Subchapter 1: General
Land development and associated increases in site impervious cover increase stormwater runoff causing flooding, soil erosion, and sediment transport and deposition in waterways. A high percentage of impervious area correlates with a higher rate of stormwater runoff, which generates greater pollutant loadings to the city's separate stormwater and combined sewer systems. Pollutants found in urban runoff include, but are not limited to, nitrogen, phosphorus, silt and sediment, pathogens, floatables, petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Clearing and grading during construction may increase soil erosion and add to the loss of native vegetation necessary for terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Improperly designed and constructed stormwater management practices increase the velocity of stormwater runoff thereby increasing erosion and sedimentation. Impervious surfaces allow less water to percolate into the soil, thereby decreasing groundwater recharge and stream baseflow. Stormwater runoff, soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution can be controlled and minimized through the regulation of stormwater runoff from land development activities. Regulation of land development activities by means of performance standards governing long-term stormwater management and site design produces development compatible with the natural functions of a particular site and thereby mitigates the adverse effects of erosion and sedimentation from development.
Material handling and storage, equipment maintenance and cleaning, and other activities at industrial facilities are often exposed to stormwater, which can pick up pollutants and transport them to surface waters directly or via a storm sewer. Appropriate stormwater management at industrial facilities can reduce these impacts.
This chapter establishes stormwater management controls for construction projects to reduce the flow of stormwater runoff and water borne pollutants into sewers that empty directly into the waters of the state or that overflow into such waters because of rain or snowmelt events that exceed the design capacity of wastewater treatment plants.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to (i) reduce pollutants discharged in stormwater runoff from construction activities to the maximum extent practicable through appropriate erosion and sediment controls; (ii) minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, increases in stormwater runoff volume and velocity, and pollutant loading in stormwater runoff, from development sites; (iii) ensure the proper maintenance of post-construction stormwater management practices; and (iv) ensure compliance by certain industrial facilities served by the city separate storm sewer system with applicable requirements to manage stormwater runoff in order to reduce pollutants in stormwater from industrial activities to the maximum extent practicable.
(L.L. 2017/097, 5/30/2017, eff. 6/1/2019; Am. L.L. 2020/091, 9/27/2020, eff. 3/26/2021)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2020/091.
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