs and exposes
the existing land surface.
EROSION
The natural process by which the surface of the land is worn away
by water, wind or chemical action.
FILTER FABRIC
Textile of relatively small mesh or pore size that is used to allow
water to pass through while keeping sediment out (permeable) or prevent both
runoff and sediment from passing through (impermeable).
FILTER STRIPS
Long, narrow strips of close-growing vegetation at the perimeter
of disturbed or impervious areas which serve to intercept or retard sheet
flows of surface runoff and/or collect sediment. Used often to protect other
stormwater control facilities, such as diversions, impoundments, etc.
FLOOD
A general but temporary condition of partial or complete inundation
of normally dry land areas from the overflow of streams, rivers or other waters
of this commonwealth.
FLOOD HAZARD AREA
A normally dry land area that has been and is susceptible to being
inundated by surface or subsurface flow in addition to stream overflow. For
regulatory purposes, the Flood Plain Management Act (Act of October 4, 1978,
P.L. 851, No. 166) and regulations pursuant to the Act define "flood hazard area"
as the area identified by FEMA (as shown on the floodplain map) as being subject
to flooding by a one-hundred-year flood.
FLOODPLAIN
The lands adjoining a river or stream that have been or may be expected
to be inundated by floodwaters in a one-hundred-year frequency flood.
FLOODWAY
The channel of the watercourse and those portions of the adjoining
floodplains which are reasonably required to carry and discharge the one-hundred-year
frequency flood. Unless otherwise specified, the boundary of the "floodway"
is as indicated on maps and flood insurance studies provided by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In an area where no FEMA maps or studies
have defined, the boundary of the one-hundred-year frequency "floodway," it
is assumed, absent evidence to the contrary, that the "floodway" extends from
the stream to 50 feet from the top of the bank of the stream.
FREEBOARD
A vertical distance between the elevation of the design high water
and the top of a dam, levee, tank, basin or diversion ridge. The space is
required as a safety margin in a pond or basin.
GRADE
A slope, usually of a road, channel or natural ground specified in
percent and shown on plans as specified herein. The term "to grade" shall
mean to finish the surface of a roadbed, the top of an embankment or the bottom
of an excavation.
GRASSED WATERWAY
A natural or constructed waterway, usually broad and shallow, covered
with erosion-resistant grasses, used to conduct surface water from cropland.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
A surface which prevents the penetration of water into the ground,
including roofs, concrete, asphalt, compacted shale, sidewalks, etc. Any areas
which may be designed to initially be semipervious (e.g. gravel, crushed stone,
porous pavement, etc.) shall be impervious areas for the purpose of waiver
evaluation.
IMPOUNDMENT
A retention or detention basin designed to retain stormwater runoff
and release it at a controlled rate.
INFILTRATION
The flow of a liquid into a substance through pores or other openings,
connoting flow into a soil in contradistinction to the word "percolation,"
which connotes flow through a porous substance. The infiltration capacity
is expressed in terms of inches per inch.
INFILTRATION STRUCTURE
A structure designed to direct runoff into the ground, e.g., French
drains, seepage pits, seepage trench.
INLET
A surface connection to a closed drain; a structure at the diversion
end of a conduit; the upstream end of any structure through which water may
flow.
INVERT ELEVATION
The vertical elevation of a pipe or orifice in a pond which defines
the water level.
LAND DEVELOPMENT
A.
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts or
parcels of land for any purpose involving a group of two or more buildings
or the division or allocation of land or space between or among two or more
existing or prospective occupants by means of or for the purpose of streets,
common areas, leaseholds, condominiums, building groups or other features.
LAND DISTURBANCE
Any activity involving grading, tilling, digging or filling of ground
or stripping of vegetation or any other activity that causes an alteration
to the natural condition of the land.
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
An agreement between Sayre Borough and the Bradford County Conservation
District to provide for cooperation between the Bradford County Conservation
District and Sayre Borough Council, Bradford County, and to include within
its ordinances and to jointly promote conservation of natural resources with
Sayre Borough on lands both public and private, for the purposes of preventing
soil erosion and sedimentation of streams, reducing stormwater damage and
promoting the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of Sayre
Borough.
MINING
The process of the extraction of soil or minerals from the earth
or from water or stockpiles or from pits or banks for use off-site of a subdivision,
development site or land development.
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Pollution that enters a water body from diffuse origins in the watershed
and does not result from discernible, confined or discrete conveyances.
OPEN CHANNEL
A drainage element in which stormwater flows with an open surface.
"Open channels" include but shall not be limited to natural and man-made drainageways,
swales, streams, ditches, canals and pipes flowing partly full.
OUTFALL
Point where water flows from a conduit, stream or drain.
OUTLET
Point of water disposal from a stream, river, lake, tidewater or
artificial drain.
OVERFLOW RATE
The detention basin release rate divided by the surface area of the
basin. It can be thought of as an average flow rate through the basin.
