To promote the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of Dayton, Minnesota, by requiring stormwater management practices for construction activity.

   This chapter is adopted pursuant to M.S. § 462.351.

   The City of Dayton hereby finds that non-storm water discharges to the City's municipal separated storm sewer system (MS4) are subject to higher levels of pollutants which enter into receiving water bodies adversely affecting the public health, safety and general welfare by impacting water quality, creating nuisances, impairing other beneficial uses of environmental resources and hindering the ability of the City of Dayton to provide adequate water, sewage, flood control and other community services.

   The purpose of this section is to promote, preserve and enhance the natural resources within the City of Dayton and protect them from adverse effects occasioned by non-storm water discharges by regulating discharges that would have an adverse and potentially irreversible impact on water quality and environmentally sensitive land.

   For the purpose of this section, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall have the meaning stated below. When inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number. The word “shall” is always mandatory and not merely directive.

   Sediment and erosion control and stormwater management practices used to mitigate adverse effects of land use activities, runoff, sedimentation, and non-point source pollution on stream bank erosion, stream hydrology, surface and groundwater replenishment.

   The City of Dayton.

   Adding, introducing, releasing, leaking, spilling, casting, throwing or emitting any pollutant, or placing any pollutant in a location where it is likely to pollute waters of the state in the County.

   The process by which ground surface is worn away by action of wind, water, ice or gravity.

   Water contained below the surface of the earth in the saturated zone including, without limitation, all waters whether under confined, unconfined, or perched conditions, in near-surface unconsolidated sediment or regolith, or in rock formations deeper underground.

   Either of the following:

      a.   Any drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, which allows an illegal discharge to enter the storm drain system including any non-storm water discharge including sewage, process wastewater, and wash water and any connections to the storm drain system from indoor drains and sinks, regardless of whether said drain or connection had been previously allowed, permitted or approved by an authorized enforcement agency; or

      b.   Any drain or conveyance connected from a residential, commercial or industrial land use to the storm drain system which has not been documented in plans, maps, or equivalent records and approved by an authorized enforcement agency.

   Any direct or indirect non-storm water discharge to the storm sewer system, except as exempted in Subd. 8 of this section.

   The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

   The system of conveyances (including sidewalks, roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels or storm drains) owned and operated by the City and designed or used for collecting or conveying storm water, and which is not used for collecting or conveying sewage.

   The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; the program for issuing, modifying, revoking, reissuing, terminating, monitoring, and enforcing permits under the Clean Water Act (Sections 301, 318, 402, and 405) and United States Code of Federal Regulations Title 33, Sections 1317, 1328, 1342, and 1345 authorizing the discharge of pollutants to water of the United States.

   Any individual, firm, corporation, partnership, franchise, association or governmental entity.

   Any substance which, when discharged, has potential to or does: interfere with state designated water uses, obstruct or cause damage to waters of the state, change water color, odor, or usability as a drinking water source through causes not attributable to natural stream processes affecting surface water or subsurface processes affecting groundwater, add an unnatural surface film on the water; adversely change other chemical, biological, thermal, or physical conditions, in any surface water or stream channel, degrade the quality of ground water; or harm human life, aquatic life, or terrestrial plant and wildlife. Pollutant includes dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, garbage, wastewater, wastewater sludge, chemical waste, biological materials, radioactive materials, rock, sand, dust, industrial waste, sediment, nutrients, toxic substance, pesticide, herbicide, trace metal, automotive fluid, petroleum-based substance, and oxygen-demanding material.

   To discharge pollutants into waters of the state.

   The direct or indirect distribution of pollutants into waters of the state.

   The State of Minnesota.

   A conveyance or system of conveyances that is owned and operated by the City or other entity and designed or used for collecting or conveying storm water.

   As defined under Minnesota Rule 7077.0105, Subpart 41(b), storm water is defined as “precipitation runoff, storm water runoff, snowmelt runoff, and any other surface runoff and drainage.”

   All waters of the state other than ground waters, which include ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, tidal and nontidal wetlands, public ditches, tax ditches and public drainage systems except those designed and used to collect, convey or dispose of sanitary sewage.

   As defined in M.S. § 115.01, Subd. 22, waters of the state include all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through or border upon the state or any portion thereof.

