*Editor's note--Repealed and new Chapter, Stormwater and Discharge Control, §§ 67.801--67.825, added by Ord. No. 9424 (N.S.), effective 2-20-02; Chapter 8 amended (with new title Watershed Protection, Stormwater Management and Discharge Control) 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; amended by Ord. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25.
(a) The purpose of this Chapter is to protect water resources and to improve water quality by controlling the stormwater conveyance system and receiving waters; to cause the use of management practices by the County and its citizens that will reduce the adverse effects of non-stormwater and polluted stormwater discharges to the stormwater conveyance system and receiving waters; to secure benefits from the use of stormwater as a resource; and to ensure the County is compliant with applicable state and federal law and California Regional Water Quality Control Board Order No. R9-2013-0001, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) No. CAS0109266 as amended by Order Numbers R9-2015-0001 and R9-2015-0100, also known as the San Diego Regional Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit, referred to hereinafter as "MS4 Permit".
(b) The requirements of this Chapter are specifically intended to implement a Jurisdictional Runoff Management Program in accordance with California Regional Water Quality Control Board Order No. R9-2013-0001, NPDES No. CAS0109266. To the extent necessary to ensure compliance with this order, this Ordinance shall require the following:
(1) Prohibit non-stormwater discharges to the stormwater conveyance system and receiving waters unless otherwise authorized by this Chapter.
(2) Establish requirements to prevent and reduce pollution to water resources.
(3) Establish requirements for development project site design to prevent non- stormwater discharges to the stormwater conveyance system and reduce stormwater pollution and erosion.
(4) Establish requirements for the management of stormwater flows from development projects to prevent erosion and to protect and enhance existing water-dependent habitats.
(5) Establish standards for the use of off-site facilities, when permissible, for stormwater management to supplement on-site practices at new development sites.
(6) Establish notice procedures and standards for adjusting stormwater and non- stormwater management requirements, where necessary.
(Added by Ord. No. 9424 (N.S.), effective 2-20-02; 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; amended by Ord. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
Unless a different meaning is clearly intended and more protective of water quality under the circumstances, terms used in this Chapter shall have the same meaning as the same or equivalent term when defined in Attachment C of California Regional Water Quality Control Board amended Order No. R9-2013-0001, NPDES No. CAS0109266. For purposes of this Chapter subject to the foregoing limitation, the following definitions shall apply:
"Authorized enforcement official" means the Director of Public Works, the Director of Planning and Development Services, the Director of the Department of Environmental Health and Quality, the Director of Environmental Health, the Agricultural Commissioner, Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures, or their designees.
"Active/Passive Sediment Treatment" means using mechanical, electrical or chemical means to flocculate or coagulate suspended sediment for removal from runoff from construction sites prior to discharge.
"Authorized non-stormwater discharge" means a discharge allowed to enter the stormwater conveyance system or receiving waters in accordance with a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) or as specifically authorized by this Chapter.
"Best management practices (BMPs) means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, training and education, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollution to waterways to the maximum extent practicable. BMPs include, treatment requirements, operating procedures and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage. BMPs also include standard industry practices for controlling stormwater and non-stormwater runoff established by the California Stormwater Quality Association and Caltrans.
"Biofiltration" means practices that use vegetation and amended soils to detain and treat runoff from impervious areas. Treatment is through filtration, infiltration, adsorption, ion exchange, and biological uptake of pollutants.
"BMP Design Manual" means the plan developed by the County in accordance with the NPDES Permit which outlines the minimum standards required to eliminate, reduce, or mitigate the impacts of water runoff from development projects and existing development.
"Caltrans Standards" means the BMPs included in the most recent iteration of the Caltrans Construction Site Best Management Practices Manual.
"CASQA Standards" means the BMPs included in the most recent iteration of the California Stormwater Quality Association ("CASQA") Construction BMP Handbook.
"Construction General Permit (CGP)" means the General Permit for Stormwater Discharges associated with Construction and Land Disturbance Activities issued by the State Board, Order 2022-0057-DWQ, as it currently exists or may be amended. The Construction General Permit covers, in part, construction or demolition activity that results in soil or land disturbance of equal to or greater than one acre. The Construction General Permit is available from the State Board and may be accessed on the County's website.
"Detention" means the temporary storage of storm run-off in a manner that controls peak discharge rates and provides some gravity settling of pollutants.
