For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
BASE FLOOD. A flood having a 1% probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year (also referred to as the 100-YEAR FLOOD).
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION (BFE). The height of the base flood in relation to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929; commonly referred to as the 100-YEAR FLOOD ELEVATION.
BASE FLOODPLAIN. The area inundated by the base flood.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP). Any structural or nonstructural control measure utilized to improve the quality and, as appropriate, reduce the stormwater runoff rate. The term includes schedules of activities, prohibitions of practice, treatment requirements, operation and maintenance procedures, use of containment facilities, land use planning, policy techniques and other practices that comply with the town’s Stormwater Design Manual.
BOARD. The Town Council.
BUILDING. An enclosed structure constructed or erected partially or wholly above ground. The term BUILDING includes both the above-ground and the below-ground portions of the structure.
BUILDING OPENING. Any opening of a solid wall such as a window or door through which floodwaters could penetrate.
CERTIFIED SURVEY FOR MINERAL EXTRACTION. A certified survey demonstrating the number and proximity of residences located within the closest and most densely populated quarter mile adjacent to the proposed mineral extraction site.
CERTIFY. A statement that a proposed development meets the requirements of this subchapter.
CHANNEL. A conveyance intended to carry runoff such as a swale or ditch.
CLEAN WATER ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., as amended, and the applicable regulations promulgated thereunder.
CONDITIONAL LETTER OF MAP REVISION (CLOMR). A letter that indicates that FEMA will revise base flood elevations, flood insurance rate zones, flood boundaries or floodways as shown on an effective FIRM or FBFM, after the as-built or record drawings confirming the proposed conditions are submitted and approved.
CONDITIONAL LETTER OF MAP REVISION BASED ON FILL (CLOMR-F). A letter that indicates that FEMA will revise the base flood boundaries as shown on an effective FIRM. This letter does not apply to map revisions involving BFE or floodway delineation changes.
CONSTRUCTION SITE STORMWATER RUNOFF. Stormwater runoff from a development site following a land alteration.
CONVEYANCE. Any pipe, swale, ditch and the like intended to carry stormwater from one point to another.
CULVERT. A closed conduit such as a pipe designed for the conveyance of surface drainage water under a roadway, railroad, embankment or other impediment. (See also PIPE SYSTEM.)
DETENTION. A system which is designed to capture stormwater, store it and release it over a given period of time through an outlet structure at a controlled rate.
DETENTION FACILITY. A human-made structure for the temporary storage of stormwater runoff with a controlled release during or immediately following a storm.
DEVELOPED or DEVELOPMENT. A land alteration that requires, pursuant to state law or local ordinance, the approval of a site plan, plat, special land use, planned unit development, rezoning of land, land division approval, private road approval or other approvals required for the construction of land or the erection of buildings or structures; provided, however, that for purposes of this subchapter only, DEVELOPED or DEVELOPMENT shall not include the actual construction of, or an addition, extension or modification to, an individual single-family or a two-family detached dwelling.
DEVELOPER. Any person proposing or implementing the development of land.
DEVELOPMENT SITE. Any land that is being or has been developed, or that a developer proposes for development.
DISCHARGER. Any person who directly or indirectly discharges stormwater from any property. DISCHARGER also means any employee, officer, director, partner, contractor or other person who participates in, or is legally or factually responsible for, any act or omission that is or results in a violation of this subchapter.
DITCH. An earthen conveyance with side slopes steeper than 5:1 or carrying greater than ten cubic feet per second.
DRAIN. A buried slotted or perforated pipe or other conduit (subsurface drain) or a ditch (open drain) for carrying off surplus groundwater or surface water.
DRAINAGE. The collection, conveyance or discharge of groundwater and/or surface water.
DRAINAGE FACILITIES. All ditches, channels, conduits, retention-detention systems, tiles, swales, sewers, and other natural or artificial means of draining stormwater from land.
DRAINAGEWAY. The area within which surface water or groundwater is carried from one part of a lot or parcel to another part of the lot or parcel or to adjacent land.
