New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 10 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter III - Public Water Supplies › Subchapter A - Municipalities, Districts, Companies, Institutions › Part 142 - Schenectady County › Villages › Section 142.2 - Schenectady aquifer, schenectady county

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) Applicability. These rules and
					 regulations herein set forth, duly made and enacted in accordance with the
					 provisions of sections 1100-1107 of the Public Health Law, shall apply to the
					 wells which comprise the sources of public water supply for the following
					 municipal jurisdictions in Schenectady County:
City of Schenectady
Town of Glenville
Town of Niskayuna
Town of Rotterdam
Village of Scotia
This Part shall apply to any lands, premises and uses
						within the respective protection zones created herein and shown on the
						Intermunicipal Watershed Rules and Regulations Schenectady Aquifer Protection
						Zones Map, Plate #1, dated February 1990 and the Intermunicipal Watershed Rules
						and Regulations Municipal Property Inventory Maps, dated February 1990. Said
						map, or series of maps, all notations or other information shown thereon are
						part of this Part and are located in the office of the clerk of each
						municipality and the county. This Part is intended to be superimposed on the
						existing land use laws of each municipality served by the Schenectady Aquifer
						to augment and enhance those protective measures already in place. This Part
						shall in no way affect the limitations or requirements applicable in the
						underlying municipal land use and zoning districts.
(b) Definitions.
(1) Aboveground storage tank. Any stationary
					 tank which is not entirely covered with earth or other material, or any tank
					 which can be inspected in a subterranean vault.
(2) Board. The Intermunicipal Watershed Rules
					 and Regulations Board comprised of the chief elected official of each of the
					 municipal jurisdictions in Schenectady County served by the Schenectady Aquifer
					 and established to enforce and administer this Part and to conduct the central
					 review function of actions taking place within the designated protection zones.
					 The board was established by adoption of an agreement for intermunicipal
					 cooperation for an aquifer protection program, and was previously known as the
					 watershed committee.
(3) Bulk
					 storage. The holding or containment of dry, semi-dry or liquid materials in
					 large quantities as defined in Environmental Conservation Law, sections 596.1
					 and 612.1 or in related paragraphs of this section, either packaged or loose,
					 usually dispensed in smaller quantities for sale, use or consumption.
(4) Chloride salt. Any bulk quantities of
					 chloride compounds and other deicing compounds excluding liquid chlorides
					 intended for application to roads, including mixtures of sand and chloride
					 compounds in any proportion where the chloride compounds constitute over eight
					 percent of the mixture. If any portion of a bulk quantity of chloride compounds
					 or chloride-and-sand mixture is intended for application to roadways, then the
					 entire bulk quantity is road salt. A bulk quantity of chloride compounds means
					 a quantity of 1,000 pounds or more, but does not include any chloride compounds
					 in a solid form, including granules, which are packaged in waterproof bags or
					 containers which do not exceed 100 pounds each.
(5) Fertilizer. Any commercially produced
					 mixture generally containing phosphorus, nitrogen and/or potassium which is
					 applied to the ground to provide nutrients to plants.
(6) General aquifer recharge zone. The land
					 outside the primary recharge zone through which runoff and precipitation flow
					 directly and rapidly into the ground, also to be known as Zone III. (See
					 Schenectady Aquifer Protection Zones Map, Plate #1, dated February
					 1990.)
(7) Groundwater. Any water
					 beneath the land surface in the saturated zone.
(8) Hazardous material. Any substance listed
					 in either 6 NYCRR Part 371, or 6 NYCRR Part 597, alone or in combination,
					 including but not limited to petroleum products, organic chemical solvents,
					 heavy metal sludges, acids with a pH less than or equal to 2, alkalies with a
					 pH greater than or equal to 12.5, radioactive substances, pathogenic or
					 infectious wastes or any material exhibiting the characteristics of
					 ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity or EP toxicity.
(9) Human excreta. Human feces and
					 urine.
(10) Linear distance. The
					 shortest horizontal distance from the nearest point of a structure or object to
					 the boundary of any protection zone, or to the edge, margin or steep bank
					 forming the ordinary high water line of a water body.
(11) Municipal water purveyor. The local
					 official responsible for the operation, maintenance, and provision of the
					 public water supply in each of the communities served by the Schenectady
					 Aquifer also to be known as the Superintendent of Water in the City of
					 Schenectady, the Superintendent of Public Works in the Village of Scotia, the
					 Superintendent of Water in the Town of Glenville, the Commissioner of Public
					 Works in the Town of Niskayuna and the Commissioner of Public Works in the Town
					 of Rotterdam.
(12) Nonconforming
					 use. A building, structure or permitted use of land lawfully existing at the
					 time of the effective date of this Part or any amendments thereto and which
					 does not conform to the standards and prohibitions of the protection zone
					 within which it is situated.
(13)
					 Onsite disposal system. Any system used for the disposal of sewage on a site or
					 parcel of land.
(14) Open storage.
