(A) The Town Council of the Town of New Palestine, State of Indiana, adopted Ordinance No. 1997-3D in 1997, as amended by Ordinance No. 2001-10E in October 2001, which established "Storm Drainage, Erosion, and Sediment Control Ordinance of Town of New Palestine", commonly known as the "Town of New Palestine Drainage Code", in order to govern the control of runoff of stormwater and to protect, conserve and promote the orderly development of the land in the town and its water resources. This code was primarily targeted at stormwater discharge quantity, and erosion and sediment control.
(B) On December 8, 1999, Phase II of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, was published in the Federal Register. The NPDES program, as authorized by the 1972 amendments to the Clean Water Act, controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Phase II of NPDES requires permit coverage for stormwater discharges from regulated small municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) and for small construction activity that results in the disturbance of equal to or greater than 1 acre. This Federal regulation went into affect March 10, 2003. In response to Phase II of NPDES, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management enacted Rule 13 (327 IAC 15-13) and revised Rule 5 (327 IAC 15-5).
(C) Under these new state and federal regulations, the town is required to establish a regulatory mechanism for regulating stormwater quality management. Therefore, the "Hancock County Drainage Code" was replaced with a new drainage code to include stormwater quality in addition to quantity and the town believes it to be in the best interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the town that a similar ordinance be adopted by said town.
(Ord. 051805, passed 5-18-2005)