(a) As used in this chapter:
(1) CERTIFIED EROSION, SEDIMENT AND STORMWATER INSPECTOR (CESSWI): A professional technically qualified to provide consistent competent site inspections of erosion, sediment and stormwater management practices for compliance with appropriate local, state and national laws and regulations on permitted construction sites and who has met the requirements for certification from Envirocert International, Inc.
(2) CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL (CPESC): A person that has subscribed to the Code of Ethics and have met the requirements established by the CPESC Council of Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control, Inc. to be a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control.
(3) CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN MUNICIPAL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT (CPMSM): An professional technically and ethically qualified to develop, implement, manage and coordinate a municipal Stormwater Management Program (SWMP) to achieve and maintain compliance in conformance with applicable NPDES MS4 regulations and permits and who has met the requirements for certification from Envirocert International, Inc.
(4) CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN STORMWATER QUALITY (CPSWQ): An individual with a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of Erosion, Sediment and Stormwater Regulations and who has met the requirements for certification from Envirocert International, Inc.
(5) CHANNEL: A natural stream that conveys water, or a ditch or channel excavated for the natural flow of water.
(6) CITY: Throughout this regulation the City shall mean the City of Lorain, State of Ohio, and its designated agents and representatives.
(7) COMPREHENSIVE STORM WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN: The Post-Construction Water Quality Plan developed to meet this regulation will be coordinated and combined with the Riparian and Wetland Setback Plan and the Construction Site Conservation Plan that are developed for the same site. These plans will be titled and numbered in one consecutive sequence to make a Comprehensive Storm Water Management Plan for the site. The Comprehensive Storm Water Management Plan so developed will serve as the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWP3) required by Ohio EPA as part of the NPDES Storm Water Permit for General Construction.
(8) CONSERVATION: The wise use and management of natural resources.
(9) DEVELOPMENT AREA: Any tract, lot, or parcel of land, or combination of tracts, lots or parcels of land, which are in one ownership, or are contiguous and in diverse ownership, where earth disturbing activity is to be performed.
(10) DITCH: An excavation, either dug or natural, for the purpose of drainage or irrigation, and having intermittent flow.
(11) EARTH DISTURBING ACTIVITY: Any grading, excavating, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or man-made ground cover is destroyed.
(12) EROSION: The process by which the land surface is worn away by the action of water, wind, ice or gravity.
(13) EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL: The control of soil, both mineral and organic, to minimize the removal of soil from the land surface and to prevent its transport from a disturbed area by means of wind, water, ice, gravity, or any combination of those forces.
(14) EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PRACTICES: Conservation measures used to control sediment pollution and including structural practices, vegetative practices and management techniques.
(15) EXISTING: In existence at the time of the passage of this ordinance and these regulations.
(16) FINAL STABILIZATION: All soil disturbing activities at the site have been completed and a uniform perennial vegetative cover with a density of at least 70% coverage for the area has been established or equivalent stabilization measures, such as the use of mulches or geotextiles, have been employed. In addition, all temporary erosion and sediment control practices are removed and disposed of and all trapped sediment is permanently stabilized to prevent further erosion.
(17) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA): The agency with overall responsibility for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.
(18) GRADING: Earth disturbing activity such as excavation, stripping, cutting, filling, stockpiling, or any combination thereof.
(19) GRUBBING: Removing, clearing or scalping material such as roots, stumps or sod.
(20) IMPERVIOUS COVER: Any surface that cannot effectively absorb or infiltrate water. This includes roads, streets, parking lots, rooftops, and sidewalks.
(21) INTERMITTENT STREAM: A natural channel that may have some water in pools but where surface flows are non-existent or interstitial (flowing through sand and gravel in stream beds) for periods of one week or more during typical summer months.
(22) LARGER COMMON PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT OR SALE: A contiguous area where multiple separate and distinct construction activities may be taking place at different times on different schedules under one plan.
(23) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS): An agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS).
(24) NPDES PERMIT: A regulatory program in the Federal Clean Water Act that prohibits the discharge of pollutants into surface waters of the United States without a permit.
(25) OHIO EPA: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
(26) OUTFALL: An area where water flows from a structure such as a conduit, storm sewer, improved channel or drain, and the area immediately beyond the structure which is impacted by the velocity of flow in the structure.
(27) PERSON: Any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, agency, unincorporated association, municipal corporation, township, county, state agency, the federal government, or any combination thereof.
(28) PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER: A person registered in the State of Ohio as a Professional Engineer, with specific education and experience in water resources engineering, acting in strict conformance with the Code of Ethics of the Ohio Board of Registration for Engineers and Surveyors.
(29) QUALIFIED INSPECTION PERSONNEL: A person knowledgeable in the principles and practice of erosion and sediment controls, who possesses the skills to assess all conditions at the construction site that could impact storm water quality and to assess the effectiveness of any sediment and erosion control measures selected to control the quality of storm water discharges from the construction activity.
(30) REDEVELOPMENT: A construction project on land that has been previously developed and where the new land use will not increase the runoff coefficient used to calculate the water quality volume. If the new land use will increase the runoff coefficient, then the project is considered to be a new development project rather than a redevelopment project.