"Detention facility" means a detention basin or alternative structure designed for the purpose of temporary storage of stream flow or surface run-off and gradual release of stored water at controlled rates.
"Development project" means any construction, rehabilitation, redevelopment, land disturbance activity, or reconstruction of any public improvement projects or private projects.
"Discharge", when used as a verb, means to allow pollutants to directly or indirectly enter stormwater, or to allow stormwater or non-stormwater to directly or indirectly enter the stormwater conveyance system or receiving waters, from an activity or operations which one owns or operates. When used as a noun, "discharge" means the pollutants, stormwater, or non-stormwater that are discharged.
"Discharger" means any person or entity engaged in activities or operations or owning facilities, from which an allowed non-stormwater discharge to the stormwater conveyance system may or does originate or which will or may result in pollutants entering stormwater, the stormwater conveyance system, or receiving waters or the owners of real property on which such activities, operations or facilities are located, except that a local government or public authority is not a discharger as to activities conducted by others in public rights-of-way.
"Enforcement response plan" means the plan for enforcement of violations of this chapter developed in accordance with the MS4 Permit and included in the County of San Diego Jurisdictional Runoff Management Plan (JRMP).
"Environmentally sensitive area" or "ESA" means impaired water bodies, as defined by the federal Clean Water Act Section 303(d), areas designated as Areas of Special Biological Significance or with the RARE beneficial use by the SWRCB in the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Diego Basin (1994 and amendments) and areas designated as preserves for species- protection purposes by the State of California or a local government.
"Feasible" means capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, environmental, and technological factors as determined in the sole discretion of the County. Feasibility may be limited in this Chapter to eliminate consideration of economic, environmental and other factors as, for example, where feasibility is specifically defined as technological feasibility.
"Flow-thru treatment control BMPs" mean structural, engineered facilities that are designed to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff using treatment processes that do not incorporate significant biological methods. Examples include dry extended detention basins, sand filters, media filters, and vegetated swales.
"Illicit connection" means any man-made conveyance or drainage system through which non-stormwater or pollutants in water, not authorized by an NPDES permit or the NPDES Order are discharged or may be discharged to the stormwater conveyance system.
"Impervious surface area" means the ground area covered or sheltered by an impervious surface, measured in plan view. For example, the "impervious surface area" for a pitched roof is equal to the ground area it shelters, rather than the surface area of the roof itself.
"Industrial General Permit" means the General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Industrial Activities issued by the State Water Resources Control Board, Order No. 2014-0057-DWQ, as it currently exists or may be amended. The Industrial General Permit is available from the State Board and may be accessed on the County's website.
"Infiltration" in the context of low impact development means the percolation of water into the ground. Infiltration is often expressed as a rate (inches per hour), which is determined through an infiltration test.
"Infiltration BMPs" mean structural measures that capture, store, and infiltrate stormwater runoff. These BMPs are engineered to store a specified volume of water and have no design surface discharge (underdrain or outlet structure) until this volume is exceeded. Infiltration BMPs may also support evapotranspiration processes, but are characterized by having their most dominant volume losses due to infiltration. They are a type of retention BMP.
"Jurisdictional Runoff Management Program Document (JRMP)" A written description of the specific jurisdictional runoff management measures and programs that each Copermittee will implement to ensure that storm water pollutant discharges in runoff are reduced to the Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP) and do not cause or contribute to a violation of water quality standards. "Land disturbance activity" means any activity, whether or not a stormwater quality management plan or County permit or approval is required, that moves soils or substantially alters the land such as grading, digging, cutting, scraping, stockpiling or excavating of soil; placement of fill materials; paving, pavement removal, exterior construction; substantial removal of vegetation where soils are disturbed including but not limited to removal by clearing or grubbing; clearing or road- cutting associated with geotechnical exploration and assessment, percolation testing, or any other activity that is a condition of a permit application; or any activity which bares soil or rock or involves streambed alterations or the diversion or piping of any watercourse.
"Low impact development (LID)" means a stormwater management and land development strategy that emphasizes conservation and the use of on-site natural features integrated with engineered, small-scale hydrologic controls to more closely reflect pre-development hydrologic functions.
"Low Impact Development Best Management Practices (LID BMPs)" - LID BMPs include schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the United States through storm water management and land development strategies that emphasize conservation and the use of on-site natural features integrated with engineered, small-scale hydrologic controls to more closely reflect pre-development hydrologic functions. LID BMPs include retention practices that do not allow runoff, such as infiltration, rainwater harvesting and reuse, and evapotranspiration. LID BMPs also include flow-through practices such as biofiltration that may have some discharge of storm water following pollutant reduction.
