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In this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the meanings specified below:

(1) "Aquatic sediment" means a surface sediment overlain by an aquatic environment; a solid, fragmented, particulate material transported and deposited by wind, water, ice or chemically precipitated from solution and/or secreted by organisms; forming deposits of loose, unconsolidated layers in which the void spaces are occupied by fresh, marine or brackish water.

(2) "Best management practices" or "BMPs" means physical objects, structures, managerial practices, or behaviors that, when used singly or in combination, eliminate or reduce the introduction of contaminants to stormwater, receiving waters, or groundwater.

(3) "Clean Water Act" means the federal Water Pollution Control Act, codified at 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq., as now existing or hereafter amended.

(4) "Commercial violation" means a violation of this chapter that does not meet the definition of a noncommercial violation set forth in subsection (16) of this section.

(5) "Connection" means a plumbing or hydraulic connection.

(6) "Contaminant" means a solid, liquid, or gaseous substance that, if discharged to a drainage facility, natural drainage system, receiving waters or groundwater, will alter the physical, chemical, or biological properties thereof to the extent that the discharge will render the facility, system, or 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. Contaminants may include, but are not limited to, the following: trash or debris; construction materials; petroleum products including but not limited to oil, gasoline, grease, fuel oil or heating oil; antifreeze and other automotive products; metals in either particulate or dissolved form; flammable or explosive materials; radioactive material; batteries; acids, alkalis, or bases; paints, stains, resins, lacquers, or varnishes; degreasers and solvents; drain cleaners; pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers; steam cleaning wastes; soaps, detergents, or ammonia; chlorine, bromine, or other disinfectants; heated water; animal wastes; sewage; animal carcasses; food wastes; bark, soils, sediment, rock and other fibrous materials; collected lawn clippings, leaves, or branches; dyes, except as allowed in SCC 7.53.090(11); and wastewater generated by commercial or industrial activities.

(7) "Director" means the director of the department of conservation and natural resources or the department of planning and development services unless otherwise specified.

(8) "Discharge" means to throw, drain, release, dump, spill, empty, emit, or pour any matter into receiving waters, groundwater, a natural drainage system, or a drainage facility, or to cause or allow matter to be thrown, drained, released, dumped, spilled, emptied, emitted or poured into receiving waters, groundwater, a natural drainage system, or a drainage facility, or to cause or allow matter to flow, run, or seep from land into receiving waters, groundwater, a natural drainage system, or a drainage facility.

(9) "Drainage facility" means any part of a manmade physical system designed or constructed to collect, treat, convey, store, or control the flow of stormwater. Drainage facilities include, but are not limited to, stormwater conveyance and containment facilities, including pipelines, constructed channels and ditches, infiltration facilities, retention and detention facilities, stormwater treatment facilities, erosion and sedimentation control facilities, and all other drainage structures and appurtenances.

(10) "Ecology" means the Washington State Department of Ecology.

(11) "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(12) "Groundwater" means all waters that exist beneath the land surface or beneath the bed of any stream, lake, or reservoir, or other body of surface water, whatever may be the geological formation or structure in which such water stands, flows, percolates or otherwise moves.

(13) "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System" or "NPDES" means the national program authorized under the Clean Water Act for controlling pollutants from point and nonpoint source discharges into waters of the United States.

(14) "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit" or "NPDES permit" means a permit issued by Ecology or the EPA to implement the requirements of the Clean Water Act.

(15) "Natural drainage system" means the physical beds and boundaries of receiving waters, including those natural drainage systems that have been altered by human actions.

(16) "Noncommercial violation" means a violation of this chapter in which the real property on which the violation occurs is used solely for residential purposes for the benefit of the responsible person(s) and his, her or their immediate family members.

(17) "Person" means any natural person, corporation, nonprofit corporation, municipal corporation, government agency, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, professional services corporation, or any other legally recognized entity.

(18) "Person(s) responsible" or "responsible person(s)" means the person(s) obligated to remediate a particular violation, and includes all of the following persons:

(a) The fee owner(s) of the real property on which the violation exists or occurred;

(b) The tenant(s), licensee(s) or other person(s) entitled to use, occupy or otherwise control the real property on which the violation exists or occurred;

(c) The person(s) who performed or committed the acts or omissions causing or leading to the violation (if applicable); and

(d) Any other person(s) responsible for the violation under applicable law.

(19) "Receiving waters" means lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, wetlands, brackish or salt waters, portions of Puget Sound, and any other naturally occurring surface waters or watercourses located within the unincorporated county, including those for which the physical beds and boundaries have been altered by human actions.

(20) "Repeat violation" means a violation that is of the same or substantially similar type as a prior violation, occurring (a) on the same property as the prior violation, and (b) within 24 months after remediation of the prior violation was completed. Provided, that if remediation of the prior violation was never satisfactorily completed, a new violation that is of the same or substantially similar type occurring on the same property is also a "repeat violation."

(21) "Repeat violator" means a person responsible for more than one violation when: (a) the violations are of the same or substantially similar type, (b) the violations are on different properties, and (c) the violations occur within the same 24-month time period. For purposes of this subsection, the "time period" in which a particular violation "occurs" shall include the entire time during which the violation is in existence - from the initial occurrence of the violation, through the discovery of the violation, and continuing until remediation of the violation has been satisfactorily completed.

(22) "Snohomish County Drainage Manual" or "Drainage Manual" means the manual adopted by rule pursuant to chapter 30.63A SCC, and any amendments thereto, as described in SCC 7.53.050.

(23) "Source control best management practices" or "source control BMPs" means structures, equipment, supplies, or operations that are 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.

(24) "State Sediment Management Standards" means those standards established by Ecology for sediment, as set forth in chapter 173-204 WAC.

(25) "State Waste Discharge Permit" means a permit issued by Ecology in accordance with chapter 173-216 WAC.

(26) "State Water Quality Standards" means those water quality standards established by Ecology for surface waters, as set forth in chapter 173-201A WAC, and for groundwater, as set forth in chapter 173-200 WAC.

(27) "Stormwater" means surface water runoff resulting from rainfall, snowmelt, or other precipitation, prior to discharge to a receiving water or groundwater.

(28) "Violation" means the occurrence of any of the following:

(a) Discharge of a contaminant into a drainage facility, natural drainage system, receiving water, or groundwater;

(b) Failure to implement standards or best management practices required by this chapter;

(c) Failure to comply with any requirement established in this chapter; or

(d) Performing or allowing the performance of any act prohibited by this chapter. (Added by Ord. 01-035, May 23, 2001, Eff date June 2, 2001; Amended by Amended Ord. 07-030, May 2, 2007, Eff date May 17, 2007; Amended by Ord. 08-091, July 30, 2008, Eff date Aug. 21, 2008; Amended by Amended Ord. 13-023, Apr. 17, 2013, Eff date Apr. 28, 2013; Amended by Amended Ord. 20-081, Jan. 20, 2021, Eff date Jan. 30, 2021).