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(a) In an immediate danger to the public health or safety, the Director must notify the responsible party by the most expeditious means, and the party who was notified must remove the illegal discharge or pollutant by the time stated in the notice. If it is not so removed, the Department may remove, mitigate, and clean up any illegal discharge or pollutant. The cost of that removal, mitigation, and clean-up must be paid to the County by the person who did not remove, mitigate, and clean up the illegal discharge and pollutant, and is a debt due to the County. The cost of removal, mitigation, and clean-up is a lien upon all real property. The cost of removal, mitigation, and clean-up may be listed on the tax bill and may be collected in the manner of ordinary taxes. This Section does not restrict the Department from proceeding directly with alternative enforcement procedures under Section 19-53.
(b) If, after an inspection by the Department, the Director finds that a pollutant discharge poses an immediate hazard to the public health or safety or to the waters of the state in the County, the Director must take action necessary to abate the pollutant discharge, protect the public, and mitigate any damage that the pollutant discharge has caused to the affected waters. Any cost incurred in carrying out actions under this subsection must be paid by the owner under subsection (a).
(c) The Director may establish fees and charges necessary to administer and enforce this Article as provided in regulations adopted under method (3). (1994 L.M.C., ch. 31, § 1.)
Secs. 19-55--19-59. Reserved.
(a) The County Council finds that streams, rivers, wetlands, and other sensitive environmental features in Montgomery County constitute an important natural resource. Protecting, maintaining, and restoring the biological, physical, and chemical integrity of the waters in the County will protect the public health and general welfare, provide for a varied aquatic life, appropriate recreational uses, and other water uses, and serve the purposes of applicable federal and state laws and regulations. Protection of fragile watershed areas will help restore and maintain the integrity of the Anacostia River, Potomac River, and Patuxent River within Montgomery County and the Chesapeake Bay.
(b) The purposes of this Article are to:
(1) implement monitoring programs in special protection areas to help attain the goals of the County's water quality laws and regulations;
(2) establish coordinated procedures, performance goals, and requirements for development in special protection areas that will mitigate adverse impacts on water resource areas during and after construction or other land-disturbing activities;
(3) ensure no net wetland loss as a result of development;
(4) authorize a fee to administer and enforce this Article, including monitoring development impacts on streams in special protection areas; and
(5) provide a focused and coordinated approach for County water quality protection and monitoring in special protection areas. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1.)
In this Article, the following words and phrases have the following meanings:
Best Management Practices means techniques that are most effective in eliminating or reducing the amount of pollution or other detrimental impact to a watershed or wetland.
Best Management Practices Monitoring Plan means a written plan that documents the scientific work necessary to assess the effectiveness of best management practices in maintaining water quality.
DEP Director means the Director of the Department of Environmental Protection or the Director’s designee.
Department or DPS means the Department of Permitting Services.
Director or DPS Director means the Director of the Department of Permitting Services or the Director's designee.
Erosion and Sediment Control Concept Plan means a statement or drawing or both describing how erosion and sediment, resulting from a development, will be controlled or managed to minimize the discharge of pollutants into surface waters.
Land Use Plan means the County's General Plan (“On Wedges and Corridors”) and all amendments or additions, including master plans, sector plans, and functional plans, adopted by the District Council.
Planning Director means the Director of the Montgomery County Planning Department or the Director's designee.
Special Protection Area means a geographic area where:
(1) existing water resources, or other environmental features directly relating to those water resources, are of high quality or unusually sensitive; and
(2) proposed land uses would threaten the quality or preservation of those resources or features in the absence of special water quality protection measures which are closely coordinated with appropriate land use controls.
Stormwater Management Concept Plan means a statement or drawing or both describing how water quality impacts and stormwater, resulting from a development, will be controlled or managed to minimize the discharge of pollutants into surface waters.
Stormwater Management Plan is defined in Section 19-21.
Stream Monitoring Plan means a statement prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection describing the location of monitoring stations and the nature, form, and frequency of monitoring to be conducted to evaluate the impacts of development on water resources in a special protection area. A plan must also describe what will be monitored with regard to faunal groups, streams and riparian habitat features, biological features, and physical and chemical properties.
Stream Monitoring Program means activities conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection to carry out a stream monitoring plan for property in a special protection area, including:
(1) an inventory and evaluation of water resources to measure baseline conditions; and
(2) an assessment of any impairment of the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of the stream over time related to development impacts in any special protection area.
Technical Manual means a detailed guidance document prepared jointly by the Departments of Environmental Protection and Permitting Services, in consultation with the Planning Board, and used to implement this Article.
Water Quality Certification means State authorization required under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for any federally permitted activity impacting jurisdictional waters of the United States, certifying that the activity complies with Maryland's water quality standards. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 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; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1.)
(a) Designation. The Council may designate a geographic area as a special protection area by identifying the area in:
(1) a land use plan;
(2) the Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewer System Plan;
(3) a watershed plan; or
(4) a resolution adopted after at least 15 days notice and a public hearing.
(b) Privately owned property. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Chapter, the requirements for a water quality inventory and a preliminary and final water quality plan under Section 19-64 apply in any area designated as a special protection area to a person proposing a land-disturbing on privately owned property:
(1) who is required by law to obtain approval of a development plan, diagrammatic plan, schematic development plan, project plan, special exception, sketch plan, floating zone plan, conditional use, preliminary plan of subdivision, or site plan; or
(2) who is seeking approval of an amendment to an approved development plan, diagrammatic plan, schematic development plan, project plan, special exception, sketch plan, floating zone plan, conditional use, preliminary plan of subdivision, or site plan.
(c) Publicly owned property. Before engaging in any land-disturbing on publicly owned property in an area designated as a special protection area, the applying agency or department should prepare a combined preliminary and final water quality plan.
(d) Recorded plats. This Article does not apply to any project on property which would otherwise be subject to the requirements of this Section that has a valid, approved record plat for the entirety of the project and for which no amendment is required to accommodate the project on or before October 31, 1994. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2013 L.M.C., ch. 9, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
(a) Any applicant covered by Section 19-62 whose property is in a special protection area must submit a water quality inventory.
(b) An applicant who submits a water quality inventory under Section 19-64(a) and whose development does not exceed the following limits need not submit a water quality plan, unless the applicant is specifically required to submit a water quality plan in a land use plan, watershed plan, Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewer System Plan, or Council resolution designating a special protection area, if:
(1) a project on property zoned for agricultural, residential, or mixed use contains:
(A) a proposed impervious area of less than 8% of the total land area covered by the development approval application; or
(B) a cumulative land area of 10 acres or less, and a proposed impervious area of less than 15% of the total land area covered by the development approval application;
(2) a project on property zoned for industrial or commercial use consists of a cumulative land area of 2 acres or less covered by the development approval application.
(c) An applicant must not avoid the application of this Article by submitting piecemeal applications for property under common or related ownership.
(d) If an application for new or additional development approval is submitted for property that was either:
(1) previously approved for development, and exempt under subsection (b); or
(2) part of a larger tract of land located in a special protection area that was:
(A) approved for development under this Article; and
(B) under common or related ownership when it was approved for development; the Department or Planning Board, as applicable, in reviewing an application under this Article must assess the cumulative impact of all previously approved development. (1994 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 1995 L.M.C., ch. 22, § 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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