(a) Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this division, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
Act or the Act shall mean the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251 et seq.
Approval authority shall mean the Director of the Division of Water Quality of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or his or her designee.
Authorized representative of the user:
(1) If the user is a corporation, "authorized representative" shall mean:
a. The president, secretary, 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 operations facilities, provided the manager is authorized to make management decisions which govern the operation of the regulated facility including having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendations or decisions, and initiate and direct 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 control mechanism 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 limited liability company, a partnership or sole proprietorship, an "authorized representative" shall mean a managing partner, general partner or the proprietor, respectively.
(3) If the user is a federal, state or local government facility, an "authorized representative" shall mean a director or the highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.
(4) The persons described in subsections (1) through (3) above may designate another person to be the authorized representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization designates the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having an overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is received by the town.
(5) If the designation of an authorized representative is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for overall operation of the facility, or overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of this section must be submitted to the director prior to or together with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, for five days at 20 degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g. mg/l).
Building sewer shall mean a sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to the POTW.
Bypass shall mean the intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of a user's treatment facility.
Categorical standards. See: national categorical pretreatment standard.
Control authority. Refers to the POTW organization if the POTW has an active and approved pretreatment program or the POTW's approval has not been withdrawn by the approval authority.
Director. See: POTW director.
Discharge of wastewater or discharge shall mean and includes discharging, spilling, leaking, placing, emptying, contributing, or dumping any wastewater into the town's POTW.
Environmental protection agency or EPA shall mean the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or, where appropriate, the term may also be used as a designation for the administrator or other duly authorized EPA official.
Grab sample shall mean a sample which is taken from a wastestream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
Holding tank waste shall mean any waste from holding tanks, including, but not limited to, such holding tanks as those of vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and vacuum-pump trucks.
Indirect discharge shall mean the discharge of nondomestic wastewater into the POTW from any source regulated under section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act (33 USC 1317), including holding tank waste.
Industrial user shall mean any user that is a source of indirect discharge.
Interference shall mean the inhibition or disruption of the POTW collection systems, its treatment processes or operations, or its residual solids processes, use or disposal, which causes or contributes to a violation of any requirement of the control authority and/or POTW, if different from the Control Authority, NPDES, collection systems, or nondischarge permit or prevents residual solids use or disposal in compliance with applicable state and federal statutes, regulations, or permits. The term includes prevention of sewage residual solids use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with section 405 of the Act (33 USC 1345), or any criteria, guidelines, or regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (42 USC 6901 et seq.), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuary Act (MPRSA), or more stringent state criteria (including those contained in any state residual solids management plan prepared pursuant to Title IV of the SWDA) applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the POTW.
Kit Creek Pump Station Service Area shall mean the area within which users contribute wastewater to the Kit Creek Pump Station (KCPS), as shown in figure 1.
Medical waste shall mean 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.
Middle tier significant industrial user shall mean a user who is subject to national categorical pretreatment standards and that meets the qualifications of 40 CFR Part 403.12(e)(3), may be eligible for reduced sampling and inspection requirements.
National categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard shall mean any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC section 1317) which applies to a specific category of users, and which appears in 40 CFR chapter I, subchapter N, parts 405 through 471, as amended from time to time.
National pollutant discharge elimination system permit or NPDES permit shall mean a permit issued pursuant to section 402 of the Act (33 USC section 1342), or pursuant to G.S. 143-215.1 by the state under delegation from the EPA.
National prohibited discharge standard or prohibited discharge standard shall mean absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances. These prohibitions appear in section 36-173 of this division and are developed under the authority of 307(b) of the Act and 40 CFR, 403.5.
New source shall mean as defined in 40 CFR 403.3(m), including any subsequent amendments and additions.
Noncontact cooling water shall mean water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
Nondischarge permit shall mean a disposal system permit issued by the state pursuant to G.S. 143-215.1(d).
Non-significant categorical industrial user shall mean a user subject to national categorical pretreatment standards and that meets the qualifications of 40 CFR Part 403.3(v)(2).
Pass through shall mean a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the state in quantities or concentrations which, alone or with discharges from other sources, causes a violation, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation, of the control authority's (and/or POTW's, if different from the control authority) NPDES, collection system, or nondischarge permit, or a downstream water quality standard.
pH shall mean a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed as standard units, and calculated as the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.
Pollutant shall mean any "waste" as defined in G.S. 143-213(18) and dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage residual solids, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, metals, or odor).
POTW. See: Publicly owned treatment works.
POTW director or director shall mean the director of public works and utilities or his or her designee. Unless specifically provided otherwise, the utility director for the town may act in the absence of the director, and in the absence of both the public works and utilities director and the utility director, the public works director for the town may act for the director.
POTW treatment plant shall mean that portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment to wastewater.
Pretreatment shall mean 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 discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW collection system and/or POTW treatment plant. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, or process changes or other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR Part 403.6(d).
Pretreatment program shall mean the program for the control of pollutants introduced into the POTW from nondomestic sources which was developed by the town in compliance with 40 CFR 403.8 and approved by the approval authority as authorized by G.S. 143-215.3(a)(14) in accordance with 40 CFR 403.11.
Pretreatment requirements shall mean any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard.
Pretreatment standards shall mean prohibited discharge standards, categorical standards, and local limits, including user-specific local limits contained in a wastewater discharge permit.
Prohibited discharge standard. See national prohibited discharge standard.
