“Accelerated erosion” means erosion caused by development activities that exceeds the natural processes by which the surface of the land is worn away by the action of water, wind, or chemical action.
“Agricultural land disturbing activity” means tillage, planting, cultivation, or harvesting operations for the production of agricultural or nursery vegetative crops; also includes pasture renovation and establishment, the construction of agricultural conservation practices, and the installation and maintenance of agricultural drain tiles. This does not include the construction of agricultural-related facilities such as barns, buildings to house livestock, agricultural waste lagoons, and other infrastructure.
“Applicant” means property owner or agent of a property owner who has filed an application for a site development permit.
“Best management practices (BMPs)” means structural measures (wetlands, ponds, sand filters, etc.), nonstructural measures (restrictive zoning, reduced impervious areas, etc.), or a combination of practices that are designed to act as effective, practicable means of minimizing the impacts of development and human activities on water quality and quantity.
“BMP owner” means typically, the property owner. The BMP owner may also be the leasee of property in the case of long term leases of commercial or industrial zoned properties. The leasee is considered the BMP owner only if the lease specifically states that construction by the leasee must meet applicable local codes and regulations.
“Channel” means a natural or artificial watercourse with a definite bed and banks that conducts continuously or periodically flowing water.
“City of Indianapolis Stormwater Design and Construction Specifications Manual” means the guidebook providing recommendations and requirements for engineering design and construction standards for proper stormwater management for those engineers, builders, contractors, land planners, and property owners contemplating some form of land alteration within the city of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. A copy of the manual can be found on the internet at the following web address: http://www.indygov.org/eGov/City/DPW/Environment/Stormwater/Masterplan/sw+manual_specs.htm.

“Contributing drainage area” means the total drainage area to a given point, including offsite drainage.
“Detention” means the temporary storage of storm runoff in a stormwater management practice with the goals of controlling peak discharge rates and providing gravity settling of pollutants.
“Detention facility” means a detention basin or alternative structure designed for the purpose of temporary storage of stream flow or surface runoff and gradual release of stored water at controlled rates.
“Developer” means a person who undertakes land disturbance activities.
“Drainage easement” means a legal right granted by a landowner to a grantee allowing the use of private land for stormwater management purposes.
“Effective drainage area” means the drainage area from a specific site, excluding offsite drainage, where offsite drainage either does not exist or where offsite drainage bypasses the site through culverts or other means.
“Erosion” means the detachment and movement of soil, sediment, or rock fragments by water, wind, ice, or gravity.
“Erosion and sediment control plan” means a plan that is designed to minimize the accelerated erosion and sediment runoff at a site during construction activities.
“Grading” means the cutting and filling of the land surface to a desired slope or elevation.
“Impervious area” means an area where the land surface has been altered in such a way that it decreases the amount of rainwater infiltration. Impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to, paved roads, paved driveways, rooftops, and parking lots.
“Industrial stormwater permit” means a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit issued to a commercial industry or group of industries which regulates the pollutant levels associated with industrial stormwater discharges or specifies on-site pollution control strategies.
“Infiltration” means the process of percolating stormwater into the subsoil.
“Infiltration facility” means any structure or device designed to infiltrate retained water to the subsurface. These facilities may be above grade or below grade.
“Jurisdictional wetland” means an area that is inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions, commonly known as hydrophytic vegetation.
“Land disturbance activity” means any activity which changes the volume or peak flow discharge rate of rainfall runoff from the land surface. This may include the grading, digging, cutting, scraping, or excavating of soil, placement of fill materials, paving, construction, substantial removal of vegetation, or any activity which bares soil or rock or involves the diversion or piping of any natural or manmade watercourse.
“Measurable storm event” means a precipitation event that results in a total measured precipitation accumulation equal to, or greater than, one-half inch of rainfall.
“Nonpoint source pollution” means pollution from any source other than from any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyances, and shall include, but not be limited to, pollutants from agricultural, mining, construction, subsurface disposal and urban runoff sources.
“Offline structure” means a BMP that treats only the water quality volume (WQ_v). Flows exceeding the WQ_v bypass the structure and reenter the watercourse below the BMP.
“Off-site facility” means a stormwater management measure located outside the subject property boundary described in the permit application for land development activity.
“On-site facility” means a stormwater management measure located within the subject property boundary described in the permit application for land development activity.
“Post construction runoff control plan” means a plan designed to permanently control the quantity of stormwater runoff, minimize erosion and sediment runoff, and reduce the migration of various pollutants from developed areas (e.g., parking lots, driveways, rooftops, etc.) upon completion of construction/reconstruction activities.
“Recharge” means the replenishment of underground water reserves.
“Redevelopment” means any construction, alteration, or improvement where structures are removed and/or replaced. Where the disturbance caused by redevelopment activities disturbs less than one acre, no post construction runoff control plan shall be required.
“Rule 5” means Indiana law (327 IAC 15-5-5) requiring erosion control practices on construction projects disturbing greater than one acre of land. This rule was developed by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to meet federal environmental protection agency (EPA) requirements. The purpose of the Rule 5 permit is to establish requirements to protect state waters from adverse affects from stormwater discharge from construction activities.
“Rule 13” means Indiana law (327 IAC 15-13) regulating MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer system) entities (cities, town, universities, colleges, hospitals, military bases, etc.) located within mapped urbanized areas, as delineated by the U.S. Census Bureau, or, for those MS4 areas outside of urbanized areas, serving an urban population greater than seven thousand people. The rule applies to the portions of an urban federal, state, municipal, county, public or private entity stormwater conveyance system that are not combined with sewage conveyances.
“Stop-work order” means an order issued which requires that all construction activity on a site be stopped.
“Stormwater quality management” means a system of vegetative, structural, and other measures that reduce or eliminate pollutants that might otherwise be carried by surface runoff.
“Stormwater runoff” means flow on the surface of the ground, resulting from precipitation.
“Stormwater treatment practices (STPs)” means measures, either structural or nonstructural, that are determined to be the most effective, practical means of preventing or reducing point source or nonpoint source pollution inputs to stormwater runoff and water bodies.
“Subdivision” means any land that is divided or proposed to be divided into lots, whether contiguous or subject to zoning requirements, for the purpose of sale or lease as part of a larger common plan of development or sale.
“Treatment train” means more than one BMP in series treating stormwater runoff. Such configurations are necessary when BMPs individually cannot meet the eighty percent TSS reduction goal.
“TSS” means total suspended solids.
“Water quality volume (WQ_v)” means the storage needed to capture and treat the runoff from the first one inch of rainfall. In numerical terms, it is equivalent to an inch of rainfall multiplied by the volumetric runoff coefficient and the site area. Refer to the city of Indianapolis Stormwater Design and Construction Specifications Manual for the equation and variable descriptions.
“Watershed” means the total drainage area contributing runoff to a single point. (Ord. 1044 §2, 2005).