(a) An operator of a construction site shall comply with all terms and conditions of a construction general permit or an individual permit, whichever is obtained for or applicable to the construction site. An operator of a construction site shall provide the director with a copy of the stormwater pollution prevention plan required by the construction general permit or individual permit and shall implement best management practices to control and minimize the discharge into the stormwater drainage system, waters of the United States, and state water of any sediment, silt, earth, soil, or other material from the construction site. Erosion control elements meeting the criteria for best management practices must be installed before any construction site is established in accordance with an installation schedule as specified in a stormwater pollution prevention plan required by the construction general permit or individual permit.
(b) The best management practices referred to in Subsection (a) of this section may include, but are not limited to, the following measures:
(1) Ensuring that existing vegetation is preserved where feasible and that disturbed portions of the site are stabilized as soon as practicable in portions of the site where construction activities have temporarily (as described in EPA and TCEQ regulations) or permanently ceased. Stabilization measures may include:
(A) temporary or permanent seeding;
(B) mulching;
(C) geotextiles;
(D) sod stabilization;
(E) vegetative buffer strips;
(F) protection of trees;
(G) preservation of mature vegetation; and
(H) other appropriate measures.
(2) Using structural practices to divert flows from exposed soils, store flows, or otherwise limit runoff and the discharge of pollutants from the site to the maximum extent feasible.
(3) Minimizing the tracking of sediments off site by vehicles, the generation of dust, and the escape of other windblown waste from the site.
(4) Preventing the discharge of building materials, including cement, lime, concrete, concrete washout water, concrete residue, and mortar, into the stormwater drainage system, waters of the United States, or state water.
(5) Providing general good housekeeping measures to prevent and contain spills of paints, solvents, fuels, septic waste, and other hazardous chemicals and pollutants associated with construction, and to ensure proper cleanup and disposal of any spills in compliance with state, federal, and local requirements;
(6) Implementing effective waste disposal and waste management techniques, including providing secondary containment, covering waste materials, and minimizing ground contact with hazardous chemicals and trash.
(7) Providing for the timely maintenance of vegetation, erosion, and sediment control devices, and other best management practices to keep vegetation, erosion, and sediment control devices in good and effective operating condition.
(8) Installing structural measures during the construction process to control pollutants in stormwater discharges that will occur during construction activities and after construction operations have been completed. Structural measures should be placed on upland soils to the degree attainable. Installed structural measures may include, but are not limited to:
(A) stormwater detention structures, including wet ponds;
(B) stormwater retention structures;
(C) flow attenuation by use of open vegetative swales and natural depressions;
(D) other velocity dissipation devices;
(E) infiltration of runoff on site; and
(F) sequential systems that combine several practices.
(9) Preventing dust caused by the sanding, grinding, cutting, or sawing of any materials from accumulating in an area greater than 25 square feet.
(10) Taking all of the following actions for an on-site concrete batch plant used in connection with the construction site:
(A) Constructing continuous interior berms around all:
(i) concrete batch plant equipment, including but not limited to concrete mixing equipment, silos, concrete drop points, conveyor belts, and admixture tanks;
(ii) concrete truck loading and unloading areas; and
(iii) concrete truck washout facilities.
(B) Directing all stormwater and non- stormwater from the concrete batch plant to containment ponds, tanks, or other stormwater detention structures.
(C) Providing on-site lined concrete batch plant washout facilities with sufficient volume to contain all liquid and waste generated by on-site concrete batch plant operations.
(D) Conforming on-site concrete batch plant operations to all requirements of the construction general permit or individual permit applicable to the construction site.
(11) Storing bagged, boxed, and bucketed materials on pallets and covering those materials when they are not in use and prior to and during any precipitation event.
(12) Maintaining an adequate supply of appropriate spill cleanup material near the designated storage area for bagged, boxed, and bucketed materials.
(13) Preventing the operation of tracked equipment within any body or course of surface water unless the director has determined that the surface water has been suitably diverted around the active construction area.
(c) The operator of a construction site is responsible for the installation and maintenance of stormwater management measures until final stabilization of the site has been completed and the notice of termination has been received by the director.
(d) The operator of a construction site shall inspect the site and any facilities on the site in accordance with the requirements of the construction general permit or the individual permit, whichever is obtained for or applicable to the site.
(e) The director may require that plans and specifications prepared for the construction of site improvements illustrate and describe what best management practices will be implemented at the construction site.
(f) The city may deny approval of any building permit, street or sidewalk cut permit, plumbing permit, service connection permit, grading permit, subdivision plat, site development plan, or other city approval necessary to commence or continue construction or development, if the management practices described in the plans and specifications, or observed upon a site inspection by the director, are determined not to control and reduce, to the maximum extent practicable, the discharge of sediment, silt, earth, soil, and other materials associated with clearing, grading, demolishing, excavating, and other construction activities.
(g) An owner of a construction site is jointly and severally responsible with the operator for compliance with the requirements of this section, even if the owner is not an operator of the site.
(h) Any contractor or subcontractor on a construction site, who is not an owner or operator of the site but who is responsible under the construction contract or subcontract for implementing a best management practices control measure, is jointly and severally responsible for any intentional, willful, or negligent failure to adequately implement that control measure if such failure causes or contributes to causing the city to violate a water quality standard, the city’s NPDES permit or TPDES permit, or any other discharge permit issued by a state or federal regulatory authority for discharges from the stormwater drainage system.
(i) An owner or operator of a construction site shall provide copies of all notices of intent, construction site notices, notices of change, and notices of termination to the director in accordance with the requirements of the construction general permit or the individual permit.
(j) The director may, in the interest of public safety, issue a written notice to an operator of a construction site that:
(1) authorizes the temporary removal or alteration of structural measures being used as a best management practice under Subsection (b) if:
(A) flooding or significant standing of water occurs in a public right-of-way near the construction site during a representative storm event; or
(B) the director determines that a representative storm event is impending, and flooding or significant standing water previously occurred in a public right-of-way near the construction site during a representative storm event; and
(2) requires the replacement of all structural measures removed pursuant to the notice upon the earlier of recession of standing water from the public right-of-way or 24 hours following the last rainfall. (Ord. Nos. 24033; 28461)