“Best management practices” or “BMPs” means the schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and structural and/or managerial practices approved by the Washington State Department of Ecology and/or the city of Vancouver that, when used singly or in combination, control, prevent or reduce the release of pollutants and other adverse impacts to waters of Washington State.

“Bulk petroleum fuel operation” means an operation that manages a cumulative total of 12,000 gallons or more of petroleum fuel on site in tanks capable of holding volumes of at least 4,000 gallons.

“Chemical lagoons and pits” means any earthen basin or uncovered concrete basin or depression containing hazardous materials.

“City” means the city of Vancouver.

“Closure of operation” means the cessation of activity such that hazardous materials are no longer managed at the operation. For the purposes of this chapter, an operation is considered closed if it has been nonoperational for a continuous period of two years.

“Connection” means a link or channel between two otherwise separate conveyance systems whereby there may be flow from one system to the other.

“Container” means any portable device in which a material is stored, transported, treated, disposed of or otherwise handled.

“Dangerous waste” means waste designated in the Washington State Dangerous Waste Regulations (Chapter 173-303 WAC) as dangerous or extremely hazardous due to its physical, chemical or biological properties.

“De minimis amounts” means a small or miniscule amount of contaminant in a discharge that is demonstrated to be nonharmful to the environment.

“Direct infiltration facility” means, for the purposes of this chapter, any mechanism that is intended to direct stormwater or process wastewater directly into the ground without providing treatment in accordance with Chapters 14.10 and 14.25 VMC. Examples include, but are not limited to, drywells, ponds, trenches and perforated pipe systems.

“Director” means the director of the city of Vancouver public works department or designee.

“Discharge” means, for purposes of this chapter only, the release of materials such that the materials may enter or be emitted to the air, land or water resources.

“Disposal” means discharging, discarding or abandoning materials into or on any land, air or water resources.

“Disposal site” means an area of land or an excavation in which wastes are placed for permanent disposal, and which is not a land application site as defined in this section, surface impoundment, injection well or waste pile.

“Drywell” means a precast concrete manhole with perforations and installed with drain rock or other material for exfiltration of surface water runoff or other drainage to the subsurface.

“Groundwater” means water in a saturated zone or stratum beneath the surface of the land or below a surface water body.

“Hard chrome plating” means chrome plating applied in a sufficient thickness to provide a hardened protective surface rather than merely a decorative surface. A hard chrome shop is more likely to be a large single-purpose plating shop with higher quantities of hazardous plating materials on site, whereas facilities which do decorative plating may do so as just one of the steps in their manufacturing process.

“Hazardous material” means any product, substance, commodity or waste in liquid, solid or gaseous form that exhibits a characteristic that presents a risk to water resources. Risk may be due to ignitability, toxicity, reactivity, instability, corrosivity or persistence. This definition extends to all “dangerous wastes” and “hazardous substances” that are defined in Chapter 173-303 WAC, Dangerous Waste Regulations. It also includes the chemicals and/or substances that are defined in the Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) and/or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).

“Illicit connection” means any man-made conveyance that is connected to a municipal separate storm sewer without a permit, excluding roof drains and other similar type connections. Examples include, but are not limited to, sanitary sewer connections, floor drains, channels, pipelines, conduits, inlets or outlets that are connected directly to the stormwater drainage system.

“Illicit discharge” means any discharge to a municipal separate storm sewer that is not composed entirely of stormwater except discharges pursuant to a NPDES permit (other than the stormwater permit for discharges from the municipal separate storm sewer) and discharges resulting from firefighting activities.

“Land application site” means a place where wastes such as sludge or gray water are applied to the land.

Leachable Constituents. These constituents are determined using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), Test Method 1311 in Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods, EPA Publication No. SW-846.

“Low-impact development” or “LID” means a stormwater and land use management strategy that strives to mimic predisturbance hydrologic processes of infiltration, filtration, storage, evaporation and transpiration by emphasizing conservation, use of on-site natural features, site planning, and distributed stormwater management practices that are integrated into a project design.