"Maximum extent practicable" (MEP) means the technology-based standard established by Congress in CWA section 402(p)(3)(B)(iii) for storm water that operators of MS4s must meet: including implementation of all BMPs that are technically feasible (i.e., are likely to be effective), are not cost prohibitive, and adequately reduce or eliminate pollutant discharges from the stormwater conveyance system. MEP will generally require a combination of site design, source control and treatment control BMPs that emphasize pollution prevention and source control BMPs as the first line of defense and uses treatment control BMPs as a second line of defense. MEP also includes those practices considered or generally accepted as industry standards for the control of stormwater and non-stormwater runoff.
"Natural drainage" means a naturally occurring drainage consisting of native soils such as a natural swale or topographic depression which gathers or conveys run-off to a permanent or intermittent watercourse or water body.
"Natural System Management Practices" (NSMP) means stormwater practices implemented to restore and/or preserve predevelopment watershed functions in lieu of providing direct pollutant removal and hydromodification flow control. NSMPs may include structural or engineered elements, but these elements do not expressly provide pollutant removal. NSMPs include land restoration, land preservation and stream rehabilitation projects.
"Non-Stormwater" means all discharges to and from the stormwater conveyance system that do not originate from precipitation, including landscape irrigation runoff.
"NPDES Order" shall mean and refer to California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region Order No. R9-2013-0001, NPDES No. CAS00109266, as the same may be amended, modified or replaced from time to time.
"Pollutant" means any agent that may cause, potentially cause or contribute to the degradation of water quality such that a condition of pollution or contamination is created or aggravated.
"Pollutant Control BMP" (PC-BMP) means any engineered system designed to remove pollutants from stormwater by simple gravity settling of particulate pollutants, filtration, biological uptake, media absorption or any other physical, biological, or chemical process. They are also known as treatment control BMPs.
"Pollution prevention" means the practices and processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of pollutants such as the use of smaller quantities of toxic materials or substitution of less toxic materials; changes to production processes to reduce waste; decreases in wastewater flows; recycling of wastes as part of the production process; segregation of wastes, and treatment of wastes on site to decrease volume or toxicity.
"Priority Development Projects" (PDPs) are new development and redevelopment projects that are subject to general, source control site design, pollutant control, and hydromodification management BMP requirements, and other requirements as identified in the BMP Design Manual and MS4 Permit. Priority Development Projects must demonstrate compliance through the development and implementation of a Stormwater Quality Management Plan (SWQMP) to be approved by the County.
"Public improvement projects" means any project for the erection, construction, alteration, repair or improvement of any public structure, building, road, or other public improvement of any kind.
"Rainy season" means from October 1 through April 30.
"Receiving waters" shall mean waters of the United States.
"Redevelopment" means creation, addition, or replacement of impervious surface on an already developed site. Examples include the expansion of building footprints, road widening, the addition or replacement of a structure, and creation or addition of impervious surfaces. Replacement of existing impervious surfaces includes any activity that is not part of a routine maintenance activity where impervious material(s) are removed exposing underlying soil during construction. Redevelopment does not include trenching and resurfacing associated with utility work, resurfacing existing roadways, new sidewalk construction, pedestrian ramps, or bike lane on existing roads; and routine replacement of damaged pavement, such as pothole repair.
"Residential discharger" means the occupant, owner, manager, caretaker, or owner's association that owns, occupies or has responsibility for a discharge from a single-family dwelling, a multiple-family dwelling, mobile home park, condominium complex, board-and-care house, or other housing structure or portion of a residential development from which the discharge originated.
"Regional Water Quality Control Board" or "RWQCB" means the California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Diego Region (Region 9).
"Source control BMP" means land use or site planning practices, or structural or nonstructural measures that aim to prevent runoff pollution by reducing the potential for contamination at the source of pollution. Source control BMPs minimize the contact between pollutants and runoff.
"Standard Development Projects" (SDPs) are all development projects, not otherwise defined as a Priority Development Project, which must incorporate general, source control site design, low-impact development BMPs to the maximum extent practicable, and other requirements as identified in the BMP Design Manual. Standard development projects must demonstrate compliance with the requirements through the development and implementation of a stormwater quality management plan approved by the County.
