Sec. 8.18. Standards for critical facilities.
A critical facility is a structure or related infrastructure, but not the land on which it is situated, as specified in Rule 6 of the Rules and Regulations for Regulatory Floodplains in Colorado, that if flooded may result in significant hazards to public health and safety or interrupt essential services and operations for the community at any time before, during and after a flood.
1. Classification of critical facilities. Critical facilities are classified under the following categories: (a) essential services; (b) hazardous materials; (c) at-risk populations; and (d) vital to restoring normal services.
a. Essential services facilities include public safety, emergency response, emergency medical, designated emergency shelters, communications, public utility plant facilities, and transportation lifelines.
These facilities consist of:
(1) Public safety (police stations, fire and rescue stations, emergency vehicle and equipment storage, and emergency operation centers);
(2) Emergency medical (hospitals, ambulance service centers, urgent care centers having emergency treatment functions, and nonambulatory surgical structures but excluding clinics, doctors’ offices, and non-urgent-care medical structures that do not provide these functions);
(3) Designated emergency shelters;
(4) Communications (main hubs for telephone, broadcasting equipment for cable systems, satellite dish systems, cellular systems, television, radio, and other emergency warning systems, but excluding towers, poles, lines, cables, and conduits);
(5) Public utility plant facilities for generation and distribution (hubs, treatment plants, substations and pumping stations for water, power and gas, but not including towers, poles, power lines, buried pipelines, transmission lines, distribution lines, and service lines); and
(6) Air transportation lifelines; airports (municipal and larger), helicopter pads and structures serving emergency functions, and associated infrastructure (aviation control towers, air traffic control centers, and emergency equipment aircraft hangars).
Specific exemptions to this category include wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), nonpotable water treatment and distribution systems, and hydroelectric power generating plants and related appurtenances.
Public utility plant facilities may be exempted if it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Board of Trustees that the facility is an element of a redundant system for which service will not be interrupted during a flood. At a minimum, it shall be demonstrated that redundant facilities are available (either owned by the same utility or available through an intergovernmental agreement or other contract) and connected, the alternative facilities are either located outside of the one hundred (100) year floodplain or are compliant with the provisions of this Article, and an operations plan is in effect that states how redundant systems will provide service to the affected area in the event of a flood. Evidence of ongoing redundancy shall be provided to the Board of Trustees on an as-needed basis upon request.
b. Hazardous materials facilities include facilities that produce or store highly volatile, flammable, explosive, toxic and/or water-reactive materials.
These facilities may include:
(1) Chemical and pharmaceutical plants (chemical plant, pharmaceutical manufacturing);
(2) Laboratories containing highly volatile, flammable, explosive, toxic and/or water-reactive materials;
(3) Refineries;
(4) Hazardous waste storage and disposal sites; and
(5) Above ground gasoline or propane storage or sales centers.
Facilities shall be determined to be critical facilities if they produce or store materials in excess of threshold limits. If the owner of a facility is required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to keep a material safety data sheet (MSDS) on file for any chemicals stored or used in the workplace, and the chemical(s) is stored in quantities equal to or greater than the threshold planning quantity (TPQ) for that chemical, then that facility shall be considered to be a critical facility. The TPQ for these chemicals is: either five hundred (500) pounds or the TPQ listed (whichever is lower) for the three hundred fifty-six (356) chemicals listed under 40 CFR Section 302 (2010), also known as extremely hazardous substances (EHS); or ten thousand (10,000) pounds for any other chemical. This threshold is consistent with the requirements for reportable chemicals established by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. OSHA requirements for MSDS can be found in 29 CFR Section 1910 (2010). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation "Designation, Reportable Quantities, and Notification," 40 CFR Section 302 (2010), and OSHA regulation "Occupational Safety and Health Standards," 29 CFR Section 1910 (2010), are incorporated herein by reference and include the regulations in existence at the time of the promulgation of this Section, but exclude later amendments to or editions of the regulations.
Specific exemptions to this category include:
(1) Finished consumer products within retail centers and households containing hazardous materials intended for household use, and agricultural products intended for agricultural use.
(2) Buildings and other structures containing hazardous materials for which it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the local authority having jurisdiction by hazard assessment and certification by a qualified professional (as determined by the local jurisdiction having land use authority) that a release of the subject hazardous material does not pose a major threat to the public.
(3) Pharmaceutical sales, use, storage, and distribution centers that do not manufacture pharmaceutical products.
These exemptions shall not apply to buildings or other structures that also function as critical facilities under another category outlined in this Article.
c. At-risk population facilities include medical care, congregate care, and schools.
These facilities consist of:
(1) Elder care (nursing homes);
(2) Congregate care serving twelve (12) or more individuals (day care and assisted living);
(3) Public and private schools (pre-schools, K-12 schools), before-school and after-school care serving twelve (12) or more children.
d. Facilities vital to restoring normal services including government operations.
These facilities consist of:
(1) Essential government operations (public records, courts, jails, building permitting and inspection services, community administration and management, maintenance and equipment centers);
(2) Essential structures for public colleges and universities (dormitories, offices, and classrooms only).
These facilities may be exempted if it is demonstrated to the Board of Trustees that the facility is an element of a redundant system for which service will not be interrupted during a flood. At a minimum, it shall be demonstrated that redundant facilities are available (either owned by the same entity or available through an intergovernmental agreement or other contract), the alternative facilities are either located outside of the one hundred (100) year floodplain or are compliant with this Section, and an operations plan is in effect that states how redundant facilities will provide service to the affected area in the event of a flood. Evidence of ongoing redundancy shall be provided to the Board of Trustees on an as-needed basis upon request.
2. Protection for critical facilities. All new and substantially improved critical facilities and new additions to critical facilities located within the special flood hazard area shall be regulated to a higher standard than structures not determined to be critical facilities. For the purposes of this Section, protection shall include one (1) of the following:
a. Location outside the special flood hazard area; or
b. Elevation of the lowest floor or floodproofing of the structure, together with attendant utility and sanitary facilities, to at least two (2) feet above the base flood elevation.
3. Ingress and egress for new critical facilities. New critical facilities shall, when practicable as determined by the Board of Trustees, have continuous noninundated access (ingress and egress for evacuation and emergency services) during a one hundred (100) year flood event. (Ord. 1148 §12, 2013)