(Amended by Ord. No. 188,125, Eff. 4/2/24.)
A. Definitions. For the purpose of this article, the following words and phrases are defined and shall be construed as set out here, unless it is apparent from the context that they have a different meaning:
1. “Administrative Citation” means an Administrative Citation issued pursuant to Article 1.2 of Chapter 1 of this Code, unless otherwise specified. (Added by Ord. No. 186,366, Eff. 10/31/19.)
2. “Basin Plan” means a Water Quality Control Plan adopted by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board for a specific watershed or designated area.
3. “Best Management Practice (BMP)” means activities, practices, facilities and/or procedures that, when implemented, will reduce or prevent pollutants in discharges.
4. “Board” means the Board of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles or its duly authorized representative.
5. “Bureau” means the Bureau of Sanitation of the City of Los Angeles or its duly authorized representative.
6. “City” means the City of Los Angeles or its duly authorized representatives.
7. “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.
8. “Commercial Activity” means any public or private activity involved in the storage, transportation, distribution, exchange or sale of goods and/or commodities or providing professional and/or non-professional services.
9. “Commercial Mall” means any development on private land which sells various merchandise. A Commercial Mall includes, but is not limited to, mini-malls, strip malls, other retail complexes, and enclosed shopping malls or shopping centers.
10. “Construction Activity” means clearing, grading or excavating that results in soil disturbance. Construction activity does not include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or the original purpose of the facility, nor does it include emergency construction activities required to immediately protect public health and/or safety.
11. “Control” means to minimize, reduce or eliminate by technological, legal, contractual or other means, the discharge of pollutants from an activity or activities.
12. “Development” means the construction, rehabilitation, redevelopment or reconstruction of any public or private residential project (whether single-family, multi-unit or planned unit development); industrial, commercial, retail and any other non- residential projects, including public agency projects; or mass grading for future construction.
13. “Development Best Management Practices Handbook” means such handbook, as may be amended from time to time, adopted by the Board of Public Works.
14. “Director” means the Director of the Bureau of Sanitation of the Department of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles or the duly authorized representatives designated to administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this article.
15. “Discharge” means any release, spill, leak, pump, flow, escape, dumping, or disposal of any liquid, semi-solid or solid substance.
16. “Emergency Fire Fighting Activities” means flows necessary for the protection of life and property. Discharges from vehicle washing, building fire suppression system maintenance and testing (e.g., sprinkler line flushing), fire hydrant maintenance and testing, and other routine maintenance activities are not considered emergency fire fighting activities.
17. “Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs)” means any 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. ESAs include, but are not limited to, 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), areas designated as Significant Natural Areas by the California Department of Fish and Game’s Significant Natural Areas Program and field verified by the Department of Fish and Game, and areas listed in the Basin Plan as supporting the “Rare, Threatened, or Endangered Species (RARE)” beneficial use.
18. “Hazardous Substance(s)” has the same meaning as defined in California Penal Code Section 374.8(c).
19. “Illicit Connection” means any human- made conveyance that is connected directly to the storm drain system, excluding roof-drains, and any other similar connection that serves as a pathway for any illicit discharge.
20. “Illicit Discharge” means any discharge to the storm drain system that is prohibited under local, state or federal statutes, ordinances, codes or regulations. Illicit discharges include all non- stormwater discharges except discharges pursuant to an National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit or discharges that are exempted or conditionally exempted by the NPDES permit or granted as a special waiver or exemption by the Regional Board.
21. “Impervious Surface” means any human- made or modified surface that prevents or significantly reduces the entry of water into the underlying soil, resulting in runoff from the surface in greater quantities and/or at an increased rate, when compared to natural conditions prior to development. Examples of places that commonly exhibit impervious surfaces include parking lots, driveways, roadways, storage areas and rooftops. The imperviousness of these areas commonly results from paving, compacted gravel, compacted earth and oiled earth.
22. “Industrial Activity” means any public or private activity that is associated with any of the 11 categories of activities defined in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14) and required to obtain a NPDES permit.
23. “Industrial/Commercial Facility” means any facility, public or private, involved and/or used in either 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/or non-professional services. This category of facility includes, but is not limited to, any facility defined by the Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC).
24. “Industrial Park” means an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development.
25. “LID” means Low Impact Development.
26. “MS4” or “MS4 Permit” means the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Permit for Los Angeles County, as provided or as subsequently amended.
27. “Multi-Phased Project” means a Development or Redevelopment that is implemented over more than one phase.
