Firebaugh Municipal Code § 29-2 Discharge Regulations and Requirements

[Ord. #93-8, S1]

The discharge of nonstorm water discharges to the city storm drain system is prohibited. All discharges of material other than storm water discharges must be in compliance with an NPDES permit issued for the discharge.

[Ord. #93-8, S1]

The following discharges are exempt from the prohibition set forth in section 29-2.1 above.

a. The prohibition of discharges shall not apply to any discharge regulated under a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to the discharger and administered by the State of California under the authority of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, provided that the discharger is in full compliance with all requirements of the permit and other applicable laws or regulations.

b. Discharges from the following activities will not be considered a source of pollutants to waters of the United States when properly managed, and accordingly are not subject to the prohibition of discharges: water line flushing and other discharges from potable water sources, landscape irrigation and lawn watering, irrigation water, diverted stream flows, rising ground waters, infiltration to separate storm drains, uncontaminated pumped ground water, foundation and footing drains, water from crawl space pumps, air conditioning condensation, springs, individual residential car washings, flows from riparian habitats and wetlands, dechlorinated swimming pool discharges or flows from firefighting.

[Ord. #93-8, S1]

Any discharge that would result in or contribute to a violation of this chapter or any active city NPDES permit and any amendment, revision or reissuance thereof, either separately considered or when combined with other discharges, is prohibited. Liability for any such discharge shall be the responsibility of the person or persons causing or responsible for the discharge, and such person or persons shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the city in any administrative or judicial enforcement action relating to such discharge.

[Ord. #93-8, S1]

It is prohibited to establish, use, maintain, or continue illicit drainage connections to the city storm drain system, and to commence or continue any illicit discharges to the city storm drain system. This prohibition is expressly retroactive and applies to connections made in the past, regardless of whether made under a permit or other authorization or whether permissible under the law or practices applicable or prevailing at the time of the connection.

[Ord. #93-8, S1]

Any person engaged in activities which will or may result in pollutants entering the city storm drain system shall undertake all practicable measures to reduce such pollutants. Examples of such activities include ownership and use of facilities which may be a source of pollutants such as streets and the like. The following minimum requirements shall apply:

a. Littering. No person shall throw, deposit, leave, maintain, keep, or permit to be thrown, deposited, placed, left or maintained, any refuse, rubbish, garbage, or other discarded or abandoned objects, articles, and accumulations, in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, storm drain, inlet, catch basin, conduit or other drainage structures, business place, or upon any public or private plot of land in the city, so that the same might be or become a pollutant, except in containers or in lawfully established waste disposal facilities. The occupant or tenant, or in the absence of an occupant or tenant, the owner, lessee, or proprietor of any real property in the city in front of which there is a paved sidewalk shall maintain said sidewalk free of dirt or litter to the maximum extent practicable. Sweepings from said sidewalk shall not be swept or otherwise made or allowed to go into the gutter or roadway, but shall be disposed of in receptacles maintained on said real property as required for the disposal of garbage.

No person shall throw or deposit litter in any fountain, pond, lake, stream, or any other body of water in a park or elsewhere within the city.

b. Standard for Parking Lots and Similar Structures. Persons owning or operating a parking lot, gas station pavement or similar structure having impermeable surfaces, shall clean those structures as frequently and thoroughly as practicable in a manner that does not result in discharge of pollutants to the city storm drain system.

c. Best Management Practices for New Developments and Redevelopments. Any construction contractor performing work in the city shall endeavor, whenever possible, to provide filter materials at the catch basin to retain any debris and dirt flowing into the city's storm drain system. The director of public works may adopt regulations establishing controls on the volume and rate of storm water runoff from new developments and redevelopments as may be appropriate to minimize the discharge and transport of pollutants.

d. Notification of Intent and Compliance with General Permits. Each industrial discharger, discharger associated with construction activity, or other discharger, described in any general storm water permit addressing such discharges, as may be adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, or the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, shall provide notice of intent, comply with, and undertake all other activities required by any general storm water permit applicable to such discharges.

Each discharger identified in an individual NPDES permit relating to storm water discharges shall comply with and undertake all activities required by such permit.

e. Compliance with Best Management Practices. Where best management practices, guidelines or requirements have been adopted by any federal, State of California, regional, and/or city agency, for any activity, operation, or facility which may cause or contribute to storm water pollution or contamination, illicit discharges, and/or discharges of nonstorm water to the storm water system, every person undertaking such activity or operation, or owning or operating such facility shall comply with such guidelines or requirements as may be identified by the director of public works.

[Ord. #93-8, S1]

Every person owning property through which a watercourse passes, or such person's lessee or tenant, shall keep and maintain that part of the watercourse within the property reasonably free of trash, debris, excessive vegetation, and other obstacles which would pollute, contaminate, or significantly retard the flow of water through the watercourse; shall maintain existing privately owned structures within or adjacent to a watercourse, so that such structures will not become a hazard to the use, function, or physical integrity of the watercourse; and shall not remove healthy bank vegetation beyond that actually necessary for said maintenance, nor remove said vegetation in such a manner as to increase the vulnerability of the watercourse to erosion.

No person shall commit or cause to be committed any of the following acts, unless a written permit has first been obtained from the director of public works:

a. Discharge into or connect any pipe or channel to a watercourse;

b. Modify the natural flow of water in a watercourse;

c. Carry out development within 30 feet of the center line of any creek or 20 feet of the top of a bank whichever is greater;

d. Deposit in, plant in, or remove any material from a watercourse including its banks, except as required for necessary maintenance;

e. Construct, alter, enlarge, connect to, change, or remove any structure in a watercourse; or

f. Place any loose or unconsolidated material along the side of or within a watercourse or so close to the side as to cause a diversion of the flow, or to cause a probability of such material being carried away by storm waters passing through such watercourse. The director of public works may adopt regulations to clarify and implement the requirements of this section.