“LID best management practices (BMPs)” means distributed stormwater management practices, integrated into a project design, that emphasize predisturbance hydrologic processes of infiltration, filtration, storage, evaporation and transpiration. LID BMPs include, but are not limited to, bioretention, rain gardens, permeable pavements, roof downspout controls, dispersion, soil quality and depth, vegetated roofs, minimum excavation foundations, and water reuse.

“LID principles” means land management strategies that emphasize conservation, use of on-site natural features, and site planning to minimize impervious surfaces, native vegetation loss, and stormwater runoff.

“Manage” is a general term that includes, but is not limited to, the use, transfer, storage, processing and repackaging of materials. This does not include the active or immediate transportation of materials.

“Municipal waste” means general residential and commercial wastes including the waste collected by garbage haulers and the waste delivered to transfer or disposal sites by the waste generators themselves (self-haul).

“Municipal water supply well” means a city or Clark Public Utility (CPU) owned drinking water well meeting the definition of a Group A community water system as defined by WAC 246-290-020. Locations of such wells are depicted on the Water Resources Protection Ordinance Critical Area and Special Protection Area Map as maintained by the city.

“National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System” or “NPDES” means the national program for issuing, modifying, revoking, and reissuing, terminating, monitoring and enforcing permits, and imposing and enforcing pretreatment requirements, under Sections 307, 402, 318, and 405 of the Federal Clean Water Act, for the discharge of pollutants to surface waters of the state from point sources. These permits are referred to as NPDES permits and, in Washington State, are administered by the Washington State Department of Ecology.

“New development” means land-disturbing activities, including Class IV general forest practices that are conversions from timberland to other uses; structural development, including construction or installation of a building or other structure; creation of impervious surfaces; and subdivision, short subdivision and binding site plans, as defined and applied in Chapter 58.17 RCW. Projects meeting the definition of redevelopment shall not be considered new development.

“Operation(s)” means industrial, commercial, institutional or residential activity that may be publicly or privately owned and operated, and may involve the use of stationary or mobile facilities, equipment, transport vehicles or transfer equipment. To the extent allowed by state or federal law, this definition includes all federal, state or local government entities.

“Outdoor wood preservation” means the act of pressure-treating wood products for weather resistance and outdoor use, using organic-based preservatives such as creosote or pentachlorophenol, typically used to treat poles or heavy timbers, and inorganic-based preservatives such as chromium, copper and arsenic, typically used to treat dimension lumber.

“Person” means any human being, firm, labor organization, partnership, corporation, unincorporated association, trustee, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver or any other legally recognized entity.

“Pervious surface” means a surface material that allows stormwater to infiltrate into the ground. Examples include lawn, landscape, pasture, native vegetation areas, and permeable pavements.

“Petroleum fuel” means petroleum-based liquid products that are refined from crude oil specifically for fuel purposes. Fuel includes, but is not limited to, all grades of automotive gasoline, aviation gasoline, diesel, heating oils and kerosene.

“Potentially harmful materials” means hazardous materials as defined in this section as well as other materials including, but not limited to, the following which, if discharged or improperly disposed, may present a risk to water resources:

Petroleum products including but not limited to petroleum fuel and petroleum-based coating and preserving materials; oils containing PCBs; antifreeze and other liquid automotive products; metals, either in particulate or dissolved form, in concentrations above established regulatory standards; flammable or explosive materials; radioactive material; used batteries; corrosives, acids, alkalis or bases; paints, stains, resins, lacquers or varnishes; degreasers; solvents; construction materials; drain cleaners and other toxic liquid household products; pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or fertilizers unless applied in accordance with local, state and federal standards; steam cleaning and carpet cleaning wastes; pressure cleaning wastes; car wash water; laundry wastewater; soaps, detergents, ammonia; swimming pool backwash; chlorine, bromine, and other disinfectants; heated water; domestic animal wastes; sewage; recreational vehicle waste; animal carcasses, excluding salmonids; food wastes; collected lawn clippings, leaves or branches; trash or debris; silt, sediment or gravel; dyes; and untreated or unapproved wastewater from industrial processes.

“Process wastewater” means wastewater discharged from one or more industrial processes or industrial cleanup procedures.

