City of Dothan

The City of Dothan has enacted a Stormwater Ordinance in order to establish minimum stormwater management requirements and controls to protect and safeguard the general health, safety, and welfare of the public residing in watersheds within this jurisdiction.  The City of Dothan is the permitting authority for all land disturbing activities and requires the land owner to maintain all on-site stormwater control facilities and all open space areas (e.g. parks or “green” areas) required by the approved stormwater control plan. The City of Dothan will only provide construction permits to projects that establish a plan to manage stormwater runoff occurring during the construction process. The City of Dothan, under the NPDES program, also has the authority to inspect properties for noncompliance and can issue a notice of violation (NOV) for any deficiency or infraction onsite. Property owners are responsible for the maintenance of any stormwater facilities or practices located on the property. The City of Dothan has the authority to inspect stormwater facilities and practices in order to ascertain that they are properly maintained and functioning.

Excerpt from Dothan, AL Code of Ordinances

CHAPTER 83 – STORMWATER

ARTICLE II.STORMWATER MANAGEMENT

Sec. 83-25. – Post-construction requirements for new development and redevelopment.

1. The permittee shall develop and implement post-construction strategies for new development and redevelopment that include, at a minimum, a combination of structural and/or non-structural BMPs designed to require, to the maximum extent practicable, that the volume and velocity of pre-construction stormwater runoff is not significantly exceeded, as determined by the city. Said combination of post-construction strategies shall be designed to function during rainfall events with intensities including 2-, 10-, and 25-year-24 hour storm events. The city reserves the right to require the inclusion of larger storm events.
2. Post-construction strategies may be incorporated into permittee’s BMP plan filed with the city or in a separate document. Said post-construction strategies shall be reviewed, approved, and updated pursuant to the same requirements as those of the permittee’s BMP plan.
3. Permittee’s post-construction strategies must show proposed final site conditions and describe how the volume and velocity of stormwater leaving the site will be managed after construction is complete to require, to the maximum extent practicable, that it does not exceed the volume and velocity of pre-construction stormwater runoff.
4. Upon completion, permittee shall file with the city a certified copy of as-built drawings and calculations of any post-construction strategies implemented at the site. Such filing shall demonstrate, to the maximum extent practicable, that final post-construction site conditions comply with subsection (a), above.
5. The city reserves the right to inspect post-construction strategies following implementation by permittee and require documentation allocating responsibilities for long-term operation and maintenance of post-construction strategies, as it deems necessary. The city may also require permittee to provide a method of funding to be established or provided to ensure the long term maintenance of any post-construction BMPs.

Sec. 83-27. – Inspections.

1. The permittee must carry out all applicable inspection requirements set out in ADEM’s applicable regulations and NPDES construction general permit.
2. The city or its designated agent retains the right to enter property upon which any land disturbing activities are being conducted to carry out its own inspections, investigations, monitoring, observations, sampling, enforcement, and/or to address any complaint. Furthermore, the city or its designated agent retains the right to enter property upon which any post-construction strategies have been implemented pursuant to the requirements of this article to carry out its own inspections, investigations, monitoring, observations, sampling, enforcement, and/or to address any complaint. Prior to conducting any of the aforementioned activities, the representative(s) of the city will notify the permittee, or an authorized representative, at the site, of their presence and anticipated activities on the site. The city will conduct any such inspection activities at reasonable times, provided however that if the city has reasonable cause to believe that discharges from land disturbing activities to the MS4 may cause an imminent threat to human health or the environment, inspection of a site may take place at any time and without notice to the permittee, or an authorized representative at the site.

Whenever information from a permittee, site owner, and/or an authorized representative at a site is requested by the city, said parties may identify certain documents, materials, and/or processes that contain trade secret(s), the inspection of which could potentially jeopardize such trade secret. If the city has no clear and convincing reason to question the proprietary assertion, omission of such materials, documents and/or processes will be noted by the city. To the extent practicable, the city will protect all information which is designated as a trade secret by the permittee, site owner or an authorized representative.

3. The city may seek appropriate legal remedies from any court with competent jurisdiction over the site for any wrongful refusal by a permittee, site owner, and/or authorized representative to allow the city to enter and/or continue an inspection on a site. If a court grants a remedy to the city, the site owner must reimburse the city all costs and expenses incurred in obtaining such a remedy.

