§ 36-3. Definitions.

For the purpose of this chapter, unless specifically defined in this section, words or phrases shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this article its most effective application.

Accidental discharges means a discharge prohibited by this chapter into the county MS4 that occurs by chance and without planning or consideration prior to occurrence.

Best management practices or BMPs means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of stormwater runoff. The term "best management practices" or "BMPs" also includes treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.

Clean Water Act or the Act means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, codified at 33 USC 1251 et seq.

Commercial means property devoted in whole or part to commerce, that is, the exchange and buying and selling of commodities or services. The term "commercial" shall include, by way of example, but not be limited to the following businesses: amusement establishments, animal clinics or hospitals, automobile service stations, automobile dealerships for new or used vehicles, automobile car washes, automobile and vehicular repair shops, banking establishments, beauty shops and barbershops, bowling alleys, bus terminals, and repair shops, camera shops, dental offices or clinics, day care centers, department stores, drug stores, funeral homes, furniture stores, gift shops, grocery stores, hardware stores, hotels, jewelry stores, laboratories, laundries, and dry cleaning establishments, liquor stores, medical offices and clinics, motels, movie theaters, office buildings, paint stores or shops, parking lots, produce markets, professional offices, radio stations, repair establishments, retail stores, television stations and production facilities, theaters, truck or construction equipment service stations, truck or construction equipment dealerships for new or used vehicles, truck or construction equipment washing facilities and truck or construction equipment repair shops.

Construction activity means any clearing, grading, excavating, or equipment usage that will result in the disturbance of the land surface and is subject to stormwater permit requirements under the state general permit for stormwater discharges associated with construction activity. The term "construction activity" shall not include:

(1)

Such minor construction activities as home gardens and individual home landscaping, home repairs, home maintenance work and other related activities that result in minor soil erosion.

(2)

Individual service and sewer connections for single-family or two-family residences.

(3)

Agricultural practices involving the establishment, cultivation or harvesting of products of the field or orchard, preparing and planting of pasture land, forestry land management practices including harvesting, farm ponds, dairy operations, and livestock and poultry management practices and the construction of farm buildings.

(4)

Any project carried out under the technical supervision of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

(5)

Installation, maintenance, and repair of any underground public utility lines when such activity occurs in an existing hard surface road, street or sidewalk, provided the activity is confined to the area of the road, street or sidewalk which is hard surfaced and a street, curb, gutter or sidewalk permit has been obtained, and if such area is less than one acre of disturbance.

Critical design storm means the design storm specified in the Memphis and Shelby County Drainage Design Manual (MSCDDM).

Development means any activity subject to the state general permit for construction activities.

Director means the county director of public works.

Erosion prevention and sediment control plan means a written plan, including drawings or other graphic representations, for the control of soil erosion and sedimentation resulting from a construction activity.

Impervious means not allowing the passage of water through the surface of the ground or ground covering or a substantial reduction in the capacity for water to pass through the surface of the ground or ground covering.

Industrial facility means a business engaged in industrial production or service, that is, a business characterized by manufacturing or productive enterprise or a related service business. The term "industrial facility" shall include, but not be limited to the following: apparel and fabric finishers, automobile salvage and junk yards, blast furnace, blueprint and related shops, boiler works, cold storage plants, contractor's plants and storage facilities, foundries, furniture and household goods manufacturing, forge plants, greenhouses, manufacturing plants, metal fabrication shops, ore reduction facilities, planing mills, rock crushers, rolling mills, saw mills, smelting operations, stockyards, stone mills or quarries, textile production, utility transmission or storage facilities, truck or construction equipment salvage or junkyards, warehousing, and wholesaling facilities.

Institutional means an established organization, especially of a public or charitable nature. The term "institutional" shall include, by way of example, but not be limited to, the following: churches, community buildings, colleges, day care facilities, dormitories, drug or alcohol rehabilitation facilities, fire halls, fraternal organizations, golf courses and driving ranges, government buildings, hospitals, libraries, kindergartens, or preschools, nursing homes, mortuaries, schools, social agencies, synagogues, parks and playgrounds.

Manager means the county engineer who is designated to supervise the operation of the stormwater management program and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter, or his duly authorized representative.

