For the purposes of this chapter, certain terms and words used
herein shall be interpreted as presented below. Additional definitions
are provided in the ACT 167 Plan definitions chapter.
A.Â
Words used in the present tense include the future tense; the singular
number includes the plural, and the plural number includes the singular;
words of masculine gender include feminine gender; and words of feminine
gender include masculine gender.
B.Â
The word "includes" or "including" shall not limit the term to the
specific example but is intended to extend its meaning to all other
instances of like, kind and character.
C.Â
The word "person" includes an individual, firm, association, organization,
partnership, trust, company, corporation, or any other similar entity.
D.Â
The words "shall" and "must" are mandatory; the words "may" and "should"
are permissive.
E.Â
The words "used or occupied" include the words "intended, designed,
maintained, or arranged to be used, occupied or maintained."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The work of producing crops and raising livestock including
tillage, plowing, disking, harrowing, pasturing and installation of
conservation measures. Construction of new buildings or impervious
area is not considered an agricultural activity.
As applied to land, a change in topography as a result of
the moving of soil and rock from one location or position to another;
also the changing of surface conditions by causing the surface to
be more or less impervious; land disturbance.
A landowner or developer who has filed an application for approval to engage in any regulated activities as defined in § 173-104 of this chapter.
Stormwater structures, facilities and techniques to maintain
or improve the water quality of surface runoff.
Area that is protected from development in order to prevent
degradation of the water body or water quality.
Depth of runoff captured from a given area and either allowed
to evaporate, infiltrate, or be discharged through a spillway at a
negligible rate.
A sediment formed by the organic or inorganic precipitation
of mineral compounds characterized by the fundamental chemical ion
CO3, the principal element in limestone and
dolomite strata.
A perceptible natural or artificial waterway, which periodically
or continuously contains moving water having a definite bed and banks,
which confine the water.
In a Karst geologic area, a distinct bowl-shaped depression
in the land surface; size and amplitude are variable; drainage is
internal. It differs from a sinkhole in that the ground surface is
unbroken and usually occurs in greater density per unit area.
The Centre County Conservation District.
A deduction from the required amount. In this chapter, implies
reduction of required water quality volumes due to using a recommended
practice.
An artificial barrier, together with its appurtenant works,
constructed for the purpose of impounding or storing water or another
fluid or semifluid, or a refuse bank, fill or structure for highway,
railroad or other purposes which does or may impound water or another
fluid or semifluid.
The agent of a Planning Commission and/or agent of the governing
body involved with the administration, review or enforcement of any
provisions of this chapter by contract or memorandum of understanding.
The magnitude and temporal distribution of precipitation
from a storm event measured in probability of occurrence (e.g., a
five-year storm) and duration (e.g., 24 hours), used in the design
and evaluation of stormwater management systems.
An impoundment structure designed to manage stormwater runoff
by temporarily storing the runoff and releasing it at a predetermined
rate.
A person, partnership, association, corporation, or other
entity, or any responsible person therein or agent thereof, that undertakes
any regulated activity of this chapter.
The specific tract of land for which a regulated activity
is proposed.
That portion of the property line of the lot, tract, or parcels
of land being developed located such that all overland or pipe flow
from the site would be directed towards it.
A stormwater management facility designed to transmit stormwater
runoff and shall include streams, channels, swales, pipes, conduits,
culverts, storm sewers, etc.
A right granted by a landowner to a grantee, allowing the
use of private land for stormwater management purposes.
A permit issued by the Township governing body after the
drainage plan has been approved. Said permit is issued prior to or
with the final Township approval.
The documentation of the stormwater management system, if any, to be used for a given development site, the contents of which are established in § 173-403.
The natural or man-made path of surface water from a given
area.
The movement of soil particles by the action of water, wind,
ice, or other natural forces.
A plan that is designed to minimize accelerated erosion and
sedimentation.
The process by which water or moisture moves from a subsurface
trench, bed, or other feature into the subsoil. Exfiltration is best
measured by a soil's percolation rate.
The initial condition of a project site prior to the proposed
construction.
A general but temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of streams,
rivers, and other waters of this commonwealth.
