The City of Murfreesboro has enacted a Stormwater Management Ordinance in order to manage the manner in which stormwater is addressed in areas of new development and redevelopment through the course of construction, post‐construction stabilization and permanently to maintain or benefit water quality, to provide measures against stream bank erosion and flooding, and thereby to benefit the quality of life and character of the City. The City of Murfreesboro 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 Murfreesboro will only provide construction permits to projects that establish a plan to manage stormwater runoff occurring during the construction process. Stormwater fees will be collected by the City of Murfreesboro and businesses can qualify for credits by implementing Best Management Practices on their property. The City of Murfreesboro, 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.
(C) Right‐of‐entry.
(1) Designated City Staff shall have Right‐of‐entry on or upon the property of any person subject to this chapter and any permit/document issued hereunder. The City staff shall be provided ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, monitoring, sampling, inventory, records examination and copying, and the performance of any other duties necessary to determine compliance with this chapter.
(2) Where a property, Site or facility has security measures in force which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the person shall make necessary arrangements with its security personnel so that, upon presentation of suitable identification, the Designated City Staff will be permitted to enter without delay for the purposes of performing specific responsibilities.
(3) Designated City Staff shall have the right to set up on the person's property such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling and/or metering of the person's stormwater operations or discharges.
(4) Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the areas to be inspected and/or monitored shall be removed promptly by the person at the written or verbal request of the Designated City Staff. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the person.
(5) The Director of MWSD, the City Engineer, the Planning Director, or the Building and Codes Director or their designee may inspect the facilities of any owner or occupant in order to ensure compliance with this chapter. Such inspection shall be made with the consent of the owner or occupant. If such consent is refused, denied or not promptly addressed, the Designated City Staff may seek issuance of an administrative search warrant.
(6) The City has the right to determine and impose inspection schedules necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Inspections may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) An initial inspection prior to Stormwater Management Plan approval;
(b) Erosion control inspections as necessary to ensure effective control of Erosion and Sedimentation;
(c) A bury inspection prior to burial of any underground drainage Structure;
(d) A finish inspection when all work, including installation of storm management facilities, has been completed; and,
(e) Inspections for the City to determine whether the property owner is in compliance with a stormwater maintenance agreement; and,
(f) Inspections necessary for the City to determine whether or not violations of this chapter exist at a property (e.g.,when the City receives a complaint that necessitates investigation of a potential violation of this chapter).
(D) Inspection of Stormwater Management Facilities. Periodic inspections of facilities shall be performed as required by the City.
(E) Failure to Meet or Maintain Maintenance or Performance Standards. If a responsible party fails or refuses to meet maintenance or performance standards required under this chapter, the City, after reasonable written notice, may correct violations of the standards by performing all necessary work to place the facility in proper working condition. In the event that the stormwater management facility becomes an immediate danger to public safety or public health, the notice may be oral or omitted. The cost of any action by the City under this section shall be charged to the responsible party.
(A) Enforcement Authority. The City shall have the authority to issue notices of violation and citations, and to impose the civil penalties provided in this section.
(B) Notification of Violation.
(1) Written Notice. Whenever the City finds that any Permittee or any other person discharging stormwater has violated or is violating this chapter or a permit or order issued hereunder, or a maintenance agreement entered into hereunder, the City may serve upon such person written notice of the violation. Within ten days of this notice, an explanation of the violation and a plan for the satisfactory correction and prevention thereof, to include specific required actions, shall be submitted. Submission of this plan in no way relieves the discharger of liability for any violations occurring before or after receipt of the notice of violation.
(2) Consent Orders. The City is empowered to enter into consent orders, assurances of voluntary compliance, or other similar documents establishing an agreement with the person responsible for the noncompliance. Such orders will include specific action to be taken by the person to correct the noncompliance within a time period also specified by the order. Consent orders shall have the same force and effect as administrative orders issued pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) below
(3) Compliance Order. When the City finds that any person has violated or continues to violate this chapter or a permit, order or maintenance agreement issued thereunder, the City may issue an order to the violator directing that, following a specific time period, adequate Structures, devices, be installed or procedures implemented and properly operated. Orders may also contain such other requirements as might be reasonably necessary and appropriate to address the noncompliance, including the construction of appropriate Structures, installation of devices, self‐monitoring, and management practices.
(4) Cease and Desist Orders. When the City finds that any person has violated or continues to violate this chapter or any permit, order or maintenance agreement issued hereunder, the City may issue an order to cease and desist all such violations and direct those persons in noncompliance to:
(A) Comply forthwith; or
(B) Take such appropriate remedial or preventive action as may be needed to properly address a continuing or threatened violation, including halting operations and terminating the discharge.
(5) Conflicting Standards. Whenever there is a conflict between any standard contained in this chapter and in the BMP or design manual adopted by the City under this chapter, the strictest standard shall prevail.
(A) Any person violating the provisions of this chapter may be assessed a civil penalty by the City of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) per day for each day of violation. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate violation. The City may also recover all damages proximately caused to the City by such violations.
