(a) Interpretation of this Chapter shall be consistent with the provisions of state and federal clean water laws and the NPDES Order. The requirements of this Chapter are not intended to interfere with, abrogate or annul any other ordinance, rule, regulation, statute, or terms of the NPDES Order that apply to the operation of the stormwater conveyance system. The requirements of this Chapter are minimum requirements, and where any provision of this Chapter imposes restrictions different from those imposed by any other ordinance (e.g., such as the County Subdivision Ordinance, Title 8, Division 1 of the San Diego County Code of Regulatory Ordinances, the County Grading Ordinance, Title 8, Division 7, Chapter 4, of the San Diego County Code of Regulatory Ordinances, or Part 3, commencing with Section 3000 of the San Diego County Zoning Ordinance regulating animal care), rule, regulation, statute, Stormwater Quality Management Plan, the BMP Design Manual, or the NPDES Order, whichever provisions are more restrictive or impose higher protective standards for human health or the environment shall take precedence.
(b) Except as set forth in Section 67.805, this Chapter shall apply to any development project in the County, whether or not a permit or other approval is required.
(c) If the authorized enforcement official identifies a discharge or category of facility or activity that is a source of a non-stormwater discharge in excess of what is allowed by this Chapter or of pollutants in stormwater or non-stormwater to the stormwater conveyance system or receiving waters, the discharger may be ordered by the authorized enforcement official to install, implement and maintain additional source control, structural or other BMPs to prevent or reduce the pollutant discharges to the MEP and non-stormwater discharges to the extent necessary to bring the discharge into compliance with this Chapter. Any such order shall specify a reasonable date by which those BMPs must be put in place. Failure to install, implement, or maintain additional BMPs as required by such order, is a violation of this Chapter.
(d) Areas within which facilities and sources will be presumed to be tributary to an impaired water body are identified on the most current listing in the Clean Water Act, Section 303(d). The presumption that a discharge is tributary to an impaired water body can be overcome for a particular discharge based on specific facts and analysis presented by a discharger. In making a site-specific determination as to whether a discharge is tributary to an impaired water body, consideration may be given to the amount of water and pollutant discharged; to whether the pollutant for which the water body is impaired is a suspended or dissolved pollutant; to whether the pollutant is volatile or degradable; and to whether the pollutant is substantially removed during transport by any natural or man-made features (sinks, infiltration areas, ponds or impoundments, vegetated swales or wetlands, media filtration devices, etc.) located between the site and the impaired water body. Any such analysis must consider common mechanisms for pollutant mobilization, remobilization, and transport over time.
(e) An authorized enforcement official may modify any requirement imposed by this Chapter to allow the on-site collection and use of stormwater, or the collection of stormwater for delivery to and use at County-designated sites, provided the modified requirements are enforceable, consistent with the NPDES Order and provide equivalent environmental protection.
(Added by Ord. No. 9424 (N.S.), effective 2-20-02; amended by Ord. No. 9518 (N.S.), effective 1-10-03; amended by Ord. No. 9589 (N.S.), effective 9-5-03; amended by Ord. No. 9926 (N.S.), effective 4-11-08; amended by Ord. No. 10096 (N.S.), effective 1-7-11; amended by Ord. No. 10385 (N.S.), effective 6-12-15; amended by Ord. No. 10410 (N.S.), effective 2-26-16)