South Pasadena Municipal Code Ch. 23 Stormwater and Urban Runoff Pollution Control

Sections:

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall be known as the “Storm Water and Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Control Ordinance of the City of South Pasadena,” and may be referred to as such. (Ord. No. 2107, § 1; Ord. No. 2256, § 1, 2013.)

The provisions of this chapter are adopted pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq. (Ord. No. 2107, § 1; Ord. No. 2256, § 1, 2013.)

The purpose of this chapter is to protect and improve water quality of receiving waters by:

(a) Reducing illicit discharges to the municipal storm water system to the maximum extent practicable.

• (b) Eliminating illicit connections to the municipal storm water system.

• (c) Eliminating spillage, dumping, and disposal of pollutant materials into the municipal storm water system.

(d) Reducing pollutant loads in storm water and urban runoff from land uses and activities identified in the municipal NPDES permit.

(e) Reducing the contribution of pollutants from the MS4 through interagency coordination.

The intent of this chapter is to enhance and protect the water quality of the receiving waters of the United States in a manner that is consistent with the Clean Water Act and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto; applicable implementing regulations, the municipal NPDES permit and any amendment, revision, or reissuance thereof. (Ord. No. 2107, § 1; Ord. No. 2256, § 1, 2013.)

For the purpose of the provisions of this chapter concerning water quality hereinafter set forth, the following words and phrases shall be construed to have the meanings set forth unless it is apparent from the context that a different meaning is intended.

(a) “Automotive service facility” means a facility that is categorized in any one of the following Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes. For inspection purposes, permittees need not inspect facilities with SIC codes 5013, 5014, 5541, 5511, provided that these facilities have no outside activities or materials that may be exposed to stormwater (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(b) “Basin plan” means the Water Quality Control Plan, Los Angeles Region, Basin Plan for the Coastal Watersheds of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, adopted by the Regional Water Board on June 13, 1994 and subsequent amendments (Source: Order No. R42012-0175).

(c) “Best management practice” or “BMP” means practices or physical devices or systems designed to prevent or reduce pollutant loading from stormwater or non-stormwater discharges to receiving waters, or designed to reduce the volume of stormwater or nonstormwater discharged to the receiving water (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(d) “Biofiltration” means a LID BMP that reduces stormwater pollutant discharges by intercepting rainfall on vegetative canopy, and through incidental infiltration and/or evapotranspiration, and filtration. Incidental infiltration is an important factor in achieving the required pollutant load reduction. Therefore, the term “biofiltration” as used in this chapter is defined to include only systems designed to facilitate incidental infiltration or achieve the equivalent pollutant reduction as biofiltration BMPs with an underdrain (subject to approval by the Regional Board’s Executive Officer). Biofiltration BMPs include bioretention systems with an underdrain and bioswales (Modified from: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(e) “Bioretention” means a LID BMP that reduces stormwater runoff by intercepting rainfall on vegetative canopy, and through evapotranspiration and infiltration. The bioretention system typically includes a minimum two-foot top layer of a specified soil and compost mixture underlain by a gravel-filled temporary storage pit dug into the in-situ soil. As defined in the municipal NPDES permit, a bioretention BMP may be designed with an overflow drain, but may not include an underdrain. When a bioretention BMP is designed or constructed with an underdrain it is regulated by the municipal NPDES permit as biofiltration (Modified from: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(f) “Bioswale” means a LID BMP consisting of a shallow channel lined with grass or other dense, low-growing vegetation. Bioswales are designed to collect stormwater runoff and to achieve a uniform sheet flow through the dense vegetation for a period of several minutes (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(g) “City” means the city of South Pasadena.

(h) “Clean Water Act” or “CWA” means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act enacted in 1972, by Public Law 92-500, and amended by the Water Quality Act of 1987. The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States unless the discharge is in accordance with an NPDES permit.

