General Information

Stormwater is the water that is produced during rain or snow melt events.  Stormwater that is not absorbed directly into the soil is stormwater runoff.  As stormwater runoff travels across impervious surfaces such as roads, roofs, and parking lots, and water-soaked lawns and ditches, it picks up oils, litter, pesticides, herbicides, animal waste and sediment.  In 1987 the EPA amended the Federal Clean Water Act to include stormwater runoff as a pollutant of concern. It is estimated that 79 percent of the water pollution in the United States is a result of stormwater runoff and other indirect discharges.

When The Clean Water Act was amended in 1987 to address the non-point sources of pollution, it was adopted as a two phase program.  Phase I began in 1990 and required municipalities having a population greater than 100,000 people and operating their own Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) to implement programs and projects that would reduce non-point pollution.  In 2003 Phase II was enacted and extended these stormwater regulations to small MS4’s, defined as communities operating a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System and included in an urbanized area. An urbanized area is a land area comprising one or more places—central places—and the adjacent densely settled area--urban fringe—that together have a residential population of at least 50,000 and an overall population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile.  The Town of Aurora is considered an urbanized area and is required to comply with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Phase II regulations.

Under Phase II, New York State requires that all regulated municipalities obtain a permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for the discharge of stormwater runoff into their surface waters.  Regulated communities are required to develop, implement and enforce a Stormwater Management Plan to reduce the discharge of pollutants from stormwater runoff into receiving waters of the community. The required Stormwater Management Plans seek to eliminate stormwater pollution through the implementation of six Minimum Control Measures.  The six Minimum Control Measures are:

1) Public Education and Outreach on Stormwater Impacts.

2) Public Participation and Involvement.

3) Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination.

4) Construction Site Runoff Control.

5) Post-Construction Stormwater Management.

6) Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Operations.

Each year the town, in collaboration with the Western New York Stormwater Coalition, submits to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation an annual report outlining the town’s achievements in implementing the six control measure of the Stormwater Management Plan.

The town has also implemented legislation to comply with NYSDEC Pollution Prevention requirements.  This local law, “Stormwater Management,” is Chapter 96 of the Town Code and can be accessed through the  Town Code link listed below.

Links

To learn more about stormwater pollution and the efforts and regulations to curb this non-point source of pollution please visit the following links.

    Western New York Stormwater Coalition

    Town Aurora Code

    New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

    United States Environmental Protection Agency-Stormwater Program