Ross Municipal Code Art. I Title, Purpose and General

12.28.010 Title. This chapter shall be known as the "town urban runoff pollution prevention ordinance" and may be so cited. (Ord. 657 (part), 2014; Ord. 529 Div. 1(part), 1995).

12.28.020 Purpose and intent. The purpose of this chapter is to ensure the future health, safety, and general welfare of Ross citizens and to protect and enhance watercourses, fish and wildlife habitat by:

Minimizing discharges other than storm runoff to storm drains or watercourses;

Responding to the discharge of spills, preventing and controlling the discharge of spills to storm drains or watercourses and prohibiting dumping or disposal of materials other than stormwater;
Reducing pollutants in stormwater discharges to the maximum extent practicable; 4. Requiring operators of construction sites, new or redeveloped land, and industrial and commercial facilities to install, implement, or maintain appropriate best management practices (BMPs); and
Requiring development projects to maintain or reduce the volume, velocity, peak flow rate and duration of runoff as compared to pre-development stormwater runoff and preventing stormwater pollution whenever possible, through stormwater management controls and ensuring that these management controls are properly maintained.

The intent of this chapter is to protect and enhance the water quality of our watercourses, water bodies, and wetlands in a manner pursuant to and consistent with the Clean Water Act, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (California Water Code Section 13000 et seq. ), and the Phase II Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, Water Quality Order No. 2013-0001—DWQ, General Permit No. CAS000004 (Phase II Stormwater Permit) and subsequent revisions and amendments thereto. (Ord. 657 (part), 2014; Ord. 529 Div. 1(part), 1995).

12.28.030 Definitions. (a) The following definitions shall be applicable when the following words or phrases are used in this chapter. Words and phrases used in this chapter and not otherwise defined shall be interpreted as defined in the regulations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement the provisions of the federal Clean Water Act, the California Water Code, and the Phase II Stormwater Permit, as each may be amended from time to time. In the event of any conflict, the relevant state or federal definition will prevail over the definitions contained herein and shall be incorporated into this ordinance:

(1) "Authorized enforcement official" means the town manager or designee. (2) "BASMAA Post Construction Manual" shall mean the most recent version of the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies (BASMAA) Post Construction Manual.

(3) "Best management practices (BMPs)" means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, general good housekeeping practices, pollution prevention practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to waters of the United States. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste recycling or disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.

(4) “Construction activity” means any activity that involves soil disturbing activities including, but not limited to, clearing, paving, grading, disturbances to ground such as stockpiling, and excavation.

(5) "Discharge of a Pollutant" means (a) the addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to waters of the United States from any point source, or (b) any addition of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to the waters of the contiguous zone or the ocean from any point source other than a vessel or other floating craft which is being used as a means of transportation. The term includes additions of pollutants to waters of the United States from: surface runoff which is collected or channeled by humans ; discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances owned by a State, municipality, or other person which do not lead to a treatment works; and discharges through pipes, sewers, or other conveyances, leading into privately owned treatment works.

(6) "Illicit connection" means any device or method that conveys non-stormwater to a municipal separate storm sewer (storm drain) system (MS4) or receiving water.

(7) "Illicit discharge" means any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer (storm drain) system (MS4) that is prohibited under local, state, or federal statutes, ordinances, codes, or regulations. The term illicit discharge includes all non-stormwater discharges not composed entirely of stormwater and discharges that are identified under the Discharge of Pollutants section of this chapter. The term illicit discharge does not include discharges that are regulated by an NPDES permit (other than the NPDES permit for discharges from the MS4).

(8) “Incidental irrigation runoff” means unintended amounts (volume) of runoff, such as unintended, minimal over-spray from sprinklers that escapes the landscaped area of intended use. Water leaving an intended use area is not considered incidental if it is part of the facility design, if it is due to excessive application, if it is due to intentional overflow or application, or if it is due to negligence.

