For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Pub. L. No. 92-500) as amended by the Clean Water Act (Pub. L. No. 95-217) of 1977, being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY. The Regional Administrator of Region V of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Wastewater Superintendent of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) state with an approved state pretreatment program.
APPLICABLE PRETREATMENT STANDARD. Any pretreatment limit or prohibitive standard (federal, state and/or local) contained in the chapter and considered to be the most restrictive with which non-domestic users will be required to comply.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF INDUSTRIAL USER.
(1) If the user is a corporation:
(a) The president, secretary, treasurer, or vice-president of the operation 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 operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding $25,000,000 (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if 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 wastewater superintendent or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or its designee.
(4) The individuals described in divisions (1) through (3) above, may designate another 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 Wastewater Superintendent.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter using standard laboratory procedures in five days at 20ºC, and usually expressed as a concentration (milligrams per liter).
BUILDING DRAIN. That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharges from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer beginning five feet outside the building walls, exclusive of storm water.
BUILDING DRAIN - SANITARY. A building drain which conveys sanitary or industrial sewage only.
BUILDING DRAIN - STORM. A building drain which conveys storm water or other clear water drainage, but no wastewater.
BUILDING SEWER. That part of the horizontal piping of a drainage system which extends from the end of the building drain and which receives the discharge of the building drain and conveys it to a public sewer, private sewer, individual sewage disposal system, or other point of disposal.
BUILDING SEWER - SANITARY. A building sewer which conveys sanitary or industrial sewage only.
BUILDING SEWER - STORM. A building sewer which conveys storm water or other clear water drainage, but not sanitary or industrial sewage.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD. See definition of NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD.
CITY. The City of Austin, acting by its duly-constituted City Council or their authorized representatives.
COMBINED SEWER. The sewer intended to carry sanitary and industrial waste waters from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, institutions, and also to carry storm waters, surface runoff, street wash waters, and drainage.
COMMERCIAL USER. Any person owning an establishment offering lodging, selling goods (either retail or wholesale), or offering services for sale and contributing an average monthly flow in excess of 10,000 gallons.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. BOD, TSS, pH, fecal coliform bacteria, and any additional pollutants as are now or may be in the future specified and controlled in the city’s NPDES permit for its wastewater treatment works where the works have been designed and used to reduce or remove the pollutants to a substantial degree.
COMPOSITE SAMPLE. A composite sample should contain a minimum of four discrete samples taken at equal time intervals over the compositing period or proportional to the flow rate over the compositing period. More than the minimum number of discrete samples will be required where the wastewater loading is highly variable.
DAILY DISCHARGE. Discharge of a pollutant, measured during a calendar day or any 24-hour period, that reasonably represents a normal working day.
DOMESTIC USER. All persons owning residential dwellings which discharge primarily domestic wastes or wastes from sanitary conveniences.
DOMESTIC WASTE. Liquid wastes from the non-commercial preparation, cooking, and handling of food or containing human excrement and similar matter from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions.
EASEMENTS. An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.
EXISTING SOURCE. Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication of proposed categorical pretreatment standards which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with § 307 of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1317.
FECAL COLIFORM. Any of the number of organisms common to the intestinal tract of man and animals, whose presence is an indicator of pathogenic microorganisms.
FLOATABLE OIL. Oil, fat, or grease in a physical state, such that will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in a pretreatment facility approved by the city.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.
GOVERNMENTAL USER. All users associated with federal, state or local government.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample which is taken from a wastestream with no regard to the flow in the wastestream, and within a time period of 15 minutes or less.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Any pollutant which is not a COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any non-domestic source regulated under § 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1317(b), (c) or (d).
INDUSTRIAL USER or USER. Any source of an indirect discharge.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. Any solid, liquid, gaseous waste, or heat resulting from any process or excess energy of industry, manufacturing trade, or business, or from the development, processing, or recovery of any natural resource, as distinct from industrial employees’ domestic wastes or wastes from sanitary conveniences (normal domestic sewage).
INFILTRATION. Any water other than wastewater, that enters a sewage system from the ground through such means as defective pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manholes. INFILTRATION does not include, and is distinguished from, INFLOW.
INFILTRATION/INFLOW. The total quantity of water from both infiltration and inflow without distinguishing the source.
INFLOW. Any water other than wastewater, that enters a sewage system from sources such as roof leaders, cellar drains, yard drains, area drains, foundation drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections between storm sewers and sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, storm waters, surface runoff, street wash waters, or drainage. INFLOW does not include, and is distinguished from, INFILTRATION.
INSPECTOR. The person or persons duly authorized by the City Council to inspect and approve the installation of building sewers and their connection to the public sewer system.
INTERFERENCE. The inhibition or disruption of the POTW treatment processes or operations which contributes to a violation of any requirement of the city’s NPDES Permit. The term includes prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with § 405 of the Act, (33 U.S.C. § 1345) or any criteria, guidelines, or regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq., the Clean Air Act, being 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq., the Toxic Substances Control Act, being 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq., or more stringent State criteria including those contained in any State sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Title IV of SWDA, being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6941 et seq., applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the POTW.
