As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ACCELERATED EROSION
The removal of the surface of the land through the combined
action of man's activities and natural processes at a rate greater
than would occur because of the natural processes alone.
ACT 167
Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864, (Act 167), as amended,
and known as the "Storm Water Management Act."
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY
Activities associated with agriculture such as agricultural
cultivation, agricultural operation, and animal heavy use areas. This
includes the work of producing crops including tillage, land clearing,
plowing, disking, harrowing, planting, harvesting crops or pasturing
and raising of livestock and installation of conservation measures.
Construction of new buildings or impervious area is not considered
an agricultural activity.
APPLICANT
A landowner, developer, or other person who has filed an
application to the municipality for approval to engage in any regulated
activity at a project site in the municipality.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP)
Activities, facilities, designs, measures, or procedures
used to manage stormwater impacts from regulated activities, to meet
state water quality requirements, to promote groundwater recharge,
and to otherwise meet the purposes of this chapter. Stormwater BMPs
are commonly grouped into one of two broad categories or measures:
"structural" or "non-structural." In this chapter, nonstructural BMPs
or measures refer to operational and/or behavior-related practices
that attempt to minimize the contact of pollutants with stormwater
runoff, whereas structural BMPs or measures are those that consist
of a physical device or practice that is installed to capture and
treat stormwater runoff. Structural BMPs include, but are not limited
to, a wide variety of practices and devices, from large-scale retention
ponds and constructed wetlands, to small-scale underground treatment
systems, infiltration facilities, filter strips, low-impact design,
bioretention, wet ponds, permeable paving, grassed swales, riparian
or forested buffers, sand filters, detention basins, and manufactured
devices. Structural stormwater BMPs are permanent appurtenances to
the project site.
BMP MANUAL
Pennsylvania Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual,
as amended and updated.
BOROUGH
Spring Grove Borough, York County, Pennsylvania.
CFS
Cubic feet per second.
CHANNEL
A natural or artificial open drainage feature that conveys,
continuously or periodically, flowing water and through which stormwater
flows. Channels include, but shall not be limited to, natural and
man-made drainageways, swales, streams, ditches, canals, and pipes
flowing partly full.
CLEAN WATER ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq., and any subsequent amendments thereto.
CONSERVATION DISTRICT
A conservation district, as defined in Section 3(c) of the
Conservation District Law [3 P.S. § 851(c)] that has the
authority under a delegation agreement executed with DEP to administer
and enforce all or a portion of the regulations promulgated under
25 Pa. Code Chapter 102.
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY
Activities subject to NPDES construction permits. NPDES stormwater
Phase II permits will be required for construction projects resulting
in land disturbance of one acre or more. Such activities include but
are not limited to clearing and grubbing, grading, excavating and
demolition.
CONVEYANCE
A natural or man-made, existing or proposed, stormwater management
facility, feature or channel used for the transportation or transmission
of stormwater from one place to another. For the purposes of this
chapter, "conveyance" shall include pipes, drainage ditches, channels
and swales (vegetated and other), gutters, stream channels, and like
facilities or features.
COUNCIL
The Borough Council of Spring Grove Borough.
COUNTY
York County Pennsylvania.
CULVERT
A structure which carries surface water through an obstruction.
DAM
An impoundment structure regulated by the Pennsylvania DEP
Chapter 105 regulations.
DEP
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
DESIGN STORM
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. Also see "return
period."
DETENTION or TO DETAIN
Capture and temporary storage of runoff in a stormwater management
facility for release at a controlled rate.
DETENTION BASIN
An impoundment designed to collect and retard stormwater
runoff by temporarily storing the runoff and releasing it at a predetermined
rate. Detention basins are designed to drain completely shortly after
any given rainfall event.
DETENTION VOLUME
The volume of runoff that is captured and released into the
waters of the commonwealth at a controlled rate.
DEVELOPER
A.
A person who seeks to undertake any regulated activities at
a site in the municipality.
B.
Any person, partnership, association, corporation or other entity,
or any responsible person therein or agent thereof, that undertakes
any regulated activity.
DIAMETER AT BREAST HEIGHT (DBH)
The outside bark diameter of a tree at breast height which
is defined as 4.5 feet (1.37m) above the forest floor and/or ground
on the uphill side of the tree.
DISTURBED AREA
An unstabilized land area where an earth disturbance activity
is occurring or has occurred.
