11.05.040 Stormwater Discharges.
A. Illicit discharges. It is unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutants into drainage facilities. Pollutants include, but are not limited, to the following:
1. trash or debris;
2. solid waste;
3. construction materials;
4. petroleum products including but not limited to oil, gasoline, grease, fuel oil, heating oil;
5. antifreeze and other automotive products;
6. fixed and mobile vehicle washes, including home car washing;
7. metals in either particulate or dissolved form, in excess of naturally occurring amounts;
8. flammable or explosive materials;
9. radioactive materials;
10. batteries;
11. acids, alkalis, or bases;
12. paints, stains, resins, lacquers, or varnishes;
13. degreasers and/or solvents;
14. drain cleaners;
15. commercial and household cleaning materials;
16. carpet cleaning wastes;
17. pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers;
18. steam cleaning wastes;
19. laundry waste;
20. soaps, detergents, or ammonia;
21. swimming pool backwash (diatomaceous earth);
22. chlorine, bromine, and other disinfectants;
23. heated water;
24. chlorinated swimming pool or hot tub water greater than 0.1 ppm chlorine;
25. human and animal wastes;
26. domestic or sanitary sewage;
27. recreational vehicle waste;
28. animal carcasses;
29. food and food wastes;
30. yard waste;
31. bark and other fibrous materials; does not include large woody debris (LWD) in approved restoration projects;
32. collected lawn clippings, leaves, or branches;
33. wastes associated with building construction;
34. concrete and concrete by-products;
35. silt, sediment, including dirt, sand, and gravel;
36. dyes and ink (except as stated in subsection C.1 of this Section);
37. chemicals, not normally found in uncontaminated water;
38. runoff from lawn/landscaping watering;
39. practice firefighting activities;
40. any hazardous material or waste not listed above.
B. Illicit Connections. Any connection identified by the Director that could convey anything not composed entirely of surface and stormwater directly into drainage facilities is considered an illicit connection and is prohibited with the following exceptions: connections conveying allowable discharges, or connections conveying discharges pursuant to an NPDES permit or a State Waste Discharge Permit.
When the Director has reason to believe that an illicit connection is resulting in an illicit discharge, the Director may sample and analyze the discharge and recover the costs from a person in an enforcement proceeding. When the discharge is likely to contain illicit discharges on a recurring basis, the Director may conduct, or may require the person to conduct ongoing monitoring (including sampling and testing) at the person's expense. Illicit connections must be removed or obtain permits at the discretion of the Director.
C. Requirements for Discharges and Land Uses. For all existing discharges that drain directly or indirectly to a drainage facility, persons shall implement and maintain non-structural and, if necessary, structural BMP's, to comply with Pierce County's Municipal NPDES permit requirements and this Chapter. Non-structural BMP's shall include, but not be limited to, maintenance and housekeeping practices, sweeping of parking lots, storing oil barrels and other contaminant sources out of the rain, covering material stockpiles, and proper use and storage of hazardous materials. Structural BMP's include, but shall not be limited to, constructed facilities such as detention tanks, wet ponds, oil/water separators, grassed swales, roofing and berms for container storage areas, and revised piping systems.
All commercial and industrial facilities with a potential to pollute shall take measures to prevent spills or other accidental introduction of illicit discharges into a drainage facility. Such measures shall include:
1. Establishment and implementation of plans and procedures to prevent spills and accidental releases of materials that may contaminate stormwater;
2. Implementation of procedures for immediate containment and other appropriate action regarding spills and other accidental releases to prevent contamination of stormwater;
3. Provision of necessary containment and response equipment on-site, and training of personnel regarding the procedures and equipment to be used.
The provisions of this subsection may be satisfied by a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan prepared in compliance with a NPDES industrial stormwater permit for the site. The persons shall make the plan and procedures required by this subsection available to the Director when requested.
A person must, at the earliest possible time, but in any case within 24 hours of discovery, report to the Director a spill, release, dumping, or other situation that has contributed or is likely to contribute pollutants into waters discharged to a drainage facility. This reporting requirement is in addition to, and not instead of, any other reporting requirements under federal, state, or local laws.
D. Allowable Discharges. The following types of discharges shall not be considered illicit discharges for the purpose of this Chapter unless the Director determines that the type of discharge, whether singly or in combination with others, is causing significant contamination of drainage facilities and is causing or contributing to a violation of the County's NPDES stormwater permit:
1. potable water;
2. potable water line flushing, provided the water is not chlorinated in excess of 0.1 ppm total chlorine and will have no detectable total chlorine residual upon reaching waters of the State or United States;
3. uncontaminated water from crawl space pumps or footing drains;
4. dechlorinated swimming pool water; however, Pierce County Surface Water Management must be notified in advance to ensure release is not in excess of drainage system capacity;
5. materials placed as part of a County approved habitat restoration or bank stabilization project;
6. natural uncontaminated surface water or ground water;
7. flows from riparian habitats and wetlands; and
8. other uncontaminated water as determined by the Director.
When BMPs are outlined for these activities in the Manual, said BMPs, or BMPs of equivalent effectiveness, shall be followed.
E. Exceptions to Illicit Discharges.
1. Dye testing is allowable but requires verbal notification to the Pierce County Planning and Public Works Storm Drainage and Surface Water Management Utility at least one working day prior to the date of the test. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department is exempt from this requirement.
2. If a person can demonstrate that there are no additional pollutants being discharged from the site above the background conditions of the water entering the site, that person shall not be in violation of subsection A of this Section.
3. Emergency response activities or other actions that must be undertaken immediately or within a time too short to allow full compliance with this Chapter to avoid an imminent threat to public health or safety, shall be exempt from this Section. The person responsible for emergency response activities should take steps to ensure that the discharges resulting from such activities are minimized to the greatest extent possible. In addition, the person shall evaluate BMPs and the site plan, where applicable, to prevent reoccurrence.