Memphis and Shelby County Drainage Design Manual (MSCDDM) means the guidance document adopted for use by the county to replace the current City of Memphis Design Manual. The manual provides the technical standards and information necessary for proper design and construction of stormwater management facilities and the management of stormwater management infrastructure as defined in section 36-107.

Multifamily residential means an apartment building or other residential structure built for three or more units or lots under common ownership, and condominiums of three or more units.

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit or NPDES permit means a permit issued pursuant to 33 USC 26, Water Pollution Prevention and Control, subchapter IV Permits and Licenses, section 1342.

Notice of intent or N.O.I. means a written notice by the discharger to the commissioner of the state department of environment and conservation, or his designee, that a person wishes his discharge to be authorized under a general permit authorized by state law or regulation.

Person means any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, trust estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents or assigns.

Redevelopment means any development subject to the state general permit for construction activities.

Regional facility means a stormwater management facility designed to serve more than two properties and 100 or more acres of drainage area. A regional facility typically includes a stormwater pond.

Significant spills means releases of oil or hazardous substances in excess of reportable quantities under section 311 of the Clean Water Act, 40 CFR 110.10 and CFR 117.21, or section 102 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), CFR 302.4.

Stormwater means water induced or created from precipitation whether rain, snow or ice and either stored, collected, detained, absorbed, or discharged.

Stormwater management means the collection, conveyance, storage, treatment and disposal of stormwater in a manner to meet the objectives of this chapter and its terms, including, but not limited to measures that control the increase volume and rate of stormwater runoff and water quality impacts caused or induced by humanmade changes to the land.

Stormwater management facility means a stormwater management control device, structure, or system of such physical components designed to treat, detain, store, convey, absorb, conserve, protect, or otherwise control stormwater.

Stormwater management plan or SWMP means the set of drawings and other documents that comprise all of the information and specifications for the programs, drainage systems, structures, BMPs, concepts, and techniques for the county and as part of this chapter.

Stormwater pollution prevention plan or SWPPP means a written site-specific plan to eliminate or reduce and control the pollution of stormwater through designed facilities, natural or constructed, and best management practices.

Stormwater sewer system means the network of conveyances and storage facilities that collect, detain, absorb, treat, channel, discharge, or otherwise control the quantity and/or quality of stormwater.

Stream means any river, creek, slough or natural watercourse in which water usually flows in a defined bed or channel. It is not essential that the flowing be uniform or uninterrupted. The fact that some parts of the bed have been dredged or improved does not prevent the watercourse from being a stream. For the purposes of this chapter, a stream is not a wet weather conveyance as also defined herein. Typically, as a guideline perennial streams are identified on United States Geological Survey (USGS) maps by solid blue lines and intermittent streams are depicted by dashed blue lines.

Toxic pollutant means any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in 40 CFR 401 promulgated by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the provisions of 33 USC 1317.

Variance means the modification of the minimum stormwater management requirements contained in this chapter and the stormwater management plan for specific circumstances where strict adherence of the requirement would result in unnecessary hardship and not fulfill the intent of this chapter.

Water quality means characteristics that are related to the physical, chemical, biological, and/or radiological integrity of stormwater.

Watershed management program means a balanced program and plan of controlling the quantity and quality of water resources through comprehensive land and water resource management. Such management includes, but is not limited to pollution control, land development controls, best management practices both structural and nonstructural, preservation, habitat protection, and well head protection. This program incorporates the state's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater quality permit program.

Watershed master plan means the guidance vehicle for implementing the watershed management program.

Waterway buffer means an area including trees, shrubs, and herbaceous vegetation that exists or is established to protect and separate a stream, waterway, lake, reservoir, or pond or other body of water from buildings and/or structures and other land uses that alter habitat, geomorphology, water quality, and hydrology.

Wet weather conveyance means as defined in rule 1200-4-3-2004 of the rules of the state department of environment and conservation. Wet weather conveyances are humanmade or natural watercourses, including natural water courses that have been modified by channelization, that flow only in direct response to precipitation runoff in their immediate locality, the channels of which are above the groundwater table and which do not support fish or aquatic life and are not suitable for drinking water supplies. Rule 1200-4-3-.02(7) requires that waters designated as wet weather conveyances shall be protective of wildlife and humans that may come in contact with them and maintain standards applicable to all downstream waters. No other use classification or water quality criteria apply to these waters.

(Code 1992, § 30-6; Ord. No. 292, § 30-105, 12-6-2004)