As used in this chapter:
(a) APPROVING AUTHORITY: The official responsible for administering the applicable program(s).
(b) 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. BMPs may include structural practices, conservation practices and operation and maintenance procedures.
(c) CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL (CPESC): A person that has subscribed to the Code of Ethics and has 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.
(d) CHANNEL: A natural stream that conveys water, or a ditch or channel excavated for the natural flow of water.
(e) CONCENTRATED 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.
(f) CONSERVATION: The wise use and management of natural resources.
(g) DAMAGED OR DISEASED TREES: Trees that have split trunks; broken tops; heart rot; insect or fungus problems that will lead to imminent death; undercut root systems that put the tree in imminent danger of falling; leaning as a result of root failure that puts the tree in imminent danger of falling, or any other condition that puts the tree in imminent danger of being uprooted or falling.
(h) DESIGNATED WATERCOURSE: A watercourse that is contained within, flows through, or borders the City of Lorain and meets the criteria set forth in these regulations.
(i) DETERIORATED STRUCTURE: A structure which has sustained substantial damage from any origin whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would be equal to, or greater than 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
(j) 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.
(k) DITCH: An excavation, either dug or natural, for the purpose of drainage or irrigation, and having intermittent flow,
(l) DUMPING: The grading, pushing, piling, throwing, unloading or placing of soil or other material.
(m) EARTH DISTURBING ACTIVITY: Any grading, excavating, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or man-made ground cover is destroyed.
(n) EROSION: The process by which the land surface is worn away by the action of water, wind, ice or gravity.
(o) EXISTING: In existence at the time of the passage of this chapter and these regulations.
(p) FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA): The agency with overall responsibility for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.
(q) GRADING: Earth disturbing activity such as excavation, stripping, cutting, filling, stockpiling, or any combination thereof.
(r) IMPERVIOUS COVER: Any surface that cannot effectively absorb or infiltrate water. This includes roads, streets, parking lots, rooftops, and sidewalks.
(s) 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.
(t) 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.
(u) LANDSLIDE: The rapid mass movement of soil and rock material downhill under the influence of gravity in which the movement of the soil mass occurs along an interior surface of sliding.
(v) LOCAL COUNTY SWCD: The local county Soil and Water Conservation District.
(w) NATIONAL WETLANDS INVENTORY MAP: Wetland maps that were created by the Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Department of Interior.
(x) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS): An agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS).
(y) NPDES PERMIT: A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit issued by Ohio EPA under the authority of the USEPA, and derived from the Federal Clean Water Act.
(z) NOXIOUS WEED: Any plant species defined by the Ohio Department of Agriculture as a "noxious weed" and listed as such by the Department. For the purposes of this regulation, the most recent version of this list at the time of application of these regulations shall prevail.
(aa) OHIO EPA: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
(bb) OHIO WETLANDS INVENTORY MAP: Wetland maps that were created by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
(cc) ORDINARY HIGH WATER MARK: The point of the bank or shore to which the presence and action of surface water is so continuous as to leave a district marked by erosion, destruction or prevention of woody terrestrial vegetation, predominance of aquatic vegetation, or other easily recognized characteristic.
(dd) 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.
(ee) PERSON: Any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, agency, unincorporated association, municipal corporation, township, county, state agency, the federal government, or any combination thereof.
(ff) PERENNIAL STREAM: A natural channel that contains water throughout the year, except possibly during periods of extreme drought.
(gg) 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.
(hh) QUALIFIED FORESTER: Any forester employed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, or any person attaining the credential of Certified Forester as conferred by the Society of American Foresters.
(ii) QUALIFIED WETLAND PROFESSIONAL means an individual competent in the areas of botany, hydric soils, and wetland hydrology, and is acceptable to the City of Lorain Engineer.
(jj) REDEVELOPMENT: The demolition or removal of existing structures or land uses and construction of new ones.
(kk) 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.
(ll) 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.
(mm) RIPARIAN SETBACK: Those lands within the City of Lorain which are alongside streams, and which fall within the area defined by the criteria set forth in these regulations.
(nn) 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.
(oo) SEDIMENT CONTROL: The limiting of sediment being transported, by controlling erosion or detaining sediment-laden water, and allowing the sediment to settle out.
(pp) 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.
(qq) 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 wellbeing of the surrounding communities, region, or the State and includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Ponds, wetlands or small lakes with less than five acres of surface area;
(2) 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.
(3) Drainage areas of a locally designated or an Ohio designated Scenic River.
(4) Riparian and wetland areas.
(rr) SHEET FLOW: Water runoff in a thin uniform layer or rills and which is of small enough quantity to be treated by sediment barriers.
(ss) SIVICULTURE: The theory and practice of controlling forest establishment, composition and growth.
(tt) SLIP: A landslide as defined under "Landslides."
(uu) SLOUGHING: A slip or downward movement of an extended layer of soil resulting from the undermining action of water or the earth disturbing activity of man.
(vv) SOIL: Unconsolidated erodible earth material consisting of minerals and/or organics.
(ww) 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.
(xx) SOIL DISTURBING ACTIVITY: Clearing, grading, excavating, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or human made ground cover is destroyed and which may result in, or contribute to, soil erosion and sediment pollution.
(yy) SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN: A written and/or drawn soil erosion and sediment pollution control plan to minimize erosion and prevent off-site sedimentation throughout all earth disturbing activities on a development area.
(zz) SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PRACTICES: Conservation measures used to control sediment pollution and including structural practices, vegetative practices and management techniques.
(aaa) SOIL SURVEY: The official soil survey produced by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA in cooperation with the Division of Soil and Water Conservation, ODNR and the local Board of County Commissioners.
(bbb) STORM WATER CONVEYANCE SYSTEM: All storm sewers, channels, streams, ponds, lakes, etc., used for conveying concentrated storm water runoff, or for storing storm water runoff.
(ccc) STREAM: A body of water running or flowing on the earth's surface, or a channel in which such flow occurs. Flow may be seasonally intermittent.
(ddd) SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE: Damage of any origin sustained by a structure whereby the cost of restoring the structure to its before damaged condition would be equal to, or greater than 50% of the market value of the structure before the damage occurred.
(eee) USEPA: The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(fff) 100-YEAR FLOODPLAIN: Any land susceptible to being inundated by water from a base flood. The base flood is the flood that has a one percent (1 %) or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. For the purposes of this regulation, the 100-year floodplain shall be defined by FEMA or a site-specific Floodplain Delineation in conformance with standard engineering practices and approved by the City of Lorain.
(ggg) WATERCOURSE: Any natural, perennial, or intermittent channel, stream, river or brook.
(hhh) 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.
(iii) 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.
(jjj) WETLAND, OHIO EPA CATEGORY 2 WETLANDS: Those wetlands classified by the Ohio EPA as Category 2 wetlands under OAC 3745-1-54 (C) (2), or current equivalent Ohio EPA classification, in accordance with generally accepted wetland functional assessment methods acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio EPA at the time of application of this regulation
(kkk) WETLAND, OHIO EPA CATEGORY 3 WETLANDS: Those wetlands classified by the Ohio EPA as Category 3 wetlands under OAC 3745-1-54(C)(3), or current equivalent Ohio EPA classification, in accordance with generally accepted wetland functional assessment methods acceptable to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ohio EPA at the time of application of this regulation.
(lll) WETLAND SETBACK: Those lands within the City of Lorain that fall within the area defined by the criteria set forth in these regulations.
(mmm) WINTER: October 1st to April 1st of each year.
(Ord. 109-04. Passed 7-19-04.)