DOWNSLOPE PROPERTY LINE
That portion of a property line of a lot or parcel of land
being developed located such that overland or pipe flow from the development
site would be directed toward it.
DRAINAGE AREA
That land area contributing runoff to a single point (including
but not limited to the point/line of interest used for hydrologic
and hydraulic calculations) and that is enclosed by a natural or man-made
ridgeline.
DRAINAGE CONVEYANCE FACILITY
A stormwater management facility designed to transmit stormwater
runoff, including, but not limited to, streams, channels, swales,
pipes, conduits, culverts and storm sewers.
E&S MANUAL
Erosion and Sediment Pollution Control Manual, as amended
and updated.
EARTH DISTURBANCE (or EARTH DISTURBANCE ACTIVITY)
A construction or other human activity which disturbs the
surface of the land, including, but not limited to, clearing and grubbing;
grading; excavations; embankments; road maintenance; building construction;
and the moving, depositing, stockpiling, or storing of soil, rock,
or earth materials.
EASEMENT
A right of use granted by a landowner to allow a grantee
the use of the designated portion of land for a specified purpose,
such as for stormwater management or other drainage purposes.
EROSION
The natural process by which the surface of the land is worn
away by water, wind, or chemical action.
EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLAN
A plan required by the Conservation District or the municipality
to minimize accelerated erosion and sedimentation, and that must be
prepared and approved per the applicable requirements.
EXISTING CONDITION
The dominant land cover during the five-year period immediately
preceding a proposed regulated activity.
FEMA
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FLOOD
A temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of
land areas from the overflow of streams, rivers, and other waters
of this commonwealth.
FLOODPLAIN
Any land area susceptible to inundation by water from any
natural source or delineated by applicable FEMA maps and studies as
being a special flood hazard area. Also includes areas that comprise
Group 13 Soils, as listed in Appendix A of the Pennsylvania DEP Technical
Manual for Sewage Enforcement Officers (as amended or replaced from
time to time by DEP).
FLOODWAY
The channel of the watercourse and those portions of the
adjoining floodplains that are reasonably required to carry and discharge
the 100-year 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 100-year floodway, it is presumed, absent evidence
to the contrary, that the floodway extends from the stream to 50 feet
from the top of the bank of the stream.
FOREST MANAGEMENT/TIMBER OPERATIONS
Planning and activities necessary for the management of forestland.
These include conducting a timber inventory, preparation of forest
management plans, silvicultural treatment, cutting budgets, logging
road design and construction, timber harvesting, site preparation,
and reforestation.
FREEBOARD
A vertical distance between the design high-water elevation
and the elevation of the top of a dam, levee, tank, basin, swale,
or diversion berm. The space is required as a safety margin in a pond
or basin.
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
Systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes
to infiltrate, evapotranspire, or reuse stormwater on the site where
it is generated.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS/SUBSTANCES
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.
HEC-1
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center
(HEC) Hydrologic Runoff Model.
HEC-HMS
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center
(HEC) Hydrologic Modeling System (HMS).
HIGH TUNNEL
A structure which meets the following:
A.
Is used for the production, processing, keeping, storing, sale
or shelter of an agricultural commodity as defined in Section 2 of
the Act of December 19, 1974 (P.L. 973, No. 319), known as the "Pennsylvania
Farmland and Forest Land Assessment Act of 1974," or for the storage of agricultural equipment or supplies;
and
B.
Is constructed with all the following:
(1)
Has a metal, wood or plastic frame;
(2)
When covered, has a plastic, woven textile or other flexible
covering; and
(3)
Has a floor made of soil, crushed stone, matting, pavers or
a floating concrete slab.
HOT SPOTS
Areas where prior or existing land use or activities can
potentially generate highly contaminated runoff with concentrations
of pollutants in excess of those typically found in stormwater.
HYDROLOGIC SOIL GROUP (HSG)
Infiltration rates of soils vary widely and are affected by subsurface permeability as well as surface intake rates. Soils are classified into four HSGs (A, B, C, and D) according to their minimum infiltration rate, which is obtained for bare soil after prolonged wetting. The NRCS defines the four groups and provides a list of most of the soils in the United States and their group classification. The soils in the area of the development site may be identified from a soil survey report that can be obtained from local NRCS offices or conservation district offices. Soils become less pervious as the HSG varies from A to D (NOTE: see §
339-44A and
B).
ILLEGAL DISCHARGE
Any direct or indirect nonstormwater discharge to the storm
drain system.
