Except as specifically provided herein, any term used in this chapter shall be defined as that term is defined in the current municipal NPDES permit, or if it is not specifically defined in the municipal NPDES permit, then as such term is defined in the federal Clean Water Act, as amended, or the regulations promulgated thereunder. If the definition of any term contained in this section conflicts with the definition of the same term in the current municipal NPDES permit, then the definition contained in the municipal NPDES permit shall govern. The following words and phrases shall have the following meanings when used this chapter:
"Area susceptible to runoff" means any surface directly exposed to precipitation or in the path of runoff caused by precipitation which path leads off the parcel on which the surface is located.
"Automotive service facilities" means a facility that is categorized in any one of the following Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)codes. For inspection purposes, permittees need not inspect facilities with SIC codes 5013, 5014, 5541, 7532-7534, and 7536-7539 provided, that these facilities have no outside activities or materials that may be exposed to stormwater.
"Best management practices (BMPs)" means practices or physical devices or systems designed to prevent or reduce pollutant loading from stormwater or non-stormwater discharges to receiving waters, or designed to reduce the volume of stormwater or non-stormwater discharged to the receiving water. Examples of BMPs may include public education and outreach, proper planning of development projects, proper cleaning of catch basin inlets, and proper sludge- or waste-handling and disposal, among others.
"Biofiltration" means a LID BMP that reduces stormwater pollutant discharges by intercepting rainfall on vegetative canopy, and through incidental infiltration and/or evapotranspiration, and filtration. Incidental infiltration is an important factor in achieving the required pollutant load reduction. Therefore, the term "biofiltration" as used in this chapter is defined to include only systems designed to facilitate incidental infiltration or achieve the equivalent pollutant reduction as biofiltration BMPs with an underdrain (subject to approval by the Regional Board's Executive Officer). Biofiltration BMPs include bioretention systems with an underdrain and bioswales.
"Bioretention" means a LID BMP that reduces stormwater runoff by intercepting rainfall on vegetative canopy, and through evapotranspiration and infiltration. The bioretention system typically includes a minimum two-foot top layer of a specified soil and compost mixture underlain by a gravel-filled temporary storage pit dug into the in-situ soil. As defined in this chapter, a bioretention BMP may be designed with an overflow drain, but may not include an underdrain. When a bioretention BMP is designed or constructed with an underdrain it is regulated by the municipal NPDES permit as biofiltration.
"Bioswale" means a LID BMP consisting of a shallow channel lined with grass or other dense, low-growing vegetation. Bioswales are designed to collect stormwater runoff and to achieve a uniform sheet flow through the dense vegetation for a period of several minutes.
"City" means the city of La Mirada, California.
"Clean Water Act (CWA)" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act enacted in 1972, by Public Law 92-500, and amended by the Water Quality Act of 1987. The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States unless the discharge is in accordance with an NPDES permit.
"Commercial development" means any development on private land that is not heavy industrial or residential. The category includes, but is not limited to: hospitals, laboratories and other medical facilities, educational institutions, recreational facilities, plant nurseries, car wash facilities, mini-malls and other business complexes, shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, public warehouses and other light industrial complexes.
"Commercial malls" means any development on private land comprised of one or more buildings forming a complex of stores which sells various merchandise, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from store to store, along with parking area(s). A commercial mall includes, but is not limited to: mini-malls, strip malls, other retail complexes, and enclosed shopping malls or shopping centers
"Construction" means any construction or demolition activity, clearing, grading, grubbing, or excavation or any other activity that result in land disturbance. Construction does not include emergency construction activities required to immediately protect public health and safety or routine maintenance activities required to maintain the integrity of structures by performing minor repair and restoration work, maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purposes of the facility. See "Routine Maintenance" definition for further explanation. Where clearing, grading or excavating of underlying soil takes place during a repaving operation, state general construction permit coverage by the State of California general permit for storm water discharges associated with industrial activities or for stormwater discharges associated with construction activities is required if more than one acre is disturbed or the activities are part of a larger plan.
"Control" means to minimize, reduce, eliminate, or prohibit by technological, legal, contractual or other means, the discharge of pollutants from an activity or activities.
