(A) The project site owner shall submit an application for a storm water management permit to the Department. The application will include a completed application checklist, construction plan sheets, a storm water drainage technical report,
a storm water pollution prevention plan, and any other necessary support information. Specific information to be included in the application can be found in § 52.508. One copy of each application must be submitted to the Department. The Department may, at its discretion, require one or more copies be submitted to other entities deemed appropriate by the Department. Additionally, a digital copy of the construction plans is required in a format accepted by the Department.
(B) After the Department's receipt of the application, the applicant will be notified as to whether their application was complete or insufficient. The applicant will be asked for additional information if the application is insufficient. If the application is complete, it will be reviewed in detail by the Department and/or its plan review consultant(s).
(C) Pursuant to I.C. 13-18-27, an MS4-designated entity or other review authority such as SWCD (if applicable) must make a preliminary determination as to whether the construction plan associated with the SWPPP is substantially complete before the end of the tenth working day (for sites with less than five acres of land disturbance) after the day on which the SWPPP is submitted to the review authority or the fourteenth working day (for sites with five acres or larger of land disturbance) after the day on which the SWPPP is submitted to the review authority. Note these time limits only apply to the SWPPP portion of the overall storm water permit submittal and does not affect any official or non-official permit review timelines set by the entity for other aspects of the storm water permit application.
(D) Once all comments from all reviewers have been received and review completed, the Department will either approve the project, request modifications, or deny the project. If the applicant does not agree with or accept the review findings and wishes to seek an appeal, the Department will place the project on the agenda of the next regularly scheduled meeting of the City of Decatur Board of Public Works and Safety, provided the agenda for the meeting has not yet been advertised or published. If time for notification does not allow, the project shall be placed on the following regularly scheduled meeting of the City of Decatur Board of Public Works and Safety. If the project must go through a scheduled meeting, the Department will furnish the applicant a complete list of comments and objections to the plans and accompanying data prior to the scheduled meeting. After the scheduled meeting, the Department will either issue a permit, request modifications to the construction plans, or deny the project.
(E) The project site owner must notify the Department and IDEM before beginning construction. Notification to the Department shall be in the form of an email while the notification to IDEM shall be in the form of an online IDEM NOI submittal. Once a permit has been issued and the pending construction notifications submitted to the Department and IDEM before the beginning of construction, construction may commence 48 hours after the NOI is submitted to IDEM. Once construction starts, the project owner shall monitor construction activities and inspect all storm water pollution prevention measures in compliance with this chapter and the terms and conditions of the approved permit. Upon completion of construction activities, a certification of completion and compliance and as-built plans must be submitted to the Department.
(F) Once the construction site has been stabilized and all temporary erosion and sediment control measures have been removed, a notification shall be sent to the Department, requesting a termination inspection. The Department, or its representative, shall inspect the construction site to verify that the completed project is fully stabilized and meets the requirements of chapter and the City of Decatur technical standards and that the terms and conditions of the permit. Once the applicant receives a signed copy of the termination inspection checklist confirming compliance, they must forward a copy to IDEM along with the required IDEM NOI form. Permits issued by the Department under this scenario will expire five years from the date of issuance. If construction is not completed within five years, an updated permit application must be submitted to the Department and an updated NOI must be resubmitted to IDEM at least 90 days prior to expiration.
(G) Figure 1 is a flowchart summarizing the plan review/permit approval/project termination compliance process for land disturbance of one acre or more.
(Ord. 2023-11, passed 8-1-2023)