EASEMENT. An authorization grant by a property owner for the use by another of any designated part of his or her property for a clearly specified purpose including but not limited to common pedestrian ways and hiking and biking paths.
ENGINEER. A person licensed to practice engineering in the state.
EPA. The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
EROSION. The process by which the ground surface is worn away by action of wind, water, gravity or a combination thereof.
EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN. A plan that is designed to minimize the accelerated erosion and sediment runoff at a site during construction activities.
FARM OPERATION. Any of the following activities involved in carrying on a farm business:
(1) Growing, producing, raising or keeping animals or plants, including mushrooms, or the primary products of those plants or animals;
(2) Clearing, draining, irrigating or cultivating land;
(3) Using farm machinery, equipment, devices, materials and structures;
(4) Applying fertilizers, manure, pesticides and biological control agents, including by ground and aerial spraying;
(5) Conducting any other agricultural activity on, in or over agricultural land;
(6) Intensively cultivating in plantations any specialty wood crops or specialty fiber crops;
(7) Conducting turf production; and
(8) Processing or direct marketing the products of a farm owned or operated by the farmer, as well as products not of that farm to the extent that the processing or marketing of those products is conducted on the farmer’s farm.
FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA). The agency of the federal government charged with emergency management.
FLOOD BOUNDARY AND FLOODWAY MAP (FBFM). A floodplain management map issued by FEMA that depicts, based on detailed engineering analyses, the boundaries of the base or 100-year flood, the 50-year flood and the floodway.
FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP (FIRM). A map issued by FEMA that is an official community map, on which FEMA has delineated both the special flood hazard areas and the insurance risk premium zones applicable to the community. This map may or may not include floodways.
FLOOD or FLOODING. A general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas resulting from the overflow of waterbodies or the unusual and rapid accumulation of surface water runoff from any source.
FLOODPLAIN. Any land area subject to periodic flooding.
FLOODPROOFING. Any structural and/or nonstructural additions, changes or adjustments to structures or property that reduce or eliminate flood damage to land, or improvements, utilities and structures.
FLOOD PROTECTION ELEVATION (FPE) or FLOOD PROTECTION GRADE (FPG). The base flood elevation plus two foot at any given location.
FLOODWAY. The channel of any watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved to carry and discharge a base flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than one-tenth of a foot due to the loss of flood conveyance or storage.
GRADING. Any stripping, excavating, filling and stockpiling of soil or any combination thereof and the land in its excavated or filled condition.
GUTTER SPREAD. The spread of water on a roadway surface perpendicular from the face of the gutter into the driving lane.
IDEM. The state’s Department of Environmental Management.
ILLICIT CONNECTION. Any method or means for conveying an illicit discharge into waterbodies or the town’s stormwater conveyance system.
ILLICIT DISCHARGE. Any discharge to waterbodies that does not consist entirely of stormwater, discharges pursuant to the terms of an NPDES permit, or exempted discharges as defined in this subchapter.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE. Surface that does not allow stormwater runoff to percolate into the ground such as asphalt, concrete, roofs and gravel.
LAND ALTERATION.
(1) Any action taken relative to land which either:
(a) Removes the natural ground cover;
(b) Changes the contour;
(c) Increases the runoff rate;
(d) Changes the elevation;
(e) Decreases the rate at which water is absorbed;
(f) Changes the drainage pattern;
(g) Creates or changes a drainage facility;
(h) Involves construction, enlargement or location of any building on a permanent foundation; or
(i) Creates an impoundment.
(2) LAND ALTERATION includes (by way of example and not of limitation) terracing, grading, excavating, constructing earthwork, draining, installing drainage tile, filling and paving.
LAND SURVEYOR. A person licensed to practice land surveying in the state.
LETTER OF MAP AMENDMENT (LOMA). The official determination by FEMA that a specific structure or lot is not within a regulatory floodplain due to naturally occurring high ground (i.e., without fill). A LOMA amends the effective FIRM.
