a. Reports.
1. Every Significant Industrial User who discharges into the public sanitary sewer or employs processes which generate any substances suspected of having an adverse impact on the wastewater system shall file a periodic Discharge Report at such intervals as may be designated by the General Manager. The General Manager may require any other users discharging or proposing to discharge into the wastewater system to file such periodic reports.
2. The Discharge Report shall include, but, in the discretion of the General Manager, shall not be limited to: nature of process, volume, rates of flow, mass emission rate, production quantities, hours of operation, concentrations of controlled pollutants, or other information which relates to the genera-tion of waste. Such reports may also include the chemical constituents and quantity of liquid materials stored on site even though they are not normally discharged. In addition to Discharge Reports, the General Manager may require information in the form of self-monitoring reports.
3. Within one hundred and eighty (180) days after the effective date of a National Categorical Pretreatment Standard, all Significant Industrial Users subject to such Standards and currently discharging or scheduled to discharge to the wastewater system shall be required to submit to the General Manager a report containing the information required in Section 403.12(b) of the Regulations and the compliance schedules and reports required in Sections 403.12(c), (d) and (c) of the Regulations.
4. Reports submitted to the General Manager must be signed by an authorized representative of the Significant Industrial User. An authorized representative may be (a) a Principal executive officer of at least the level of vice president, if the Significant Industrial User is a corporation, (b) a general partner or proprietor, if the Significant Industrial User is a partnership or sole proprietorship, or (c) a duly authorized representative of any of the above individuals, if such representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates.
5. All sampling analysis done in accordance with U.S. EPA procedures by the Significant Industrial User during a reporting period shall be submitted to the General Manager, regardless of whether or not that analysis was required by the user’s discharge permit.
6. The Significant Industrial User must receive the approval of the General Manager before changing the sampling point and/or monitoring facilities to be used in all required sampling.
7. All Significant Industrial Users must notify the General Manager within twenty-four (24) hours of first becoming aware of a permit violation through self-monitoring. This notification shall include the date of violation, the parameter violated and the amount in exceedance. Within ten (10) days of first becoming aware of this violation, Significant Industrial User must re-sample for the parameter(s) violated and submit this sample results to BGMU.
8. All Significant Industrial Users shall report any change of discharge volume or pollutant concentration.
b. Records and Monitoring.
1. All Significant Industrial Users who discharge or propose to discharge wastewaters to the wastewater system shall maintain such records of production and related factors, effluent flows, and pollutant amounts or concentrations as are necessary to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this Subchapter and any applicable State or Federal pretreatment standards or requirements. These records shall also include the date, exact place, method and time of sampling, and the name of the person(s) taking the samples; the dates analyses were performed; who performed the analyses; the analytical techniques or methods used; and the results of such analyses. These records shall remain available for a period of at least three (3) years. This period shall be automatically extended for the duration of any litigation concerning the User or BGMU, or where the User has been specifically notified of a longer retention period by the General Manager.
2. Such records shall be made available upon request by the General Manager. All such records relating to compliance with pretreatment standards shall be made available to officials of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Commonwealth of Kentucky upon demand. A summary of such data indicating the Significant Industrial User’s compliance with this Chapter shall be prepared semi-annually and submitted to the General Manager. In addition the General Manager may inspect and copy all records pertaining to the user’s wastewater discharge.
3. Any Significant Industrial User shall install at their own cost and expense suitable monitoring equipment to facilitate the accurate observation, sampling and measurement of wastes. Such equipment shall be maintained in proper working order and kept safe and accessible at all times.
4. The monitoring equipment shall be located and maintained on the Significant Industrial User’s premises in a readily accessible location in the opinion of the General Manager. When such a location would be impractical or cause undue hardship on the Significant Industrial User, the General Manager may allow such facility to be constructed in the public street or sidewalk area with the approval of the public agency having jurisdiction over such street or sidewalk, and located so that it will not be obstructed by public utilities, landscaping, or parked vehicles.