(i) “Commercial malls” means any development on private land comprised of one or more buildings forming a complex of stores which sells various merchandise, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from store to store, along with parking area(s). A commercial mall includes, but is not limited to: mini-malls, strip malls, other retail complexes, and enclosed shopping malls or shopping centers (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(j) “Construction activity” means any construction or demolition activity, clearing, grading, grubbing, or excavation or any other activity that result in land disturbance. Construction does not include emergency construction activities required to immediately

protect public health and safety or routine maintenance activities required to maintain the integrity of structures by performing minor repair and restoration work, maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purposes of the facility. See “Routine maintenance” definition for further explanation. Where clearing, grading or excavating of underlying soil takes place during a repaving operation, State General Construction Permit coverage by the state of California General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Industrial Activities or for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities is required if more than one acre is disturbed or the activities are part of a larger plan (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(k) “Control” means to minimize, reduce or eliminate by technological, legal, contractual, or other means, the discharge of pollutants from an activity or activities (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(l) “Development” means construction, rehabilitation, redevelopment or reconstruction of any public or private residential project (whether single-family, multi-unit or planned unit development); industrial, commercial, retail, and other non-residential projects, including public agency projects; or mass grading for future construction. It does not include routine maintenance to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of facility, nor does it include emergency construction activities required to immediately protect public health and safety (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(m) “Directly adjacent” means situated within two hundred feet of the contiguous zone required for the continued maintenance, function, and structural stability of the environmentally sensitive area (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(n) “Discharge” means any release, spill, leak, pump, flow, escape, dumping, or disposal of any liquid, semi-solid, or solid substance.

(o) “Disturbed area” means an area that is altered as a result of clearing, grading, and/or excavation (Source: Order No. R4-20120175).

(p) “Flow-through BMPs” means modular, vault type “high flow biotreatment” devices contained within an impervious vault with an underdrain or designed with an impervious liner and an underdrain (Modified from: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(q) “General Construction Activities Storm Water Permit” or “GCASP” means the general NPDES permit adopted by the State Board which authorizes the discharge of stormwater from construction activities under certain conditions.

(r) “General Industrial Activities Storm Water Permit” or “GIASP” means the general NPDES permit adopted by the State Board which authorizes the discharge of stormwater from certain industrial activities under certain conditions.

(s) “Green roof” means a LID BMP using planter boxes and vegetation to intercept rainfall on the roof surface. Rainfall is intercepted by vegetation leaves and through evapotranspiration. Green roofs may be designed as either a bioretention BMP or as a biofiltration BMP. To receive credit as a bioretention BMP, the green roof system planting medium shall be of sufficient depth to provide capacity within the pore space volume to contain the design storm depth and may not be designed or constructed with an underdrain (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(t) “Hazardous material(s)” means any material(s) defined as hazardous by Division 20, Chapter 6.95 of the California Health and Safety Code.

(u) “Hillside” means a property located in an area with known erosive soil conditions, where the development contemplates grading on any natural slope that is twenty-five percent or greater and where grading contemplates cut or fill slopes (Source: Order No. R42012-0175).

(v) “Impervious surface” means any man-made or modified surface that prevents or significantly reduces the entry of water into the underlying soil, resulting in runoff from the surface in greater quantities and/or at an increased rate, when compared to natural conditions prior to development. Examples of places that commonly exhibit impervious surfaces include parking lots, driveways, roadways, storage areas, and rooftops. The imperviousness of these areas commonly results from paving, compacted gravel, compacted earth, and oiled earth.

(w) “Industrial park” means land development that is set aside for industrial development. Industrial parks are usually located close to transport facilities, especially where more than one transport modalities coincide: highways, railroads, airports, and navigable rivers. It includes office parks, which have offices and light industry (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(x) “Infiltration BMP” means a LID BMP that reduces stormwater runoff by capturing and infiltrating the runoff into in-situ soils or amended on-site soils. Examples of infiltration BMPs include infiltration basins, dry wells, and pervious pavement (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(y) “LID” means low impact development. LID consists of building and landscape features designed to retain or filter stormwater runoff (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(z) “MS4” means municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). The MS4 is a conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels, or storm drains):

