Unless otherwise stated herein or the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of the words and terms used in this chapter shall be as set forth in S.C. Code § 48-10-20, and S.C. Code Regulation § 72-301. The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meaning ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning.
APPLICANT. A person, firm, corporation, limited liability company, governmental agency, partnership or any other entity who seeks to obtain approval under the requirements of this chapter and who will be responsible for the land disturbing activity and related maintenance thereof.
AS-BUILT DRAWINGS. Revised construction drawings that depict the final, installed location of the new facilities on a project, including the stormwater system. This term and RECORD DRAWINGS shall be synonymous.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs). Any structural or non-structural measures or facilities used for the control of stormwater run-off, whether for quantity or quality control. BMPs also include schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, treatment requirements, operating procedures and other management practices to control site run-off, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, drainage from raw material storage, or otherwise prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the state.
CONSTRUCTION or CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY. Activity involving clearing, grading, transporting, filling, or any other activity which causes land to be exposed to the danger of erosion, or which might create an alteration to any existing drainage way or other component of the town’s stormwater system or facility.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY APPLICATION. The application, set of drawings, specifications, design calculations, SWPPP and other documents necessary to demonstrate compliance with this chapter.
DEVELOPER. Any person, or others who act in his or her behalf, who is required to submit an application for approval to disturb land or encroachment and is thereafter responsible for maintaining compliance with this chapter and conditions of the approved application.
EASEMENT. An authorization by a property owner to the general public or a person or persons for the use of any designated part of his or her property for a specific purpose.
EROSION. The general process by which soils or rock fragments are detached and moved by the action of wind, water, ice or gravity.
FLOOD/FLOODING. A temporary rise in the level of water which results in the inundation of areas not ordinarily covered by water.
ILLICIT CONNECTION. A connection to a town stormwater management system or facility which results in a discharge that is not composed entirely of stormwater run-off except discharges pursuant to an NPDES permit (other than the NPDES MS4 permit for the town).
ILLICIT DISCHARGE or ILLEGAL DISCHARGE. Any activity which results in a discharge into a town stormwater management system or facility or receiving waters that is not composed entirely of stormwater except:
(1) Discharges pursuant to an NPDES permit (other than the NPDES permit for the town); and
(2) Discharges resulting from firefighting activities.
IMPROPER DISPOSAL. Any disposal other than through an illicit connection that results in an illicit discharge, including, but not limited to, the disposal of used oil and toxic materials resulting from the improper management of such substances.
MAINTENANCE. Any action necessary to preserve any stormwater system component, including conveyances, facilities and BMPs in proper working condition, in order to serve the intended purposes set forth in this chapter and to prevent structural failure of such components.
MS4. A municipal separate storm sewer system and includes all conveyances or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, highways, right-of-way, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, human-made channels, storm drains, detention ponds and other stormwater facilities) which inlets, transports, stores or treats stormwater run-off and which is:
(1) Owned or operated by the town;
(2) Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;
(3) Not a combined sewer system; and
(4) Not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW).
NEW DEVELOPMENT or RE-DEVELOPMENT. Any of the following actions undertaken by any person, including, without limitation, any public or private individual or entity:
(1) Division or combination of lots, tracts or parcels, or other divisions by plat or deed;
(2) The construction, installation or alteration of land, a structure, impervious surface or drainage facility;
(3) Clearing, scraping, grubbing or otherwise significantly disturbing the soil, vegetation, mud, sand or rock of a site, or changing the physical drainage characteristics of the site; or
(4) Adding, removing, exposing, excavating, leveling, grading, digging, burrowing, dumping, piling, dredging or otherwise disturbing the soil, vegetation, mud, sand or rock of a site.
NPDES. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
NPDES PERMIT. The NPDES permit for stormwater discharges issued by SCDHEC pursuant to the Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., and the federal stormwater discharge regulations that allows for restricting pollutant loads as necessary to meet water quality standards.
OPERATOR. The person who has operational control of the real property, including an operator or person who is in charge of any activity related to land disturbance, construction or post- construction stormwater quality or quantity.
OUTFALL or DISCHARGE POINT. The point where a town stormwater management system or facility, or other municipal and private system, discharges into waters of the state or United States.
OWNER. A property owner, or any person who acts in his or her behalf, who submits an application for approval to disturb land or vegetation or for encroachment, and the person, if so designated by default or on legal documents, who is the responsible party for maintenance of a stormwater system(s) or facility(s).
PERSON. Any and all persons, natural or artificial, and includes any individual, association, firm, corporation, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, state or federal agency or an agent or employee thereof, or any other legal entity.
POLLUTANT. Anything which may cause or contribute to violation of water quality standards, including, but not limited to, sediment, bacteria, nutrients, dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water.
PROPERTY OWNER. The record owner of the real property.
RECEIVING WATERS. Any lakes, bays, sounds, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Atlantic Ocean within the territorial limits of the State of South Carolina, and all other bodies of surface or underground water, whether natural or artificial, public or private, inland or coastal, fresh or salt.
REGULATION. Any regulation, rule or requirement prepared by or adopted by Town Council pursuant to this chapter.
SPILL. Any accidental or intentional discharge of any pollutants, hazardous materials, or other substances which are potentially detrimental to the designated use of a receiving water.
SWMP. The Town of Sullivan’s Island Stormwater Management Program, which may describe the components to be used by the town to control stormwater discharges, address flooding and meet water quality standards.
STORMWATER. Stormwater run-off, snowmelt run-off, and surface run-off and drainage.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT. The collection, conveyance, storage, treatment and disposal of stormwater run-off in a manner to meet the objectives of this chapter and its terms, including, but not limited to, measures that control the increased volume and rate of stormwater run-off and water quality impacts caused by human-made changes to the land.
STORMWATER SYSTEMS AND FACILITIES. Those natural and human-made channels, swales, ditches, swamps, rivers, streams, creeks, branches, reservoirs, ponds, drainage ways, inlets, catch basins, pipes, head walls, storm sewers, lakes and other physical works, properties, and improvements which transfer, control, convey, or otherwise influence the movement of stormwater run-off, whether for quantity or quality control.
TMDL. The total maximum daily load which is the regulatory value developed to represent the amount of a pollutant that a water body can incorporate while maintaining water quality standards. TMDL is further defined as the pollutant load developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and SCDHEC that designates the permitted amount of discharge allowed to flow into a water body of this state or the United States.
VARIANCE. The modification of the minimum stormwater management requirements contained in this chapter and the SWMP for specific circumstances where strict adherence to the requirements would result in unnecessary hardship and not fulfill the intent of this chapter.
WATERCOURSE. A conveyance used to transport run-off from one location to another.
WATERSHED. A drainage area or drainage basin contributing to the flow of stormwater into a receiving watercourse or water body.
WATER QUALITY. Those characteristics of stormwater run-off that relate to the physical, chemical, biological or radiological integrity of water.
WATER QUANTITY. Those characteristics of stormwater run-off that relate to the rate and volume of the stormwater run-off.
(Prior Code, § 25-18) (Ord. 2007, passed 9-18-2007)