§ 109-358. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Accidental discharge means a discharge prohibited by this article into the City of Cumming Separate Storm sewer System which occurs by chance and without planning or consideration prior to occurrence.

Agriculture means the raising, harvesting, or storing of crops; feeding, breeding, or managing livestock or poultry; producing or storing feed for use in the production of livestock, including, but not limited to, cattle, calves, swine, hogs, goats, sheep, ratites, and rabbits, or for use in the production of poultry, including, but not limited to, chickens, hens, and turkeys; producing plants, trees, fowl, or animals, or the production of agricultural, horticultural, dairy, livestock, poultry, eggs, and apiarian products.

Best management practices (BMPs) means a collection of structural and nonstructural measures and vegetative practices which, when properly designed, installed and maintained, will provide effective erosion and sedimentation control.

City of Cumming Separate Storm sewer System means a conveyance or system of conveyances which is located within city-owned right-of-way and designed and used only for collecting or conveying stormwater runoff or other approved surface water discharges.

Clean Water Act (CWA) means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 USC 1251 et seq.).

Clean Water Act (CWA), section 401, means that provision of federal law that requires that an applicant for a federal license or permit provide a certification that any discharges from the facility will comply with the act including water quality standard requirements.

Clean Water Act, section 404 means provisions which regulate the disposal of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. Other activities which destroy wetlands such as drainage, flooding, pumping and burning are not regulated under the CWA unless they entail discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States.

Conveyance means stormwater features designed for the movement of stormwater through the drainage system, such as concrete or metal pipes, ditches, depressions, swales, catchbasins, curbs, gutters, storm drains, etc.

County health department means the Forsyth County Health Department established by the Georgia Health Code (O.C.G.A. § 31-3-1) or the executive officer and his designated representative acting on the health department's behalf for the administration and enforcement of septic tank rules.

Crop means fruits and products of all annual or perennial plants, trees, and shrubs and shall also include plants, trees, shrubs, and other agricultural products that are produced for sale.

Crossing includes those for roads, driveways, paths, and utilities.

Development activity means manmade change to improved or unimproved real estate, including, but not limited to, buildings or other structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavating, drilling operations, or permanent storage of materials or equipment.

Discharge means the release of treated or untreated stormwater runoff or other material to the City of Cumming separate storm sewer.

Drainage system means a conveyance or system of conveyances designed and used for collecting or conveying stormwater runoff.

Easement means an acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.

Erosion means the process by which land surface is worn away by the action of wind, water, or gravity.

Filling means the natural or manmade placement of any soil or solid material either organic or inorganic on a natural ground surface or an excavation.

Flood means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from the overgrowth of inland waters or the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.

Forestry means the profession embracing the science, art, and practice of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources for human benefit in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values.

Grading means altering ground surfaces to specified elevations, dimensions and/or slopes; this includes stripping, cutting, filling, stockpiling and shaping, or any combination thereof.

Hazardous material means a flammable, highly corrosive, acidic or toxic material as identified in the Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 12-14-1) in the oil and hazardous materials spill reporting requirements.

Illicit connection means a connection to the City of Cumming's Separate Storm sewer System that is not composed entirely of stormwater runoff except discharges, pursuant to a NPDES permit (other than the NPDES permit for discharges from the City of Cumming Separate Storm sewer System).

Impervious surface means a manmade structure or surface that prevents the infiltration of stormwater into the ground below the structure or surface. Examples are buildings, roads, driveways, parking lots, swimming pools, or patios.

Intermittent stream means a stream which flows only at certain times of the year when it receives water from springs or from some sub-surface source, such as, a seep. This definition is not meant to include drainageways that flow only during and shortly after storm events.

Issuing authority means the mayor and council.

Land disturbing activity means a land change or construction activity for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional land use that can result in soil erosion from water or wind or movement of sediments or pollutants into state waters or onto lands of the state or in accelerated stormwater runoff. These activities include but are not limited to clearing, grubbing, grading, excavating, transporting, and filling of land.

Land use means how land is occupied or utilized.

Lot. See article I of this chapter.

Maintenance means any action necessary to preserve stormwater management facilities in proper working condition, in order to serve the intended purposes set forth in this article or to prevent structural failure of such systems.

Maximum extent practicable means best management practices, control techniques, system design or engineering methods, and any other provisions which can be economically and reasonably implemented to reduce the discharge of pollutants to the City of Cumming Separate Storm sewer System.

Nephelometric turbidity units (NTUs) means numerical units of measure based upon photometric analytical techniques for measuring the light scattered by finely divided particles of a substance in suspension. This technique is used to estimate the extent of turbidity in water in which colloidally dispersed particles are present.

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution means water pollution that is:

(1)

Induced by natural processes including precipitation, seepage, percolation and runoff;

(2)

Not necessarily traceable to any discrete or identifiable facility; and

(3)

Better controlled by using best management practices.

Perennial stream means a stream which flows continuously in a well-defined channel throughout most of the year under normal climatic conditions.

Person means any and all persons, natural or artificial, and includes any individual, firm, corporation, government agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two or more persons having joint or common interests, or any other legal entity.

Pervious surface means any surface that allows stormwater to infiltrate the ground below, including, but not limited to, gravel, porous pavement (such as, a lattice paver), mulch, grassed areas, and forested areas.