LETTER OF MAP REVISION (LOMR). A letter from FEMA that revises base flood elevations, flood insurance rate zones, flood boundaries or floodways as shown on an effective FBFM or FIRM.
LETTER OF MAP REVISION BASED ON FILL (LOMR-F). A letter that provides formal recognition by FEMA that either a parcel of property or a structure has been removed from the base or 100-year floodplain due to elevation based on the placement of fill. This letter does not apply to map revisions involving BFE or floodway delineation changes.
LOWEST FLOOR. The lowest floor or the lowest enclosed area (including a basement), but not including an unfinished or floodproof enclosure that is usable solely for parking of vehicles or building access.
MAINTENANCE. Cleaning, removing obstructions from and making minor repairs to a drainage facility so that it will perform the function for which it was designed and constructed.
MANUFACTURED BMP. A structural BMP designed for stormwater quality treatment constructed of a combination of human-made materials at an off-site facility.
MINERAL EXTRACTION. The removal of oil, gas, coal, ore, gravel, sand, aggregate or other resources from below the surface of the land.
MS4. Municipal separate storm sewer system as defined by 327 I.A.C. 15-6-4(12).
NFIP. The national flood insurance program. The requirements of the NFIP are codified in 44 C.F.R.
NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION. Pollution from any source other than from any discernible, confined and discrete conveyances and shall include, but not be limited to, pollutants from agricultural, silvicultural, mining, construction, subsurface disposal, dumping and urban runoff sources.
NON-STORMWATER DISCHARGE. Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
NONSTRUCTURAL BMP. A BMP that is not constructed by physical means of land disturbance such as education, public information handouts and the like.
NPDES. National pollutant discharge elimination system.
OVERLAND FLOW-WAY. Surface area that conveys a concentrated flow of stormwater runoff.
PEAK STORM. The storm of a specified return period that produces the maximum runoff from a site or the maximum elevation in a detention pond. Storm durations of one-half-, one, two, three, six, 12 and 24 hours shall be used to determine the PEAK STORM.
PERIMETER DRAIN. A subsurface pipe network designed and installed around the perimeter of a septic field for the purpose of effectively collecting and draining away excess subsurface waters.
PERSON. An individual, firm, partnership, association, public or private corporation, public agency, instrumentality or any other legal entity.
PIPE SYSTEM. Two or more pipes connected together by one or more structures such as a manhole designed to convey stormwater runoff.
PLAN. Written narratives, specifications, drawings, sketches, written standards, operating procedures or any combination of these which contain information pursuant to this subchapter.
POLLUTANT. A substance which causes or contributes to pollution which includes, but is not limited to the following: Any dredged soil; solid waste; vehicle fluids; yard wastes (includes grass clippings); animal wastes (includes pet waste); agricultural waste products; sediment; incinerator residue; sewage; garbage; sewage sludge; munitions; chemical wastes; biological wastes; radioactive materials; heat; wrecked or discharged equipment; rock; sand; cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, commercial and agricultural waste; or any other contaminant or other substance defined as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act.
POLLUTION. The human-made or human-induced alteration of the quality of waters by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects or has the potential to unreasonably affect either the waters for beneficial uses or the facilities which serve these beneficial uses.
PROPERTY OWNER. Any person having legal or equitable title to property, having a contractual interest in property, or any person having or exercising care, custody or control over any property.
RECLAMATION PLAN FOR MINERAL EXTRACTION. A document illustrating drainage patterns, both existing and proposed, at a mineral extraction site; proposed erosion control and off-site sedimentation control of the site; and proposed final land use and post construction stormwater quality BMPs for the site, all of which are documented at the initial approval of the SWMP and at ten-year intervals following the approval of a SWMP.
RECORD DRAWINGS. Drawings prepared, signed and sealed by a professional engineer or land surveyor representing the final “as-built” record of the actual in-place elevations, location of structures and topography.
