2011-04 AMENDING CITY CODE - CHAPTER 38 - STORM WATER ORDINANCE

Home Browse Search

stormwater rules and regulations between the communities, the Macon County MS4 communities formed an NPDES working group. This group was made up of staff members from each MS4 and one of its first tasks was to write a stormwater ordinance to address NPDES permit requirements that were not adequately addressed in other codes,ordinance or policies. After two years of work on the Storm Water Ordinance, each community adopted the same ordinance in 2006. The City of Decatur adopted its Storm Water Ordinance on March 6, 2006. The Storm Water Ordinance established the Land Disturbance Permit, which is required for the following cases: a. Land disturbing activity disturbs one(1)or more acres of land; b. Land disturbing activity of less than one(1) acre of land if such activity is part of a larger common plan of development that affects one (1)or more acres of land. This includes individual building lots in a new subdivision. c. Land disturbing activity of less than one(1) acre of land, if in the discretion of the City Engineer such activity poses a unique threat to water, or public health or safety because the activity by itself or of a cumulative effect negatively impacts water quality; d. The creation and use of borrow pits. More information on the Land Disturbance Permit can be found in Section 3 of the Storm Water Ordinance. The Macon County MS4 working group is still actively collaborating on issues related to the NPDES permit and, after review, has determined that some modifications are needed to the Stormwater Ordinance. All MS4 communities are presenting these ordinance amendments to their respective boards. The first amendment to the ordinance adds the creation and use of a soil stockpile greater than 50 cubic yards as another case in which a Land Disturbance Permit would be required. The volume of the stockpile was set at greater than 50 cubic yards so that stockpiles from one dump truck or less would not require a permit. Most minor residential work would not require a permit. The Illinois EPA(IEPA) conducted its first audit of the City of Decatur's NPDES program in the spring of 2010. It was indicated to the City that if any private project with a NPDES permit was fined by IEPA,the municipality could also be fined. The Macon County MS4 working group felt that the current Storm Water Ordinance needed more authority to deal with projects that were out of compliance with their NPDES permit before IEPA stepped in. The second amendment to the Storm Water Ordinance gives the City the authority to issue a Stop Work Order for any violation of the ordinance. A final amendment changes all instances of"storm water"to "stormwater" in order to be consistent with US EPA terminology. POTENTIAL OBJECTION: No known objections INPUT FROM OTHER SOURCES: Macon County MS4 working group with representatives from Macon County, City of Decatur, Village of Forsyth, Village of Mt. Zion, Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District; STAFF REFERENCE: Richard Marley, Public Works Director will be in attendance at the City Council meeting to answer any questions of the Council on this item.