Any land area susceptible to inundation by water from any
natural source or delineated by applicable Department of Housing and
Urban Development, Federal Insurance Administration Flood Hazard Boundary,
mapped as being a special flood hazard area.
The channel of the watercourse and those portions of the
adjoining floodplains that are reasonably required to carry and discharge
the one-hundred-year frequency flood. Unless otherwise specified,
the boundary of the floodway is as indicated on maps and flood insurance
studies provided by FEMA. In an area where no FEMA maps or studies
have defined the boundary of the one-hundred-year frequency floodway,
it is assumed, absent evidence to the contrary, that the floodway
extends from the stream to 50 feet from the top of the bank of the
stream.
Planning and activities necessary for the management of forestland.
These include timber inventory and preparation of forest management
plans, silvicultural treatment, cutting budgets, logging road design
and construction, timber harvesting, site preparation and reforestation.
A vertical distance between the elevation of the design high-water
and the top of a dam, levee, tank, basin, or diversion ridge. The
space is required as a safety margin in a pond or basin.
A natural or constructed waterway, usually broad and shallow,
covered with erosion-resistant grasses, used to conduct surface water
from cropland.
Replenishment of existing natural underground water supplies.
A surface that prevents the percolation of water into the
ground.
A retention or detention basin designed to retain stormwater
runoff and release it at a controlled rate.
The infiltration rate of a soil is related to the soil's
final infiltration capacity and represents the rate at which water
enters the soil/air interface at the top of the soil profile. Infiltration
rates are measured in units of length/time.
A surface connection to a closed drain. A structure at the
diversion end of a conduit. The upstream end of any structure through
which water may flow.
A channel, berm, or dike constructed across a slope for the
purpose of intercepting stormwater, reducing the velocity of flow,
and diverting it to outlets where it may be disposed.
A type of topography that is formed over limestone, dolomite,
or gypsum by bedrock solution, and that is characterized by closed
depressions or sinkholes, caves, and underground drainage (from AGI,
Glossary of Geology, 1972).
Any activity involving grading, tilling, digging, or filling
of ground or stripping of vegetation or any other activity that causes
an alteration to the natural condition of the land.
The primary application employed in an area.
A rock that, by accumulation of organic remains, consists
mainly of calcium carbonate.
Straight or gently curved, lengthy features frequently expressed
topographically as depressions or lines on the earth's surface.
They can be more easily observed at a height of 100 meters or more
and are usually found by researching aerial photographs or satellite
photography. They are usually located in areas of faulting or in dense
jointing along some rock stratigraphy.
Any stream segment or other runoff conveyance facility used
as a reach in the Spring Creek hydrologic model.
In relation to this chapter, the minimum rate that can be
discharged for any drainage area for design storm events up to and
including the ten-year event regardless of the modeled pre-development
runoff estimate.
Any of the several municipalities within the basin consisting
of: Bellefonte Borough, Benner Township, Boggs Township, Centre Hall
Borough, College Township, Ferguson Township, Halfmoon Township, Harris
Township, Milesburg Borough, Patton Township, Potter Township, Spring
Township, State College Borough, and Walker Township, Centre County,
Pennsylvania.
A natural area protected during development for its water
quality or recharge enhancing abilities.
Point where water flows from a conduit, stream, or drain.
Points of water disposal from a stream, river, lake, tidewater
or artificial drain.
Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection.
The maximum rate of stormwater runoff from a specific storm
event.
Pennsylvania State Department of Transportation.
The rate at which water moves through a soil profile. Percolation
rates are measured in units of time/length.
A culvert, closed conduit, or similar structure (including
appurtenances) that conveys stormwater.
The planning commission of a municipality.
The discharge from a pipe or channel that concentrates runoff
at a single area.
The volume of water that is required to be recharged from
developed sites.
An individual registered in and licensed by the State of
Pennsylvania including, for the purposes of this chapter, land surveyors,
landscape architects, architects and engineers.
Actions or proposed actions that have an impact on stormwater runoff and that are specified in § 173-104 of this chapter.
An impoundment in which stormwater is stored and not released
during the storm event. Stored water may be released from the basin
at some time after the end of the storm.
