Santa Maria Municipal Code Ch. 8 12A. Storm Water Runoff Pollution Prevention

The purposes of this Ordinance are to:

(a) Protect the City's storm water collection system and receiving waters from pollutants;

(b) Comply, and require compliance with Federal and State laws concerning storm water.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

"Best Management Practices (BMPs)"

shall mean schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the United States; also treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, which are consistent with the California Storm Water Quality Association Best Management Practice Handbooks or equivalent.

"Discharge"

shall mean any release, spill, leak, pump, flow, escape, leaching (including subsurface migration to groundwater), dumping, or disposal of any liquid, semi-solid, or solid substance.

"Illicit Connection"

shall mean any unauthorized, man-made conveyance or drainage system pipeline, conduit, inlet or outlet, or condition of property whether on the surface or subsurface through which the discharge of any pollutant to the storm drain system occurs or may occur. Illicit connections include, but are not limited to:

(1)

Any conveyances which allow sewage, process wastewater, or wash water to enter the storm drain system and any connections to the storm drain system from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of whether said drain or connection had been previously allowed, permitted, or approved by a government agency; or

(2)

Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial land use to the storm drain system which has not been documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by the City of Santa Maria.

"Pollutant"

shall mean anything that causes or contributes to pollution including but not limited to:

(1)

Artificial materials, chips, or pieces of natural or man-made materials such as floatable plastics, wood, or metal shavings;

(2)

Waste including trash, paper, plastics, lawn clippings and yard wastes; animal fecal materials; pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers; used oil and fluids from vehicles, lawn mowers and other common household equipment;

(3)

Metals including cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, silver, nickel, and chromium and non-metals including phosphorus and arsenic;

(4)

Petroleum hydrocarbons such as fuels, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, surfactants, waste oils, solvents, coolants and grease;

(5)

Soil sediment and particulate materials;

(6)

Animal waste including animal fecal material from any property, residence, yard, kennel, pen, park, dog park, animal show, animal confinement facility; or any activity involving an animal including keeping, riding, exercising, showing, recreating, walking, or transporting;

(7)

Substances having characteristics such as a pH less than 5.5 or greater than 9.5, unusual coloration, turbidity, or pathogens;

(8)

Waste materials including those incidental to construction and development activities; those produced by any activities of commercial or industrial businesses, whether mobile or stationary; painting, staining, use of sealants, glues, limes; application of pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides; use of wood preservatives and solvents; disturbance of asbestos fibers, paint flakes or stucco fragments; application of oils, lubricants, hydraulic, radiator, or battery fluids; concrete pouring and cutting slurry wastes; sand blasting residues; or use of chemical degreasing or diluting agents;

(9)

Wastewater including any runoff generated by construction and development activities; the activities of any commercial or industrial businesses, whether mobile or stationary; pressure-washing of cars, buildings, walkways, or driveways; application of pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides; use of oils, lubricants, hydraulic, radiator or battery fluids; concrete pouring and cutting slurry wastes; sand blasting residues; use of chemical degreasing or diluting agents; concrete washout or use of concrete detergents or construction equipment washing; or chlorinated water generated by swimming pools;

(10)

Materials causing an increase in biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, or total organic carbon; or which contain base/neutral or acid extractable organic compounds; and

(11)

Pollutants as defined in § 502 (6) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1362(6) or incorporated into California Water Code § 13373.

"Receiving water"

shall mean "waters of the United States" as defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations §122.2 into which the regulated storm water discharges.

"Responsible Party"

shall mean any owner, operator, occupant, developer, contractor or sub-contractor of a building, facility or property that emits storm water into the City of Santa Maria storm drain system; or the person(s) identified in and responsible for compliance with the provisions of a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan or Storm Water Management Plan.

"Storm Drain System"

shall mean the publicly-owned facilities operated by the City of Santa Maria, or within the City of Santa Maria but owned and operated by Santa Barbara County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, by which storm water collected and/or conveyed, including but not limited to any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, gutters, curbs, inlets, piped storm drains, terminal and detention basins, natural and man-made or altered drainage channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures, which are within the jurisdictional area and are not part of a publicly-owned treatment works as defined in 40 CFR Section 122.2.

