The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings. Words and phrases used in this chapter and not otherwise defined shall be interpreted as defined in the regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency to implement the provisions of the federal Clean Water Act and as defined by the California Water Resources Control Board to implement the Porter- Cologne Water Quality Control Act.
A. “Best management practices” or “BMPs” means physical, structural and/or managerial practice that when used singly or in combination, prevent or reduce pollution of storm water.
B. “Construction site” means any project, including projects requiring coverage under the general construction permit, that involves soil disturbing activities including, but not limited to, clearing, grading, paving, disturbances to ground such as stockpiling, and excavation.
C. “Development or project” means any construction activity or alteration of the landscape, its terrain, contour or vegetation, including the erection or alteration of single or multiple structures, and any grading.
D. “Director” means the director of public works - engineering or his or her designee who is authorized to enforce compliance with this chapter.
E. “Direct discharge” means a discharge that is routed directly to waters of the United States by means of a pipe, channel, or ditch including through the storm sewer system, or through surface runoff.
F. “Discharge” means any release, spill, leak, pumping, flow, escape or leaching, including subsurface migration to groundwater, dumping or disposal of any gas, liquid, semi-solid or solid substance, whether accidental or intentional.
G. “Discharge of a pollutant” means the addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to waters of the United States from any point source. The term includes additions of pollutants to waters of the United States from: surface runoff which is collected or channeled by man; discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances owned by a state, municipality, or other person which do not lead to a treatment works; and discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances, leading into privately owned treatment works.
H. “Illicit discharge” means any discharge to the storm drain system that is prohibited under local, state, or federal statutes, ordinances, codes or regulations that is not composed entirely of storm water except discharges pursuant to a NPDES permit or discharges excepted under Section 15.50.050 of this chapter.
I. “Incidental runoff” is unintended amounts (volume) of runoff, such as unintended, minimal over-spray from sprinklers that escapes the area of intended use. Water leaving an intended use area is not considered incidental if it is part of the facility design, if it is due to excessive application, if it is due to intentional overflow or application, or if it is due to negligence.
J. “Linear underground/overhead projects (LUPs)” means any conveyance, pipe, or pipeline for the transportation of any gaseous, liquid (including water and wastewater for domestic municipal services), liquescent, or slurry substance; and cable line or wire for the transmission of electrical energy; and cable line or wire for communications (e.g. telephone, telegraph, radio, or televisions messages); and associated ancillary facilities. Construction activities associated with LUPs include, but are not limited to, (a) those activities necessary for the installation of underground and overhead linear facilities (e.g., conduits, substructures, pipelines, towers, poles, cables, wires, connectors, switching, regulating and transforming equipment, and associated ancillary facilities); and include, but are not limited to, (b) underground utility mark-out, potholing, concrete and asphalt cutting and removal, trenching, excavation, boring and drilling, access road and pole/tower pad and cable/wire pull station, substation construction, substructure installation, construction of tower footings and/or foundations, pole and tower installations, pipeline installations, welding, concrete and/or pavement repair or replacement, and stockpile/borrow locations.
K. “Low impact development” means a sustainable practice that benefits water supply and contributes to water quality protection. Unlike traditional storm water management, which collects and conveys storm water runoff through storm drains, pipes, or other conveyances to a centralized storm water facility, low impact development (LID) takes a different approach by using site design and storm water management to maintain the site’s pre-development runoff rates and volumes. The goal of LID is to mimic a site’s predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to the source of rainfall.
L. “Municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4)” means a conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains): (i) owned or operated by the City of Chico; (ii) designed or used for collecting or conveying storm water; and (iii) which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works as defined at 40 C.F.R. 122.2.
M. “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit” or “NPDES permit” means a discharge permit issued by the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Board or the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
N. “Non-storm water discharge” means any discharge to the storm drain system that is not entirely composed of storm water.
O. “Pollutant” means any contaminant that can degrade the quality of the receiving waters by altering pH, total suspended or settleable solids, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, nutrients or temperature.
P. “Redevelopment” means land-disturbing activity that results in the creation, addition or replacement of exterior impervious surface area on a site which some past development has occurred. Redevelopment does not include trenching, excavation and resurfacing associated with LUPs; pavement grinding and resurfacing of existing roadways; construction of new sidewalks, pedestrian ramps, or bike lanes on existing roadways; or routine replacement of damaged pavement such as pothole repair or replacement of short, non-contiguous sections of roadway.
Q. “Storm drain system” means a conveyance or system of conveyances owned, operated or controlled by the city designed or used to convey storm water to waters of the United States. The conveyance system may include, but is not limited to, any roads with drainage systems, streets, catch basins, natural and artificial channels, aqueducts, stream beds, gullies, curbs, gutters, ditches, open fields, parking lots, impervious surfaces used for parking, and storm drains.
R. “Storm water” means water that originates from atmospheric moisture (rainfall, hail, snow or snowmelt) that falls onto land, water or other surfaces and any surface flow, runoff or drainage associated with such atmospheric events.
S. “Storm water pollution prevention plan” or “SWPPP” means a plan required by the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Board or the United States Environmental Protection Agency which sets forth the site map, identifies the activities that have the potential to pollute storm water which may enter the city’s storm drain system, describes the proposed BMPs to be implemented by the discharger, and contains a description of any other requirements that the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Board or the United States Environmental Protection Agency requires the discharger to list in the SWPPP.
(Ord. 2439 §111, Ord. 2468 §1)