(A) Title. This chapter shall be known as the "Town of Fairfax Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Ordinance" and may be so cited.
(B) Purpose and intent.
(1) The purpose of this chapter is to ensure the future health, safety and general welfare of Town of Fairfax citizens and to protect and enhance watercourses, fish and wildlife habitat by:
(a) Minimizing discharges other than storm runoff to storm drains or watercourses;
(b) Responding to the discharge of spills, preventing and controlling the discharge of spills to storm drains or watercourses and prohibiting dumping or disposal of materials other than stormwater;
(c) Reducing pollutants in stormwater discharges to the maximum extent practicable;
(d) Requiring operators of construction sites, new or redeveloped land, and industrial and commercial facilities to install, implement, or maintain appropriate best management practices (BMPs); and
(e) Maintaining pre-development stormwater runoff rates and preventing nonpoint source pollution whenever possible, through stormwater management controls and ensuring that these management controls are properly maintained.
(2) The intent of this chapter is to protect and enhance the water quality of the state's, and the nation's watercourses, water bodies and wetlands in a manner pursuant to and consistent with the Clean Water Act. (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.), the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Cal. Water Code §§ 13000 et seq.), and the Phase II Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, Water Quality Order No. 2013-0001—DWQ, General Permit No. CAS000004 (Phase II Stormwater Permit) and subsequent revisions and amendments thereto.
(C) Definitions. Any terms defined in the Phase II Stormwater Permit, the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.) and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, and/or defined in the regulations for the stormwater discharge permitting program issued by the Environmental Protection Agency on November 16, 1990, as may from time to time be amended, as used in this chapter shall have the same meaning as in the Act or regulations. In the event of any conflict, the relevant state or federal law definition will prevail over the definitions contained herein and shall be incorporated by reference into this chapter. The terms include, but are not limited to the following:
AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL. The Town Manager and his/her designee are hereby appointed authorized enforcement official(s) of this chapter.
BASMAA POST CONSTRUCTION MANUAL. The most recent version of the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies (BASMAA) Post Construction Manual which provides design guidelines for reducing stormwater pollutant discharges through the construction, operation and maintenance of source control measures, low impact development design, site design measures, stormwater treatment measures and hydromodification management measures.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES or BMPs. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention practices, maintenance procedures and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to waters of the United States. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste recycling or disposal or drainage from raw material storage.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY. Any activity that involves soil disturbing activities including, but not limited to, clearing, paving, grading, disturbances to ground such as stockpiling, and excavation.
DISCHARGE OF A POLLUTANT.
(a) The addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to waters of the United States from any point source; or
(b) Any addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to the waters of the contiguous zone or the ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other floating craft which is being used as a means of transportation. 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 or publicly owned treatment works.
ILLICIT CONNECTION. Any device or method that conveys non-stormwater to a municipal separate storm sewer (storm drain) system (MS4) or receiving water.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE. Any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer (storm drain) system (MS4) that is prohibited under local, state, or federal statutes, ordinances, codes, or regulations. The term illicit discharge includes all non-stormwater discharges not composed entirely of stormwater and discharges that are identified under the discharge regulations and requirements section of this chapter. The term illicit discharge does not include discharges that are regulated by an NPDES permit (other than the NPDES permit for discharges from the MS4).
INCIDENTAL IRRIGATION RUNOFF. Unintended amounts (volume) of runoff, such as unintended, minimal over-spray from sprinklers that escapes the landscaped 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.
LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID). A sustainable practice that benefits water supply and contributes to water quality protection. LID uses site design and stormwater 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.
MAXIMUM EXTENT PRACTICABLE (MEP). The minimum required performance standards, BMPs, control techniques and systems, design and engineering methods, and such other provisions as the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator or the State determines appropriate for reducing pollutants in stormwater. MEP is the cumulative effect of implementing, evaluating, and making corresponding changes to a variety of technically appropriate and economically feasible BMPs, ensuring that the most appropriate controls are implemented in the most effective manner. This process of implementing, evaluation, revising, or adding new BMPs is commonly referred to as the iterative process.
MCSTOPPP. The Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program.
NPDES PERMIT. A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, or a California Regional Water Quality Control Board pursuant to the Clean Water Act that authorizes discharges to waters of the United States.
NON-STORMWATER DISCHARGE. Any discharge that is not entirely composed of stormwater.
PHASE II STORMWATER PERMIT. The NPDES general stormwater permit applicable to the County of Marin, Water Quality Order No. 2013-0001—DWQ, General Permit No. CAS000004, and any subsequent amendment, reissuance or successor to this NPDES permit.
POLLUTANT. Dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, pet wastes, manure, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, sediment, cellar dirt, dumped yard wastes, and industrial, municipal and agricultural waste; or sand and gravel placed in such a way as to be carried away by stormwater into the storm drains or watercourses of the town.
PREMISES. Any building, lot parcel, real estate or land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
STORM DRAINS. Includes, but is not limited to those stormwater drainage conveyance facilities within the town by which stormwater may be conveyed to waters of the United States, including any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels or storm drains, which are not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) pt. 122.2.
STORMWATER or STORM RUNOFF. Stormwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.
STORMWATER CONTROL PLAN. A plan that meets those criteria contained in the most recent version of the BASMAA Post Construction Manual.
STORMWATER FACILITIES OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PLAN. A plan identifying the locations and characteristics of stormwater management facilities on a newly developed or redeveloped site and describing maintenance activities, schedules, and responsibilities to ensure the ongoing proper operation of those facilities.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITY. Any device designated to detain, retain, filter, or infiltrate stormwater, including, but not limited to, bioretention facilities.
TOWN. The Town of Fairfax.
URBAN RUNOFF. Stormwater runoff from an urbanized area including streets and adjacent domestic and commercial properties that carries pollutants of various types into the storm drainage system and receiving waters.
WATERCOURSE. Any natural or once natural flowing river, creek, stream, swale or drainageway, whether perennial, intermittent or ephemeral. Includes natural waterways that have been channelized but does not include channels, ditches, culverts or other above or below ground constructed conduits, i.e., storm drains.
(D) Responsibility for administration. This chapter shall be administered for the town by the authorized enforcement official. In administering this chapter, the authorized enforcement official has the authority to request and require the submittal of information deemed necessary to assess compliance with this chapter and the Phase II Stormwater Permit.
(E) Construction and application. This chapter shall be construed to assure consistency with the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.) and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, and applicable implementing regulations, including the current and future versions of the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay basin and the Phase II Stormwater Permit.
(Prior Code, § 8.26.010) (Ord. 623, passed - -1993; Am. Ord. 791, passed 6-3-2015)