Sec. 83-28. – Corrective action.

1. Any poorly functioning erosion and sediment controls, post-construction strategies, non-compliant discharges, or any other deficiencies observed during inspections conducted pursuant to section 83-27 of this article shall be corrected as soon as possible, but not to exceed five days of the inspection, unless impracticable.
2. The permittee shall take all reasonable steps to remove, to the maximum extent practicable, pollutants deposited offsite or in any MS4 conveyance structure.

Sec. 83-29. · Enforcement.

1. This article authorizes the following stormwater and non-stormwater discharges: discharges authorized by, and in compliance with, any separate NPDES permit, discharges from fire-fighting activities; fire hydrant flushings; waters used to wash vehicles where detergents are not used; water used to control dust; potable water including uncontaminated water line flushings not associated with hydrostatic testing; routine external building wash down associated with construction that does not use detergents; pavement wash waters where spills or leaks of toxic or hazardous materials have not occurred (unless all spilled material has been removed) and where detergents are not used; uncontaminated air conditioning or compressor condensate associated with temporary office trailers and other similar buildings; uncontaminated ground water or spring water; foundation or footing drains where flows are not contaminated with process materials such as solvents; and landscape irrigation.
2. All discharges not explicitly authorized by this article are prohibited. Any discharge to the MS4 made in violation of this article or of any condition of a permit issued pursuant to this article shall be subject to correction and/or abatement in accordance with applicable law.
3. The City of Dothan, Alabama’s Phase II MS4 NPDES permit allows the city to rely upon ADEM for the enforcement of certain violations of this article. The city hereby expresses its intent to rely upon ADEM for enforcement of violations of this article, as allowed by the City of Dothan, Alabama’s Phase II MS4 NPDES permit, and agrees to promptly notify ADEM upon observing evidence of any known or suspected violations. Furthermore, no enforcement action will be taken by the city for a violation of the terms of this article if any of the following has occurred:
   1. ADEM has issued a notice of violation with respect to the same alleged violation and is proceeding with an enforcement action with respect to such alleged violation;
   2. ADEM has issued an administrative order with respect to the same alleged violation and is proceeding with an enforcement action with respect to such violation; or
   3. ADEM has commenced, and is proceeding with, an enforcement action, or has completed any other type of administrative or civil action, with respect to such alleged violation.

Any determination or resolution made by ADEM with respect to an alleged violation shall be final, and the alleged violation will not be made the subject of any additional enforcement action by the city for any alleged violations of this article and/or provisions of any permit issued pursuant to this article. However, for violations that have not been appropriately corrected and/or abated pursuant to ADEM’s enforcement action, an enforcement action may be pursued by the city.

4. Notwithstanding any other provision in this article to the contrary, in the event of an immediate threat to the public health or welfare, the city may take all appropriate measures to remove or alleviate such threat.
5. In the event of any accidental discharge of a hazardous substance or a significant spill of a hazardous substance to the MS4 which could constitute a threat to human health or the environment, the permittee of the site shall give notice to the city and the local emergency management city in the same manner and within the same time as is required by state regulations for notice to ADEM.

Absent a compelling public interest to the contrary, it shall not be a defense for the permittee in an enforcement action that it would have been necessary to halt or reduce the business or activity of the site, or any project or facility thereon, to maintain water quality and minimize any adverse impact that the discharge may cause.

6. Whenever the city finds that any person is in violation of any provision of this article, or any order issued hereunder, the city may serve upon such person a written notice of the violation. Within ten calendar days of the date of such notice, unless an alternate date is approved by the city, an explanation of the violation and a plan for the satisfactory correction and future prevention thereof, including specific required actions, shall be submitted to the city. Submission of such plan shall in no way relieve such person in violation of this article ofliability for any violations occurring before or after receipt of the notice of violation.

Dothan Stormwater Documents

• Stormwater Management 
• Stormwater Ordinance

State of Alabama STORMWATER DOCUMENTS

Alabama Handbook for Erosion Control (Volume 1)

Alabama Handbook for Erosion Control (Volume 2)