5. When more than one (1) Significant Industrial User can discharge into a common sewer, the General Manager may require installation of separate monitoring equipment for each Significant Industrial User. When there is a significant difference in wastewater constituents and characteristics produced by different operations of a single Significant Industrial User, the General Manager may require that separate monitoring facilities be installed for each separate discharge.
6. Whether constructed on public or private property, the monitoring facilities shall be constructed in accordance with the General Manager’s requirements and all applicable construction standards and specifications.
c. Inspection, Sampling and Analysis.
1. Compliance Determination. Compliance determinations with respect to Section 23-3.05 may be made on the basis of either instantaneous grab samples or composite samples of wastewater as may be appropriate for the parameter. Composite samples may be taken over twenty-four (24) hour period, or over a time span, as determined necessary by the General Manager to meet the needs of specific circumstances.
2. Analysis of Discharges. At the owner’s expense, laboratory analysis of discharge samples shall be performed by a laboratory, certified by the Kentucky Laboratory Certification Program, in accordance with methods as outlined in 40 CFR 136 and 40 CFR 261, or other approved EPA methods. If the POTW samples a Significant Industrial User and determines a violation has occurred BGMU shall sample, at the owners expense, a second time within thirty (30) days.
3. Sampling Frequency. Sampling of discharges for the purpose of compliance determination with respect to Section 23-3.05 will be done at such intervals as the General Manager may designate.
4. Sample Collection. All sample collection and testing methods shall be those as described in 40 CFR 136 and 40 CFR 261, or other approved EPA methods.
5. Monitoring Equipment. Wastewater monitoring and flow measurement facilities shall be properly operated, kept clean and maintained in good working order at all times. The failure of a Significant Industrial User to keep those facilities in good working order shall not be grounds for the Significant Industrial User to claim that sample records are unrepresentative of its discharge.
6. Sample Collection Methods. The User must collect wastewater samples using the twenty-four (24) hour flow-proportional composite sampling techniques, unless time-proportional composite sampling or grab sampling is authorized by the General Manager. Where time-proportional composite sampling or grab sampling is authorized, the samples must be representative of the discharge. Using Protocols (including appropriate preservation) specified in 40 CFR Part 136 and appropriate EPA guidance, multiple grab samples collected during a twenty-four (24) hour period may be composited prior to the analysis as follows: for cyanide, total phenols, and sulfides, the samples may be composited in the laboratory or in the field; for volatile organics and oil and grease, the samples may be composited in the laboratory. Composite samples for other parameters unaffected by the compositing procedures as documented in approved EPA methodologies may be authorized as appropriate. In addition, grab samples may be required to show compliance with Instantaneous Limits.
7. Use of Grab Samples. For sampling required in support of baseline monitoring and 90-day compliance reports a minimum of four (4) grab samples must be used for pH, cyanide, total phenols, oil and grease, sulfide and volatile organic compounds for facilities for which historical sampling data do not exist; for facilities for which historical sampling data are available, BGMU may authorize a lower minimum. The Significant Industrial User is required to collect the number of grab samples necessary to assess and assure compliance with applicable Pretreatment Standards and Regulations.
8. All Samples will be representative and based on composite or composited grab samples taken at a minimum of every four (4) hours while discharging.
9. Copies of records of all samples and/or monitoring activities must be kept by the Significant Industrial User for a minimum of three (3) years.
d. Public Access to Information; Exceptions.
1. Information and data on a user obtained from reports, questionnaires and monitoring programs, and from inspections shall be available to the public or other governmental agencies without restriction unless the user specifically requests and is able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of BGMU that the release of such information would divulge information, processes or methods of production entitled to protection as trade secrets of the user.