MAXIMUM DAILY DISCHARGE LIMITATIONS. Highest allowable daily discharge concentration.
NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or CATEGORICAL STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with §§ 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317(b) and (c)) which apply to specific category of users and which appear in 40 C.F.R. Chapter I, Subchapter N, parts 405-471.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or any 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 § 307(c) of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1317(c), which 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;
(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. To determine if the new wastewater generating process is substantially independent of an existing source at the same site, certain factors should be considered. These factors include 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.
(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 divisions (1)(b) or (1)(c) above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
(3) Construction of a NEW SOURCE as defined under this division 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.
(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 division (3)(b).
NPDES PERMIT. The permit issued to the sewage works under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for discharge of wastewaters to the navigable waters of the United States pursuant to § 402 of the Federal Water Quality Act Amendments of 1972 (Pub. L. No. 92-500), being 33 U.S.C. § 1342.
OTHER WASTES. Garbage, refuse, wood residues, sand, lime, cinders, ashes, offal, night soil, silt, oil, tar, dyestuffs, acids, chemicals, and all other substances, not sewage or industrial waste, which discharge would cause pollution or cause damage or blockage to sewers.
PASS THROUGH. A discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentration 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.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, trust, estate, political subdivision, state agency, or any other legal entity or their legal representative, agent, or assigns legally capable of owning property in the state.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution as determined under standard laboratory procedure.
POLLUTANT. Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical waste, 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). The term includes sewage, industrial waste, and other waste.
POTW (PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS). A treatment works as defined by § 212 of the Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1292, which is owned by a state or municipality as defined by § 502(4) of the Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1362, includes any sewers that convey wastewater to such a treatment works, but does not include pipes, sewers, or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment.
PRETREATMENT. The treatment of pollutants from privately owned sources prior to introduction into a public treatment works except sewage from a residential user.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard imposed on an industrial user.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS. Pretreatment standards shall mean prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES. Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in § 51.100.
PUBLIC SEWER. A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and is controlled by a public authority, or owned by the city.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer that carries wastewater, sanitary and industrial, together with incidental land runoff, but to which storm, surface, and ground water are not intentionally admitted.
SEPTIC TANK WASTE. Any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
SEWAGE. Water-carried human and related wastes from any source, together with associated land runoff, sanitary and industrial wastewaters, and polluted cooling water, from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions. The term includes sanitary sewage, industrial sewage, and combined sewage.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying either wastewater or land runoff, or both.
SHALL and MAY.
(1) SHALL. Is mandatory.
(2) MAY. Is permissive.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU).
(1) A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
(2) A user that:
(a) Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling, and boiler blow-down wastewater);
(b) Contributes a process waste stream 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 the Wastewater Superintendent 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) Upon 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 Wastewater Superintendent may at any time, on their own initiative or in response to a petition received from a user, and in accordance with the procedures in 40 C.F.R. 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER.
SLUG. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration, which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in § 51.100 of this chapter, any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including but not limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge.
STORM SEWER. A sewer intended to receive and convey only land runoff, ground water, or unpolluted water from any source and to which sanitary or industrial wastes are not intentionally admitted.
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS). Liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering under standard laboratory procedure.
TOXIC AMOUNT. Concentrations of any pollutants or combination of pollutants, which upon exposure to or assimilation into any organism will cause adverse effects, such as cancer, genetic mutations, and physiological manifestations, as defined in standards issued pursuant to Section 307 (a) of Public Law (92-500), being 33 U.S.C. § 1317(a).
TOXIC POLLUTANTS. As defined in the Clean Water Act (Pub. L. No. 95-217), being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., those pollutants, or combinations of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, which, after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the Wastewater Superintendent, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction), or physical deformations in the organisms or their offspring. (§ 502(13), being 33 U.S.C. § 1362). TOXIC POLLUTANTS are not limited to the list of 129 Priority Pollutants, or any other list. The toxic substances of concern in the waste of a particular facility will depend on the raw materials, products, and processes employed at that facility.
UNPOLLUTED WATER. Water of quality equal to or better than the 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 provided.
UPSET. An exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the industrial user.
VOLATILE ORGANIC MATTER. The material in the sewage solids transformed to gases or vapors when heated at 550°C for 60 minutes under standard laboratory procedures.
WASTEWATER. Treated or untreated liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions, together with any inflow and infiltration that may be present, which is discharged into or permitted to enter the POTW.
WASTEWATER SUPERINTENDENT. The duly appointed and qualified Wastewater Superintendent of the city or his or her authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT. The portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
WATERCOURSE. A natural or artificial channel for the passage of water either continuously or intermittently.
(Ord. 2009-02, passed 5-12-2009)