ARTICLE I              

  General Provisions

      §101.              Short Title.

This Ordinance shall be known and may be cited as the "Bolivar Borough Stormwater
Management Ordinance."

§102. Findings. The Council of Bolivar Borough finds that:

A.  Stormwater runoff from lands modified by human activities threatens public health and
safety by causing decreased infiltration of rainwater and increased runoff flows and
velocities, which overtax the carrying capacity of existing streams and storm sewers,
causes property damage and risk to public safety, and greatly increases the cost to the public
to manage stormwater.

B. Inadequate planning and management of accelerated stormwater runoff resulting from land
development and redevelopment throughout a watershed can also harm surface water
resources by changing the natural hydrologic patterns, accelerating stream flows (which
increase scour and erosion of stream-beds and stream-banks thereby elevating
sedimentation), destroying aquatic habitat and elevating aquatic pollutant concentrations
and loadings such as sediments, nutrients, heavy metals and pathogens. Groundwater
resources are also impacted through loss of recharge.

C.Bolivar Borough is located in the Conemaugh River Watershed and as such will endeavor
to cooperate with other municipalities located in the watersheds to address issues of
stormwater management, water quality, pollution and flooding.

D.Non-stormwater discharges to municipal separate storm sewer systems can contribute to
pollution of waters of the Commonwealth in Bolivar Borough

E.Stormwater can be an important water resource by providing groundwater recharge for
water supplies and base flow of streams, which also protects and maintains surface water
quality.

F.Public education on the control of pollution of stormwater is an essential component in
successfully managing stormwater.

G. A comprehensive program of stormwater management, including reasonable regulation of
land development and redevelopment causing loss of natural infiltration, is fundamental to
the public health, safety, welfare, and the protection of the people of Bolivar Borough and
all the people of the Commonwealth, their resources, and the environment.

H. The use of open space conservation, green infrastructure, low impact development (LID),
and riparian buffers are intended to address the root cause of water quality impairment by
using systems and practices which use or mimic natural processes to: 1) infiltrate and
recharge, 2) evapotranspire, and/or 3) harvest and use precipitation near where it falls to
earth. Green infrastructure practices, LID, and riparian buffers contribute to the restoration
or maintenance of pre-development hydrology.

I.Stormwater structures are considered vital infrastructure and can pose a significant hazard. Outlets and waterways which carry stormwater shall be maintained free of obstructions to allow for non-restricted flow of stormwater to avoid impoundment of water.

J. Occupancy and modification offloodplains shall be avoided wherever there is a practicable
alternative to reduce long and short-term adverse impacts in order to reduce the risk of
flood loss, minimize the impact of floods on human safety, health and welfare, and to
restore and preserve the natural and beneficial values served by floodplains.

K. Federal and State regulations require certain municipalities to implement a program of
stormwater controls. These municipalities are required to obtain a permit for stormwater
discharges from their municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4) under the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

L. The Westmoreland Conservation District (WCD) is a recognized regulatory agency with
authority in the county and this municipality to regulate erosion and sediment controls and
stormwater management related to land development activities. Because WCD' s authority
crosses municipal boundaries they are enabled to oversee environmental issues for the
general benefit of all county residents.

M. The Westmoreland County Integrated Water Resources Plan (2018) addresses all water
resources and provides a decision-making tool for development and redevelopment with
respect to those resources including storm water and its management. Refer to
www.paiwrp.com and www.westmorelandstormwater.org

 §l03. Purpose.

The purpose of this Ordinance is to promote health, safety, and welfare within Bolivar Borough
and its watersheds by minimizing the harms and maximizing the benefits described in this Section
of this Ordinance, through provisions designed to:

A.  Manage stormwater runoff impacts at their source by regulating activities that cause the  problems, reduce runoff volumes and mimic natural hydrology.

B. Maintain existing flows and quality of streams and watercourses.

C. Prevent scour and erosion of streambanks and streambeds.

D. Utilize and preserve the existing natural drainage systems as much as possible.

E. Restore and preserve the natural and beneficial values served by streamside and waterbody
floodplains.

F.  Focus on infiltration of stormwater, to maintain groundwater recharge, to prevent
degradation of surface and groundwater quality and to otherwise protect water resources.

G.  Promote stormwater runoff prevention and emphasize infiltration and evapotranspiration
through the protection and conservation of natural resource systems and the use of non-
structural BMPs and other creative methods of improving water quality and managing
stormwater runoff.

 H. Promote the use of green infrastructure in development and redevelopment where it can
also improve stormwater management within the broader watershed in which the project is
located.

I.  Meet legal water quality requirements under state law, including regulations at 25 Pa.Code,
Chapter 93 Aa, to protect and maintain "existing uses" and maintain the level of water
quality to support those uses in all streams, and to protect and maintain water quality in
"special protection" streams.

J. Provide review procedures and performance standards for stormwater planning and
management.

K. Provide for proper operations and maintenance of all permanent storm water management BMPs that are implemented in the [Bolivar Borough].