(1) Owned or operated by a state, city, town, borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body (created by or pursuant to state law) having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, stormwater, or other wastes, including special districts under state law such as a sewer district, flood control district or drainage district, or similar entity, or an Indian tribe or an

authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency under Section 208 of the CWA that discharges to waters of the United States;

• (2) Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;

• (3) Which is not a combined sewer; and

(4) Which is not part of a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) as defined at 40 CFR Section 122.2 (40 CFR Section 122.26(b)(8)) (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(aa) “National pollutant discharge elimination system” or “NPDES” means the national program for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements, under CWA Sections 307, 402, 318, and 405. The term includes an “approved program” (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(bb) “Natural drainage system” means a drainage system that has not been improved (e.g., channelized or armored). The clearing or dredging of a natural drainage system does not cause the system to be classified as an improved drainage system (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(cc) “New development” means land disturbing activities; structural development, including construction or installation of a building or structure, creation of impervious surfaces; and land subdivision (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(dd) “Non-stormwater discharge” means any discharge to a municipal storm drain system that is not composed entirely of stormwater (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(ee) “Parking lot” means land area or facility for the parking or storage of motor vehicles used for businesses, commerce, industry, or personal use, with a lot size of five thousand square feet or more of surface area, or with twenty-five or more parking spaces (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(ff) “Person” means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, state, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine and the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.

(gg) “Stormwater mitigation required projects” means those projects that are required to incorporate appropriate storm water mitigation measures into the design plan for their respective project. Stormwater mitigation required projects are listed under paragraph C of Section 3. (Modified from: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(hh) “Pollutant” means any pollutant defined in Section 502(6) of the Federal Clean Water Act or incorporated into the California Water Code Section 13373. Pollutants may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Commercial and industrial waste (such as fuels, solvents, detergents, plastic pellets, hazardous substances, fertilizers, pesticides, slag, ash, and sludge).

(2) Metals (such as cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, silver, nickel, chromium, and non-metals such as phosphorus and arsenic).

(3) Petroleum hydrocarbons (such as fuels, lubricants, surfactants, waste oils, solvents, coolants, and grease).

(4) Excessive eroded soil, sediment, and particulate materials in amounts that may adversely affect the beneficial use of the receiving waters, flora, or fauna of the state.

(5) Animal wastes (such as discharge from confinement facilities, kennels, pens, recreational facilities, stables, and show facilities).

(6) Substances having characteristics such as pH less than 6 or greater than 9, or unusual coloration or turbidity, or excessive levels of fecal coliform, or fecal streptococcus, or enterococcus.

(ii) “Project” means all development, redevelopment, and land disturbing activities. The term is not limited to “project” as defined under CEQA (Public Resources Code Section 21065) (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(jj) “Rainfall harvest and use” means a LID BMP system designed to capture runoff, typically from a roof but can also include runoff capture from elsewhere within the site, and to provide for temporary storage until the harvested water can be used for irrigation or non-potable uses. The harvested water may also be used for potable water uses if the system includes disinfection treatment and is approved for such use by the local building department (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(kk) “Receiving water” means water of the United States into which waste and/or pollutants are or may be discharged (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(ll) “Redevelopment” means land-disturbing activity that results in the creation, addition, or replacement of five thousand square feet or more of impervious surface area on an already developed site. Redevelopment includes, but is not limited to: the expansion of a building footprint; addition or replacement of a structure; replacement of impervious surface area that is not part of routine maintenance activity; and land disturbing activity related to structural or impervious surfaces. It does not include routine maintenance

to maintain original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of facility, nor does it include emergency construction activities required to immediately protect public health and safety (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(mm) “Regional Board” means the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region.

(nn) “Restaurant” means a facility that sells prepared foods and drinks for consumption, including stationary lunch counters and refreshment stands selling prepared foods and drinks for immediate consumption (SIC Code 5812) (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(oo) “Retail gasoline outlet” means any facility engaged in selling gasoline and lubricating oils (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(pp) “Routine maintenance” projects include, but are not limited to, projects conducted to:

(1) Maintain the original line and grade, hydraulic capacity, or original purpose of the facility.