   The City and its authorized representatives are authorized to administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this section.

   (1)   No person shall throw, deposit, place, leave, maintain or keep any substance upon any street, alley, sidewalk, storm drain, inlet, catch basin conduit or drainage structure, business place, or upon any public or private plot of land, so that the same might be or become a pollutant, except in containers, recycling bags, or other lawfully established waste disposal facility.

   (2)   No person shall intentionally dispose of grass, leaves, dirt, or landscape material into a water resource, buffer, street, road, alley, catch basin, culvert, curb, gutter, inlet, ditch, natural watercourse, flood control channel, canal, storm drain or any fabricated natural conveyance.

   (1)   No person shall cause any illicit discharge to enter the storm sewer system or any surface water unless such discharge:

      a.   Consists of non-storm water that is authorized by an NPDES point source permit obtained from the MPCA;

      b.   Is associated with firefighting activities or other activities necessary to protect public health and safety; or

      c.   Is one of the following exempt discharges: water line flushing or other potable water sources, landscape irrigation or lawn watering, diverted stream flows, rising ground water, ground water infiltration to storm drains, uncontaminated pumped ground water, foundation or footing drains (not including active groundwater dewatering systems), crawl space pumps, air conditioning condensation, springs, non-commercial washing of vehicles, natural riparian habitat or wetland flows, dechlorinated swimming pools and any other water source not containing pollutant.

   (2)   Dye testing is an allowable discharge, but requires a verbal notification to the City prior to the time of the test.

   (3)   No person shall use any illicit connection to intentionally convey non-storm water to the City's storm sewer system.

   (4)   The construction, use, maintenance or continued existence of illicit connections to the storm sewer system is prohibited. 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.

   (5)   A person is considered to be in violation of this section if the person connects a line conveying sewage to the storm sewer system, or allows such a connection to continue.

   Any owner or occupant of property within the City shall comply with the following good housekeeping requirements:

   (1)   No person shall leave, deposit, discharge, dump, or otherwise expose any chemical or septic waste in an area where discharge to streets or storm sewer system may occur. This section shall apply to both actual and potential discharges.

      a.   Individual septic systems must be maintained to prevent failure, which has the potential to pollute surface water.

      b.   No part of any individual septic system requiring on-land or in-ground disposal of waste shall be located closer than 150 feet from the ordinary high-water level in the case of DNR-protected waters, or the wetland boundary in the case of all other water bodies, unless it is proven by the applicant that no effluent will immediately or gradually reach the water bodies because of existing physical characteristics of the site or the system.

      c.   Recreational vehicle sewage shall be disposed to a proper sanitary waste facility. Waste should not be discharged in an area where drainage to streets or storm sewer systems may occur.

      d.   For pools, water should be allowed to sit 7 days without the addition of chlorine to allow for chlorine to evaporate before discharge.

   (2)   Runoff of water from residential property shall be minimized to the maximum extent practicable. Runoff of water from the washing down of paved areas in commercial or industrial property is prohibited unless necessary for health or safety purposes and not in violation of any other provisions in City codes.

   (3)   Mobile washing companies (carpet cleaning, mobile vehicle washing and the like) shall dispose of wastewater to the sanitary sewer. Wastewater should not be discharged where drainage to streets or storm sewer system may occur.

   (4)   Storage of materials, machinery, and equipment.

      a.   Objects, such as motor vehicle parts, containing grease, oil or other hazardous substances, and unsealed receptacles containing hazardous materials, shall not be stored in areas susceptible to runoff.

      b.   Any machinery or equipment that is to be repaired or maintained in areas susceptible to runoff shall be placed in a confined area to contain leaks, spills, or discharges.

   (5)   Debris and residue shall be removed, as noted below:

      a.   All motor vehicle parking lots and private streets shall be swept, at a minimum of once a year in the spring, to remove debris. Such debris shall be collected and properly disposed.

      b.   Fuel and chemical residue or other types of potentially harmful material, such as animal waste, garbage or batteries shall be removed as soon as possible and disposed of properly. Household hazardous waste may be disposed of through the county collection program or at any other appropriate disposal site and shall not be placed in a trash container.

