The City Council hereby finds that excessive quantities of soil are eroding from certain areas that are undergoing development for nonagricultural uses such as housing developments, industrial areas, recreational facilities and roads. This erosion makes necessary costly repairs to gullies, washed-out fills, roads, and embankments. The resulting sediment clogs the storm waters and road ditches and muddies streams, leaves deposits of silt in ponds and reservoirs. Sediment is considered a major water pollutant.

The purpose of this article is to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation from occurring as a result of nonagricultural development within the City by requiring proper provisions for water disposal, construction waste disposal and the protection of soil surfaces during and after construction, in order to promote the safety, public health and general welfare of the City.

Grading, filling, removal, or excavation activities and operations undertaken by the City under the direction and supervision of the Director of Public Works for work on streets, roads, or rights-of-way dedicated to public use; provided, however, that adequate and acceptable erosion and sediment controls are incorporated in engineering plans and specifications are employed. Appropriate controls shall apply during construction as well as after the completion of these activities. All such work shall be undertaken in accordance with the performance principles provided for in this article and such standards and definitions as may be adopted to implement said performance principles.

Plan. To obtain approval for a land-disturbing activity, an applicant shall first file with the Department of Planning and Redevelopment or its designee an erosion and sediment control plan signed by the owner of the property, or authorized agent, on which the work subject to approval is to be performed. The plan or drawings, as described in § 410-92.6 of this article, shall include proposed erosion and sediment control measures to be employed by the applicant or the applicant’s agent.

Plan review.

Plan approval.

Plan preparation. The erosion and sediment control plan shall be prepared by a registered professional engineer or landscape architect or a Soil and Water Conservation Society certified Erosion and Sediment Control Specialist. Five copies of the plan shall be submitted to the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee.

Plan contents. The erosion and sediment control plan shall include sufficient information about the proposed activities and land parcels to form a clear basis for discussion and review and to assure compliance with all applicable requirements of this article. The plan shall be consistent with the data collection, data analysis, and plan preparation guidelines in the current “Rhode Island Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook,” prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, R.I. Department of Environmental Management, and R.I. State Conservation Committee. At a minimum, the plan shall contain:

Performance principles. The contents of the erosion and sediment control plan shall clearly demonstrate how the principles, outlined below, have been met in the project design and are to be accomplished by the proposed development.

Every approval granted herein shall expire at the end of the time period set forth in the conditions. The applicant shall fully perform and complete all of the work required within the specified time period.

If the applicant/owner is unable to complete the work within the designated time period, he or she shall, at least 30 calendar days prior to the expiration date, submit a written request to the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee for an extension of time, setting forth the reasons underlying the requested time extension. If the extension is warranted, the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee may grant an extension of time up to a maximum of one year from the date of the original deadline. Subsequent extensions under the same conditions may be granted at the discretion of the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee.

Periodic inspections. The provisions of this article shall be administered and enforced by the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee. All work shall be subject to periodic inspections by the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee. All work shall be performed in accordance with an inspection and construction control schedule approved by the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee, who shall maintain a permanent file on all of his/her inspections. Upon completion of the work, the applicant or owner(s) shall notify the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee that all grading, drainage, erosion and sediment control measures and devices, and vegetation and ground cover planting has been completed in conformance with the City’s approval, submitted plans, specifications, conditions, and other applicable provisions of this article.

Final inspection. Upon notification of the completion by the owner, the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee shall make a final inspection of the site in question and shall prepare a final inspection report of his/her findings, which shall be retained in the Department of Planning and Redevelopment permanent inspections file.

Revocation or suspension of approval. The approval of an erosion and sediment control plan under this article may be revoked or suspended by the Director of Planning and Redevelopment or his/her designee and all work on the project halted for an indefinite time period after written notification is transmitted to the applicant for one or more of the following reasons:

Other penalties. In addition thereto, whenever there is a failure to comply with the provisions of this article, the City shall have the right to notify the applicant/owner that he has five calendar days from the receipt of notice to temporarily correct the violations and 30 calendar days from receipt of notice to permanently correct the violations. Should the applicant/owner fail to take the temporary corrective measures within the five-day period and the permanent corrective measures within the thirty-day period, the City of Pawtucket shall then have the right to summon the applicant/owner. The Municipal Court may issue an order authorizing the City to take the available appropriate remedies it deems necessary to correct the violations and may also order a fine of $100 per day that the violation goes unrepaired. The Municipal Court may also authorize the City to assert a lien on the subject property in an amount equal to the costs of remedial actions. The lien shall be enforced in the manner provided or authorized by law for the enforcement of common law liens on personal property. The lien shall be recorded in the land evidence records of the City of Pawtucket, and shall incur legal interest from the date of recording. The imposition of any penalty shall not exempt the offender from compliance with the provisions of this article, including assessment of a lien on the property by the City.