For the purposes of this chapter, the following shall mean:
AUTHORIZED ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. Employees or designees of the director of the municipal agency, the TCEQ, and/or the EPA designated to enforce this chapter and/or to enforce the TPDES and/or to enforce the NPDES regulations.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs). Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention and educational practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to stormwater, receiving waters, or stormwater conveyance systems. BMPs also include treatment practices, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or water disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY. Activities subject to TPDES construction permits. Currently these include construction projects resulting in land disturbance of one acre or more, as defined by the TPDES program. Such activities include but are not limited to clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating, demolition stockpiles, borrow areas, concrete truck washouts, fueling areas, material storage and equipment storage areas.
EROSION. The process by which the land surface is worn away by the action of water or wind.
FINAL STABILIZATION. The status when all soil disturbing activities at a site have been completed, and a uniform perennial vegetative cover with a density of 70% of the cover for unpaved areas and areas not covered by permanent structures has been established, or equivalent permanent stabilization measures (such as the use of riprap, gabions, or geotextiles) have been employed.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. Any material, including any substance, waste, or combination thereof, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may cause, or significantly contribute to, a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, safety, property, or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed.
ILLEGAL DISCHARGE. Any direct or indirect non-stormwater discharge to the storm drain system.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS. Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, which allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system including but not limited to any conveyances which allow any non-stormwater discharge including sewage, process wastewater, and wash water to enter the storm drain system and any connections to the storm drain system from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of whether said drain or connection had been previously allowed, permitted, or approved by an authorized enforcement agency or, any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial land use to the storm drain system which has not been documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by the authorized enforcement agency, or approved by an individual NPDES or TPDES permit or, any direct connection to an MS4 pipe without mitigation by approved BMPs to mitigate nonpoint source pollutant loading including, but not limited to, litter, soil, oil, or automotive fluids.
IMPERVIOUS COVER/SURFACE. Those surfaces that cannot effectively infiltrate rainfall (including such things as building rooftops, pavement, sidewalks, paved and unpaved driveways, parking areas, and streets, but not including swimming pools and ponds).
INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY. Activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined in 40 CFR, §122.26(b)(14).
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4). The system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains) owned and operated by the city and designated or used for collecting or conveying storm water, and which is not used for collecting or conveying sewage.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES) STORMWATER DISCHARGE PERMIT. A permit issued by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that authorizes the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States, whether the permit is applicable on an individual, group, or general area-wide basis.
NON-STORMWATER DISCHARGE. Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
OIL. Any solid or liquid viscous substance of plant, animal, or mineral origin, which does not dissolve in water.
OPERATOR. The person or persons who, either individually or taken together, meet the following two criteria:
(1) They have operational control over the facility specifications (including the ability to make modifications in specifications; and
(2) They have the day-to-day operational control over those activities at the facility necessary to ensure compliance with pollution prevention requirements and any permit conditions.
OWNER. The person who owns a facility, property, or part of a facility or property.
PERSON. Any individual, association, organization, partnership, firm, corporation or other entity recognized by law and acting as either the owner or as the owner's agent.
POLLUTANT. Anything which causes or contributes to pollution. Pollutants may include, but are not limited to: paints, varnishes, and solvents; oil and other automotive fluids; non-hazardous liquid and solid wastes and yard wastes; refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, yard waste, soil, dead animals, or other discarded or abandoned objects, ordinances, and accumulations, so that same may cause or contribute to pollution; floatables; pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers; hazardous substances and wastes; sewage, fecal coliform and pathogens; dissolved and particulate metals; animal wastes; wastes and residues that result from constructing a building or structure; and noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
POLLUTION. The alteration of the physical thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any water in the state that renders the water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property, or to the public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.
PREMISES. Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land whether improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
SEDIMENTATION. The movement and settling out of suspension of soil particles.
SOIL. Substances which comprise dirt including, but not limited to, sand, gravel, decomposed organic matter, or other substances which comprise earth.
STORM DRAINAGE SYSTEM. Publicly-owned facilities by which stormwater is collected and/or conveyed, including but not limited to any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, gutters, curbs, inlets, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, retention and detention basins, natural and human-made or altered drainage channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures.
STORMWATER. Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely of water from any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation.
STORMWATER POLLUTION PREVENTION PLAN (SWPPP). Is a site specific, written document that identifies potential sources of stormwater pollution at the construction site, describes practices to reduce pollutants in stormwater discharges, stormwater conveyance systems, and/or receiving waters to the maximum extent practicable.
TEXAS POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (TPDES) STORMWATER DISCHARGE PERMIT. A permit issued by the State of Texas, namely the Texas Commission on Environmental Commission (TCEQ), under authority delegated pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1342(b) that authorizes the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States, whether the permit is applicable on an individual, group, or general area-wide basis.
WASTEWATER. Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater, discharged from a facility.
WATERCOURSE. A permanent or intermittent stream or other body of water, either natural or man-made and either fresh water or salt water, which gathers or carries surface water.
WATERCOURSE EDGE. The interface zone between the land and a watercourse, including riparian, littoral, and esturarine areas, shorelines, banks, beaches, tidal flats, and wetlands.
YARD WASTE. Leaves, grass clippings, yard and garden debris, and brush that results from landscaping maintenance and land-clearing operations.
(Ord. 593-B, passed 7-12-2022)