ILLICIT CONNECTIONS
An illicit connection is defined as either of the following:
A.
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface,
which allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system
and/or waters of the commonwealth, including, but not limited to,
any conveyances which allow any nonstormwater discharge, including
sewage, process wastewater, and wash water, to enter the storm drain
system and any connections to the storm drain system and/or waters
of the commonwealth from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of whether
said drain or connections had been previously allowed, permitted,
or approved by an authorized enforcement agency; or
B.
Any drain or conveyance connected from a commercial or industrial
land use to the storm drain system and/or waters of the commonwealth
which has not been documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records
and approved by an authorized enforcement agency.
IMPERVIOUS SURFACE or IMPERVIOUS AREA
A surface that prevents the infiltration of water into the
ground. Impervious surfaces (or areas) shall include, but not be limited
to, roofs; additional indoor living spaces, patios, garages, storage
sheds and similar structures; and any new streets or sidewalks. For
the purposes of determining compliance with this chapter; decks, pools,
and compacted soils or stone surfaces used for vehicle parking and
movement shall be considered impervious.
INFILTRATION
Movement of surface water into the soil, where it is absorbed
by plant roots, evaporated into the atmosphere, or percolated downward
to recharge groundwater.
INFILTRATION FACILITY
A stormwater BMP designed to collect and discharge runoff
into the subsurface in a manner that allows infiltration into underlying
soils and groundwater (e.g., french drains, seepage pits, or seepage
trenches, etc.).
INTERMITTENT STREAM
A defined channel in which surface water is absent during
a portion of the year, in response to seasonal variations in precipitation
or groundwater discharge.
INVERT
The lowest surface, the floor or bottom of a culvert, pipe,
drain, sewer, channel, basin, BMP, or orifice.
KARST
A type of topography or landscape characterized by surface
depressions, sinkholes, rock pinnacles/uneven bedrock surface, underground
drainage, and caves. Karst is formed on carbonate rocks, such as limestone
or dolomite.
LAND DEVELOPMENT or DEVELOPMENT
Any of the following activities:
A.
The improvement of one lot or two or more contiguous lots, tracts,
or parcels of land for any purpose involving:
(1)
A group of two or more residential or nonresidential buildings,
whether proposed initially or cumulatively, or a single nonresidential
building on a lot or lots regardless of the number of occupants or
tenure; or
(2)
The division or allocation of land or space, whether initially
or cumulatively, between or among two or more existing or prospective
occupants by means of, or for the purpose of, streets, common areas,
leaseholds, condominiums, building groups, or other features;
C.
Development in accordance with Section 503(1.1) of the Pennsylvania
Municipalities Planning Code (as amended).
LANDOWNER
The legal or beneficial owner or owners of land including
the holder of an option or contract to purchase (whether or not such
option or contract is subject to any condition), a lessee if they
are authorized under the lease to exercise the rights of the landowner,
or other person having a proprietary interest in the land.
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL
A Pennsylvania registered professional engineer, registered
landscape architect, registered professional land surveyor, or registered
professional geologist, or any person licensed by the Pennsylvania
Department of State or qualified by law to perform the work required
by this chapter within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
LIMITING ZONE
A soil horizon or condition in the soil profile or underlying
strata that includes one of the following:
A.
A seasonal high-water table, whether perched or regional, determined
by direct observation of the water table or indicated by other subsurface
or soil conditions.
B.
A rock with open joints, fracture or solution channels, or masses
of loose rock fragments, including gravel, with insufficient fine
soil to fill the voids between the fragments.
C.
A rock formation, other stratum, or soil condition that is so
slowly permeable that it effectively limits downward passage of water.
LOW-IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID)
Site design approaches and small-scale stormwater management
practices that promote the use of natural systems for infiltration,
evapotranspiration, and reuse of rainwater. LID can be applied to
new development, urban retrofits, and revitalization projects. LID
utilizes design techniques that infiltrate, filter, evaporate, and
store runoff close to its source. Rather than rely on costly large-scale
conveyance and treatment systems, LID addresses stormwater through
a variety of small, cost-effective landscape features located on-site.
MAINTENANCE
The action taken to restore or preserve the as-built functional
design of any stormwater management facility or system.
MPC
Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247, 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq., as amended, the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,
Act 247.
MUNICIPAL ENGINEER
A professional engineer licensed as such in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, duly appointed as the engineer for the municipality,
planning agency, or joint planning commission.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER (MS3)
A conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads with
drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters,
ditches, man-made channels, or storm drains) which is all of the following:
A.
