A. Applicability: This section shall apply to all water and general pollution entering the City of Baxter's storm drain system generated on any developed and undeveloped lands unless explicitly exempted by the City.
1. Ultimate Responsibility Of Polluter: The standards set forth herein and promulgated pursuant to this section are minimum standards; therefore this section does not intend nor imply that compliance by any person will ensure that there will be no contamination, pollution, nor unauthorized discharge of pollutants into waters of the State caused by said person. This section shall not create liability on the part of the City, or any agent or employee thereof for any damages that result from any polluter's reliance on this section or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder.
B. Discharge Prohibitions:
1. Prohibition Of Illegal Discharges: No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the Municipal storm drain system or watercourses any materials, including but not limited to pollutants or waters containing any pollutants that cause or contribute to a violation of applicable water quality standards, other than stormwater.
No person shall throw, deposit, place, leave, maintain, or keep or permit to be thrown, placed, left, maintained or kept, any refuse, rubbish, garbage, or any other discarded or abandoned objects, articles, or accumulations, in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, storm drain, inlet, catch basin conduit or drainage structure, business place, or upon any public or private plot of land in Baxter, so that the same might be or become a pollutant, except in containers, recycling bags, or other lawfully established waste disposal facility.
No owner or custodian of any animal shall cause or allow such animal to soil, defile or defecate on any public property or upon any street, sidewalk, public way, play area or common grounds owned jointly by the members of a homeowners' or condominium association, or upon private property other than that of the owner, unless such owner immediately removes and disposes of all feces deposited by such animal in a sanitary manner.
It is unlawful for any person owning, keeping or harboring an animal to cause or permit said animal to be on any public property without having in his/her immediate possession a device for the removal of feces and depository for the transmission of excrement to a proper receptacle located on the property owned or possessed by such person.
It is unlawful for any person in control of, causing or permitting any animal to be on any public property to fail to remove feces left by such animal and dispose of it properly.
Proper disposal of animal waste shall be limited to burial where lawfully permitted, bagging for disposal in the owner or keeper's waste receptacle, and bagging for disposal in a waste receptacle in a public park or park area.
Disposal of animal waste in storm drains is prohibited. Disposal of animal waste in public compost is prohibited.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to the ownership or use of any properly identified service animals, animals when used for police activities, or tracking animals when used by or with the permission of the appropriate authorities.
Any peace officer, animal control officer, or any duly authorized assistant should be responsible for issuing the citations.
All commercial, institutional, and non-NPDES permitted industrial facilities must meet the following salt storage requirements:
• Designated salt storage areas must be covered or indoors.
• Designated salt storage areas must be located on an impervious surface.
• Implement practices to reduce exposure when transferring material in designated salt storage areas (e.g., sweeping, diversions, and/or containment).
No person shall intentionally dispose of grass clippings, leaves, dirt, or other landscape debris into a water resource buffer, street, road, alley, catch basin, culvert, curb, gutter, inlet, ditch, natural watercourse, flood control channel, canal, storm drain or any fabricated natural conveyance.
2. Exemptions: The commencement, conduct or continuance of any illegal discharge to the storm drain system is prohibited except as described as follows:
a. Discharges from the following activities will not be considered a violation of this section, an illegal discharge, or a source of pollutants to the storm drain system and to waters of the State when properly managed: potable water line flushing; uncontaminated pumped groundwater and other discharges from potable water sources; landscape irrigation and lawn watering; diverted stream flows; rising groundwater; uncontaminated groundwater infiltration to the storm drain system; uncontaminated foundation and footing drains; uncontaminated water from crawl space pumps; air conditioning condensation; uncontaminated non-industrial roof drains; springs; individual residential and occasional non-commercial car washing; flows from riparian habitats and wetlands; dechlorinated swimming pool discharges; street wash waters; flows from firefighting; and any other water source not containing pollutants.
b. Discharges specified in writing by the City of Baxter as being necessary to protect public health and safety.
c. Dye testing is an allowable discharge but requires a verbal notification to the authorized enforcement agency prior to the time of the test.
d. The prohibition shall not apply to any non-stormwater discharge permitted under an NPDES permit, waiver, or waste discharge order issued to the discharger and administered under the authority of the MPCA or EPA, provided that the discharger is in full compliance with all requirements of the permit, waiver, or order and other applicable laws and regulations, and provided that written approval has been granted for any discharge to the storm drain system.
e. Any person subject to an industrial or construction activity NPDES stormwater discharge permit shall comply with all provisions of such permit.
3. Prohibition Of Illicit Connections:
a. The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence of illicit connections to the storm drain system is prohibited.
b. This prohibition expressly includes, without limitation, illicit connections made in the past, regardless of whether the connection was permissible under law or practices applicable or prevailing at the time of connection.
c. A person is considered to be in violation of this ordinance if the person connects a line conveying sewage to the MS4 or allows such a connection to continue.