(9) “Low Impact Development (LID)” means a sustainable practice that benefits water supply and contributes to water quality protection. LID uses site design and stormwater management to maintain the site’s pre-development runoff rates and volumes. The goal of LID is to mimic a site’s predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to the source of rainfall.

(10) “MCSTOPPP” is the Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program.

(11) "NPDES permit" means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, or a California Regional Water Quality Control Board pursuant to the Clean Water Act that authorizes discharges to waters of the United States.

(12) "Non-stormwater discharge" means any discharge that is not entirely composed of stormwater.

(13) “Phase II Stormwater Permit” means the NPDES general stormwater permit applicable to the County of Marin, Water Quality Order No. 2013-0001—DWQ, General Permit No. CAS000004, and any subsequent amendment, reissuance or successor to this NPDES permit.

(14) "Pollutant" means dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, biological materials, pet wastes, manure, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, sediment, cellar dirt, dumped yard wastes, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste; or sand and gravel placed in such a way as to be carried away by stormwater into the storm drains and watercourses of the town.

(15) "Post Construction Measures Requirements" shall mean the provisions in Section E.12 of the Phase II Stormwater Permit that contain design standards or performance criteria to address the post-construction phase impacts of new projects and redeveloped projects on stormwater quality and quantity. The BASMAA Post Construction Manual describes projects subject to the post-construction measures.

(16) "Premises" means any building, lot, parcel, real estate, or land or portion of land whether improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.

(17) "Storm drains" means and includes but is not limited to those facilities within the town by which stormwater may be conveyed to waters of the United States, including any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels or storm drains, which are not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at 40 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) 122.2.

(18) "Stormwater” or “storm runoff" means stormwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.

(19) "Stormwater Control Plan" shall mean a plan that meets those criteria contained in the most recent version of the BASMAA Post Construction Manual . (20) "Stormwater Facilities Operation and Maintenance Plan" shall mean a plan

identifying the locations and characteristics of stormwater management facilities on a newly developed or redeveloped site and describing maintenance activities, schedules, and responsibilities to ensure the ongoing proper operation of those facilities.

(21) "Stormwater management facility" shall mean any device designated to detain, retain, filter, or infiltrate stormwater.

(22) "Town" means the town of Ross.

(23) “Urban runoff” means stormwater runoff from an urbanized area including streets and adjacent domestic and commercial properties that carries pollutants of various types into the storm drainage system and receiving waters.

(24) “Urbanized area” means a densely settled core of census tracts and/or census blocks that have a population of at least 50,000, along with adjacent territory containing nonresidential urban land uses as well as territory with low population density included to link outlying densely settled territory with the densely settled core.

(25) "Watercourse" means any natural or once natural flowing river, creek, stream, swale or drainageway, whether perennial, intermittent or ephemeral. Includes natural waterways that have been channelized but does not include channels, ditches, culverts or other above or below ground constructed conduits, i.e., storm drains. (Ord. 728 (part), 2025; Ord. 657 (part), 2014; Ord. 529 Div. 1(part), 1995).

12.28.040 Responsibility for administration. This chapter shall be administered for the town by the authorized enforcement official. Where storm drains and/or watercourses have been accepted for maintenance by a public agency legally responsible for certain storm drains and/or watercourses, then the responsibility for enforcing the provisions of this chapter may be assigned to such agency (through contract or agreement executed by the town and such agency) with respect to those storm drains and/or watercourses for which they have accepted maintenance. In administering this chapter, the authorized enforcement official has the authority to request and require the submittal of information deemed necessary to assess compliance with this chapter and the Phase II Stormwater Permit. (Ord. 657 (part), 2014; Ord. 529 Div. 1(part), 1995).

12.28.050 Construction and application. This chapter shall be construed to assure consistency with the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, and applicable implementing regulations, including the current and future versions of the water quality control plan for the San Francisco Bay basin and the Phase II Stormwater Permit. (Ord. 657 (part), 2014; Ord. 529 Div. 1(part), 1995).