Owned or operated by a state, city, town, borough, township,
county, district, association or other public body (created under
state law) having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial
wastes, stormwater or other wastes;
B.
Designed or used for collecting or conveying stormwater;
C.
Not a combined sewer; and
D.
Not part of a publicly owned treatment works as defined at 40
CFR 122.2.
MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM (MS4)
All separate storm sewers that are defined as large or medium
or small municipal separate storm sewer systems pursuant to 40 CFR
122.26(b)(18) or designated as regulated under 40 CFR 122.26(a)(1)(v).
For the purposes of determining compliance with this chapter; all
municipal separate storm sewers shall be considered part of an MS4.
MUNICIPALITY
Spring Grove Borough, York County, Pennsylvania.
NEW DEVELOPMENT
Any regulated activity involving placement or construction
of new impervious surface or grading over existing pervious land areas
not classified as redevelopment as defined in this chapter.
NOAA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NONSTORMWATER DISCHARGES
Water flowing in stormwater collection facilities, such as
pipes or swales, which is not the result of a rainfall event or snowmelt.
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION
Pollution that enters a water body from diffuse origins in
the watershed and does not result from discernible, confined, or discrete
conveyances.
NPDES
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, the Federal
government's system for issuance of permits under the Clean Water
Act, which is delegated to DEP in Pennsylvania.
NRCS
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (previously "SCS").
O&M
Operation and maintenance.
O&M PLAN
Operation and maintenance plan.
PADEP
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
PARENT TRACT
The parcel of land from which a land development or subdivision
originates, determined from the date of municipal adoption of this
chapter.
PCSWMP
Post-construction stormwater management plan.
PEAK DISCHARGE
The maximum rate of stormwater runoff from a specific storm
event.
PENNDOT
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
PERCOLATION
The downward movement, under the influence of gravity, of
water under hydrostatic pressure through interstices of the soil or
rock.
PERSON
An individual, partnership, public or private association
or corporation, firm, trust, estate, Borough, governmental unit, public
utility or any other legal entity whatsoever. Whenever used in any
section prescribing or imposing a penalty, the term "person" shall
include the members of a partnership, the officers, agents and servants
of a corporation and the officers of a Borough.
POINT SOURCE
Any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including,
but not limited to, any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, or conduit from
which stormwater is or may be discharged, as defined in state regulations
at 25 Pa. Code § 92.1.
POLLUTANT
A contaminant or other alteration of the physical, chemical
or biological properties of surface water which causes or has the
potential to cause pollution as defined in Section 1 of the Clean
Streams Law.
POST-CONSTRUCTION or POST-DEVELOPMENT
Period after construction during which disturbed areas are
stabilized, stormwater controls are in place and functioning, and
all proposed improvements approved by the municipality are completed.
PREDEVELOPMENT or PRECONSTRUCTION
Ground cover conditions assumed to exist within the proposed
disturbed area prior to commencement of the regulated activity for
the purpose of calculating the predevelopment water quality volume,
infiltration volume, and peak flow rates as required in this chapter.
PREMISES
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalk and parking strips.
PRETREATMENT
Techniques employed in stormwater BMPs to provide storage
or filtering, or other methods to trap or remove coarse materials
and other pollutants before they enter the stormwater system, but
may not necessarily be designed to meet the entire water quality volume
requirements of this chapter.
PROJECT SITE
The specific area of land where any regulated activities
in the municipality are planned, conducted, or maintained.
QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL
Any person licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of State
or otherwise qualified by law to perform the work required by this
chapter. (See also "licensed professional.")
RECHARGE
The replenishment of groundwater through the infiltration
of rainfall, other surface waters, or land application of water or
treated wastewater.
REDEVELOPMENT
Any regulated activity that involves demolition, removal,
reconstruction, or replacement of existing impervious surface(s).
REGULATED ACTIVITIES
Any earth disturbance activities or any activities that involve
the alteration or development of land in a manner that may affect
stormwater runoff.
REGULATED IMPERVIOUS SURFACE
Proposed impervious surface as part of a current proposed
activity and all existing impervious surfaces installed after September
20, 2011, as part of previous activity.
RETENTION or TO RETAIN
The prevention of direct discharge of stormwater runoff into
surface waters or water bodies during or after a storm event by permanent
containment in a pond or depression; examples include systems which
discharge by percolation to groundwater, exfiltration, and/or evaporation
processes and which generally have residence times of less than three
days.