2. When requested by the person furnishing a report, the portions of a report which might disclose trade secrets or secret processes shall not be made available for inspection by the public but shall be made available upon written request to governmental agencies for uses related to the Subchapter, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, and/or the Pretreatment Standards; provided however, that such portions of a report shall be available for use by the State or any State agency in judicial review or enforcement proceedings involving the person furnish-ing the report. Wastewater constituents and characteristics will not be recognized as confidential information.
3. Information accepted by BGMU as confidential, shall not be transmitted to the general public by BGMU until the expiration of three (3) days following the giving of written notice by BGMU to the user of BGMU’s intention to divulge such information to the general public. The State shall have unrestricted access to all information submitted to BGMU to include that information deemed confidential.
e. Permit to Discharge.
1. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any Industrial Wastewater directly or indirectly to sewerage facilities owned by BGMU or Warren County Water District without first obtaining a permit from BGMU for Industrial Wastewater discharge when deemed necessary. This regulatory authority shall extend to any extra jurisdictional agencies or industries which contribute wastewater to BGMU’s wastewater system. These permits shall include the permit issuance, effective and expiration dates; a statement that the permit is non-transferable; effluent limits based on applicable Pretreatment Standards; self-monitoring, sampling, reporting, notification and record keeping requirements; the waiver process to seek relief for monitoring a pollutant neither present or expected to be present in a discharge; a statement of applicable penalties for violation of the Pretreatment Standards and Regulations; requirements to control slug discharges; and language detailing any grants by BGMU General Manager authorizing waivers from monitoring.
2. The permit for Industrial Wastewater discharge may require pretreatment of industrial wastewaters before discharge, restriction of peak flow discharges, discharge of certain wastewater only to specified sewers of BGMU, relocation of point of discharge, prohibition of discharge of certain wastewater components, restriction of discharge to certain hours of the day, payment of additional charges to defray increased costs of BGMU created by the wastewater discharge and such other conditions as may be required to effectuate the purpose of this Chapter.
3. No permit for Industrial Wastewater discharge is transferable without the prior written consent of the General Manager.
4. No person shall discharge Industrial Wastewaters in excess of the quantity or quality limitations set by the permit for industrial wastewater discharge. Any person desiring to discharge wastewaters or use facilities which are not in conformance with the permit should apply to BGMU for an amended permit with regard to quantity.
5. Applicants for a permit for Industrial Wastewater discharge shall complete an application for wastewater discharge permit available at the general offices of BGMU one hundred eighty day (180) prior to permit validation. Baseline Monitoring Reports (BMR) and Industrial Waste Survey Questionnaire (IWSQ) must be submitted as well.
6. Upon receipt of the permit fee prescribed in BGMU’s schedule of charges and fees and of all required information, the application shall be processed and, upon approval, be signed by the General Manager and one (1) copy returned to the applicant.
7. The application shall be approved if the applicant has complied with all applicable requirements of this Subchapter and furnished to BGMU all required information and if the General Manager determines that there is adequate capacity in the wastewater system.
8. Upon approval of the permit application, BGMU will issue a wastewater discharge permit incorporating discharge conditions, monitoring schedules and locations, compliance schedules, etc., tailored to the individual industrial user. This wastewater discharge permit shall be issued for a specified time period not to exceed five (5) years. A permit may be issued for a period less than a year or may be stated to expire on a specific date. The user shall apply for permit reissuance a minimum of one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the expiration of the user’s existing permit. The terms and conditions of the permit may be subject to modification by BGMU during the term of the permit as limitations or requirements are modified or other just cause exists. The user shall be informed of any proposed changes in the permit at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of change. Any changes or new conditions in the permit shall include a reasonable time schedule for compliance.
