This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Bristol Township Delaware River South Watershed Stormwater Management Ordinance.
The governing body of the municipality finds that:
A. 
Inadequate management of accelerated runoff of stormwater resulting from development throughout a watershed increases runoff volumes, flows and velocities, contributes to erosion and sedimentation, overtaxes the carrying capacity of streams and storm sewers, greatly increases the cost of public facilities to carry and control stormwater, undermines flood plain management and flood control efforts in downstream communities, reduces groundwater recharge, threatens public health and safety, and increases nonpoint source pollution of water resources.
B. 
Inadequate planning and management of stormwater runoff resulting from land development and redevelopment throughout a watershed can also harm surface water resources by changing the natural hydrologic patterns, accelerating stream flows (which increase scour and erosion of streambeds and streambanks, thereby elevating sedimentation), destroying aquatic habitat and elevating aquatic pollutant concentrations and loadings such as sediments, nutrients, heavy metals and pathogens. Groundwater resources are also impacted through loss of recharge.
C. 
A comprehensive program of stormwater management (SWM), including reasonable regulation of development and activities causing accelerated runoff, is fundamental to the public health, safety, welfare, and the protection of the people of the Commonwealth, their resources, and the environment.
D. 
Stormwater can be an important water resource by providing groundwater recharge for water supplies and base flow of streams, which also protects and maintains surface water quality.
E. 
Through project design, impacts from stormwater runoff can be minimized to maintain the natural hydrologic regime, and sustain high water quality, groundwater recharge, stream baseflow, and aquatic ecosystems. The most cost effective and environmentally advantageous way to manage stormwater runoff is through nonstructural project design, minimizing impervious surfaces and sprawl, avoiding sensitive areas (i.e., stream buffers, floodplains, steep slopes), and designing to topography and soils to maintain the natural hydrologic regime.
F. 
Public education on the control of pollution from stormwater is an essential component in successfully addressing stormwater.
G. 
Federal and state regulations require certain municipalities to implement a program of stormwater controls. These municipalities are required to obtain a permit for stormwater discharges from their separate storm sewer systems under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
H. 
Nonstormwater discharges to municipal separate storm sewer systems can contribute to pollution of waters of the Commonwealth by the municipality.
The purpose of this chapter is to promote health, safety, and welfare within the Delaware River South Watershed by minimizing the damages described in § 173-1A through provisions designed to:
A. 
Promote alternative project designs and layout that minimizes impacts to surface and ground water.
B. 
Promote nonstructural best management practices.
C. 
Minimize increases in stormwater volume.
D. 
Minimize impervious surfaces.
E. 
Manage stormwater runoff and erosion and sedimentation problems close to the source, reduce runoff volumes and mimic predevelopment hydrology.
F. 
Utilize and preserve the existing natural drainage systems.
G. 
Encourage infiltration of stormwater to maintain groundwater recharge, to prevent degradation of surface and groundwater quality, and to otherwise protect water resources.
H. 
Address the quality and quantity of stormwater discharges from the development site.
I. 
Maintain existing flows and quality of streams and watercourses in the municipality and the Commonwealth.
J. 
Preserve and restore the flood-carrying capacity of streams.
K. 
Provide proper operations and maintenance of all stormwater best management practices (BMPs) that are implemented within the municipality.
L. 
Provide performance standards, design criteria, and review procedures for watershed-wide stormwater management and planning.
M. 
Manage stormwater impacts close to the runoff source, requiring a minimum of structures and relying on natural processes.
N. 
Focus on infiltration of stormwater to maintain groundwater recharge, to prevent degradation of surface and groundwater quality, and to otherwise protect water resources.
O. 
Meet legal water quality requirements under state law, including regulations at 25 Pa. Code § 93.4a, requiring protection and maintenance of "existing uses" and maintenance of the level of water quality to support those uses in all streams, and the protection and maintenance of water quality in "special protection" streams.
P. 
Provide a mechanism to identify stormwater controls necessary to meet NPDES permit requirements.
Q. 
