a. Illicit Discharges. Other than naturally-occurring stormwater, no person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the MS4, or any conveyance, any materials, including but not limited to pollutants or hazardous materials or waters containing any pollutants or hazardous materials that cause or contribute to a violation of applicable water quality standards. Allowable discharges that create or have the potential to create unsafe conditions on city streets or other public rights-of-way are prohibited. The commencement, conduct or continuance of any illegal discharge to the MS4 or any conveyance is prohibited.
b. Illicit Connections. The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence of illicit connections to the MS4 or any conveyance is prohibited. 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. A person is considered to be in violation of this Section if the person connects a line conveying sewage or any other pollutant or hazardous materials to the MS4 or any conveyance or allows such a connection to continue.
c. Applicability. This Section shall apply to all discharges entering the MS4 or any conveyance generated on any developed and undeveloped lands unless explicitly exempted by the Public Works Director or designee.
d. Responsibility. The City shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this Section. 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 or unauthorized discharge of pollutants or hazardous materials.
e. Discharge exceptions. The following discharges are exempt from discharge prohibitions established by this Section, if such discharges do not violate applicable water quality standards:
1. Water line flushing or water from other potable sources, landscape irrigation or lawn watering, diverted stream flows, rising ground water, ground water infiltration to storm drains, uncontaminated pumped ground water, uncontaminated ground water infiltration, foundation or footing drains, air conditioning condensation, springs, noncommercial washing of vehicles, natural riparian habitat or natural wetland flows, swimming pools (if discharged to the ground, not to a city street or directly to any part of the MS4 or any conveyance), firefighting activities, street wash water, and any activity related to normal performance of municipal operations such as street sweeping. Dewatering of existing ponds requires a permit from the KYDOW.
2. Discharges specified in writing by the City of Bowling Green as being necessary to protect public health and safety.
3. Use of fluorescent dye in sewer infrastructure for scientific research is allowable.
4. The prohibition shall not apply to any non-stormwater discharge permitted under an National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, waiver or waste discharge order issued to the discharger and administered under the authority of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) or the KYDOW, provided that the permit holder is in full compliance with all requirements of the permit, waiver or order and other applicable laws and regulations.
f. Suspension of MS4 access 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 that presents or may present imminent danger to the environment, to the health or welfare of people, to the MS4, or to waters of the United States. If the violator fails to comply with a suspension order issued in an emergency, the City may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize damage to the MS4, or waters of the United States, or to minimize danger to people.
g. Suspension of MS4 access due to the detection of illicit discharge. Any person discharging to the MS4 or any conveyance in violation of this Section may have their MS4 access terminated if such termination would abate or reduce an illicit discharge. The City shall require the violator to disconnect access to the MS4 at their cost or take corrective action to eliminate the source of the illicit discharge. A person commits a violation if the person reinstates MS4 access to premises terminated pursuant to this Section without the prior approval of the City.
h. Industrial or construction activity discharges. Any person subject to an industrial or construction activity NPDES stormwater discharge permit shall comply with all provisions of such permit. Proof of compliance with the permit may be required in a form acceptable to the City prior to the allowing of discharges to the MS4 or any conveyance. However, should an illicit discharge be detected from such activities, the City shall have the authority to regulate the site per the provisions of this Section.
i. Monitoring of discharges. This Section applies to all facilities that have stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity, including construction activity.
1. The City shall be permitted to enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this Section as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this Section. If a discharger has security measures in force that require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the discharger shall make the necessary arrangements to allow immediate access to representatives of the City.
2. Facility operators shall allow the City immediate 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 state and federal law.
3. The City shall have the right to install on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the Public Works Director or designee to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility's discharge.
4. The City shall have 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 flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
5. Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be promptly removed by the operator at the written or oral request of City and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
6. Any interference with allowing the City access to a permitted facility is a violation of this Section. A person who is the operator of a facility with a NPDES permit to discharge stormwater associated with industrial activity commits a violation if the person denies the City reasonable access to the permitted facility for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized or required by this Section.
7. If the City has been refused access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged and is able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this Section, or that there is a need to inspect and/or sample as part of a routine inspection and sampling program designed to verify compliance with this Section, or any order issued hereunder to protect the overall public health, safety and welfare of the community, the City may seek all appropriate remedies from any court of competent jurisdiction, including the issuance of a search warrant.
j. Requirement to prevent, control and reduce stormwater pollutants by the use of BMPs. The City shall review and approve BMPs for any activity, operation or facility that may cause or contribute to pollution, discharge of hazardous materials or has the potential to contaminate naturally occurring stormwater or waters of the United States. The owner or operator of a commercial or industrial establishment shall provide, at their own expense, reasonable protection from accidental discharge of prohibited materials or other wastes into the MS4 or any conveyance through the use of these structural and non-structural BMPs. Further, any person responsible for a property or premise which is, or may be, the source of an illicit discharge may be required to implement, at such person's expense, additional structural and nonstructural BMPs to prevent the further discharge of pollutants or hazardous materials to the MS4 or any conveyance. These BMPs shall be part of a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) as necessary for compliance with requirements of the NPDES permit.
k. 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 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 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.
l. 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 or hazardous materials discharging into naturally occurring stormwater, the MS4 or any conveyance, such person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment and cleanup of such release. In the event of such a release of hazardous materials, such person shall immediately notify emergency response agencies of the occurrence via emergency dispatch services. In the event of a release of nonhazardous materials, such person shall notify the authorized enforcement agency in person or by phone, facsimile or email no later than the next business day. Notifications in person or by phone shall be confirmed by written notice addressed and mailed to the City of Bowling Green within three (3) business days of the notification given. 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.