"Development" means any construction, rehabilitation, redevelopment or reconstruction of any public or private residential project (whether single-family, multi-unit development); industrial, commercial retail and other nonresidential projects, including public agency projects; or mass grading for future construction. It does not include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of facility, nor does it include emergency construction activities required to immediately protect public health and safety.
"Directly adjacent" means situated within two hundred feet of the contiguous zone required for the continued maintenance, function, and structural stability of the environmentally sensitive area.
"Director" means the city's director of community development or his or her designee.
"Discharge" means when used without qualification the discharge of a pollutant.
"Discharge of a pollutant" means any addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to waters of the United States from any point source or, 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 discharge includes additions of pollutants into waters of the United States from: surface runoff which is collected or channeled by a state, municipality, or other person which do not lead to treatment works; and discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances, leading into privately owned treatment works.
"Discharging directly" means outflow from a drainage conveyance system that is composed entirely or predominantly of flows from the subject, property, development, subdivision, or industrial facility, and not commingled with the flows from adjacent lands.
"Discretionary project" is defined in the same manner as Section 15357 of the Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act contained in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as amended, and means a project which requires the exercise of judgment or deliberation when the city decides to approve or disapprove a particular activity, as distinguished from situations where the city merely has to determine whether there has been conformity with applicable statutes, ordinances or regulations.
"Disturbed area" means an area that is altered as a result of clearing, grading, and/or excavation.
"Environmentally sensitive area (ESA)" means an area in which plant or animal life or their habitats are either rare or especially valuable because of their special nature or role in an ecosystem and which would be easily disturbed or degraded by human activities and developments (California Public Resources Code § 30107.5). Areas subject to stormwater mitigation requirements are areas designated as significant ecological areas by the county of Los Angeles (Los Angeles County Significant Areas Study, Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning (1976) and amendments); an area designated as a significant natural area by the California Department of Fish and Games Significant Natural Areas Program, provided that area has been field verified by the Department of Fish and Game; an area listed in the Basin Plan as supporting the rare, threatened, or endangered species (RARE) beneficial use; and an area identified by the city as environmentally sensitive.
"Flow-through treatment BMPs" means a modular, vault type "high flow biotreatment" devices contained within an impervious vault with an underdrain or designed with an impervious liner and an underdrain.
"Full capture system" means any single device or series of devices, certified by the executive officer, that traps all particles retained by a five mm mesh screen and has a design treatment capacity of not less than the peak flow rate Q resulting from a one-year, one-hour storm in the sub-drainage area.
"Good housekeeping practices" means common practices related to the storage, use or cleanup of materials, performed in a manner that minimizes the discharge of pollutants. Examples include, but are not limited to, purchasing only the quantity of materials to be used at a given time, use of alternative and less environmentally harmful products, cleaning up spills and leaks, and storing materials in a manner that will contain any leaks or spills.
"General construction activities storm water permit (GCASP)" means the general NPDES permit adopted by the State Board which authorizes the discharge of stormwater from construction activities under certain conditions.
"General industrial activities storm water permit (GIASP)" means the general NPDES permit adopted by the State Board which authorizes the discharge of stormwater from certain industrial activities under certain conditions.
"Green roof" means a LID BMP using planter boxes and vegetation to intercept rainfall on the roof surface. Rainfall is intercepted by vegetation leaves and through evapotranspiration. Green roofs may be designed as either a bioretention BMP or as a biofiltration BMP. To receive credit as a bioretention BMP, the green roof system planting medium shall be of sufficient depth to provide capacity within the pore space volume to contain the design storm depth and may not be designed or constructed with an underdrain.
"Hillside" means property located in an area with known erosive soil conditions, where the development contemplates grading on any natural slope that is (25%) or greater and where grading contemplates cut or fill slopes.
"Illicit connection" means any human-made conveyance that is connected to the storm drain system without a permit, excluding gutters, roof-drains and other similar connections. Examples include channels, pipelines, conduits, inlets or outlets that are connected directly to the storm drain system.
"Illicit discharge" means any discharge to the storm drain system that is prohibited under local, state or federal statutes, ordinances, codes or regulations. This includes all non-stormwater discharges except discharges pursuant to a separate NPDES permit and discharges that are exempted or conditionally exempted in accordance with Part III the municipal NPDES permit.