Implement an illegal discharge detection and elimination program that addresses nonstormwater discharges into the municipality’s separate storm sewer system.
R. 
Prevent scour and erosion of streambanks and streambeds.
The Township is empowered to regulate land use activities that affect runoff by the authority of the Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, as amended, and/or the Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864 (Act 167), 32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq., as amended, The Stormwater Management Act.
A. 
This chapter shall apply to those areas of the municipality that are located within the Delaware River South Watershed, as delineated in Appendix D which is hereby adopted as part of this chapter.
B. 
This chapter shall only apply to permanent best management practices (BMPs) and/or stormwater management facilities constructed as part of any of the regulated activities listed in this section. Stormwater management and erosion and sedimentation control during construction activities are specifically not regulated by this chapter, but shall continue to be regulated under existing laws and ordinances.
C. 
This chapter contains only the stormwater management performance standards and design criteria that are necessary or desirable from a watershed-wide perspective. Local stormwater management design criteria (e.g., inlet spacing, inlet type, collection system design and details, outlet structure design, etc.) shall continue to be regulated by the applicable municipal ordinances or at the Municipal Engineer discretion.
D. 
The following activities are defined as "regulated activities" and shall be regulated by this chapter:
(1) 
Land development.
(2) 
Subdivision.
(3) 
Construction of new or additional impervious or semipervious surfaces (roads, driveways, parking lots, patios, tennis courts, etc.).
(4) 
Construction of new buildings or additions to existing buildings.
(5) 
Diversion or piping of any natural or manmade stream channel.
(6) 
Installation of BMPs and/or stormwater management facilities or appurtenances thereto.
(7) 
Diversion piping or encroachments in any natural or manmade channel.
(8) 
Nonstructural and structural stormwater management BMPs or appurtenances thereto.
(9) 
Earth disturbance greater than 5,000 square feet.
(10) 
Any of the above regulated activities which were approved more than five years prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter and resubmitted for municipal approval.
Any ordinance or ordinance provision(s) or regulation of the municipality inconsistent with any of the provisions of this chapter is hereby repealed to the extent of the inconsistency only.
Should any section or provision of this chapter be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of any of the remaining provisions of this chapter.
A. 
Approvals issued and actions taken under this chapter do not relieve the applicant of the responsibility to secure required permits or approvals for activities regulated by any other applicable code, rule, act, or ordinance. To the extent that this chapter imposes more rigorous or stringent requirements for stormwater management, the specific requirements contained in this chapter shall be followed.
B. 
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to affect any of the municipality’s requirements regarding stormwater matters which do not conflict with the provisions of this chapter, such as local stormwater management design criteria (e.g., inlet spacing, inlet type, collection system design and details, outlet structure design, etc.). Conflicting provisions in other municipal ordinances or regulations shall be construed to retain the requirements of this chapter addressing state water quality requirements.
Any permit or authorization issued or approved based on false, misleading or erroneous information provided by an applicant is void without the necessity of any proceedings for revocation. Any work undertaken or use established pursuant to such permit or other authorization is unlawful. No action may be taken by a board, agency or employee of the municipality purporting to validate such a violation.
A. 
If the municipality determines that any requirement under this chapter cannot be achieved for a particular regulated activity, the municipality may, after an evaluation of alternatives, approve measures other than those in this chapter, subject to subsections B and C of this section.
B. 
Waivers or modifications of the requirements of this chapter may be approved by the municipality if enforcement will exact undue hardship because of peculiar conditions pertaining to the land in question; provided, that the modifications will not be contrary to the public interest and that the purpose of this chapter is preserved. Cost or financial burden shall not be considered a hardship. Modification may be considered if an alternative standard or approach will provide equal or better achievement of the purpose of this chapter. A request for modifications shall be in writing and accompany the stormwater management site plan submission. The request shall provide the facts on which the request is based, the provision(s) of the chapter involved and the proposed modification.
C. 
No waiver or modification of any regulated stormwater activity involving earth disturbance greater than or equal to one acre may be granted by the municipality unless that action is approved in advance by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or the delegated county conservation district.