   Any person subject to an industrial activity NPDES storm water discharge permit shall comply with all provisions of such permit. Proof of compliance with said permit may be required in a form acceptable to the city prior to the allowing of discharges to the storm sewer system. All facilities that have storm water discharges associated with industrial activity must adhere to the following guidelines:

      (1)   Any person responsible for a property or premise, which is, or may be, the source of an illicit discharge, may be required to implement, at said person's expense, additional structural and nonstructural BMPs to prevent the further discharge of pollutants to the storm sewer system.

   (2)   These BMPs shall be part of a storm water pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) as necessary for compliance with requirements of the NPDES permit.

   Not withstanding other requirements of law, as soon as any person responsible for a facility or operation, or responsible for emergency response for a facility or operation has information of any known or suspected release of materials which are resulting or may result in illegal discharges or pollutants discharging into the storm sewer system, or water of the state said person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment, and cleanup of such release. In the event of such a release of hazardous materials said person shall immediately notify emergency response agencies of the occurrence via emergency dispatch services. In the event of a release of nonhazardous materials, said person shall notify the City no later than the next business day.

   (1)   The City shall be permitted to enter and inspect all buildings under this section as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this section.

   (2)   Facility operators shall allow the City ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, dye testing, examination and copying of records that relate to the discharge of storm water.

   (3)   The City shall have the right to set up at any building such devices as are necessary to conduct monitoring, sampling and/or dye testing of the facility's storm water discharge.

   (4)   The City has the right to require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary.

   (5)   Unreasonable delays in allowing the City access to a facility is a violation of this section.

   (6)   If the City has been refused access to any part of the premises from which storm water is discharged, and is able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this section, 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 section or any order issued hereunder, or to protect the overall public health, safety and welfare of the community, then the City may seek issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.

   (1)   Suspension due to illicit discharges in emergency situations. The City may, without prior notice, suspend storm sewer system 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 storm sewer system or waters of the state. If the violator fails to comply with a suspension order issued in an emergency, the City may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize damage to the storm sewer system or waters of the state, or to minimize danger to persons.

   (2)   Suspension due to the detection of illicit discharge. Any person(s) discharging to the storm sewer system in violation of this section may have their storm sewer system access terminated if such termination would abate or reduce an illicit discharge. A person commits an offense if the person reinstates storm sewer system access to premises terminated pursuant to this section, without the prior approval of the City.

   (1)   Notice of violation. Whenever the City finds that a person has violated a prohibition or failed to meet a requirement of this section, the City may order compliance by written notice of violation to the responsible person. Such notice may require without limitation:

      a.   The performance of monitoring, analyses, and reporting;

      b.   The elimination of illicit connections or discharges;

      c.   That violating discharges, practices or operations shall cease and desist;

      d.   The abatement or remediation of storm water pollution or contamination hazards and the restoration of any affected property; and

      e.   Payment of a fine to cover administrative and remediation costs; and

      f.   The implementation of source control or treatment BMPs.

   (2)   If abatement of a violation and/or restoration of affected property is required, the notice shall set forth a deadline within which such remediation or restoration must be completed. Said notice shall further advise that, should the violator fail to remediate or restore within the established deadline, the work will be done by a designated governmental agency or a contractor and the expense thereof shall be charged to the violator.

   (3)   If the bill received for abatement and/or restoration is not paid within 30 days, the City may draw the amount of the bill from any financial guarantees the City may hold or may assess the property from which the offense originated. After notice and hearing as provided pursuant to M.S. § 429.061, the City Council may then spread the charges against the property benefitted as a special assessment under M.S. § 429.101 for certification to the County Auditor and collection along with the current taxes the following year or in annual installations not exceeding 10 as the Council may determine in each case.

   The offending party will be issued an administrative citation for the unsatisfactory condition at the time the written notice of violation is given. The City may also enforce M.S. § 169.42 with the maximum penalty for a misdemeanor as prescribed by state law.

   In lieu of enforcement proceedings, penalties and remedies authorized by this section, the City may impose alternative compensatory actions upon a violator, such as storm drain stenciling, attendance at compliance workshops, creek cleanup and the like.

(Ord. 2007-03, passed 4-10-2007; Am. Ord. 2024-17, passed 12-23-2024)