This ordinance shall be known as the "Stormwater Quality Management
and Discharge Control Ordinance" of the Town of New Canaan and may
be so cited.
The purpose and intent of this ordinance is to ensure the health,
safety, and general welfare of the public and to protect and enhance
the water quality of watercourses and water bodies in a manner pursuant
to and consistent with the Federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.) by reducing pollutants in stormwater discharges to the maximum
extent practicable and by prohibiting nonstormwater discharges to
the storm drain system.
For the purpose of this ordinance, the following definitions
shall apply:
Activities, practices, and procedures to prevent or reduce
the discharge of pollutants directly or indirectly to the municipal
storm drain system and waters of the United States. Best management
practices include but are not limited to treatment facilities to remove
pollutants from stormwater; operating and maintenance procedures;
facility management practices to control runoff, spillage or leaks
of nonstormwater, waste disposal, and drainage from materials storage;
erosion and sediment control practices; and the prohibition of specific
activities, practices, and procedures and such other provisions as
the Town determines appropriate for the control of pollutants.
Code of Federal Regulations.
The federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251
et seq.), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
Activities subject to NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System) construction permits. These include 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.
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.
Either of the following:
Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface,
which allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system,
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 from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of whether said drain
or connection had been previously allowed, permitted, or approved
by a government agency; or
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 Town.
Activities subject to NPDES industrial permits as defined
in 40 CFR 122.26(b)(14).
General, group, and individual stormwater discharge permits
which regulate facilities defined in federal NPDES regulations pursuant
to the Clean Water Act. The Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection has adopted general stormwater discharge permits, including
but not limited to the general construction activity and general industrial
activity permits.
Any discharge to the storm drain system that is not composed
entirely of stormwater.
Anything which causes or contributes to pollution. Pollutants
may include, but are not limited to, paints, varnishes, and solvents;
oil and other automotive fluids; nonhazardous liquid and solid wastes
and yard wastes; 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 coliform
and pathogens; dissolved and particulate metals; animal wastes; wastes
and residues that result from constructing a building or structure
(including but not limited to sediments, slurries, and concrete rinsates);
and noxious or offensive matter of any kind.
The human-made or human-induced alteration of the quality
of waters by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects, or has
the potential to unreasonably affect, either the waters for beneficial
uses or the facilities which serve these beneficial uses.
Any building, lot, parcel of land, or portion of land, whether
improved or unimproved, including adjacent sidewalks and parking areas.
Publicly owned facilities operated by the Town by which stormwater
is collected and/or conveyed, including but not limited to any roads
with drainage systems, 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 which are within the Town and are not part
of a publicly owned treatment works as defined at 40 CFR 122.2.
Any surface flow, runoff, and drainage consisting entirely
of water from rain storm events.
The Town of New Canaan.
United States Code.
Surface watercourses and water bodies as defined at 40 CFR
§ 122.2, including all natural waterways and definite channels
and depressions in the earth that may carry water, even though such
waterways may only carry water during rains and storms and may not
carry stormwater at and during all times and seasons.
This ordinance shall apply to all water entering the storm drain
system generated on any developed and undeveloped lands lying within
the Town of New Canaan.
The Public Works Director of the Town shall administer, implement,
and enforce the provisions of this ordinance. Any powers granted or
duties imposed upon the Public Works Director may be delegated in
writing by the Public Works Director to persons or entities acting
in the beneficial interest of or in the employ of the Town.
The provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared to be severable.
If any provision, clause, sentence, or paragraph of this ordinance
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 ordinance.
The standards set forth herein and promulgated pursuant to this
ordinance are minimum standards; therefore this ordinance does not
intend nor imply that compliance by any person will ensure that there
will be no contamination, pollution, nor unauthorized discharge of
pollutants into waters of the U.S. caused by said person. This ordinance
shall not create liability on the part of the Town of New Canaan,
or any agent or employee thereof, for any damages that result from
any discharger's reliance on this ordinance or any administrative
decision lawfully made thereunder.