"Storm water"

shall mean surface runoff and drainage associated with storm events.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09; Ord. 2012-02, eff. 4/5/12; Ord. 2013-02, eff. 4/4/13)

The Director of Utilities or his/her delegate shall have the authority to administer, implement and enforce this Ordinance in order to affect its purposes, whether or not the authority is spelled out specifically elsewhere. Any order of the Director of Utilities may be appealed in the manner specified by Section 8-12.1406.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

(a) Discharges prohibited. No person shall commence or continue, and no responsible party shall permit, any direct or indirect non-storm water discharge to public or private property. Moreover, no person shall commence or continue, and no responsible party shall permit, any discharge of storm water unless the discharge is in conformance with each of the following:

(1) This Code;

(2) The terms of the State of California Department of Water Resources Phase II Small MS4 General Permit;

(3) The terms of Post-Construction Stormwater Management Requirements for Development Projects in the Central Coast Region dated July 12, 2013, as modified by approved Alternative Compliance;

(4) The terms of a permit or other approval given by the City of Santa Maria under authority of subsections (i) through (iii), above.

(b) Exemptions from discharge prohibition. Subject to the limitation in subsection (c), the following activities shall not be a prohibited discharge under this ordinance:

(1) Water line flushing;

(2) Landscape irrigation that does not exceed incidental runoff, as defined by the State of California Department of Water Resources Phase II Small MS4 General Permit;

(3) Diverted stream flows;

(4) Rising ground waters;

(5) Uncontaminated groundwater infiltration (as defined at 40 CFR §35.2005[20]) to separate storm sewers;

(6) Uncontaminated pumped ground water;

(7) Discharges from potable water sources;

(8) Foundation drains;

(9) Air conditioning condensate;

(10) Springs;

(11) Water from crawl space pumps;

(12) Footing drains;

(13) Individual residential car washing;

(14) Flows from riparian habitats and wetlands;

(15) Dechlorinated swimming pool discharges;

(16) Discharges and flows from emergency fire fighting activities.

(17) Any non-storm water discharge permitted or approved under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, waiver, or waste discharge order issued to the discharger and administered by the State of California under the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency, provided that the discharger is in full compliance with all requirements of the permit, waiver, or order and other applicable laws and regulations and provided that written approval has been granted by the City of Santa Maria for any discharge to the storm drain system.

(c) Limitation. No person shall take any action that may result in contamination, pollution, or unauthorized discharge of pollutants or fail to take any action that may prevent contamination, pollution, or unauthorized discharge of pollutants. This Ordinance shall not create liability on the part of the City of Santa Maria, any agent or employee thereof for any damages that result from any discharger's reliance on this Ordinance or any administrative decision lawfully made under it.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09; Ord. 2013-02, eff. 4/4/13; Ord. 2014-02, eff. 4/17/14)

(a) No person shall establish, use, maintain, or continue illicit drainage connections to the storm drain system.

(b) This prohibition expressly includes, without limitation, illicit drainage connections made in the past, regardless of whether the connection was permissible under law or practices applicable or prevailing at the time of connection.

(c) Exception. If, subsequent to eliminating a connection found to be in violation of this Ordinance, the responsible person can demonstrate that the offending illicit discharges will no longer occur, said person may request City approval to reconnect. The reconnection or reinstallation of the connection shall be at the expense of the responsible party.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

No person shall throw, deposit, leave, maintain, keep, or permit to be thrown, deposited, left, or maintained, in or upon any public or private property, any refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded or abandoned objects, articles, and accumulations, so that the same may cause or contribute to pollution. It is a violation of this Ordinance to cause or permit any dumpster, solid waste bin, or other waste receptacle to leak such that any pollutant may enter public property or the storm drain system.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

Any person subject to any industrial NPDES storm water discharge permit shall comply with all provisions of such permit. Proof of compliance with said permit may be required in a form acceptable to the Director of Utilities upon submittal of improvement plans prior to issuance of any grading, building, occupancy, or operating permits, upon inspection of the facility, during any enforcement proceeding or action, or for any other reasonable cause.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

(a) Requirement to Implement Best Management Practices (BMPs). All responsible parties shall implement appropriate BMPs adopted by the City of Santa Maria for any activity, operation, or facility, which may cause or contribute to pollution or contamination of the storm drain system or receiving waters.

(b) New Development and Redevelopment. All responsible parties shall implement City of Santa Maria BMPs to control the volume, rate, and potential pollutant load of storm water runoff from new development and redevelopment projects to minimize the generation, transport, and discharge of pollutants.

