The terms used in this Part
2 or in documents prepared or reviewed under this Part
2 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
or supported by columns and a roof, designed for the shelter of any
person, animal, or property.
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,
pavement, 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:
A.
Land disturbance of equal to or greater than
one acre.
B.
Activities disturbing less than one acre of
total land area that are 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.
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, and 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, snowmelt 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 (SMO)
An employee or officer designated by the Town Board to accept
and review stormwater pollution prevention plans, forward the plans
to the applicable municipal board and inspect stormwater management
practices. The Town Engineer or his/her designee is hereby designated
to be the SMO.
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.
All land development activities shall be subject
to the following performance and design criteria:
A. Technical standards. For the purpose of this Part
2, the following documents shall serve as the official guides and
specifications for stormwater management. Stormwater management practices
that are designed to meet the most restrictive of the following technical
documents, as determined by the SMO, shall be presumed to meet the
standards imposed by this Part 2:
(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").
(3) Town of Bethlehem Standard Specifications and Details.
B. 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.
C. 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 set forth in Article
VI, §
98-28A, and the SWPPP shall be prepared by a licensed professional.
[Added 2-25-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
[Amended 2-25-2009 by L.L. No. 3-2009]
A. Maintenance and inspection during construction.
(1) The applicant or developer of the land development
activity shall at all times properly operate and maintain all facilities
and systems of treatment and control (and related appurtenances) which
are installed or used by the applicant or developer to achieve compliance
with the conditions of this Part 2. Sediment shall be removed from
sediment traps or sediment ponds whenever their design capacity has
been reduced by 50%.
(2) The applicant or developer or his or her representative
shall be on site at all times when construction or grading activity
takes place and shall inspect and document the effectiveness of all
erosion and sediment control practices. Timing of inspections shall
be in accordance with current NYSDEC requirements The reports shall
be delivered to the Stormwater Management Officer and also copied
to the site logbook.
B. Maintenance easement(s). Prior to the issuance of
any approval that has a stormwater management facility as one of the
requirements, the applicant or developer must execute a maintenance
easement agreement that shall be binding on all subsequent landowners
served by the stormwater management facility. The easement shall provide
for access to the facility at reasonable times for periodic inspection
by the Town of Bethlehem to ensure that the facility is maintained
in proper working condition to meet design standards and any other
provisions established by this Part 2. The easement shall be recorded
by the grantor in the office of the County Clerk after approval by
the counsel for the Town of Bethlehem.
C. Maintenance after construction. The owner or operator
of permanent stormwater management practices installed in accordance
with this Part 2 shall ensure they are operated and maintained to
achieve the goals of this Part 2. Proper operation and maintenance
also includes, as a minimum, the following:
(1) A preventive/corrective maintenance program for all
critical facilities and systems of treatment and control (or related
appurtenances) which are installed or used by the owner or operator
to achieve the goals of this Part 2.
(2) Written procedures for operation and maintenance and
training new maintenance personnel.
(3) Discharges from the SMPs shall not exceed design criteria or cause or contribute to water quality standard violations in accordance with Article
VI, §
98-28B.
D. Maintenance agreements. The Town of Bethlehem shall
approve a formal maintenance agreement for stormwater management facilities
binding on all subsequent landowners and recorded in the office of
the County Clerk as a deed restriction on the property prior to final
plan approval. The maintenance agreement shall be consistent with
the terms and conditions of Schedule B of this Part 2 entitled "Sample
Stormwater Control Facility Maintenance Agreement." The Town of Bethlehem, in lieu of a maintenance agreement,
at its sole discretion, may accept dedication of any existing or future
stormwater management facility, provided such facility meets all the
requirements of this Part 2 and includes adequate and perpetual access
and sufficient area, by easement or otherwise, for inspection and
regular maintenance.