Chapter 12.01
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sections:
12.01.010 Intent and purpose.
12.01.020 Objectives.
12.01.030 Abbreviations.
12.01.040 Definitions.
12.01.050 Applicability.
12.01.060 Responsibility for administration.
12.01.070 Severability.
12.01.080 Ultimate responsibility of the discharger.
12.01.010 Intent and purpose.
The intent and purpose of this chapter is to provide for the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the City of Albany and to protect and enhance the water quality and natural functions of watercourses and water bodies through the regulation of stormwater discharges; to set forth uniform requirements for direct and indirect contributors to the stormwater system; and to enable the City of Albany to comply with applicable state and federal laws. (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).
12.01.020 Objectives.
The objectives of this chapter are:
(1) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the municipal stormwater system, into receiving waters, waters of the State, and the environment;
(2) To prohibit illicit connections and discharges to the stormwater system;
(3) To protect, maintain and restore the integrity of waterways for their natural functions;
(4) To prevent and control non-point source pollution, land surface erosion, sedimentation, and stream channel erosion;
(5) To limit the effect of land-disturbing activities on the waters of the State;
(6) To establish legal authority to carry out all inspection, surveillance, and monitoring procedures necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter;
(7) To authorize the collection of in-lieu-of-assessment fees for properties that have not participated in the cost of constructing public stormwater facilities;
(8) To authorize the imposition of a systems development charge fee and user charges for the construction, operation, and maintenance of stormwater system and facilities;
(9) To protect and maintain the functions and values of areas within floodplains. (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).
12.01.030 Abbreviations.
(1) “ENR” means “Engineering News Record.”
(2) “NPDES” means “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.” (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).
12.01.040 Definitions.
(1) “City” means the City of Albany, a municipal corporation of the State of Oregon.
(2) “City Manager” means the person chosen by the Albany City Council to meet the requirements of Section 22 of the Albany Charter or such person as may be designated by the City Manager to act in his/her name and capacity.
(3) “Clean Water Act” means the federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) and any subsequent amendments thereto.
(4) “Director” means the person, or the duly authorized representative, designated by the City Manager to supervise the Public Works Department and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter.
(5) “Discharger” means any person who discharges or causes to be discharged any pollutant into the stormwater system.
(6) “Floodplain” means the relatively flat or lowland area adjoining a river, stream, watercourse, lake, or other water body that has been, or may be, inundated temporarily by floodwater.
(7) “Hazardous materials” means any material, including any substance, waste, or combination thereof, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may cause or significantly contribute to a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, safety, property, or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed.
(8) “Illegal discharge” means any direct or indirect non-stormwater discharge to the stormwater system, excepted as exempted by AMC 12.10.010.
(9) “Illicit connection” is defined as either of the following:
(a) Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, that allows an illegal discharge to enter the stormwater system including but not limited to any conveyances that allow any non-stormwater discharge including sewage, process wastewater, and wash water to enter the stormwater system and any connections to the stormwater 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
(b) Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial land use to the stormwater system that has not been documented in drawings, maps, or equivalent records and approved by the City.
(10) “Nonpoint source” means causes of water pollution that are not associated with point sources. Examples include: fertilizer/pesticide runoff; sediment runoff from construction; materials from deicing activities (salt or sand). Nonpoint sources may enter a discrete conveyance system and become a point source.
(11) “Non-stormwater discharge” means any discharge to the stormwater system that is not composed entirely of stormwater.
(12) “Person” means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine; the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
(13) “Point source” means any discernable, confined, and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to pipes, ditches, channels, tunnels, or conduits, from which pollutants are or may be discharged to a receiving water.
(14) “Pollutant” means anything that causes or contributes to pollution. Pollutants may include, but are not limited to: paints, varnishes, and solvents; oils; automotive fluids; nonhazardous liquid and solid wastes and yard wastes; any liquid having a temperature that could have an adverse effect on the receiving streams; refuse, rubbish, garbage, litter, or other discarded or abandoned objects, articles and accumulations, so that same may cause or contribute to pollution; floatables; pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers; hazardous substances and wastes; sewage, fecal bacteria and pathogens; dissolved and particulate metals; animal wastes; residues that result from constructing a building or a structure (including but not limited to sediments, slurries, and concrete rinsates); and noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
(15) “Pollution” means the human-made or human-induced alteration of the quality of waters by waste to a degree that unreasonably affects, or has the potential to unreasonably affect the waters of the State.
(16) “Premises” means any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land whether improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking strips.
(17) “Stormwater system” means any watercourse or facility by which stormwater is collected and/or conveyed, including but not limited to any roads with drainage systems or ditches, municipal streets, gutters, curbs, inlets, piped storm drains, pumping facilities, retention and detention basins, natural and human-made or altered drainage channels, reservoirs, and other drainage structures.
(18) “Stormwater” means any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely of water from precipitation events.
(19) “Water or waters of the State” means any lakes, bays, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, rivers, streams, creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Pacific Ocean within the territorial limits of the State of Oregon and all other bodies of surface or underground waters, natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, public or private (except those private waters that do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters), which are wholly or partially within or bordering the State or within its jurisdiction.
(20) “Watercourse” means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently, and if the latter, with some degree of regularity. Watercourses may be either natural or artificial. (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).
12.01.050 Applicability.
This chapter shall apply to all water entering the stormwater system generated on any developed and undeveloped lands unless explicitly exempted by AMC 12.10.010. (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).
12.01.060 Responsibility for administration.
The Director shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this chapter. Any powers granted or duties imposed upon the Director may be delegated in writing by the Director to persons or entities acting in the beneficial interest of or in the employ of the City. (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).
12.01.070 Severability.
The provisions of this chapter are hereby declared to be severable. If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph of the chapter or the application thereof to any person, establishment, or circumstances shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions or application of this chapter. (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).
12.01.080 Ultimate responsibility of the discharger.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated pursuant to this chapter are minimum standards; therefore this chapter does not intend or imply that compliance by any person will ensure that there will be no contamination, pollution, or unauthorized discharge of pollutants into the waters of the State caused by said person. This chapter shall not create liability on the part of the City of Albany, or any agent or employee thereof for any damages that result from any discharger’s reliance on this chapter or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder. (Ord. 5498 § 1, 2001).