(c) Responsibility to Implement BMPs. Notwithstanding the presence or absence of requirements promulgated pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) above, any person engaged in activities or operations, or owning facilities or property which will, or may, result in pollutants entering storm water, the storm drain system, or receiving waters shall implement BMPs to prevent and reduce such pollutants to the maximum extent practicable.

(1) Activities, operations, and facilities include, but are not limited to: operation, maintenance, and repair of vehicles; use and disposal of chemicals such as paints, pool chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers; parking lots, gasoline stations, and loading docks; trucking, transportation, manufacturing, and processing facilities; waste disposal, recycling, scrap and used parts operations; mobile steam or pressure washing operations; construction projects, and car washing other than individual residential car washing.

Prior to conducting a car wash event, the responsible party shall obtain, either from the City's website (santamariacleanwater.org) or from the Utilities Department, the current BMPs for Car Wash Events. The responsible party shall sign and post the current BMPs in a clearly visible location at the car wash event.

(2) Construction activities which may result in the release of pollutants to storm water include, but are not limited to: grading, paving, pouring concrete, painting, and landscaping. Pollutants to be controlled at construction sites include in particular, but are not limited to, soil sediments released by tracking and erosion during and immediately following construction.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09; Ord. 2013-02, eff. 4/4/13)

Section 8-12A.09 is repealed, and supplanted by Section 8-12A.14.

(Ord. 2013-02, eff. 4/4/13; Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

The Director of Utilities may require by written notice of requirement that any person engaged in any activity and/or owning or operating any facility which may cause or contribute to storm water pollution, illicit discharges, and/or nonstorm water discharges to the storm drain system or Waters of the U.S., to undertake at said person's expense such monitoring and analyses and furnish such reports as the Director deems necessary to determine compliance with this Ordinance. Such information shall be required in compliance with the Homeland Security Act or any other federal law that concerns security in the United States. The burden, including costs, of these activities, analyses, and reports shall be borne by the responsible party.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09; Ord. 2013-02, eff. 4/4/13)

Notwithstanding other requirements of law, if any person responsible for a facility or operation, or responsible for emergency response for a facility or operation has information of any known or suspected release of materials which are resulting, or may result, in illicit discharges or pollutants discharging into the storm drain system, said person shall immediately take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment, and cleanup of such a release. In the event of a release of materials, said person shall notify the City of Santa Maria in person at 2065 East Main Street, Santa Maria, or by phone to 805-928-3781, ext. 277, or 805-925-2631, no later than 5:00 p.m. the next business day. Notifications shall be confirmed by follow-up correspondence addressed to the City of Santa Maria, Department of Utilities, 2065 East Main Street, Santa Maria, CA, 93454 within three days of the initial notification.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09; Ord. 2013-02, eff. 4/4/13)

Whenever it is determined to be necessary to inspect or enforce any provision of this Ordinance, or whenever the Director of Utilities has probable cause to believe that there exists, or potentially exists, in or upon any premises any condition which constitutes a violation of this Ordinance, the Director, with permission from the responsible party, may enter such premises at all reasonable times to inspect the same and to inspect and copy records related to storm water compliance. In the event the responsible party refuses entry after a request to enter and inspect has been made, the Director is hereby empowered to seek assistance from any court of competent jurisdiction in obtaining such entry.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

During any inspection as provided herein, the Director of Utilities may, with permission of the responsible party, take any samples deemed necessary to aid in the pursuit of the inquiry or to record site activities. Subject to the access provisions of Section 8-12A.12 of this chapter, the Director may establish on any property such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling or metering and may perform smoke or dye tests to determine the source of a discharge.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09)

Whenever the Director of Utilities finds that a person has violated a prohibition or failed to meet a requirement of this Ordinance, the Director may order compliance with this Ordinance by written Notice of Violation to the responsible person that:

(a) Requires monitoring, analyses, and reporting be performed;

(b) Illicit connections or discharges be eliminated;

(c) Violating discharges, practices, or operations cease and desist;

(d) Source control or treatment BMPs be implemented; and/or

(e) Any storm water pollution or contamination hazard be abated and remediated and any affected property restored;

(f) Requires compliance with laws, regulations, permits or approvals set out in subsection (a) of Section 8-12A.04.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09; Ord. 2013-02, eff. 4/4/13)

In addition to the enforcement processes and penalties herein provided, any condition caused or allowed to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this Ordinance is a public nuisance and subject to abatement as otherwise provided in this Code. Any person creating a public nuisance is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ord. 2009-20, eff. 10/15/09; Ord. 2010-03, eff. 5/20/10)