REGISTERED PROFESSION. An engineer, land surveyor or architect license under the laws of the state to practice the respective profession.
REGULATED DRAIN. A drain, either open channel or closed tile/sewer, subject to the provisions of the state’s Drainage Code, I.C. 36-9-27.
RETENTION. A system that is designed to capture stormwater and contain it until it infiltrates into the soil or evaporates.
RIGHT-OF-WAY. A strip of land occupied or intended to be occupied by a street, pedestrian-way, hiking path, biking path, crosswalk, railroad, electric transmission line, oil or gas pipeline, water main, sanitary or storm sewer main, special landscaping, drainage or for another special use. The usage of the term RIGHT-OF-WAY for land platting purposes shall mean that every right-of-way hereafter established and shown on a final plat is to be separate and distinct from the lots or parcels adjoining such right-of-way and not included within the dimensions or areas of such lots or parcels. RIGHTS-OF-WAY intended for streets, crosswalks, water mains, sanitary sewers, storm drains, screening or special landscaping, or any other use involving maintenance by the Town Council shall be dedicated to public use by the subdivider on whose plat such RIGHT-OF-WAY is established. All divisions of land along existing roadways shall dedicate half RIGHT-OF-WAY for public purposes along its entire frontage in the amount as specified for the classification of the existing roadway.
ROADWAY DRAINAGE. The runoff and drainage located within 20 feet of the edge of public and/or private roadways adjacent to, abutting or within the boundaries of the property to be addressed in a proposed stormwater management submittal.
RUNOFF. The waters derived from melting snow or rain falling within a tributary drainage basin that exceeds the infiltration capacity of the soils of that basin.
SOIL EROSION. The stripping of soil and weathered rock from land creating sediment for transportation by water, wind or ice, and enabling formation of new sedimentary deposits.
STORM DRAIN. A system of open or enclosed conduits and appurtenant structures intended to convey or manage stormwater runoff, groundwater and drainage.
STORM DRAIN SYSTEM. Publicly-owned facilities operated by the town or easements on private property by which stormwater is collected and/or conveyed, including but not limited to any roads with drainage systems, streets, gutters, curbs, inlets, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, retention and detention basins, natural and human-made or altered drainage channels, ditches, swales, reservoirs and other drainage structures which are within the town and are not part of a publicly-owned treatment works as defined at 40 C.F.R. § 122.2.
STORMWATER. Any surface flow, runoff and drainage consisting entirely of water from rain storm events.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN (SWMP). An engineered drainage plan that effectively addresses and manages stormwater runoff and discharge.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN APPROVAL (SWMPA). An approval issued pursuant to this subchapter from the stormwater office that states all requirements of this subchapter have been met.
STORMWATER OFFICE. The town’s Stormwater Department office.
STORMWATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN. A comprehensive written document that addresses stormwater runoff quality within a municipal separate storm sewer system area.
STORMWATER RUNOFF. The runoff and drainage of precipitation resulting from rainfall or snowmelt or other natural event or process.
STORMWATER RUNOFF FACILITY. The method, structure, area, system or other equipment or measures that are designed to receive, control, store or convey stormwater.
STREAM. A river, stream or creek which may or may not be serving as a drain, or any other waterbody that has definite banks, a bed and visible evidence of a continued flow or continued occurrence of water.
STRUCTURAL BMP. A structure designed and constructed for the purpose of stormwater quality treatment.
SWALE. A depressed earthen designed to convey stormwater runoff, with side slopes 5:1 or shallower and conveying no more than ten cfs.
USACOE. The United States Army Corps of Engineers.
USEPA. The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
WATERBODY. A river, lake, stream, creek or other watercourse or wetlands.
WATER QUALITY VOLUME (WQV). The storage needed to capture and treat the volume of rainfall for 90% of the storm events which produce runoff in the watershed annually.
WATERSHED. A region draining into a waterbody.
WETLANDS. Land characterized by the presence of water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support wetland vegetation or aquatic life.
(Ord. 3, 2012, passed 1- -2012)