9. All Significant Industrial Users shall submit periodic reports regarding the nature and concentration of all pollutants as outlined in their wastewater discharge permit. Production rates shall be reported by industrial users subject to production based standards. In addition, within ninety (90) days following date for final compliance with applicable Pretreatment Standards or, in the case of a new source, ninety (90) days prior to commencement of the introduction of wastewater into the wastewater treatment plant, any user subject to Pretreatment Standards and/or local requirements shall submit to the General Manager a report indicating the nature and concentration of all pollutants in the discharge from the regulated processes which are limited by Pretreatment Standards and/or local requirements. This report shall include schematic drawings or other descriptions of any pretreatment equipment. New sources are required to be in compliance with Pretreatment Standards and/or local limits upon commencement of introduction of wastewater to the wastewater treatment system. All sampling and testing shall follow the methods as outlined in 40 CFR 136, 40 CFR 261, or other approved EPA methods. This statement shall be signed by an authorized representative of the industrial user, and certified by a qualified professional.
10. No User shall ever increase the use of process water, or in any way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with the limitations contained in the Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards, or for any other pollutant-specific limitation developed by BGMU or the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The General Manager may impose mass limitations on users where the imposition of mass limitations are appropriate. In such cases, all reports shall indicate the mass of pollutants regulated by Pretreatment Standards in the effluent of the User. These reports shall contain the results of sampling and analysis of the discharge, including the flow and the nature and concentration, of production and mass where requested by the General Manager, of pollutants contained therein which are limited by the applicable Pretreatment Standards. All analyses shall be performed in accordance with procedures established by the EPA Administrator pursuant to Section 304(g) of the Act and contained in 40 CFR, Part 136 and amendments thereto or with any other test procedures approved by the EPA Administrator. Sampling shall be performed in accordance with the techniques approved by the Administrator.
11. The General Manager may suspend a permit for Industrial Wastewater discharge for a period of not to exceed sixty (60) days when such suspension is necessary in order to stop a discharge which presents an imminent hazard to the public health, safety, or welfare, to the local environment or to BGMU’s wastewater system.
12. Any discharger notified of a suspension of this permit shall immediately cease and desist the discharge of such industrial wastewater to the sewerage system. In the event of a failure of the discharger to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the General Manager shall take such steps as are reasonably necessary to insure compliance.
13. Any suspended discharger may file with the General Manager, a request for a meeting with the Board of Directors. The Board shall meet within thirty (30) days of the receipt by the General Manager such request. The Board shall hold a meeting on the suspension and either confirm or revoke the action of the General Manager. Reasonable notice of the meeting shall be given to the suspended discharger. At this meeting the suspended discharger may appear personally or through counsel, and present evidence in their own behalf.
14. In the event that the Board fails to meet within the time set forth above or fails to make a determination within a reasonable time after the close of the meeting, the order of suspension shall be stayed until a determination is made either confirming or revoking the action of the General Manager.
15. The General Manager shall reinstate the permit on proof of satisfactory compliance with all discharge requirements of BGMU.
16. The General Manager may revoke a permit for Industrial Wastewater Discharge on a finding that the discharger has violated any provisions of this Chapter. No revocation shall be ordered until a meeting on the question has been held by the Board. At this meeting, the discharger may appear personally or through counsel and present evidence in their own behalf. Notice of the meeting shall be given to the discharger at least fifteen (15) days prior to the date of the meeting.
17. Any discharger whose permit has been revoked shall immediately stop all discharge of any liquid carried wastes covered by the permit to any public sewer that is tributary to the wastewater system of BGMU. The General Manager may disconnect or permanently block from such public sewer the industrial connection sewer of any discharger whose permit has been revoked if such action is necessary to ensure compliance with the order of revocation.
18. Before any further discharge of Industrial Wastewater may be made by the discharger, he must apply for a new permit for Industrial Wastewater Discharge, pay all charges that would be required upon initial application together with all delinquent fees, charges and penalties and such other sums as the discharger may owe to BGMU. Cost incurred by BGMU in revoking the permit and disconnecting the industrial connection sewer shall be paid for by the discharger before issuance of a new permit for Industrial Wastewater discharge.
19. BGMU may suspend the wastewater treatment services and/or a wastewater discharge permit when such suspension is necessary, in the opinion of BGMU, in order to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons, to the environment, causes interference to the wastewater treatment plant or causes BGMU to violate any condition of its NPDES Permit.