"Industrial/commercial facility" means any facility involved and/or used in the production, manufacture, storage, transportation, distribution, exchange or sale of goods and/or commodities, and any facility involved and/or used in providing professional and non-professional services. This category of facilities includes, but is not limited to, any facility defined by either the Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) or the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Facility ownership (federal, state, municipal, private) and profit motive of the facility are not factors in this definition.
"Industrial park" means land development that is set aside for industrial development. Industrial parks are usually located close to transport facilities, especially where more than one transport modalities coincide: highways, railroads, airports, and navigable rivers. It includes office parks, which have offices and light industry.
"Infiltration BMP" means a LID BMP that reduces stormwater runoff by capturing and infiltrating the runoff into in-situ soils or amended onsite soils. Examples of infiltration BMPs include infiltration basins, dry wells, and pervious pavement.
"Infiltration" means the downward entry of water into the surface of the soil.
"Low impact development (LID)" consists of building and landscape features designed to retain or filter stormwater runoff.
"Material" means any substance including, but not limited to: garbage and debris; lawn clippings, leaves, and other vegetation; biological and fecal waste; sediment and sludge; oil and grease; gasoline; paints, solvents, cleaners, and any fluid or solid containing chemicals.
"Municipal NPDES permit" means the waste discharge requirements for municipal stormwater and urban runoff discharges within the county of Los Angeles, and the incorporated cities therein, except the city of Long Beach, Order No. R4-2012-0175, NPDES Permit No. CAS00401, issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board-Los Angeles Region, and any successor permit to that permit.
"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, manmade channels, or storm drains):
(1) Owned or operated by a state, city, town, borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body (created by or pursuant to state law) having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, stormwater, or other wastes, including special districts under state law such as a sewer district, flood control district or drainage district, or similar entity, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency under section 208 of the CWA that discharges to waters of the United States;
(2) Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;
(3) Which is not a combined sewer; and
(4) Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at 40 CFR Section 122.2.
"New development" means land-disturbing activities; structural development, including construction or installation of a building or structure, creation of impervious surfaces; and land subdivision.
"Non-stormwater discharge" means any discharge to a municipal stormwater system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
"NPDES permit" means any waste discharge requirements issued by the Regional Board or the State Water Resources Control Board in the form of an NPDES permit pursuant to Water Code Section 13370 (other than the municipal NPDES permit).
"Outfall" means a point source as defined by 40 CFR 122.2 at the point where a municipal separate storm sewer discharges to waters of the United States and does not include open conveyances connecting two municipal separate storm sewers, or pipes, tunnels or other conveyances with connect segments of the same stream or other waters of the United Sates and are used to convey waters of the United States. (40 CFR Section 122.26(b)(9))
"Parking lot" means land area or a facility for the parking or storage of motor vehicles used for businesses, commerce, industry or personal use with a lot size of five thousand square feet or more of surface area, or with twenty-five or more parking spaces.
"Planning priority projects" means those projects specified in Section 13.12.110(c) of this chapter that are required to incorporate appropriate storm water mitigation measures into the design plan for their respective projects.
"Pollutant" means those pollutants defined in Section 502(6) of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1362(6)), or incorporated into California Water Code Section 13373. Examples of pollutants include, but are not limited to the following:
(1) Commercial and industrial waste (such as fuels, solvents, detergents, plastic pellets, hazardous substances, fertilizers, pesticides, slag, ash and sludge);
(2) Metals such as cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, silver, nickel, chromium, and nonmetals such as phosphorus and arsenic;
(3) Petroleum hydrocarbons (such as fuels, lubricants, surfactants, waste oils, solvents, coolants and grease);
(4) Excessive eroded soils, sediment and particulate materials in amounts which may adversely affect the beneficial use of the receiving waters, flora or fauna of the state;
(5) Animal wastes (such as discharge from confinement facilities, kennels, pens, recreational facilities, stables and show facilities);
(6) Substances having characteristics such as pH less than six or greater than nine, or unusual coloration or turbidity, or excessive levels of fecal coliform, or fecal streptococcus, or enterococcus;
The term "pollutant" shall not include uncontaminated stormwater, potable water or reclaimed water generated by a lawfully permitted water treatment facility.
