Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated.
ACT or THE ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 USC §§ 1251 et seq.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY. The Secretary of the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet or an authorized representative thereof.
AUTHORIZED OR DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE USER.
(1) If the user is a corporation:
(a) The president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or
(b) The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided the manager is authorized to make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility including having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendations, and initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for individual wastewater discharge permit or general permit requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(2) If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.
(3) If the user is a federal, state, or local governmental facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.
(4) The individuals described in divisions (1) through (3) above, may designate a
DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies
the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the City of Ashland.
BASELINE MONITORING REPORT or BMR. A report submitted by categorical industrial users within 180 days after the effective date of a categorical standard which indicates the compliance status of the user with the applicable categorical standard (40 CFR 403.12 (b)).
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES or BMPs. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in § 50.015(A) and (B) [40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b)]. BMPs include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or BOD. The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20 degrees Celsius, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l).
BUILDING DRAIN. The lowest part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, water, and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal, also called “house connection.”
BUILDING SEWER PERMIT. As set forth in § 50.018.
CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER. An industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or CATEGORICAL STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC § 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471.
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or COD. A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and inorganic, in water.
CITY. The City of Ashland, Kentucky.
CLEAN WATER ACT (CWA). (Also known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act) enacted by Public Law 92-500. October 18, 1972. 33 USC §§ 1251 et seq: as amended by PL 95-217. December 28, 1977; PL 97-117, December 29, 1981; PL 97-440, January 8, 1983, and PL 100-04, February 4, 1987.
COMBINED SEWER. Any conduit designed to carry both sanitary sewage and storm water or surface water.
COMBINED WASTESTREAM FORMULA (CWF). Procedure for calculating alternative discharge limits at industrial facilities where a regulated wastestream is combined with other non-regulated wastestreams prior to treatment (40 CFR 403.7).
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids and fecal coliform bacteria; plus any additional pollutants identified in the POTW’s NPDES/KPDES permit, where the POTW is designed to treat such pollutants and, in fact, does treat such pollutants so as to ensure compliance with the POTW’s NPDES/KPDES permit.
CONCENTRATION BASED LIMIT. A limit based on the relative strength of a pollutant in a wastestream, usually expressed in mg/l.
CONTROL AUTHORITY. The City of Ashland, Kentucky.
COOLING WATER. The water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.
DAILY MAXIMUM. The arithmetic average of all effluent samples for a pollutant collected during a calendar day.
DAILY MAXIMUM LIMIT. The maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant during a calendar day. Where DAILY MAXIMUM LIMITS are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of the day. Where DAILY MAXIMUM LIMITS are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that day.
DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING AND UTILITIES. The City of Ashland, Department of Engineering and Utilities, including all the wastewater collection and treatment facilities, acting by, and through the office of the Director of Engineering and Utilities.
DILUTE WASTESTREAMS. Boiler blowdown, sanitary wastewater, noncontact cooling water and certain process wastestreams that have been excluded from regulation in categorical pretreatment standards because they contain none or only trace amounts of the regulated pollutant.
DIRECT DISCHARGE. The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING AND UTILITIES (DIRECTOR). The official responsible for administering the City of Ashland Department of Engineering and Utilities. The term also means a duly authorized representative of the Director.
DISCHARGER. Any person that discharges or causes a discharge to a public sewer.
DOMESTIC WASTEWATER. Wastewater from typical residential users and having pollutant characteristics of not greater than: 250 mg/l BOD, 250 mg/l suspended solids and 20 mg/l ammonia nitrogen.
EASEMENT. An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
EFFLUENT. The liquid overflow of any facility designed to treat, convey or retain wastewater.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water-Management Division Director, the Regional Administrator, or other duly authorized official of said agency.
EQUIPMENT. All movable, non-fixed items necessary to the wastewater treatment process.
EXISTING SOURCE. Any source of discharge that is not a new source.
FLOW PROPORTIONAL COMPOSITE SAMPLE. Combination of individual samples proportional to the flow of the wastestream at the time of sampling.
