(a) Short Title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the “White Oak Borough Stormwater Management Ordinance.
(b) Statement of Findings. The governing body of the Borough of White Oak finds that:
(1) Stormwater runoff from lands modified by human activities threatens public health and safety by causing decreased infiltration of rainwater and increased runoff flows and velocities, which overtax the carrying capacity of existing streams and storm sewers, and greatly increases the cost of the public to manage stormwater.
(2) Inadequate planning and management of stormwater runoff resulting from land development and redevelopment throughout a watershed can also harm surface water resources by changing the natural hydrologic patterns, accelerating streams flows (which increase scour and erosion of stream-beds and stream-banks thereby elevating sedimentation), destroying aquatic habitat and elevating aquatic pollutant concentrations and loading such as sediments, nutrients, heavy metal and pathogens. Groundwater resources are also impacted through loss of recharge.
(3) A program of stormwater management, including reasonable regulations of land development and redevelopment causing loss of natural infiltration, is fundamental to the public health, safety, welfare, and the protection of the people of the Borough of White Oak and all the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, their resources, and the environment.
(4) Stormwater can be an important water resources by providing groundwater recharge for water supplies and base flow of streams, which also protects and maintains surface water quality.
(5) Public addressing stormwater. education on the control of pollution from stormwater is an essential component in successfully addressing stormwater.
(6) Federal and state regulations require certain municipalities to implement a program of stormwater controls. These municipalities are required to obtain a permit for stormwater discharges from their separate storm sewer systems under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES).
(7) Non-stormwater discharges to municipal separate storm sewer systems can contribute to pollution of waters of the Commonwealth by the Borough of White Oak.
(c) Purpose. The purpose of this article is to promote the health, safety, and welfare within the Borough of White Oak and its watershed by minimizing the harms and maximizing the benefits described in subsection (b) hereof, through provisions designed to:
(1) Manage stormwater runoff impacts at their source by regulating activities that cause the problem.
(2) Provide review procedures and performance standards for stormwater planning and management.
(3) Utilize and preserve the existing natural drainage systems as much as possible.
(4) Manage stormwater impacts close to the runoff source, which requires a minimum of structures and relies on natural processes.
(5) Focus on infiltration of stormwater, to maintain groundwater recharge, to prevent degradation of surface and groundwater quality and to otherwise protect water resources.
(6) Maintain existing flows and quality of streams and watercourses.
(7) Meet legal water quality requirements under state law, including regulations at 25 Pa Code Chapter 93.4a to protect and maintain “existing uses” and maintain the level of water quality to support those uses in all streams, and to protect and maintain water quality in “special protection” streams.
(8) Prevent scour and erosion of streambanks and streambeds.
(9) Provide for proper operations and maintenance of all permanent stormwater management BMPs that are implemented in the Borough of White Oak.
(10) Provide a mechanism to identify controls necessary to meet the NPDES permit requirements.
(11) Implement an illegal discharge detection and elimination program to address non-stormwater discharges into the Borough of White Oak’s separate storm sewer system.
(d) Statutory Authority. The Borough of White Oak is empowered to regulate land use activities that affect stormwater impacts by the authority of the Borough Code, Act of February 1, 1966 as amended 53 P.S. §5101 et seq. and/or the Pennsylvania Planning Code 53 P.S. §10101 et seq.
(e) Applicability.
(1) This article applies to any Regulated Earth Disturbance activities within the Borough of White Oak, and all stormwater runoff entering into the Borough’s separate storm sewer system from lands within the boundaries of the Borough of White Oak.
(2) Earth Disturbance activities and associated stormwater management controls are also regulated under existing state law and implementing regulations. This article shall operate in coordination with those parallel requirements; and requirements of this article shall be no less restrictive in meeting the purposes of this article than state law.
(f) Repealer. Any other ordinance provision(s) or regulations of the Borough of White oak inconsistent with any of the provisions of this article is hereby repealed to the extent of the inconsistency only.
(g) Severability. In the event that any section or provision of this article is declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of nay of the remaining provisions of this article.
(h) Compatibility with Other Requirements.
(1) Approvals issued and actions taken under this article do not relieve the Applicant of the responsibility to secure required permits or approvals for activities regulated by and other code, law, regulation or ordinance. To the extend that this article imposes more rigorous or stringent requirements for stormwater management, the specific requirements contained in this article shall be followed.
(2) Nothing in this article shall be construed to affect any of the Municipality’s requirements regarding stormwater matters which do not conflict with the provisions of this article, such as local stormwater management design criteria (e.g. inlet spacing, inlet type, collection system, design and details, outlet structure design, etc.). Conflicting provisions in other municipal ordinances or regulations shall be construed to retain the requirements of this article addressing State Water Quality Requirements.
(Ord. 3346. Passed 3-15-04.)