The average interval, in years, within which a storm event
of a given magnitude can be expected to recur. For example, the twenty-five-year
return period rainfall has a probability of 4% of occurring in any
given year.
Any part of precipitation that flows over the land surface.
The routing of peak runoff events, usually the one-hundred-year
design event, safely through a structure without failure of that structure.
Generally refers to the change in a channel configuration
provoked by sediment imbalance, due to natural or manmade causes,
between the supply and transport capacity of the channel.
A barrier, dam, retention or detention basin located and
designed to retain rock, sand, gravel, silt, or other material transported
by water.
An area protected because development within that area could
potentially cause contamination of groundwater reservoirs. These sensitive
land areas are defined in Appendix B, Exhibit-1.[1]
Runoff that flows over the ground surface as a thin, even
layer, not concentrated in a channel.
A localized, gradual or rapid sinking of the land surface
to a variable depth, occurring in areas of carbonate bedrock; generally
characterized by a roughly circular outline, a distant breaking of
the ground surface and downward movement of soil into bedrock voids.
A depression in the embankment of a pond or basin that is
used to pass peak discharge greater than the maximum design storm
controlled by the pond.
The proper placing, grading and/or covering of soil, rock
or earth to ensure their resistance to erosion, sliding or other movement.
A system of pipes and/or open channels that convey intercepted
runoff and stormwater from other sources, but excludes domestic sewage
and industrial wastes.
Any structure, natural or man-made, that, due to its condition,
design, or construction, conveys, stores, or otherwise affects stormwater
runoff. Typical stormwater management facilities include, but are
not limited to, detention and retention basins, open channels, storm
sewers, pipes, and infiltration structures.
The plan for managing stormwater runoff in the Spring Creek
Watershed adopted by the Centre County Commissioners as required by
the Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864, (Act 167), and known as the
"Spring Creek Watershed Action 167 Stormwater Management Plan."
Tabular or sheet-like mass, distinct layers of homogenous
or gradational sedimentary material (consolidated rock or unconsolidated
earth) of any thickness, visually separable from other layers above
and below by a discrete change in the character of the material deposited
or by a sharp physical break deposition or both.
A stratum or body of strata recognized as a unit in the classification
of the rocks of the earth's crust with respect to any specific
rock character, property, attribute or for any purpose such as description,
mapping, and correlation.
For the purposes of this chapter, shall imply any soil mass
that is compacted in lifts to some tested criteria (standard or modified
proctor) such as those under foundations or adjacent to retaining
walls. Areas that for several years after construction respond to
precipitation events similar to impervious areas.
The smallest drainage unit of a watershed for which stormwater
management criteria have been established in the stormwater management
plan.
A natural low-lying stretch of land or minor manmade conveyance
channel, which gathers or carries surface water runoff.
Stormwater management.
The general configuration of a land surface or any part of
the earth's surface, including its relief and position of its
natural and man-made features. The natural or physical surface features
of a region, considered collectively as to its form.
A professional engineer licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
and duly appointed by the subject Municipality as their representative.
In the event that a Stormwater Utility is formed, all references to
the Township Engineer shall be considered to also imply the Stormwater
Utility Engineer.
An area of a site that cannot be routed to a stormwater management
facility because of its location. Generally small areas around access
drives or below stormwater management facilities.
Depth of precipitation required to be used in computing the
water quality volume based on the percentage of imperviousness of
a site.
Land development projects that have a high potential to cause catastrophic loss to local water quality and could potentially threaten groundwater reservoirs. See § 173-302 for additional definition.
Volume of runoff required to be controlled from a site in
a water quality BMP.
The entire region or area drained by a river or other body
of water, whether natural or artificial, a drainage basin or sub-basin.
Any and all rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, ditches, watercourses,
storm sewers, lakes, dammed water, wetlands, ponds, springs, and all
other bodies or channels of conveyance of surface and underground
water, or parts thereof, whether natural or artificial, within or
on the boundaries of this commonwealth.
Upper surface of a layer of saturated material in the soil.
Those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or
groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and
that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation
typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, including
swamps, marshes, bogs, ferns, and similar areas.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said appendix is included as an attachment
to this chapter.
