Foster City Municipal Code Art. II Discharge Regulations and Requirements

The release of any nonstormwater discharge to the city storm sewer system or watercourse is prohibited. All discharges of material other than stormwater must be in compliance with a NPDES permit issued for the discharge (other than NPDES Permit No. CAS612008) and the ordinance codified in this chapter. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

The following discharges are exempt from the prohibition set forth in Section 13.12.070:

A. The prohibition on discharges shall not apply to any discharge regulated under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to the discharger and administered by the state of California under 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: water line flushing and other discharges from potable water sources, municipal street cleaning, municipal park maintenance, landscape irrigation and lawn watering, irrigation water, diverted stream flows, rising groundwaters, infiltration to separate storm drains, uncontaminated pumped groundwater, foundation and footing drains, water from crawl space pumps, air conditioning condensation, springs, individual residential activities, flows from riparian habitats and wetlands, dechlorinated swimming pool discharges, or flows from firefighting and other emergency response activity, and accordingly are not subject to the prohibition on discharges. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

Any discharge that would result in or contribute to a violation of NPDES Permit No. CAS612008, the terms of which are incorporated herein by reference, and which is on file in the office of the city clerk, 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(s) causing or responsible for the discharge, and such persons shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless the city in any administrative or judicial enforcement action relating to such discharge. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

It is prohibited to commence or continue any illicit discharges to the city storm sewer system. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

Any person engaged in activities which will or may result in pollutants entering the city storm sewer 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 parking lots, gasoline stations, industrial facilities, commercial facilities, stores fronting city streets, etc. The following minimal requirements shall apply:

A. Littering.

1. 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 lot of land in the city, so that the same might be or become a pollutant, except in containers or in lawfully established dumping grounds.

2. The occupant or tenant, or in the absence of 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 litter to the maximum extent practicable.

3. 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. Green Infrastructure. Every regulated project must incorporate green infrastructure approved by the city and in accordance with all applicable city standards and requirements, including the latest edition of the city’s green infrastructure plan. Green infrastructure facilities shall be designed to minimize the need for maintenance.

C. Standard for Parking Lots and Similar Structures. Persons owning or operating a parking lot, gas station pavement or similar structure 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 sewer system.

D. Best Management Practices for New Developments and Redevelopments. The proponent of any new development or redevelopment project must address stormwater runoff pollutant discharges and prevent increases in runoff flows from the new development or redevelopment project by incorporating post-construction stormwater control and low impact development measures required by the current version of the SMCWPPP C.3 Technical Guidance Document. Best management practices may include but are not limited to full trash capture devices, green infrastructure, low impact development measures, and post-construction treatment controls. City may establish controls on the volume and rate of stormwater runoff from new developments and redevelopments as may be appropriate to minimize the discharge and transport of pollutants.

E. Best Management Practices for Construction Activities. It is unlawful for any person to commence any construction activity without implementing all stormwater and pollutant mitigation measures required by the municipal regional permit, the Technical Guidance Document, and any local regulations implementing the municipal regional permit. Any person performing construction activity in the city must implement best management practices that prevent the discharge of pollutants to the city’s storm sewer system.

F. Best Management Practices for Commercial and Industrial Sites. The owner and operator of any premises where pollutants from business-related activities may enter the stormwater conveyance system must prevent such a discharge and must implement appropriate and effective BMPs and other pollutant controls to eliminate and prevent pollutants in runoff.

G. Compliance with Best Management Practices. Where best management practices guidelines or requirements have been adopted by the city for any activity, operation or facility which may cause or contribute to the stormwater pollution or contamination, illicit discharges, and/or discharge of nonstormwater to the stormwater 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).

H. Maintenance Responsibility. The applicant for a regulated project that is required to install green infrastructure measures must submit a maintenance plan for and proof of maintenance responsibility to the satisfaction of the authorized enforcement official. The maintenance plan must include a schedule for maintenance of the green infrastructure and must identify the person or entity responsible for ongoing maintenance, such as the owner of the property, a homeowners’ or property owners’ association, or the city. The person or entity responsible for ongoing maintenance must, as a condition of development, enter into an agreement with the city to the satisfaction of the authorized enforcement official, which must be recorded with the county recorder. The agreement must include provisions for the perpetual operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of green infrastructure measures and must include a maintenance schedule for the green infrastructure measure(s). (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)

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 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 dump or deposit or cause or allow to be dumped or deposited waste material within twenty feet of the bank or slope of any watercourse without first having obtained written permission of the city engineer, the county health officer, and the city council. (Ord. 628 § 3 (part), 2019)