28. “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)” means the national program for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements under Sections 307, 402, 318 and 405 of the CWA. The term includes an “approved program.”
29. “Non-Stormwater Discharge” means any discharge to a municipal storm drain system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
30. “Person” means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine and the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
31. “Pollutant” means any “pollutant” defined in Section 502(6) of the Federal Clean Water Act or incorporated into Section 13373 of the California Water Code. Pollutants may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Commercial and industrial waste (such as fuels, solvents, detergents, plastic pellets, hazardous substances, fertilizers, pesticides, slag, ash and sludge);
(b) Metals (such as cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, silver, nickel, chromium, and non-metals such as phosphorus and arsenic);
(c) Petroleum hydrocarbons (such as fuels, lubricants, surfactants, waste oils, solvents, coolants and grease);
(d) Excessive eroded soil, sediment, and particulate materials in amounts that may adversely affect the beneficial use of the receiving waters, flora or fauna of the State;
(e) Animal wastes (such as discharge from confinement facilities, kennels, pens, recreational facilities, stables and show facilities); and
(f) 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.
32. “Priority Development and Redevelopment Project” means a Development or Redevelopment that falls under the City’s MS4 planning and building authority for which the City must impose specific requirements, including the implementation of structural Best Management Practices to meet the performance requirements described in Part VIII.F.4 of the MS4 Permit, as provided or as subsequently amended. To the extent this definition conflicts with the operative MS4 Permit in the future, the MS4 Permit requirements for Priority Development and Priority Redevelopment Projects shall govern.
33. “Receiving Waters” means creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries, groundwater formations or other bodies of water into which surface water, treated waste or untreated waste are or may be discharged.
34. “Redevelopment” means the reconstruction or rehabilitation of any residential industrial, commercial, retail, or other non-residential land use projects, including any private or public agency projects.
35. “Regional Board” means the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region.
36. “Routine Maintenance” includes, but is not limited to, projects conducted to:
(a) Maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity or original purpose of the facility.
(b) Perform as needed restoration work to preserve the original design grade, integrity and hydraulic capacity of flood control facilities.
(c) Repair, regrade or maintain road shoulder, dirt or gravel roadways and shoulders or road ditches.
(d) Update existing facilities or lines, including replacing existing lines with new materials or pipes, to comply with applicable codes, standards and regulations regardless if such project results in increased capacity.
(e) Repair leaks.
Routine maintenance does not include construction of: (1) new lines not associated with existing facilities and are not part of a project to update or replace existing lines; or (2) new facilities resulting from compliance with applicable codes, standards and regulations.
37. “Rules and Regulations” shall mean “Rules and Regulations Governing Pollution Control of Discharges into the Storm Drain System” adopted by the Board of Public Works.
38. “SIC” or “Standard Industrial Classification” means the four-digit numerical code assigned by the United States government that categorizes a company’s particular industry.
39. “Site” means 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.
40. “Storm Drain System” means any facilities or any part of those facilities, including streets, gutters, conduits, natural or artificial drains, channels and watercourses that are used for the purpose of collecting, storing, transporting or disposing of stormwater and are located within the City of Los Angeles.
41. “Storm Water or Stormwater” means stormwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage related to precipitation events (pursuant to 40 CFR § 122.26(b)(13); 55 Fed. Reg. 47990, 47995 (Nov. 16, 1990)). Without any change in its meaning, this term may be spelled or written as one word or two separate words.
42. “Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP)” means a plan, as required by a State General Permit, identifying potential pollutant sources and describing the design, placement and implementation of BMPs, to effectively prevent non-stormwater discharges and reduce pollutants in stormwater discharges during activities covered by the General Permit.
43. “Stormwater Quality Design Volume” or “SWQDV” means the greater of the following:
(a) The volume of runoff produced by a 0.75-inch, 24-hour rain event; or
(b) The volume of runoff produced by an 85th percentile, 24-hour rain event, as determined from the Los Angeles County precipitation isohyetal map. Hydromodification impacts shall be minimized to natural drainage systems as defined in the MS4 Permit.
44. “Toxic Materials” means any material(s) or combination of materials that directly or indirectly cause either acute or chronic toxicity in the water column.
45. “Untreated” means non-stormwater runoff, wastewater or wash waters that have not been subjected to any applicable Treatment Control, Best Management Practices or are not in compliance with conditions of a separate or general NPDES permit.
46. “Urban Runoff” means surface water flow produced by storm and non-storm events. Non-storm events include flow from residential, commercial or industrial activities involving the use of potable and nonpotable water.