FLOW WEIGHTED AVERAGE (FWA). A procedure used to calculate alternative limits for a categorical pretreatment standard where regulated and nonregulated wastestreams combine after treatment, but prior to the monitoring point as defined in 40 CFR 403.
GARBAGE. The animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample that is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
HAULED WASTEWATER. Industrial wastewater that is collected and stored in Department approved facilities and then hauled by tanker truck or other vehicle to be discharged at a waste receiving point within the City of Ashland Sewer System.
HOLDING TANK WASTE. Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets,
campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum pump tank trucks.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. All pollutants other than those defined as “compatible pollutants” above in this section.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.
INDUSTRIAL USER (IU). A source of indirect discharge which does not constitute a discharge of pollutants under regulations issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Clean Water Act.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. The wastewater from industrial or commercial processes as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.
INSPECTOR. A person authorized under the Control Authority by the Director of Engineering and Utilities to enter and inspect industrial users and other dischargers to the Ashland Sewer System.
INSTANTANEOUS LIMIT. The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.
INTERCEPTOR. A device designed and installed so as to separate and retain deleterious, hazardous or undesirable matter from normal wastes which permits normal sewage or liquid wastes to discharge into the sewer or drainage system by gravity. INTERCEPTOR as defined herein is commonly referred to as a grease, oil, or sand trap.
INTERFERENCE. A discharge that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and therefore, is a cause of a violation of the city’s NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits
issued thereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations: section 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, including Title II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.
LOCAL LIMIT. Specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the city upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b).
MAY. This is permissive.
MEDICAL WASTE. Isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.
MONTHLY AVERAGE. The sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.
MONTHLY AVERAGE LIMIT. The highest allowable average of daily discharges over a calendar month, calculated as the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.
MULTI-UNIT SEWER CUSTOMER. A location served where there are two or more residential units or apartments, two or more businesses in the same building or complex or where there is any combination of business and residence in the same building or complex.
NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or PRETREATMENT STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by
the EPA in accordance with Section 307 (b) and (c) of the Clean Water Act which applies to a specific category of industrial users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5.47.
NATIONAL (OR KENTUCKY) POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES or KPDES) PERMIT. A permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 USC § 1332), or a permit issued by the Commonwealth of Kentucky under this authority and referred to as KPDES.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet, including storm sewers, into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface or groundwater.
NEW SOURCE.
(1) Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed Pretreatment Standards under section 307(c) of the Act that will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, provided that:
(a) The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or
(b) The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
(c) The production or wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility, or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source, should be considered.
(2) Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria of division (l)(b) or (c) above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
(3) Construction of a new source as defined under this section has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(a) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction program:
1. Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
2. Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or
(b) Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this definition.
NINETY-DAY COMPLIANCE REPORT. A report submitted by a categorical industrial user, within 90 days following the date for final compliance with applicable categorical standards that documents and certifies the compliance status of the user (40 CFR 403.12 (d)).
NONCONTACT COOLING WATER. Water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
OIL AND GREASE. A group of substances, including hydrocarbons, fatty acids, soaps, fats, waxes, oils or any other material that is extracted by
a solvent from the acidified sample that is not that is volatilized during the laboratory test procedures.
OIL AND GREASES are defined by the method of their determination in accordance with 40 CFR 136.
PASS THROUGH. A discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city’s NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
PERIODIC COMPLIANCE REPORT. A report on compliance status submitted by significant industrial users to the control authority at least semiannually (40 CFR 403.12).
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity; or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state, and local governmental entities.
pH. A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.
POLLUTANT. Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).
POLLUTION. The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water.
PREMISES. A parcel of real estate including any single improvement thereon which is determined by the Department to be a single user for purpose of receiving, using, and payment for service.
PRETREATMENT. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS. Prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.
PROCESS WASTEWATER. Any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production of or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct, or waste product.
PRODUCTION-BASED STANDARD. A discharge limitation expressed in terms of allowable pollutant mass discharge rate per unit of production and is applied directly to an industrial users manufacturing process.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES. Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in § 50.015.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. The wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any directions.