L. Provide a mechanism to identify controls necessary to meet the NPDES [and MS4] permit
requirements, and to encourage infrastructure improvements that lead to separation of
storm sewer systems from sanitary sewer systems.

M. Assist in detecting and eliminating illicit stormwater discharges into Bolivar Borough's
separate storm sewer system( s).

§104.   Statutory Authority

A.  Bolivar Borough is empowered to regulate land use activities that affect stormwater
runoff by the authority of the Stormwater Management Act of October 4, 1978, P.L. 864
(Act 167), 32 P.S. Section 680.1, et seq., as amended.

§105.   Applicability.

A. All regulated activities as defined by this ordinance are subject to regulation by this
Ordinance.

B  This Ordinance applies to any land development or regulated earth disturbance activities
within Bolivar Borough and all stormwater runoff entering into the municipality's separate
or combined storm sewer system from lands within the boundaries of the municipality.

C.  Earth disturbance activities and associated stormwater management controls are also
regulated under existing State law and implementing regulations. This Ordinance shall
operate in coordination with those parallel requirements; the requirements of this
Ordinance shall be no less restrictive in meeting the purposes of this Ordinance than State
law.

      §106.               Repealer

Any other ordinance provision(s) or regulation of the municipality inconsistent with any of the
provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed to the extent of the inconsistency only.

      §107.               Severability

If any word, phrase, section, sentence, clause or part of this Ordinance is for any reason found to
be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, invalidity or illegality by a court
of competent jurisdiction, shall not affect or impair any of the remaining words, phrases, sections,
sentences, clauses or parts of this Ordinance. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Council
of the Bolivar Borough that this Ordinance would have been adopted had such unconstitutional,
illegal or invalid word, phrase, section, sentence, clause or part thereof not been included herein.

§108.  Compatibility with Other Requirements.

A.  Approvals issued and actions taken under this Ordinance do not relieve the applicant of the
responsibility to secure required permits or approvals for activities regulated by any other
code, law, regulation or ordinance. To the extent that this Ordinance imposes more rigorous
or stringent requirements for stormwater management, the specific requirements contained
in this Ordinance shall be followed.

B.  Conflicting provisions in other municipality ordinances or regulations shall be construed
to retain the requirements of this Ordinance addressing state water quality requirements.

§109.               Erroneous Permit

Any permit or authorization issued or approved based on false, misleading or erroneous
information provided by an applicant is void without the necessity of any proceedings for
revocation. Any work undertaken or use established pursuant to such permit or other authorization
is unlawful. No action may betaken by a board, agency or employee of the Municipality purporting
to validate such a violation.

  §110.             Prohibitions

Shall be consistent with P AG-13 NPDES General Permit for stormwater discharges and as listed
here.

A. Prohibited discharges

1. No person in Bolivar Borough shall introduce, permit or allow, or cause to introduce,
   permit or allow, storm water discharges into the municipality separate storm sewer
   system which are not composed entirely of stormwater, except as permitted by this
   Ordinance, or
2.             a.      as provided in paragraph 2. below, or
3.              b.     discharges as authorized under a State or Federal permit.
4.   Permissible discharges, based on a finding by the municipality that the discharge(
5.   do not significantly contribute to pollution to surface waters of the Commonwealth,
      are recommended to be discharged safely to a vegetated area or infiltration BMP,
       but can also be discharged to a storm sewer system, include but are not limited to:

1.               a. Discharges from firefighting activities.
2.               b. Potable water sources including dechlorinated water line and fire hydrant
                      flushings.
3.               c. Non-contaminated irrigation drainage from agricultural practices.
4.               d. Routine external building washdown (which does not use detergents or other
                     compounds).
5.                e. Non-contaminated Air conditioning condensate.
6.                f. Water from individual residential car, boat or other residential vehicle
7.                    washing that does not use detergents or other compounds.
8.                 g. Springs.
9.                 h. Non-contaminated Water from basement or crawl space sump pumps.
   l.                     i. Non-contaminated water from foundation or from footing drains.
10.                 j. . Flows from riparian habitats and wetlands.
11.                 k. Lawn watering.
12.                 l.Pavement washwaters where spills or leaks of toxic or hazardous materials 
13.                    have not occurred (unless all spill material has been removed) and where
14.                    detergents are not used.
1000.                  m.Splash pad (recreational spray patio with no standing water) discharges.
                        n. Non-contaminated groundwater.

3. In the event that the municipality determines that any of the discharges identified
   in paragraph 2. above significantly contributes to pollution of waters of the
   Commonwealth, or is so notified by DEP, the municipality will notify the
   landowner and/or the responsible person to cease the discharge. 
4. 
   

5. 4. Upon notice provided by the municipality under paragraph 3. above, the discharger will have a 30 days

   as determined by the municipality, to cease the discharge consistent with the degree of pollution caused by the discharge.

   5.  5.  Nothing in this Section shall affect, limit or alleviate a discharger's responsibilities
      under State or Federal law.

   This Ordinance continues under Ordinance 1 of 2021 part 2

   1.