Publicly owned treatment works (POTW) or municipal wastewater system (sometimes also "system") shall mean a treatment works as defined by section 212 of the Act (33 USC 1292), which is owned by the town or owned by others and used by the town through contract or agreement. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal wastewater or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes sewers, pipes, and other conveyances and appurtenances if they convey wastewater to a POTW treatment plant. For the purposes of this division, "POTW" or “satellite POTW” shall also include any sewers, pipes and other conveyances and appurtenances that convey wastewaters to the town’s POTW from persons located outside the town who are, by contract or agreement with the town, or in any other way, users of the town's POTW. For the purposes of this division, POTW shall also include any treatment works as defined by section 212 of the Act (33 USC 1292), sewers, pipes and other conveyances and appurtenances that are owned by others and that receive wastewater from the town's municipal wastewater system by contract or agreement with the town.
Residual solids shall mean the settled, thickened, biologically reduced semisolid residue containing material removed during the treatment process of municipal wastewater. Residual solids are also known as sludge.
Satellite POTW. See: Publicly owned treatment works (POTW).
Severe property damage shall mean substantial physical damage to property, damage to the user's treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass. "Severe property damage" does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.
Significant industrial user or SIU shall mean any industrial user of the POTW who meets any one of the following criteria and is not otherwise exempted pursuant to section 36-187 of this division:
(1) Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewaters); or
(2) Contributes process wastewater which makes up five percent or more of the NPDES, Non-discharge permitted flow limit or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant. In this context, organic capacity refers to BOD, TSS, Ammonia, Total Phosphorus, and Total Nitrogen; or
(3) Is subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards under 40 CFR Part 403.6 and 40 CFR chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471; or is designated as such by the control authority on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation, or violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, for contributing to violations of the POTW's effluent limitations and conditions in its NPDES or non-discharge permit, or for limiting the POTW's sludge disposal options.
Significant noncompliance or SNC is the status on noncompliance of a significant industrial user when one or more of the following criteria are met. Additionally, any industrial user which meets criteria 3, 4, or 8 of this definition shall also be SNC.
(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six (66) percent or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter (not including flow) during a six month period exceeded, by any magnitude, a numeric Pretreatment Standard or Requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR Part 403.3(l);
(2) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations: defined as those in which thirty-three (33) percent or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric Pretreatment Standard or Requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR Part 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable TRC; (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except flow and pH);
(3) Any other violation(s) of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by 40 CFR Part 403.3(l) (long term average, daily maximum, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) or condition that the control authority or the POTW, if different from the control authority, determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through; or endangered the health of the POTW personnel, other town employees, or the public;
(4) Any discharge of a pollutant or wastewater that has caused imminent endangerment to human health or welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the control authority's or the POTW's, if different from the control authority, exercise of its emergency authority under 40 CFR Part 403.8(f)(1)(vi)(B) and section 36-179(a)(5) of this division to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5) Violations of compliance schedule milestones contained in a wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order, for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance when such failure to meet schedule milestones exists for 90 days or more after the schedule date;
(6) Failure to provide reports for compliance schedule, self monitoring data, baseline monitoring reports, 90 day compliance reports, and compliance reports within 45 days of the due date;
(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;
(8) Any other violation or group of violations that the control authority and/or the POTW, if different from the control authority, determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the pretreatment program.
Sludge. See: Residual solids.
Slug load or discharge. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which has a reasonable potential to cause Interference or Pass-Through, or in any other way violates the POTW's regulations, local limits, or Industrial User Permit conditions. This can include but is not limited to spills and other accidental discharges; discharges of a non-routine, episodic nature; a non-customary batch discharge; or any other discharges that could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards contained in section 36-173 of this division.
Standard industrial classification (SIC) shall mean a classification pursuant to the standard industrial classification manual issued by the executive office of the president, office of management and budget, 1987.
Stormwater shall mean any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting from such precipitation.
Suspended solids shall mean the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.
User shall mean any person, including those located outside the jurisdictional limits of the town, who contributes, causes or permits the contribution or discharge of wastewater into the POTW, including persons who contribute such wastewater from mobile sources, such as those who discharge hauled wastewater.
Wastewater shall mean the liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, mobile sources, treatment facilities, and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present, whether treated or untreated, which are discharged to, contributed into, or otherwise permitted to enter the POTW.
Wastewater discharge permit or wastewater permit shall mean a permit as set forth in section 36-175(b) of this division.
Waters of the state shall mean all streams, rivers, brooks, swamps, sounds, tidal estuaries, bays, creeks, lakes, waterways, reservoirs 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.
(b) The following abbreviations, when used in this division, shall have the designated meanings:
BOD: Biochemical Oxygen Demand.
CBOD: Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand.
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations.
COD: Chemical Oxygen Demand.
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency.
gpd: gallons per day.
G.S.: North Carolina General Statutes.
l: liter.
mg: milligrams.
mg/l: milligrams per liter.
NPDES: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
O & M: Operation and Maintenance.
POTW: Publicly Owned Treatment Works.
RCRA: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
SIC: Standard Industrial Classification.
SWDA: Solid Waste Disposal Act.
TN: Total Nitrogen.
TKN: Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen
TSS: Total Suspended Solids.
USC: United States Code.
(Code 1982, § 19-90; Ord. No. 94-036, 12-8-1994; Ord. No. 02-011, 4-11-2002; Ord. No. 06-004, 3-9-2006; Ord. No. 2007-20, 12-13-2007; Ord. No. 2009-Code-04, 3-12-2009; Ord. No. 2011-Code-09, 12-15-2011)