PUBLIC SEWER. A common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public utility. In general, the PUBLIC SEWER shall include the main sewer in the street and the service branch to the curb or property line, or a main sewer on private property and the service branch to the extent of ownership by the public.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS or POTW. A treatment works, as defined by section 212 of the Act (33 USC § 1292), which is owned by the city. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances, which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.
REGULATED WASTESTREAM. An industrial process wastestream regulated by a national categorical pretreatment standard.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions.
SEPTIC TANK WASTE. Any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
SEWAGE. Human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, and the like).
SEWER. A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage water.
SEWER SYSTEM OR WORKS. All facilities for collecting, transporting, pumping, treatment and disposing of sewage and sludge, namely the sewerage system and the POTW.
SEWER USER CHARGES. A system of charges levied on users of a POTW for the cost of operation and maintenance, including replacement, of such works.
SHALL. Is mandatory.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU). Except as provided in divisions (3) and (4) of this definition, a SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER is:
(1) An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
(2) An industrial user that:
(a) Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);
(b) Contributes a process wastestream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
(c) Is designated as such by City of Ashland on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(3) The City of Ashland may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards is a non-significant categorical industrial user rather than a significant industrial user on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than 100 gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:
(a) The industrial user, prior to the City of Ashland’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;
(b) The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required in § 50.130(B) [see 40 CFR 403.12(q)], together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and
(c) The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.
(4) Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in division (2) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the city may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user, and in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
SLUDGE. Any solid, semi-solid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment plant, or air pollution control facility or any other facility or any other waste having similar characteristics and effects as defined in standards issued under the Clean Water Act and in the applicable requirements under the Solid Waste Disposal Act PL 94-580, and amendments.
SLUG LOAD or SLUG DISCHARGE. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration, which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in § 50.016. A SLUG DISCHARGE is any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the POTW’s regulations, local limits or permit conditions.
SPILL PREVENTION AND CONTROL PLAN. A plan prepared by an industrial user to minimize the likelihood of a spill and to expedite control and cleanup activities should a spill occur.
SPLIT SAMPLE. Portion of a collected sample given to the industry or to another agency to verify or compare laboratory results.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC). A classification scheme based on the type of industry or process at a facility.
STANDARD METHODS. The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the recent editions of “Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater,” published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works
Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation and as set forth in the Congressional Record 40 CFR 136.
STATE. Commonwealth of Kentucky.
STORM DRAIN (sometimes termed “storm sewer”). A drain or sewer for conveying water, groundwater, surface water, or unpolluted water from any source.
STORM WATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
SURCHARGE. A charge for services in addition to the basic sewer user and debt services in addition to the basic sewer user and debt service charges, for those users whose contributions contain biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), oil & grease or ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) and thiocyanate (SCN) in concentrations which exceed limits specified herein for such pollutants. Where authorized by the control authority, payment of a SURCHARGE will authorize the discharge of the referenced pollutants so long as the discharge does not cause pass through or interference.
TIME PROPORTIONAL COMPOSITE. Combination of individual samples with fixed volumes taken at specific time intervals.
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS or SUSPENDED SOLIDS. The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and that is removable by laboratory filtering.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the EPA under the provisions of the Clean Water Act § 301(a) or any amendment thereto.
UNPOLLUTED WATER. Water of quality equal to or better than the treatment works effluent criteria in effect, or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefitted by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities.
UNREGULATED WASTESTREAM. A wastestream that is not regulated by national categorical pretreatment standards.
USER or INDUSTRIAL USER. A source of indirect discharge.
WASTEWATER. Liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
WASTEWATER FACILITIES. The structures, equipment, and processes required to collect, carry away, treat domestic and industrial wastes, and dispose of the effluent.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT (WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS). That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
WATERS OF THE STATE. All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifiers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion thereof.
(Ord. 62-2012, passed 8-16-12; Am. Ord. 46-2013, passed 6-6-13)