The City of New Rochelle, New York has enacted Stormwater Ordinances in order to comply with state and federal regulations and to promote the health, safety or general welfare of the City of New Rochelle and protect and enhance its physical environment. The City of New Rochelle constantly works on improving the performance of the City-owned stormwater system and also monitors privately-owned facilities including parking lots. Conditions of some 30 outflows discharging runoff waters to the Long Island Sound are checked, sporadically controlled, and some debris is intercepted to prevent pollution of receiving waters.
Property owners are required to control the discharge of stormwater onto the street. This is particularly important during the winter months where Department personnel are required to respond to icing conditions created by sump pump discharges. Property owners who discharge water onto the street, and create icing conditions that require salting by the Department, will be charged $25 per treatment.
Discharge Prohibitions
Prohibition of Illegal Discharges.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the municipal Storm Drain System any materials other than stormwater, including but not limited to pollutants or waters containing any pollutants that cause or contribute to a violation of applicable water quality standards.
The commencement, conduct or continuance of any Illegal Discharge to the Storm Drainage System is prohibited except as described as follows:
Prohibition of Illicit Connections.
(1) The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence of Illicit Connections to the Storm Drain System is prohibited.
(2) This prohibition expressly includes, without limitation, Illicit Connections made in the past, regardless of whether the connection was permissible under law or practices applicable or prevailing at the time of connection.
(3) A person is considered to be in violation of this chapter if the person connects a line conveying sewage to the MS4, or allows such a connection to continue.
Suspension due to Illicit Discharges in Emergency Situations.
The Building Official or Commissioner of Public Works may, without prior notice, suspend discharge access to a person when such suspension is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present imminent and substantial danger to the environment, or to the health or welfare of persons, or to the MS4 or Waters of the United States. If the violator fails to comply with a suspension order issued in an emergency, the authorized enforcement agency may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize damage to the MS4 or Waters of the United States, or to minimize danger to persons.
Suspension due to the Detection of Illicit Discharge.
(1) Any person discharging to the MS4 in violation of this chapter may have his or her MS4 access terminated if such termination would abate or reduce an illicit discharge. The authorized enforcement agency will notify a violator of the proposed termination of its MS4 access. The violator may petition the Authorized Enforcement Agency within 10 days of such notice for a reconsideration and hearing.
(2) A person commits an offense if the person reinstates MS4 access to premises terminated pursuant to this Section, without the prior approval of the Authorized Enforcement Agency.
Access to Facilities.
(1) The Building Official shall be permitted to enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this chapter as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this chapter. If a discharger has security measures in force which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the discharger shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to representatives of the authorized enforcement agency.
(2) Facility operators shall allow the Building Official ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, examination and copying of records that must be kept under the conditions of an NPDES permit to discharge stormwater, and the performance of any additional duties as defined by state and federal law.
(3) The Building Official shall have the right to set up on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the authorized enforcement agency to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility's stormwater discharge.
(4) The Building Official has the right to require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary. The facility's sampling and monitoring equipment shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition by the discharger at its own expense. All devices used to measure stormwater flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
(5) Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be promptly removed by the operator at the written or oral request of the Building Official and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(6) Unreasonable delays in allowing the Building Official access to a permitted facility are a violation of a stormwater discharge permit and of this chapter. A person who is the operator of a facility with a NPDES permit to discharge stormwater associated with Industrial Activity commits an offense if the person denies the authorized enforcement agency reasonable access to the permitted facility for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized or required by this chapter.
(7) If the Building Official has been refused access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged, and he/she is able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this chapter, or that there is a need to inspect and/or sample as part of a routine inspection and sampling program designed to verify compliance with this chapter or any order issued hereunder, or to protect the overall public health, safety, and welfare of the community, then the authorized enforcement agency may seek issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.
After Construction.
The applicable approval authority shall approve a formal maintenance agreement binding on all subsequent landowners and recorded in the office of the County Clerk as a deed restriction on the property prior to final plan approval. The City of New Rochelle, in lieu of a maintenance agreement, at its sole discretion may accept dedication of any existing or future SMP, provided such facilities meet all of the requirements of this chapter and includes adequate area, by easement or otherwise, for inspection and regular maintenance.