20. Any person notified of a suspension of the wastewater treatment service and/or the wastewater discharge permit shall immediately stop or eliminate the contribution. In the event of a failure of the person to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, BGMU shall take such steps as deemed necessary including immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the wastewater treatment plant or endangerment to any individuals. BGMU shall reinstate the wastewater discharge permit and/or the wastewater treatment service upon proof of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge. A detailed written statement submitted by the Significant Industrial User describing the causes of the harmful contribution and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence shall be submitted to BGMU within fifteen (15) days of the date of occurrence.
21. The General Manager may deny or conditionally approve, new or increased contributions of pollutants or changes in the nature of pollutants to the POTW by Significant Industrial Users where such contributions do not meet applied Pretreatment Standards and Regulations, or conditions of this Chapter.
Any Significant Industrial User who meets the criteria for Significant Non-Compliance shall submit a compliance schedule outlining the steps which the Significant Industrial User plans to take to achieve compliance. This compliance schedule shall include milestone dates. The Significant Industrial User shall submit reports within fourteen (14) days past each milestone date. These reports will confirm the completion of the schedules plan for the milestone date. If the Significant Industrial User has not met the expectations of the compliance schedule the Significant Industrial User will explain why and how the Significant Industrial User will accelerate activities to meet the final compliance milestone date. Within fourteen (14) days past the final compliance milestone date the Significant Industrial User will submit a report with a statement, indicating that the Significant Industrial User is consistently meeting the conditions of this Subchapter and the Significant Industrial User will provide sufficient analytical data to support this statement.
The definition of Significant Non-Compliance is expanded to include 40 CFR 403.8 (f) (2) (viii) (A-C). Per 40 CFR 403.12 (b) (e) and (h), all Significant Industrial User reports shall include any BMP’s required and BMP compliance information. Documentation of compliance with BMP information shall be maintained by the SIU and BGMU.
22. Where an effluent from an industrial process is mixed prior to treatment with wastewaters other than those generated by the regulated process, fixed alternative discharge limits may be derived for the discharge permit by the General Manager. These alternative limits shall be applied to the mixed effluent. These alternative limits shall be calculated using the Combined Wastestream Formulae and/or Flow-Weighted Average Formulae given in 40 CFR 403.6(e). Where the effluent limits in a Categorical Pretreatment Standard are expressed only in terms of mass of pollutants per units or production (production-based standard), the General Manager may convert the limits to equivalent limitations expressed either as mass of pollutant that may be discharged per day or effluent concentration for purposes of calculating effluent permit limitations applicable to the permittee. The permittee shall be subject to all permit limits calculated in this manner under 40 CFR 403.6(c) and must fully comply with these alternative limits. All categorical industrial users subject to production-based standards must report production rates annually so that alternative permit limits can be calculated if necessary. The categorical industrial user must notify the General Manager thirty (30) days in advance of any change in production levels that might affect the flow or other data used to calculate the effluent limits in the discharge permit.
23. Upper limitations have been established for conventional pollutants for Industrial Wastewater discharges. Conventional pollutants include Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD
5
), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Ammonia Nitrogen (NH
3
-N), Total Oil & Grease (O&G) and Total Phosphorus (T-P). All Significant Industrial Users shall not exceed the following discharge limits:
Constituents | Limits mg/1 |
BOD5 | 4,000 |
COD | 10,000 |
TSS | 7,000 |
NH3-N | 56 |
O&G (Total) | 390 |
T-P | 57 |
(Ord. BG80-63, S27-126, 7/15/80, Ord. BG86-60, 12/16/86; Ord. BG91-44, 9/3/91; Ord. BG2001-5, 2/20/2001; Ord. BG2013-32, 9/17/2013; Ord. BG2014-11, 6/3/2014; Ord. BG2017-22, 6/6/2017)