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The Director must administer and enforce this Article.
(a) The Director must coordinate programs relating to water pollution abatement and seek the cooperation and assistance of all County agencies, municipalities and regional agencies, and state regulatory agencies when their programs affect the County.
(b) The County Executive, subject to confirmation by the Council, must appoint a Water Quality Advisory Group, composed of up to 3 non-voting representatives of government agencies and 15 voting members. The voting members should consist of up to 3 representatives each of academic and scientific experts, environmental groups, the agricultural community, and the business community, with the rest from the public at large. The Group must recommend to the Executive and the Council by March 1 each year water quality goals, objectives, policies, and programs. Each member must be appointed for a 3-year term unless appointed to fill the balance of an unexpired term. The Group each year must select a chair and any other officer it finds necessary. The Group must not engage in any advocacy activity at the State or federal levels unless that activity is approved by the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
(c) The Director may recommend regulations to establish water use classes and water quality standards or criteria which exceed minimum state water use classes, standards, or criteria as set forth in state regulations, or for other purposes necessary to administer this Article. The Executive may adopt regulations for these purposes under method (1).
(d) This Article and any regulations adopted under it must not waive any requirement imposed by the federal Clean Water Act, the state Department of the Environment, or the state Department of Natural Resources. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1; 2005 L.M.C., ch. 24, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 15, § 1.)
(a) A person must not discharge, or cause to flow from a storage system or other container, any pollutant into waters of the state in the County except in concentrations or quantities explicitly authorized by an approved National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System discharge permit or by a plan for compliance, or that are consistent with the utilization of approved best management practices.
(b) A person must not connect any apparatus discharging any pollutant, in any quantity, to any part of the waters of the state in the County except as explicitly authorized by an approved National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System discharge permit or by a plan for compliance, or as results from approved best management practices.
(c) A person must not improperly store, handle, or apply any pollutant in a manner that will cause its exposure to rainfall or runoff and discharge as point source or nonpoint source pollution into waters of the state in the County except in concentrations or quantities authorized by an approved National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System discharge permit or by a plan for compliance, or as results from approved best management practices. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1.)
Editor’s note—See County Attorney Opinion dated 12/13/99 explaining that the County has the authority to inspect stormwater management facilities constructed before 1985, but maintenance responsibility lies with the owner.
(a) The Director must regulate waters of the state in the County according to state water quality standards and designated water uses set forth in state regulations If the Director finds that more stringent standards than those adopted by the state are necessary, such standards may be established by regulation adopted under Section 19-49(c).
(b) The Director may order:
(1) the abatement of any discharge and correction of any pollution of waters of the state in the County; and
(2) the abatement and correction of any degradation of riparian habitat and aquatic life, caused by a failure to design, install, operate, or maintain sediment control, stormwater management, or agricultural best management practices in accordance with an approved sediment control plan, stormwater plan, sediment control permit, Soil Conservation and Water Quality Plan, or plan for compliance.
(c) If illegal pollutant discharges from properties engaged in agriculture impair aquatic life or public health, cause stream habitat degradation, or result in water quality standards or criteria violations, the Department must pursue correction of these violations in conjunction with the Soil Conservation District and, if necessary, the state Department of the Environment. Abatement of any violations must be handled in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the Department and the Soil Conservation District regarding the specific notification and enforcement procedures to be followed in cases of water pollution caused by agriculture.
(d) Best management practices used to comply with this Article must be designed, installed, operated, and maintained in accordance with sediment control plans, stormwater management plans, or sediment control permits approved by the Department of Permitting Services. Agricultural best management practices must be designed, installed, operated, and maintained in accordance with Soil Conservation and Water Quality Plans approved by the Soil Conservation District. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 20, § 1; 1998 L.M.C., ch. 12, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 14, § 1; 2002 L.M.C., ch. 16, § 2.)
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