(2) Perform as needed restoration work to preserve the original design grade, integrity and hydraulic capacity of flood control facilities.

(3) Includes road shoulder work, regrading dirt or gravel roadways and shoulders and performing ditch cleanouts.

(4) Update existing lines* and facilities to comply with applicable codes, standards, and regulations regardless if such projects result in increased capacity.

(5) Repair Leaks. Routine maintenance does not include construction of new** lines or facilities resulting from compliance with applicable codes, standards and regulations.

• Update existing lines includes replacing existing lines with new materials or pipes.

** New lines are those that are not associated with existing facilities and are not part of a project to update or replace existing lines (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(qq) “Runoff” means any runoff including storm water and dry weather flows from a drainage area that reaches a receiving water body or subsurface. During dry weather it is typically comprised of base flow either contaminated with pollutants or uncontaminated and nuisance flows.

(rr) “Significant ecological areas” or “SEAs” means an area that is determined to possess an example of biotic resources that cumulatively represent biological diversity, for the purposes of protecting biotic diversity, as part of the Los Angeles County General Plan. Areas are designated as SEAs, if they possess one or more of the following criteria:

(1) The habitat of rare, endangered, and threatened plant and animal species.

(2) Biotic communities, vegetative associations, and habitat of plant and animal species that are either one of a kind, or are restricted in distribution on a regional basis.

(3) Biotic communities, vegetative associations, and habitat of plant and animal species that are either one of a kind or are restricted in distribution in Los Angeles County.

(4) Habitat that at some point in the life cycle of a species or group of species, serves as a concentrated breeding, feeding, resting, migrating grounds and is limited in availability either regionally or within Los Angeles County.

(5) Biotic resources that are of scientific interest because they are either an extreme in physical/geographical limitations, or represent an unusual variation in a population or community.

(6) Areas important as game species habitat or as fisheries.

(7) Areas that would provide for the preservation of relatively undisturbed examples of natural biotic communities in Los Angeles County.

(8) Special areas (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(ss) “Single-family hillside home” means any single-family dwelling development where any portion of the disturbed area includes either or both an existing earth (native or otherwise) surface or a man-made surface (whether impervious or not) with an existing slope equal to or greater than twenty-five percent when calculated in accordance with the methods prescribed by the current Zoning Code.

(tt) “Site” means land or water area where any “facility or activity” is physically located or conducted, including adjacent land used in connection with the facility or activity (Source: Order No. R4-2012-0175).

(uu) “Storm drain system” means any facilities or any part of those facilities, including streets, gutters, conduits, natural or artificial drains, channels, and watercourses that are used for the purpose of collecting, storing, transporting or disposing of stormwater and are located within the city of South Pasadena.

(vv) “Storm water” or “stormwater” means water that originates from atmospheric moisture (rain or snow) and that falls onto land, water, or other surfaces. Without any change in its meaning, this term may be spelled or written as one word or two separate words.

(ww) “Stormwater runoff” or “urban runoff” means that part of precipitation (rainfall or snowmelt) which travels across a surface to the storm drain system or receiving waters.

(xx) “SUSMP” means the Los Angeles Countywide Standard Urban Stormwater Mitigation Plan. The SUSMP was required as part of the previous Municipal NPDES Permit (Order No. 01-182, NPDES No. CAS004001) and required plans that designate best management practices (BMPs) that must be used in specified categories of development projects.

(yy) “Surface area” includes all surfaces, whether impervious or otherwise, at or above grade level. Surface area specifically includes the surfaces within a structure’s footprint, and specifically includes roofs, canopies, awnings, and all other similar coverings that may or may not be elevated above grade level.

(zz) “Urban runoff” means surface water flow produced by storm and non-storm events. Non-storm events include flow from residential, commercial, or industrial activities involving the use of potable and non-potable water. (Ord. No. 2107, § 1; Ord. No. 2256, § 1, 2013; Ord. No. 2283, § 3, 2015.)

This chapter shall be administered by the public works director. (Ord. No. 2107, § 1; Ord. No. 2256, § 1, 2013.)