(B) In assessing a civil penalty, the City may consider:
(1) The harm done to the public health or the environment;
(2) Whether the civil penalty imposed will be a substantial economic deterrent to the illegal activity;
(3) The economic benefit gained by the violator;
(4) The amount of effort put forth by the violator to remedy this violation;
(5) Any unusual or extraordinary enforcement costs incurred by the City;
(6) The amount of penalty established by chapter or resolution for specific categories of violations; and,
(7) Any equities of the situation that outweigh the benefit of imposing any penalty or damage assessment.
(C) In addition to the civil penalty in subsection (a) above, the City may recover all damages proximately caused by the violator to the City, which may include any reasonable expenses incurred in investigating violations and enforcing violations of this chapter.
(D) Any person, company or facility who undertakes any Land Disturbance Activity requiring a Stormwater Management Plan hereunder without first submitting the plan for review and approval shall pay to the City, in addition to any permit or inspection fee, an administrative fee of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000.00).
(E) The City may bring legal action to enjoin the continuing violation of this chapter, and the existence of any other remedy, at law or in equity, shall be no defense to any such actions.
(F) The remedies set forth in this section shall be cumulative, not exclusive, and it shall not be a defense to any action, civil or criminal that one or more of the remedies set forth herein has been sought or granted.
Ongoing inspection and maintenance of a project site’s stormwater management system shall occur from time to time by the City of Murfreesboro.
Preparation of maintenance plans shall be a requirement of the Stormwater Management Site Plan preparation and review process. A maintenance plan shall outline the scope of activities, schedule, costs, funding source, and responsible parties. Vegetation, sediment management, access, and safety issues should also be addressed. In addition, the plan shall address the testing and disposal of sediments that will likely be necessary and the ultimate replacement of structures as needed.
The City’s goal is for annual inspections of stormwater management facilities to be conducted. Where chronic or severe problems exist, the City of Murfreesboro shall have the authority to remedy the situation and charge the responsible party for the cost of the work. This authority shall be a requirement in the City of Murfreesboro’s Post-construction Stormwater Ordinance.
The city of Murfreesboro (City) stormwater user fee is a mechanism for recovering the costs of operating and maintaining the City’s stormwater management system, and funding the necessary capital improvements, repairs, replacements, other improvements, and extensions of the City’s stormwater management system. The City intends to encourage sound technical design practices which reduce the impact of development on the City’s stormwater system through a simple and effective stormwater credit system for non-single family residential property owners. The credit system incorporates an efficient and equitable appeal and stormwater fee adjustment if the City has calculated an incorrect value of impervious area on a non-single family residential property and a credit process for owners of non-single family residential properties who are charged a stormwater user fee.
The basis and emphasis for the credit system is the implementation of stormwater management controls (stormwater management facilities, best management practices (BMP), BMP treatment train) that are designed, operated, and maintained to treat stormwater runoff and/or to mitigate the effects of increased stormwater runoff peak rate, volume, and velocity due to impacts of impervious area as a result of development and redevelopment. The stormwater management control and credit philosophy is based on the approach that the stormwater management controls:
• reduce pollutants in stormwater runoff;
• regulate stormwater peak flow and volume from a non-single family residential property development or redevelopment to minimize downstream stormwater conveyance system erosion; and,
• regulate stormwater peak flow and volume from a non-single family residential property development or redevelopment to minimize flood risk to upstream, adjacent, and downstream properties.
Credits applicable to the stormwater user fee are only available for non-single family residential property owners. Non-single family residential property owners can apply for a combination of credits. The credit for flood control volume reduction (stormwater quantity) will be based on a case by case basis; credit for stormwater quality is 15 percent; and, credit for streambank protection volume control is 25 percent. Flood control volume, streambank protection volume, and stormwater quality control requirements could be accomplished with one BMP or through a series of BMPs, i.e., BMP treatment train.
Non-single family residential properties that receive credit applicable to the stormwater user fee for flood control volume and water quality control stormwater management facilities (BMP treatment train) must keep the facilities properly maintained. Non-single family residential property owners shall maintain the facilities to standards established by the City; shall document all operation and maintenance activities; and shall provide the MWSD, upon request, all records associated with operation and maintenance of stormwater BMP’s utilized for receiving a stormwater fee credit. Certifications may be required in instances where stormwater BMP’s must be operated and maintained with specialized equipment or trained operators.
Any credit allowed for non-single family residential properties has the condition that the stormwater management facilities must maintain continuous compliance with standards established in the Stormwater Controls Manual. The City may revoke a credit at any time for non-compliance.
The revocation will be in effect from the estimated time period that it is determined that the stormwater BMP or BMP treatment trains was not functioning, but shall not exceed six (6) months.
Murfreesboro Stormwater Planning Low Impact Design Guide
Murfreesboro Stormwater Management Ordinance
Murfreesboro Stormwater User Fee Webpage
Murfreesboro Maintenance Plan Webpage