"Stormwater" means storm water runoff, snowmelt runoff and surface runoff and drainage. Surface runoff and drainage pertains to runoff and drainage resulting from precipitation events.
"Stormwater conveyance system" means private and public drainage facilities other than sanitary sewers within the unincorporated area of San Diego County by which water run-off may be conveyed to receiving waters, and includes but is not limited to roads, streets, constructed channels, aqueducts, storm drains, pipes, street gutters, inlets to storm drains or pipes, or catch basins.
"Stormwater maintenance agreement" means an agreement prepared to the satisfaction of the County and executed on behalf of the County by the Director, by and between the County and the owner of any priority development project and designed to identify, preserve, and ensure the proper maintenance and operation of all stormwater BMPs in perpetuity.
"Stormwater pollution prevention plan" (SWPPP) means an approved site-specific plan that (1) identifies and evaluates sources of pollutants associated with activities that may affect the quality of stormwater discharges, (2) eliminates non-stormwater discharges, and (3) identifies and implements site-specific BMPs to reduce or to prevent pollutants in stormwater or retain non-stormwater discharges.
"Stormwater Quality Management Plan (SWQMP)" means a plan, submitted on a County form or in a County approved format with an application for a County permit or other County approval, identifying the measures that will be used for stormwater and non-stormwater management for a development project. There are two types of SWQMPs: a Standard SWQMP and a PDP SWQMP. A PDP SWQMP is required for all Priority Development Projects. Standard SWQMPs are required for all other development projects.
"Structural BMPs" are a subset of BMPs which detain, retain, filter, remove, or prevent the release of pollutants and control runoff discharge rates to surface waters from development projects in perpetuity, after construction of a project is completed. These BMPs can satisfy the requirements for Pollutant Control BMPs and Hydromodification BMP requirements for Priority Development Projects.
"SUSMP" or standard urban stormwater mitigation plan for land development projects and public improvement projects means the SUSMP adopted by the County Board of Supervisors on November 13, 2002 pursuant to California Regional Water Quality Control Board Order No. 2001-01, as it may thereafter be revised by the Director, Department of Public Works. The County BMP Design Manual will supersede the SUSMP pursuant to the NPDES Order.
"Treatment control BMPs" are also known as a Pollutant Control BMPs (PC-BMPs).
"Tributary to an impaired water body" means any facility or activity that is a tributary to an impaired water body because urban run-off from that facility or activity enters (1) the stormwater conveyance system at a place and in a manner that will carry pollutants for which that water body is impaired to the impaired water body; (2) a flowing stream that will carry pollutants for which that water body is impaired to the impaired water body; or (3) an ephemeral stream that reaches the impaired water body during storm events and that will carry pollutants for which that water body is impaired during such storm events.
"Waste" As generally defined in CWC Section 13050(d) and for purposes of this Chapter, waste includes sewage and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing, or processing operation, or any discarded material of human origin in any form whether discarded intentionally or unintentionally, including recycling, yard waste, and organic waste.
"Watercourse" means any surface water body (including any arroyo, canal, channel, conduit, creek, culvert, ditch, drain, gully, ravine, reservoir, river, stream, wash, waterway, or wetland) in which waters from a tributary drainage area of 100 acres or larger flow in a definite direction or course, either continuously or intermittently, and any area adjacent thereto which is subject to inundation from a 100-year flood."Water quality standards" mean those regionally determined beneficial uses and water quality objectives in applicable water quality control and basin plans, together with anti-degradation policies that serve as water quality standards under the Clean Water Act.
"Watershed Management Areas" mean those areas identified in Table B-1 of the NPDES Order where the County is identified as a responsible Copermittee.
"Watershed Management Area Analysis" means the analysis completed pursuant to Section II.B.3.b.(4) of the NPDES Order.
"Water Quality Improvement Plans" mean the plans developed by the County in accordance with Section II.B. of the NPDES Order for the Watershed Management Areas.
(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. 9999 (N.S.), effective 9-4-09; amended by Ord. No. 10030 (N.S.), effective 1-13-10; amended by Ord. No. 10096 (N.S.), effective 1-7-11; amended by Ord. No. 10224 (N.S.), effective 10-25-12; amended by Ord. No. 10385 (N.S.), effective 6-12-15; amended by Ord. No. 10410 (N.S.), effective 2-26-16; amended by Ord. No. 10709 (N.S.), effective 1-15-21; amended by Ord. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
(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; amended by Ord. 10927 (N.S.), effective 1-10-25)
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