RETENTION BASIN
An impoundment that is designed to temporarily detain a certain
amount of stormwater from a catchment area and which may be designed
to permanently retain stormwater runoff from the catchment area; retention
basins always contain water.
RETENTION VOLUME/REMOVED RUNOFF
The volume of runoff that is captured and not released directly
into the surface waters of this commonwealth during or after a storm
event.
RETURN PERIOD
The average interval, in years, within which a storm event
of a given magnitude can be expected to occur one time. For example,
the twenty-five-year return period rainfall would be expected to occur
on average once every 25 years; or, stated in another way, the probability
of a twenty-five-year storm occurring in any one year is 0.04 (i.e.,
a 4% chance).
RIPARIAN
Pertaining to anything connected with or immediately adjacent
to the banks of a stream or other body of water.
RIPARIAN BUFFER
A permanent area of trees and shrubs located adjacent to
streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands.
RISER
A vertical pipe extending from the bottom of a pond or other
water impoundment that is used to control the discharge rate from
the pond or impoundment for a specified design storm.
ROOFTOP DETENTION
Temporary control and gradual release of stormwater falling
directly onto roof surface by incorporating control-flow roof drains
into building design.
RUNOFF
Any part of precipitation that flows over the land.
SALDO
See "subdivision and land development ordinance."
SCS
Soil Conservation Service, now known as the "Natural Resources
Conservation Service."
SEDIMENT
Soils or other materials transported by surface water as
a product of erosion.
SEDIMENT BASIN
A barrier, dam, retention or detention basin designed to
retain sediment.
SEEPAGE PIT/SEEPAGE TRENCH
An area of excavated earth filled with loose stone or similar
materials into which surface water is directed for infiltration into
the ground.
SHEET FLOW
A flow process associated with broad, shallow water movement
on sloping ground surfaces, that is not channelized or concentrated.
SITE
Total area of land in the municipality where any proposed
regulated activity, as defined in this chapter, is planned, conducted,
or maintained or that is otherwise impacted by the regulated activity.
SOIL COVER COMPLEX METHOD
A method of runoff computation developed by NRCS that is
based on relating soil type and land use/cover to a runoff parameter
called curve number (CN).
SPILLWAY
A depression in the embankment of a pond or basin which is
used to pass peak discharge greater than the maximum design storm
controlled by the pond or basin.
STATE WATER QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
The current regulatory requirements to protect, maintain,
reclaim, and restore water quality under Title 25 of the Pennsylvania
Code and the Clean Streams Law.
STORMWATER
Drainage runoff from the surface of the land resulting from
precipitation or snow or ice melt.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT (SWM) SITE PLAN
The plan prepared by the developer or his representative
indicating how stormwater runoff will be managed at the development
site in accordance with this chapter. "Stormwater management site
plan" will be designated as "SWM site plan" throughout this chapter.
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT FACILITY
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 facilities.
SUBDIVISION
As defined in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code,
Act of July 31, 1968, P.L. 805, No. 247.
SWALE
An artificial or natural waterway or low-lying stretch of
land that gathers and conveys stormwater or runoff, and is generally
vegetated for soil stabilization, stormwater pollutant removal, and
infiltration.
TOP OF BANK
Highest point of elevation of the bank of a stream or channel
cross section at which a rising water level just begins to flow out
of the channel and into the floodplain.
USDA
The United States Department of Agriculture.
WASTEWATER
Any water or other liquid, other than uncontaminated stormwater,
discharged from a facility.
WATER TABLE
The uppermost level of saturation of pore space or fractures
by groundwater. "Seasonal high water table" refers to a water table
that rises and falls with the seasons due either to natural or man-made
causes.
WATERCOURSE
A channel or conveyance of surface water having a defined
bed and banks, whether natural or artificial, with perennial or intermittent
flow.
WATERS OF THIS COMMONWEALTH
Any and all rivers, streams, creeks, rivulets, impoundments,
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.
WATERSHED
Region or area drained by a river, watercourse, or other
surface water of this commonwealth.
WETLAND
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, and similar areas.
WOODS
Any land area of at least 0.25 acre with a natural or naturalized
ground cover (excluding manicured turf grass) and that has an average
density of two or more viable trees per 1,500 square feet with a DBH
of six inches or greater. The land area to be considered woods shall
be measured from the outer driplines of the outer trees.
YCCD
York County Conservation District.