C. Requirement To Prevent, Control And Reduce Stormwater Pollutants:
1. Authorization To Adopt And Impose BMPs:
a. Any person engaged in activities or operations or owning facilities or property which will or may result in pollutants entering stormwater, the storm drain system, or waters of the State shall implement BMPs to the extent they are technologically achievable to prevent and reduce such pollutants. The owner or operator of a commercial or industrial establishment shall provide reasonable protection from accidental discharge of prohibited materials or other wastes into the Municipal storm drain system or watercourses. Facilities to prevent accidental discharge of prohibited materials or other wastes shall be provided and maintained at the owner or operator's expense.
b. Further, any person responsible for a property or premises, which is, or may be, the source of an illicit discharge, may be required to implement, at said person's expense, additional structural and non-structural BMPs to prevent the further discharge of pollutants to the MS4. Compliance with all terms and conditions of a valid NPDES permit authorizing the discharge of stormwater associated with industrial activity, to the maximum extent practicable, shall be deemed compliance with the provisions of this section.
c. The City of Baxter may adopt requirements identifying BMPs for any activity, operation, or facility which may cause or contribute to pollution or contamination of stormwater, the storm drain system, or waters of the State as a separate BMP Guidance Policy as such information is found to be needed by the City. Where BMP requirements are required by the City or any Federal, State of MN, or regional agency for any activity, operation, or facility which would otherwise cause the discharge of pollutants to the storm drain system or water of the State, every person undertaking such activity or operation, or owning or operating such facility shall comply with such requirements.
2. Suspension Due To Illicit Discharges In Emergency Situations: The City may, without prior notice, suspend MS4 discharge access to a person when such suspension is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present imminent and substantial danger to the environment, or to the health or welfare of persons, or to the MS4 or waters of the State. If the violator fails to comply with a suspension order issued in an emergency, the authorized enforcement agency may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize damage to the MS4 or waters of the State of MN, or to minimize danger to persons.
3. Suspension Due to The Detection Of Illicit Discharge: Any person discharging to the MS4 in violation of this chapter may have their MS4 access terminated if such termination would abate or reduce an illicit discharge. The City will notify a violator of the proposed termination of its MS4 access. The violator may petition the City of Baxter for a reconsideration and hearing. A person commits an offense if the person reinstates MS4 access to premises terminated pursuant to this section, without the prior approval of the City.
4. Watercourse Protection: 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 reasonably 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 lessee shall not remove healthy bank vegetation beyond that actually necessary for maintenance, nor remove said vegetation in such a manner as to increase the vulnerability of the watercourse to erosion. The property owner shall be responsible for maintaining and stabilizing that portion of the watercourse that is within their property lines in order to protect against erosion and degradation of the watercourse originating or contributed from their property.
5. Notification Of Spills: Notwithstanding other requirements of law, as soon as any person responsible for a facility or operation, or responsible for emergency response for a facility or operation has information of any known or suspected release of materials which are resulting or may result in illegal discharges or pollutants discharging into stormwater, the storm drain system, or water of the State from said facility, said person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment, and cleanup of such release. In the event of such a release of a hazardous material said person shall immediately notify emergency response officials of the occurrence via emergency dispatch services (911). In the event of a release of non-hazardous materials, said person shall notify the City Public Works Department in person or by phone no later than four thirty o'clock (4:30) P.M. of the next business day. Notifications in person or by phone shall be confirmed by written notice addressed and mailed to the City's Public Works Department within three (3) business days of the phone notice. If the discharge of prohibited materials emanates from a commercial or industrial establishment, the owner or operator of such establishment shall also retain an on-site written record of the discharge and the actions taken to prevent its recurrence. Such records shall be retained for at least three (3) years.
D. Inspection And Monitoring:
1. Authority To Inspect:
a. The City of Baxter shall be permitted to enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this section and according to section 8-5-1 of this chapter as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this chapter. If a facility has security measures in force which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the facility shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to representatives of the City.
b. Facility operators shall allow the City ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, examination and copying of records that must be kept under the conditions of an NPDES permit to discharge stormwater, and the performance of any additional duties as defined by City of Baxter, State of MN and Federal law.
c. Whenever necessary to make an inspection to enforce any provision of this section, or whenever the City Engineer has cause to believe that there exists, or potentially exists, in or upon any premises any condition which constitutes a violation of this section, the City Engineer or designated staff person may enter such premises at all reasonable times to inspect the same and to inspect and copy records related to stormwater compliance. In the event the owner or occupant refuses entry after a request to enter and inspect has been made, the City is hereby empowered to seek assistance from any court of competent jurisdiction in obtaining such entry.
2. Authority To Sample, Establish Sampling Devices And Test:
a. The City shall have the right to set up on any permitted or discharging facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the City to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility's stormwater discharge.
b. The City has the right to require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary. The facility's sampling and monitoring equipment shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition by the discharger at its own expense. All devices used to measure stormwater flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
c. During any inspection as provided herein, the City Engineer or designated staff person may take any samples and perform any testing deemed necessary to aid in the pursuit of the inquiry or to record site activities. (Ord. 2017-012, 11-21-2017; amd. Ord. 2023-007, 4-18-2023)