This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Act 167 Schuylkill River Stormwater Management Ordinance."
The Township of Muhlenberg Commissioners finds
that:
A.
Inadequate management
of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting from development throughout
a watershed increases flood flows and velocities, contributes to erosion
and sedimentation, overtaxes the carrying capacity of existing streams
and storm sewers, greatly increases the cost of public facilities
to convey and manage stormwater, undermines floodplain management
and flood reduction efforts in upstream and downstream communities,
reduces groundwater recharge and threatens public health and safety.
B.
Inadequate planning
and management of stormwater runoff resulting from land development
and redevelopment throughout a watershed can also harm surface water
resources by changing the natural hydrologic patterns, accelerating
stream flows (which increase scour and erosion of streambeds and stream
banks, thereby elevating sedimentation), destroying aquatic habitat
and elevating aquatic pollutant concentrations and loadings such as
sediments, nutrients, heavy metals and pathogens. Groundwater resources
are also impacted through loss of recharge.
C.
A comprehensive
program of stormwater management (SWM), including minimization of
impacts of development, redevelopment and activities causing accelerated
erosion, is fundamental to the public health, safety and welfare,
and the protection of the people of the Township of Muhlenberg and
all the people of the commonwealth, their resources and the environment.
D.
Inadequate management
of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting from development throughout
a watershed poses a threat to surface water and groundwater quality.
E.
Stormwater can
be an important water resource by providing groundwater recharge for
water supplies and baseflow of streams, which also protects and maintains
surface water quality.
F.
Impacts from stormwater
runoff can be minimized by using project designs that maintain the
natural hydrologic regime and sustain high water quality, groundwater
recharge, stream baseflow and aquatic ecosystems. The most cost-effective
and environmentally advantageous way to manage stormwater runoff is
through nonstructural project design, minimizing impervious surfaces
and sprawl, avoiding sensitive areas (i.e., stream buffers, floodplains,
steep slopes), and designing to topography and soils to maintain the
natural hydrologic regime.
G.
Public education
on the control of pollution from stormwater is an essential component
in successfully addressing stormwater.
H.
Federal and state
regulations require certain municipalities to implement a program
of stormwater controls. These municipalities are required to obtain
a permit for stormwater discharges from their separate storm sewer
systems under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES).
I.
Non-stormwater
discharges to municipal separate storm sewer systems can contribute
to pollution of waters of the commonwealth by the Township of Muhlenberg.
A.
The purpose of this chapter is to promote the public health, safety and welfare within the Township of Muhlenberg by maintaining the natural hydrologic regime by minimizing the impacts described in § 297-2 of this chapter through provisions designed to:
(1)
Promote alternative
project designs and layout that minimize impacts to surface water
and groundwater.
(2)
Promote nonstructural
best management practices (BMPs).
(3)
Minimize increases
in stormwater volume.
(4)
Minimize impervious
surfaces.
(5)
Manage accelerated
runoff and erosion and sedimentation problems at their source by regulating
activities that cause these problems.
(6)
Provide review
procedures and performance standards for stormwater planning and management.
(7)
Utilize and
preserve the existing natural drainage systems.
(8)
Manage stormwater
impacts close to the runoff source, which requires a minimum of structures
and relies on natural processes.
(9)
Focus on infiltration
of stormwater, to maintain groundwater recharge, to prevent degradation
of surface water and groundwater quality and to otherwise protect
water resources.
(10)
Maintain
existing baseflows and quality of streams and watercourses, where
possible.
(11)
Meet legal
water quality requirements under state law, including regulations
at 25 Pa. Code § 93.4a, to protect and maintain existing
uses and maintain the level of water quality to support those uses
in all streams, and to protect and maintain water quality in special
protection streams.
(12)
Address
the quality and quantity of stormwater discharges from the development
site.
(13)
Provide
a mechanism to identify controls necessary to meet the NPDES permit
requirements.
(14)
Implement
an illegal discharge detection and elimination program to address
nonstormwater discharges into the Township of Muhlenberg's separate
storm sewer system.
(15)
Preserve
and restore the flood-carrying capacity of streams.
(16)
Prevent
scour and erosion of stream banks and streambeds.
(17)
Provide
performance standards and design criteria for watershed-wide stormwater
management and planning.
(18)
Provide
proper operation and maintenance of all permanent stormwater management
facilities and BMPs that are implemented in the Township of Muhlenberg.
B.
NPDES requirements.
Federal regulations approved October 1999 require operators of small
municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) to obtain NPDES Phase
II permits from DEP by March 2003. ("NPDES II" is an acronym for the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Phase II Stormwater
Permitting Regulations.) This program affects all municipalities in
urbanized areas of the state. This definition applies to all Schuylkill
River watershed municipalities identified in Table III-1 of the Schuylkill
River Stormwater Management Plan Volume II as NPDES Phase II municipalities.
Therefore, these identified municipalities will be subject to the
NPDES Phase II requirements mandated by the Federal Clean Water Act
as administered by DEP. For more information on NPDES II requirements,
contact the DEP Regional Office.
A.
Primary authority.
The Township of Muhlenberg is empowered to regulate these activities
by the authority of the Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864 (Act 167),
32 P.S. § 680.1 et seq., as amended, the Storm Water Management
Act, and the appropriate municipal code.
All regulated activities and all activities
that may affect stormwater runoff, including land development and
earth disturbance activity, are subject to regulation by this chapter.
Any ordinance or ordinance provision of the
Township of Muhlenberg inconsistent with any of the provisions of
this chapter is hereby repealed to the extent of the inconsistency
only.
Should any section or provision of this chapter
be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision
shall not affect the validity of any of the remaining provisions of
this chapter.
Approvals issued and actions taken under this
chapter do not relieve the applicant of the responsibility to secure
required permits or approvals for activities by any other code, law,
regulation or ordinance.