Pollution means the contamination or other significant alteration of any water's physical, chemical, or biological properties, including change in temperature, taste, color, turbidity, or odor of such waters or the discharge of any liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive, or other substance into any such waters as will or is likely to render such water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to the public health, safety, or welfare or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other legitimate beneficial uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or other aquatic life.

Private means property or facilities owned by individuals, corporations, and other organizations and not by city, county, state, or federal government.

Procedure means a procedure adopted by the utility, by and through the City of Cumming or its agent, to implement a regulation or regulations adopted under this article, or to carry out other responsibilities as may be required by this article or other codes, ordinances or resolutions of the City of Cumming.

Reservoir boundary means the edge of a water supply reservoir defined by its normal pool level.

Riparian zones or riparian environments means the areas that border streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Riparian zones can be floodplains, streamside forests or stream banks. They are usually different from surrounding lands because they have unique soil and vegetation characteristics and are strongly influenced by water. Riparian zones provide an interface between the water and the land and they serve many functions which make them valuable to people.

Sediment means soils, both organic and inorganic, or other superficial materials transported and/or deposited by the action of wind, water, ice or gravity as a product of erosion.

Sedimentation means the process by which eroded material is transported and deposited by the action of water, wind, ice, or gravity.

Silt fencing means a web of mechanically or melt bonded polymer netting, monofilament or fibers entangled to form a strong and dimensionally stable matrix to catch storm runoff and soil particles as shown in the publication Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia (latest edition).

Silviculture means the art and science of growing forest crops.

Site means any lot, plot, parcel, or tract of land.

Stabilization means the process of establishing an enduring soil cover of vegetation by the installation of temporary or permanent structures for the purpose of reducing to a minimum the erosion process and the resultant transport of sediment by wind, water, ice, or gravity.

State waters means any and all rivers, streams, creeks, branches, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, drainage systems, springs, wells, and other bodies of surface or subsurface water, natural or artificial, lying within or forming a part of the boundaries of the state which are not entirely confined and retained completely upon the property of a single individual, partnership, or corporation.

Stormwater means stormwater runoff, snow-melt runoff and surface runoff and drainage.

Stormwater management means the collection, conveyance, storage, treatment, and disposal of stormwater runoff in a manner to meet the objectives of this article. The term "stormwater management" includes a system of vegetative or structural measures, or both, that control the increased volume and rate of stormwater runoff and water quality impacts caused by manmade changes to the land.

Stormwater management design manual means the most recent manual of design, performance, and review criteria for stormwater management practices, prepared under the direction of the City of Cumming.

Stormwater management facility means constructed or natural components of a stormwater drainage system, designed to improve stormwater quality and/or quantity, including, but not limited to, detention basins, retention basins, sediment basins, constructed wetlands, natural systems, oil/water separators, modular pavement, infiltration devices, and associated pipes, swales, ditches, and culverts.

Stormwater management plan means the set of drawings and other documents that comprise all of the information and specifications for the drainage systems, structures, best management practices, concepts, and techniques that will be used to control stormwater as required by this article and the stormwater management design manual. Also included are the supporting engineering calculations and results of any computer analysis.

Stormwater manual means a compilation of stormwater facility design and engineering criteria as approved by the City of Cumming Zoning Administrator as authorized by the mayor and council.

Stormwater runoff means the direct response of a land surface to precipitation and includes the surface and subsurface runoff, that enters a stormwater conveyance system or other concentrated flow during and following a precipitation event.

Stream bank means the uppermost part of the bank, usually marked by a break in slope, or as otherwise defined by rules of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR). A stream bank is not necessarily the water's edge.

Structural erosion and sedimentation control practices means practices for the stabilization of erodible or sediment-producing areas by utilizing the mechanical properties of matter for the purpose of either changing the surface of the land or storing, regulating or disposing of runoff to prevent excessive sediment loss. Examples of structural erosion and sediment control practices are riprap, sediment basins, dikes, level spreaders, waterways or outlets, diversions, grade stabilization structures, sediment traps and land grading, etc. Such practices can be found in the publication, Manual for Erosion and Sediment Control in Georgia.

Top of bank means the mark on all lakes and streams that will be found by examining the beds and banks and ascertaining where the presence and action of waters are so common and usual and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil a character distinct from that of the abutting upland in respect to vegetation.

Undisturbed buffer means a natural or enhanced vegetated area with no or limited minor land disturbances, which facilitates the protection of water quality and aquatic habitat.

Undisturbed upland area means any fully vegetated lands, greater than 200 feet from the banks of a water body, that are to remain ungraded after a project's completion. These areas include, but are not limited to undisturbed forested areas, pasture land that is to remain undeveloped, and other natural areas.

Utility means public or private water or sewer piping systems, water or sewer pumping stations, electric power lines, fuel pipelines, telephone lines, roads, driveways, bridges, river/lake access facilities, stormwater systems and railroads or other utilities identified by a local government.

Water quality means those characteristics of stormwater runoff that relate to the physical, chemical, biological, or radiological integrity of the water.

Water quantity means those characteristics of stormwater runoff that relate to the rate and volume of the stormwater runoff.

(Ord. of 3-16-2004(02), § III(10.2))