PARKING LOT STORAGE
Involves the use of impervious parking areas as temporary impoundments
with controlled release rates during rainstorms.
PEAK DISCHARGE
The maximum rate of flow of water at a given point in time resulting
from a storm event.
PLAN
The stormwater management and erosion and sediment pollution control
plans and narratives.
REGULATED ACTIVITIES
Actions or proposed actions which impact upon proper management of stormwater runoff, erosion and sediment pollution control and activities in wetlands and which are governed by this chapter as specified in §
140-5.
RETURN PERIOD
The average interval in years over which an event of a given magnitude
can be expected to recur. For example, the twenty-five-year return period
rainfall or runoff event would be expected to recur on the average once every
25 years.
RISER
A vertical pipe extending from the bottom of a pond that is used
to control the discharge rate from the pond for a specified design storm.
ROOFTOP DETENTION
Temporary ponding and gradual release of stormwater falling directly
onto flat roof surfaces by incorporating controlled-flow roof drains into
building designs.
RUNOFF
The part of precipitation which flows over the land.
SCS
Soil Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
SEDIMENT
Soils or other surficial materials transported by surface water as
a product of erosion.
SEDIMENTATION
The process by which solid material, both mineral and organic, is
accumulated, transported or deposited by moving wind, water or gravity. Once
this matter is deposited (or remains suspended in water), it is usually referred
to as "sediment."
SEDIMENT BASIN
A temporary structure, barrier, dam, retention or detention basin designed to retain sediment, designed and constructed in accordance with Pa. Title 25, Chapter
102.
SEDIMENT POLLUTION
The placement, discharge or any other introduction of sediment into
the waters of the commonwealth occurring from the failure to design, construct,
implement or maintain control measures and control facilities in accordance
with the requirements of this chapter.
SEDIMENT TRAP
A temporary sediment control device formed by excavation and/or embankments
or hay bales to intercept sediment-laiden runoff and retain the sediment.
SEEPAGE AREAS
Grass-covered areas that infiltrate stormwater runoff and allow particulate
contaminants to settle.
SHEETFLOW
Runoff which flows over the ground surface as a thin, even layer,
not concentrated in a channel.
SOIL-COVER COMPLEX METHOD
A method of runoff computation developed by SCS and found in its
publication Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds, Technical Release No. 55,
SCS, June 1986, or latest edition.
SOIL GROUP, HYDROLOGIC
A classification of soils by the Soil Conservation Service into four
runoff potential groups. The groups range from A soils, which are very permeable
and produce little runoff, to D soils, which are not very permeable and produce
much more runoff.
SPILLWAY
A depression in the embankment of a pond or basin which is used to
pass peak discharge greater than the maximum design storm controlled by the
pond.
STORM FREQUENCY
The number of times that a given storm event occurs or is exceeded
on the average in a stated period of years. See "return period."
STORM SEWER
A system of pipes or other conduits which carriers intercepted surface
runoff, street water and other wash waters or drainage, but excludes domestic
sewage and industrial wastes.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT CONTROLS
All structural and nonstructural appurtenances utilized to manage
or control stormwater runoff, including but not limited to detention facilities,
swales, diversion channels, streams, culverts, bridges, infiltration facilities,
cisterns and sediment basins.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SITE PLAN
The plan prepared by the developer or his representative indicating
how stormwater runoff will be managed at the particular site of interest according
to this chapter.
STORMWATER RUNOFF
That part of precipitation which flows over the land (surface runoff)
excluding that portion which infiltrates or is evapotranspired.
SUBAREA
The smallest drainage unit of a watershed for which stormwater management
criteria have been established in the stormwater management plan.
SUBDIVISION
The division or redivision of a lot, tract or parcel of land by any
means into two or more lots, tracts, parcels or other divisions of land, including
changes in existing lot lines for the purpose, whether immediate or future,
of lease, transfer of ownership or building or lot development.
SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE
The Bradford County Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, adopted
by the Bradford County Commissioners April 1, 1981.
SWALE
A low lying stretch of land which gathers or carries surface water
runoff.
TERRACE
An embankment or combination of an embankment and channel across
a slope to control erosion by diverting or storing runoff instead of permitting
it to flow uninterrupted down the slope.
TIME OF CONCENTRATION (Tc)
The time for surface runoff to travel from the hydraulically most
distant point of the watershed to a point of interest within the watershed.
This time is the combined total of overland flow time and flow time in pipes
or channels, if any.
WATERCOURSE
A stream of water, river, brook, creek or a channel or ditch for
water, whether natural or manmade. See "open channels."
WATERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Any and all rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, ditches, watercourses,
storm sewers, lakes, dammed water, wetlands, ponds, springs and all other
bodies or channels of conveyance of surface and underground water, or parts
thereof, whether natural or artificial, within or on the boundaries of this
commonwealth.
WETLANDS
Those areas inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at
a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances
do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated
soil conditions.