					 The holding of a material in a way that the material is exposed to the elements
					 of nature.
(15) Pesticide. Any
					 substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying,
					 repelling, or mitigating any pest, and any substance or mixture of substances
					 intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant, and being those
					 substances defined as pesticides pursuant to Environmental Conservation Law,
					 section
					 33-0101 et seq.
(16) Primary recharge zone. Those land areas
					 of general aquifer recharge that contribute groundwater to the public wells,
					 including and encompassing the wellhead protection zone, also to be known as
					 Zone II. (See Schenectady Aquifer Protection Zones Map, Plate #1, dated
					 February 1990.)
(17) Protection
					 zones. Specific areas, also known as Zones I-IV, that define a hierarchy of
					 aquifer sensitive land as designated and described herein and delineated on the
					 Schenectady Aquifer Protection Zones Map, Plate #1, dated February
					 1990.
(18) Radiation. Ionizing
					 radiation, that is, any alpha-particle, beta particle, gamma ray, X-ray,
					 neutron, high speed proton, and any other atomic particle producing ionization,
					 but shall not mean any sound or radio wave, or visible, infrared or ultraviolet
					 light.
(19) Radioactive material.
					 Any material in any form that emits radiation spontaneously.
(20) Salvage yards. An area where four or
					 more unregistered, old or second hand motor vehicles are being accumulated for
					 disposal, resale of used parts or reclaiming certain materials such as metal,
					 gas, fabric and/or the like.
(21)
					 Schenectady Aquifer. The saturated and overlying unsaturated geologic
					 formations generally existing in the Mohawk Valley lowland areas within the
					 municipal boundaries of the City of Schenectady, Village of Scotia, and the
					 Towns of Rotterdam, Glenville, Niskayuna and Princetown.
(22) Septage. The contents of a septic tank,
					 cesspool, or other individual wastewater treatment work which receives domestic
					 sewage wastes.
(23) Sewage. Any
					 liquid, semi-liquid or solid human or animal waste matter from a domestic,
					 commercial, private or industrial establishment or other place with such
					 groundwater infiltration and surface water as may be present including mixtures
					 of sewage with industrial wastes or other wastes as defined in section 17-0105
					 of article 17 of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law.
(24) Sludge. Any solid, semisolid or liquid
					 waste generated from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment
					 plant, or air pollution control facility but does not include the treated
					 effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.
(25) Solid waste. All putrescible and
					 nonputrescible materials or substances that are discarded or rejected including
					 but not limited to garbage, refuse, industrial and commercial waste, sludges,
					 rubbish, tires, ashes, contained gaseous material, incinerator residue,
					 demolition and construction debris, discarded automobiles and offal; but not
					 including those exclusions contained in 6 NYCRR 360-1.2(a)(4).
(26) Spill. Any unpermitted releasing,
					 spilling, discharging, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying or dumping
					 of a petroleum product, or any other hazardous material so that such substance,
					 products or materials may enter the environment, regardless of whether such
					 entry was the result of intentional or unintentional action or
					 omission.
(27) Solid waste
					 management facility. Any facility employed beyond the initial solid waste
					 collection process including, but not limited to, transfer stations, bailing
					 facilities, rail haul or barge haul facilities, processing systems, including
					 resource recovery facilities or other facilities for reducing solid waste
					 volume, sanitary landfills, facilities for the disposal of construction and
					 demolition debris, plants and facilities for compacting, composting or
					 pyrolization of solid wastes, incinerators and other solid waste disposal,
					 reduction or conversion facilities, as defined in Environmental Conservation
					 Law, section
					 27-0701 et seq.
(28) Tributary watershed zone. Land outside
					 the aquifer area that contributes runoff overland and/or through surface
					 streams for groundwater recharge, also known a Zone IV. (See Schenectady
					 Aquifer Protection Zones Map, Plate #1, dated February 1990.)
(29) Underground injection. The subsurface
					 emplacement of fluids through a bored, drilled, or driven well; or through a
					 dug well, where the depth of the dug well is greater than the surface
					 dimensions, including but not limited to the use of this procedure for the
					 production of oil or gas or the excavation of minerals.
(30) Underground storage tank. Any tank
					 completely covered with earth or other material such as concrete, pavement, or
					 other material which visually restricts the identification of leaks. Tanks in
					 subterranean vaults accessible for inspections are considered above ground
					 tanks.
(31) Waste treatment
					 facility. Any facility used for treating, neutralizing, stabilizing or
					 disposing of sewage, but excluding small scale septic systems and leach fields
					 serving fewer than five residential units.
(32) Water body. Any river, stream, spring,
					 pond, lake, reservoir or channel of water or any man-made culvert which flows
					 directly into one of the aforementioned.
(33) Wellhead protection zone. The surface
					 extent of the cone of depression, immediately adjacent to the public wells,
					 also known as Zone I. (See Schenectady Aquifer Protection Zones Map, Plate #1,
					 dated February 1990.)