"Project" means all development, redevelopment, and land disturbing activities. The term is not limited to "Project" as defined under CEQA (California Public Resources Code Section 21065).
"Rainfall harvest and use" means a LID BMP system designed to capture runoff, typically from a roof but can also include runoff capture from elsewhere within the site, and to provide for temporary storage until the harvested water can be used for irrigation or non-potable uses. The harvested water may also be used for potable water uses if the system includes disinfection treatment and is approved for such use by the local building department (Order No. R4-2012-0175).
"Receiving Water" means "water of the United States" into which waste and/or pollutants are or may be discharged.
"Redevelopment" means land-disturbing activity that result in the creation, addition, or replacement of five thousand square feet or more of impervious surface area on an already developed site. Redevelopment includes, but is not limited to: the expansion of a building footprint; addition or replacement of a structure; replacement of impervious surface area that is not part of routine maintenance activity; and land disturbing activity related to structural or impervious surfaces. It does not include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of facility, nor does it include emergency construction activities required to immediately protect public health and safety.
"Regional Board" means the California Regional Water Quality Control Board-Los Angeles Region.
"Restaurant" means a facility that sells prepared foods and drinks for consumption, including stationary lunch counters and refreshment stands selling prepared foods and drinks for immediate consumption. (SIC Code 5812).
"Retail gasoline outlet" means any facility engaged in selling gasoline and lubricating oils.
"Routine maintenance" includes, but is not limited to projects conducted to:
(1) Maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of the facility;
(2) Perform as needed restoration work to preserve the original design grade, integrity and hydraulic capacity of flood control facilities;
(3) Includes road shoulder work, regrading dirt or gravel roadways and shoulders and performing ditch cleanouts;
(4) Update existing lines and facilities, which include replacing existing lines with new materials or pipes, to comply with applicable codes, standards, and regulations regardless if such projects result in increased capacity;
(5) Repair leaks.
"Routine maintenance" does not include construction of new lines or facilities resulting from compliance with applicable codes, standards and regulations.
"Runoff" means any runoff including storm water and dry weather flows from a drainage area that reaches a receiving water body or subsurface. During dry weather it is typically comprised of base flow either contaminated with pollutants or uncontaminated, and nuisance flows.
"Site" means the land or water area where any facility or activity is physically located or conducted, including adjacent land used in connection with the facility or activity.
"Source control BMP" means any schedule of activities, prohibition of practices, maintenance procedures, managerial practices or operational practices that aim to prevent stormwater pollution by reducing the potential for contamination at the source of pollution.
"Standard urban stormwater mitigation plan" or "SUSMP" means a report submitted by an applicant for approval by the director prior to issuance of a building, grading, planning or similar permit outlining the necessary LID requirements and BMPs which must be incorporated into design plans for development or redevelopment projects.
"Storm drain system" means any facility or any parts of the facility, including streets, gutters, conduits, natural or artificial drains, channels and watercourse that are used for the purpose of collecting, storing, transporting or disposing of stormwater and are located within the city.
"Stormwater runoff" means that part of precipitation (rainfall) which travels via flow across a surface to the MS4 or receiving waters from impervious, semi-pervious or pervious surfaces. When all other factors are equal, runoff increases as the perviousness of a surface decreases.
"Structural BMP" means any structural facility designed and constructed to mitigate the adverse impacts of stormwater and urban runoff pollution (e.g. canopy, structural enclosure). Structural BMPs may include both treatment control BMPs and source control BMPs.
"Treatment" means the application of engineered systems that use physical, chemical or biological processes to remove pollutants. Such processes include, but are not limited to, filtration, gravity settling, media adsorption, biodegradation, biological uptake, chemical oxidation and UV radiation.
"Treatment control BMP" means any engineered system designed to remove pollutants by simple gravity settling of particulate pollutants, filtration, biological uptake, media adsorption or any other physical, biological or chemical process.
"Urban runoff" means surface water flow produced by non-stormwater resulting from residential, commercial and industrial activities involving the use of potable and nonpotable water.
(Ord. 671 § 1, 2014)