“Redevelopment” means, on a site that is already substantially developed (i.e., has 35 percent or more of existing impervious surface coverage), the creation or addition of impervious surfaces; the expansion of a building footprint or addition or replacement of a structure; structural development including construction, installation or expansion of a building or other structure; replacement of impervious surface that is not part of a routine maintenance activity; and land-disturbing activities.

“Releasing” or “release” means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment, including but not limited to the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles.

“Responsible government official” means a person employed by the federal, state or a local government with authority to protect the public health and safety or water resources. Examples include, but are not limited to, persons employed by the police and fire departments, and employees of the Washington State Department of Ecology, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Clark County, and Clark County Public Health.

“Sewage disposal cesspool” means a lined excavation in the ground which receives the discharge of a drainage system, designed to retain solids and organic matter while permitting liquids to seep through the sides and bottom.

“Source control BMP” means a structure or operation that is intended to prevent pollutants from coming into contact with stormwater through physical separation of areas or careful management of activities that are sources of pollutants. The Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington separates source control BMPs into two types. Structural source control BMPs are physical, structural, or mechanical devices or facilities that are intended to prevent pollutants from entering stormwater. Operational BMPs are nonstructural practices that prevent or reduce pollutants from entering stormwater.

“Stormwater” means that portion of precipitation that does not naturally percolate into the ground or evaporate, but flows via overland flow, interflow, pipes, and other features of a stormwater drainage system into a defined surface water body, or a constructed infiltration facility.

“Stormwater drainage system” means constructed and natural features that function together as a system to collect, convey, channel, hold, inhibit, retain, detain, infiltrate, divert, treat or filter stormwater.

“Stormwater facility” means a constructed component of a stormwater drainage system, designed and constructed to perform a particular function or multiple functions. Stormwater facilities include, but are not limited to: pipes, swales, ditches, open channels, culverts, street gutters, detention ponds, retention ponds, constructed wetlands, storage basins, infiltration devices, catch basins, manholes, drywells, oil/water separators, biofiltration swales, sediment basins, bioretention, permeable pavements, and vegetated roofs.

“Stormwater Manual” means the Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington, prepared by the Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality Program, July 2019, Publication No. 19-10-021, five volumes, and as hereafter amended.

“Stormwater permit” means the city of Vancouver National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Western Washington Phase II municipal stormwater permit issued July 1, 2019, effective August 1, 2019, by the Washington State Department of Ecology, and as hereafter modified or reissued.

“Surface water” means water that flows across the land surface, in channels or is contained in depressions in the land surface, including but not limited to ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams.

“Tank” means a stationary device designed to contain liquids used or stored at an operation which may include hazardous materials, chemicals or dangerous wastes, and which is constructed primarily of nonearthen materials to provide structural support.

“Toxicity” means having properties that cause or significantly contribute to death, injury or illness in humans or wildlife. A material exhibits the characteristic of toxicity if it contains certain leachable constituents at sufficient concentrations to be considered dangerous to human health and the environment. Leachable constituents and toxicity concentrations are referenced in the Toxicity Characteristics List of WAC 173-303-090(8) as amended.

“Transfer warehouse” means any enclosed and covered transportation-related warehouse where shipments of products, which may be hazardous materials but not dangerous wastes, are held in portable containers for transfer.

“Treatment BMP” means a stormwater facility that is intended to remove pollutants from stormwater. Stormwater treatment BMPs include, but are not limited to, wet ponds, oil/water separators, biofiltration swales, and constructed wetlands.

“Underground injection control” or “UIC well” means a manmade subsurface fluid distribution system designed to discharge fluids into the ground, consisting of an assemblage of perforated pipes, drain tiles or other similar mechanisms or a dug hole that is deeper than the largest surface dimension. Subsurface infiltration systems include drywells, pipe or French drains, drain fields, and other similar devices.

“Water resources” means surface water, stormwater and groundwater. (Ord. M-4372 § 2, 2022; Ord. M-4179 § 51, 2016; Ord. M-3920 § 4, 2009; Ord. M-3600, 2002)