All words used in this chapter shall have their customary meanings as defined in Webster's New World Dictionary, Ohio EPA Permit No. OHC0000S: General Permit Authorization for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), and/or Rainwater and Land Development: Ohio's Standards for Storm Water Management, Land Development and Urban Stream Protection, current edition, except those specifically defined in this section.
(a) "Approval authority." An official, organization, or group designated to review and approve or disapprove Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWP3s), Site Development Plans, and/or Storm Water Management Plans submitted to the City.
(b) "Authorized agent." An official, organization, or group which has official permission to represent or act on behalf of the City.
(c) "Best Management Practices (BMPs)." Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices (both structural and nonstructural) to prevent or reduce the pollution of surface waters of the state. "BMPs" also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant and/or construction site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.
(d) "Stormwater buffer." A designated transition area around water resources or wetlands that is left in a natural, usually vegetated, state so as to protect the surface waters of the state from runoff pollution. Construction activities in this area are restricted or prohibited.
(e) "Business day." A day of the week excluding a legal holiday as defined in R.C. § 1.14, Saturday, and Sunday.
(f) "The City." The City of Vermilion, State of Ohio, and its authorized agents and representatives.
(g) "Construction general permit." The most recent General National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for authorization of stormwater discharges associated with construction activities issued by Ohio EPA (Permit No. OHC000005 and all its successors).
(h) "Critical storm." A storm which is calculated by means of the percentage increase in volume of runoff by a proposed earth-disturbing activity or development area. The critical storm is used to calculate the maximum allowable storm water discharge rate from a site.
(i) "Cut." An excavation. The difference between a point on the original ground and a designated point of lower elevation on the final grade.
(j) "CWA." Rrefers to the Clean Water Act (formerly referred to as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972) Pub. L. 92-500, as amended Pub. L. 95-217, Pub. L. 95-576, Pub. L. 96-483, Pub. L. 97-117, and Pub. L. 100-4, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
(k) "Detention basin." An impoundment area created by constructing an embankment, excavating a pit, or both, for the purpose of temporarily storing storm water.
(l) "Detention facility." A detention basin or alternative structure designed to temporarily store storm water runoff and gradually release the stored water at a controlled rate.
(m) "Development." Any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures; mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavating, or drilling operations; or the storage of equipment or materials.
(n) "Development area." Any area upon which earth-disturbing activities are planned or underway for a development.
(o) "Earth-disturbing activity" or "soil disturbing activity." Any clearing, grading, excavation, filling, or other alteration of the earth's surface where natural or man-made ground cover is destroyed in a manner that exposes the underlying soils.
(p) "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)." The agency with the overall responsibility for administering the National Flood Insurance Program.
(q) "Fill." Any act by which earth, sand, gravel, rock, or any other material is placed, pushed, dumped, pulled, transported, or moved to a new location above the natural surface of the ground or on top of the stripped surface. The difference in elevation between a point on the original ground and a designated point of higher elevation on the final grade.
(r) "Grass coverage." To grass over, cover with grass. The planting, growing, and maintaining of grass seed as specified in the current edition of the Rainwater and Land Development with the intent of creating a thick, porous mat which dissipates small flows causing filtration of particulates.
(s) "Grubbing." Machine clearing of vegetation. Usually performed as the first step in the development of land.
(t) "Non-structural controls." Storm water runoff control and treatment techniques that use natural measures to control runoff and/or reduce pollution levels. Examples include minimizing impervious area, buffer strips along streams, and preserving natural vegetation.
(u) "NPDES." This refers to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which is the national program for issuing, modifying, revoking, and reissuing, terminating, monitoring, and enforcing permits and enforcing pretreatment requirements, under sections 307, 402, 318, and 405 of the CWA. The term includes an "approved program."
(v) "Ohio EPA construction permit" or "Ohio EPA Permit No. OHC00005" refers to Ohio EPA Permit Number OHC00005: General Permit Authorization for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
(w) "Parcel." Any legally described piece of land created by a partition, subdivision, deed, or other instrument recorded with the appropriate entity or agency.
(x) "Peak rate of runoff." The maximum rate of runoff for any twenty-four-hour storm of a given frequency.
(y) "Permanent stabilization." The establishment of permanent vegetation, decorative landscape mulching, matting, sod, rip rap and landscaping techniques to provide permanent erosion control on areas where construction operations are complete or where no further disturbance is expected for at least one year.
(z) "Permittee." The operator or operators responsible for obtaining authorization to discharge storm water associated with construction activity under the terms and conditions of Ohio EPA Permit No. OHC00005 or an individual NPDES permit, or coverage under an alternate general NPDES permit as described in Ohio EPA Permit No. OHC00005, Part I.C.I. for a development.
(aa) "Pre-development conditions." Site conditions as they existed as of March 2006 or as agreed by the City Engineer based upon the specific site detail.
(bb) "Rainwater and Land Development" or "Rainwater and Land Development Manual" refers to the current edition of Rainwater and Land Development: Ohio's Standards for Storm Water Management, Land Development and Urban Stream Protection developed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. This manual describes construction and post construction best management practices and associated specifications. A copy of the manual may be obtained by contacting the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Soil & Water Conservation.
(cc) "Riparian." Relating to the banks of the surface waters of the state.
(dd) "Sediment settling pond". A sediment trap, sediment basin or permanent basin that has been temporarily modified for sediment control, as described in the Rainwater and Land Development Manual.
(ee) "Site Development Plan." The written document or set of plans meeting the requirements of this chapter that provides information on the location of the area proposed for development, the site in relation to its general surroundings, and existing characteristics of the site, including limits of earth disturbing activities.
(ff) "Silviculture." A branch of forestry dealing with the development and care of forests.
(gg) "Stop-work order." An order issued which requires that all work on the site must cease except work associated with bringing the site into compliance with the approved SWM Plan or Site Development Plan.
(hh) "SWM Plan." This refers to a Storm Water Management (SWM) Plan, which is a written document created to satisfy requirements of this chapter. The SWM Plan sets forth the plans and practices to be used to minimize storm water runoff from a site and to safely convey or temporarily store and release post-development storm water runoff at an allowable rate to minimize flooding and erosion.
(ii) "SWP3." A Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan as described in Ohio EPA Permit No. OHC000005. The requirements of the SWP3 will be coordinated and combined with the requirements for a Storm Water Management Plan as defined in this section. "SWM Plan" and described in this chapter.
(jj) "Storm frequency." The average period of time in years within which a storm of a given duration and intensity can be expected to be equaled or exceeded.
(kk) "Structural controls." Any human-made facility, structure, or device that is constructed to provide temporary storage and/or treatment of storm water runoff. Examples include retention and detention basins, rock check dams, swales, and constructed wetlands.
(ll) "Surface waters of the state" or "water bodies" means all streams, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, marshes, wetlands, or other waterways which are situated wholly or partially within the boundaries of the state, except those private waters which do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters. Waters defined as sewerage systems, treatment works, or disposal systems in R.C. § 6111.01 are not included.
(mm) "Swale." A low-lying stretch of vegetated land which gathers and carries surface water.
(nn) "Temporary vegetation." Short term vegetative cover such as oats, rye, or wheat, used to stabilize the soil surface until final grading and installation of permanent vegetation.
(oo) "TR55." This refers to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Technical Release 55, Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds, current edition.
This document presents simplified procedures to calculate storm runoff volume, peak rate of discharge, hydrographs, and storage volumes required for floodwater reservoirs. These procedures are applicable in small watersheds, especially urbanizing watersheds, in the United States.
(Ord. 2017-5. Passed 3-6-16; Ord. 2022-23. Passed 5-9-22.)