(31) RETENTION BASIN: A storm water management pond that maintains a permanent pool of water. These storm water management ponds include a properly engineered/designed volume dedicated to the temporary storage and slow release of runoff waters.
(32) RIPARIAN AREA: Naturally vegetated land adjacent to watercourses which, if appropriately sized, helps to, limit erosion, reduce flood flows, and/or filter and settle out runoff pollutants, or which performs other functions consistent with the purposes of these regulations.
(33) RIPARIAN SETBACK: Those lands within the City which are alongside streams, and which fall within the area that the City prohibits and restricts changes in landuse and the building of structures.
(34) SEDIMENT: Solid material, both mineral and organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by wind, water, gravity or ice, and has come to rest on the earth's surface either on dry land or in a body of water.
(35) SEDIMENT BASIN: A temporary Sediment Pond that releases runoff at a controlled rate. It is designed to slowly release runoff, detaining it long enough to allow most of the sediment to settle out of the water. The outlet structure is usually a designed pipe riser and barrel. The entire structure is removed after construction. Permanent storm water detention structures can be modified to function as temporary Sediment Basins.
(36) SEDIMENT CONTROL: The limiting of sediment being transported by controlling erosion or detaining sediment-laden water, allowing the sediment to settle out.
(37) SEDIMENT POLLUTION: A failure to use management or conservation practices to control wind or water erosion of the soil and to minimize the degradation of water resources by soil sediment in conjunction with land grading, excavating, filling, or other soil-disturbing activities on land used or being developed for commercial, industrial, residential, or other purposes.
(38) SEDIMENT TRAP: A temporary sediment-settling pond having a simple spillway outlet structure stabilized with geotextile and rip rap.
(39) SENSITIVE AREA: An area or water resource that requires special management because of its susceptibility to sediment pollution, or because of its importance to the well-being of the surrounding communities, region, or the state and includes, but is not limited to, the following:
A. Ponds, wetlands or small lakes with less than five acres of surface area;
B. Small streams with gradients less than ten feet per mile with average annual flows of less than 3.5 feet per second containing sand or gravel bottoms.
C. Drainage areas of a locally designated or an Ohio designated Scenic River.
D. Riparian and wetland areas.
(40) SETTLING POND: A runoff detention structure, such as a Sediment Basin or Sediment Trap, which detains sediment-laden runoff, allowing sediment to settle out.
(41) SHEET FLOW: Water runoff in a thin uniform layer or rills and which is of small enough quantity to be treated by sediment barriers.
(42) SOIL: Unconsolidated erodible earth material consisting of minerals and/or organics.
(43) SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE, USDA: The federal agency now titled the "Natural Resources Conservation Service," which is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.
(44) SOIL STABILIZATION: Vegetative or structural soil cover that controls erosion, and includes permanent and temporary seed, mulch, sod, pavement, etc.
(45) SOIL SURVEY: The official soil survey produced by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA in cooperation with the Division of Soil and Water Conservation, and ODNR.
(46) STORMWATER CONTROL MEASURES (SCMs): Also Best Management Practice (BMP). Any practice or combination of practices that is determined to be the most effective, practicable (including technological, economic, and institutional considerations) means of preventing or reducing the amount of pollution generated by nonpoint sources of pollution to a level compatible with water quality goals. SCMs may include a schedule of activities, prohibitions of practices, operation and maintenance procedures, treatment requirements, and other management practices (both structural and non-structural) to prevent or reduce the pollution of water resources and to control stormwater volume and rate. This includes practices to control runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.
(47) STORM WATER RUNOFF: Surface water runoff which converges and flows primarily through water conveyance features such as swales, gullies, waterways, channels or storm sewers, and which exceeds the maximum specified flow rates of filters or perimeter controls intended to control sheet flow.
(48) STREAM: A body of water running or flowing on the earth's surface, or a channel with defined bed and banks in which such flow occurs. Flow may be seasonally intermittent.
(49) TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD (TMDL): The sum of the existing and/or projected point source, nonpoint source, and background loads for a pollutant to a specified watershed, water resource or wetland, or water resource or wetland segment. A TMDL sets and allocates the maximum amount of a pollutant that may be introduced into the water and still ensure attainment and maintenance of water quality standard.
(50) USEPA: The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(51) WATERCOURSE: Any natural, perennial, or intermittent channel, stream, river or brook.
(52) WATER QUALITY VOLUME: "Water Quality Volume (WQv)" means the volume of stormwater runoff which must be captured and treated prior to discharge from the developed site after construction is complete. WQv is based on the expected runoff generated by the mean storm precipitation volume from post-construction site conditions at which rapidly diminishing returns in the number of runoff events captured begins to occur.
(53) WATER RESOURCES: All streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, water courses, waterways, drainage systems, and all other bodies or accumulations of surface water, either natural or artificial, which are situated wholly or partly within, or border upon this state, or are within its jurisdiction, except those private waters which do not combine or affect a junction with natural surface waters.
(54) WETLAND: Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances, do support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas.
(55) WETLAND SETBACK: Those lands within the City that fall within the area defined by the criteria set forth in these regulations.
(Ord. 167-19. Passed 12-16-19.)