For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section unless the context in which they are used specifically indicates otherwise.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE. In general, as described in 40 C.F.R. § 403.12(i)(1),(2), (3) and (4). See below for details in regard to specific situations.
(1) In the case of a corporation, a president, secretary, treasurer or 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;
(2) In the case of a limited liability company, a principal managing member or the member in charge of the principal business functions;
(3) In the case of a partnership or proprietorship, a general partner or proprietor; and
(4) An authorized representative of the individual designated above if:
(a) Such a representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the discharge into the POTW originates;
(b) The authorization is in writing; and
(c) The written authorization is submitted to the POTW.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). An empirical test in which standardized laboratory procedures are used to determine the relative oxygen requirements of wastewaters, effluents and polluted water. The approved laboratory procedures are listed in 40 C.F.R. part 136, specifically in the method for the “Five Day BOD Test”.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ( BMPS). Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in § 2.47. 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.
BUILDING INSPECTIONS. The Building Inspections Division of the East Grand Rapids Department of City Services.
BYPASS. The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of an industrial user’s treatment facility.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARDS. National pretreatment standards specifying quantities or concentrations of pollutants or pollutant properties which may be discharged or introduced into a POTW by specific industrial dischargers.
CITY. The City of East Grand Rapids.
CITY MANAGER. The City Manager of the City of East Grand Rapids and any persons designated to act on behalf of the City Manager in the administration or enforcement of this chapter.
CLEAN WATER ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., as amended and applicable regulations promulgated there under.
COMBINED SEWER. Any sewer designed or intended to receive both storm water and sewage.
COMBINED WASTE STREAM FORMULA. The waste stream at industrial facilities where regulated process effluent is mixed prior to treatment with wastewaters other than those generated by the regulated process. Where required by federal or state law, and only to the extent required by federal or state law, the combined waste stream formula provided in 40 C.F.R. § 403.6(e) and R 323.2311(7) MAC will apply to the limits applicable to a combined waste stream.
COMMERCIAL USER. A person or entity whose premises are used to offer services and/or products such as retail and wholesale stores, gasoline stations, restaurants, schools, churches, hotels, motels, nursing homes, hospitals, warehouses, private clubs, theaters and governmental buildings. However, some COMMERCIAL USERS may also be designated as significant industrial users (SIU) should they meet the criteria established in 40 C.F.R. § 403.3(f), R 323.2302(cc) of the MAC and § 2.43(45) of this chapter.
COMMODITY RATE. A variable unit charge payable by a user based on metered water consumption.
COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE. A schedule consisting of one or more milestone dates required for corrections, additions or modifications of treatment systems or related pollution prevention or control activities as a result of enforcement actions, expansions or changes in operations or changes in local or categorical treatment standards. Compliance schedules do not preclude additional enforcement actions due to violations of requirements of this chapter.
CONFINED SPACE, PERMIT REQUIRED. Space defined by reference to Public Act 154 Part 90 of 1974, as amended, M.C.L.A. § 408.1001.
CROSS-MEDIA ELECTRONIC REPORTING REGULATION (CROMERR). An Environmental Protection Agency approved system allowing states, tribes and local governments that receive or plan to begin receiving electronic documents in lieu of paper documents to satisfy regulations under an authorized program.
DISCHARGE AUTHORIZATION. Written authorization provided by the City Manager specifying the conditions for discharge of a one time or short term duration discharge, or other discharges not meeting the definition of significant industrial user, including, but not limited to, cooling tower water and silver recovery unit discharges.
DISCHARGER. Any person or entity owning, controlling or operating any real property which directly or indirectly utilizes the POTW. DISCHARGER also means any employee, officer, director, partner, member, contractor or other person who participates in, or is legally or factually responsible for, any act or omission which is a violation of this chapter or which results in a violation of this chapter. This definition shall be interpreted broadly to include any person or entity who participates in an act or omission that results in a violation of this chapter.
DOMESTIC USER. A person or entity whose premises are domiciles for single- or multiple-family use.
EFFLUENT. Waste material (as smoke, liquid, industrial refuse or sewage) discharged into the POTW.
ENFORCEMENT ACTION. Action taken by the city to return a user into a state of compliance with the standards established in this chapter of this code. This may include, but is not limited to, fines, penalties and compliance schedules.
FINANCE DEPARTMENT. The Division of the East Grand Rapids City Water Department System that is responsible for the reading of meters, submitting bills for water and/or sewer service, collection of payment for bills and the preparation and maintenance of the customer accounts, including applications for service.
GARBAGE. Animal and plant waste resulting from the handling, preparation and cooking of foods.
INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT. Waste matter or material discharged into the POTW from any non-domestic source subject to regulation under § 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Clean Water Act.
INDUSTRIAL USER. Any person or entity that discharges into the POTW from any non-domestic source subject to regulation under § 307(b), (c) or (d) of the Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1317(b), (c) or (d).
INDUSTRIAL WASTE. Solid, liquid or gaseous waste resulting from any industrial, manufacturing, trade or business process or from the development, recovery or processing of natural resources.
INFILTRATION. The water entering a sewer system, including sewer service connections, from the ground, through such manner as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manhole walls. INFILTRATION does not include, and is distinguished from, inflow.
INFLOW. The water discharged into a sewer system, including service connections from such sources as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar, yard and area drains, foundation drains, cooling water discharges, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross-connections from storm drains and combined sewers, catch basins, storm water, surface runoff, street wash waters or drainage. INFLOW does not include, and is distinguished from, infiltration.
INTERCEPTOR SEWER LINES. Those lines whose basic function is to collect wastewater from two or more separate trunk sewer lines and to transport such wastewater to the sewage treatment plant.
INTERFERENCE. A discharge, which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW collection, treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes or operations, use, disposal and causes a violation of any requirement of the POTW’s NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of the violation) or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued there under, or any more stringent state or local regulations: § 405 of the Clean Water Act being 33 U.S.C. § 1345, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq. (including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)), and including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6941 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. and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act being 16 U.S.C. §§ 1431 et seq.
LATERAL SEWER LINE. A sewer pipe beginning at the local collector sewer or other connection point and extending to the premises actually served. The lateral sewer includes the stub to which a user connects. The extension from the building to the public sewer or other place of disposal regardless of whether portions of such extension are located within the city easement lines. The lateral sewer shall include the “T” or “Y” connection to the public sewer.
MAHL. The maximum allowable headworks loading expressed in pounds per day that the POTW can accept without experiencing fire or explosion hazards, fume toxicity, pass through, sludge quality impairment, treatment inhibition or cause a violation of state water quality standards.
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.
NATIONAL POLLUTION DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES). A permit issued pursuant to § 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342), as amended.
NEW SOURCE. Any building, structure, facility or installation of which the construction commenced after the publication of the proposed pretreatment standards under 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: the construction is a site at which no other source is located; or the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source is totally replaced; or the production or wastewater generating processes are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. Reference 40 C.F.R. § 403.3(m)(1) or R 323.2302(r) of the MAC for further information.
NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM (NAICS). A six digit code used by business and government to classify and measure economic activity.
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 POTW’s NPDES permit (including an increase of the magnitude or duration of a violation).
PERSON or ENTITY. An individual, firm, partnership, association, public or private corporation, limited liability company or public agency or instrumentality.
pH. The logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in moles per liter of solution.
POLLUTANT. The term includes, but is not limited to, any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, commercial and agricultural waste or any other contaminant or other substance defined as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act.
PREMISES. Each lot or parcel of land or building having any connection to the POTW of the city.
PRETREATMENT. The reduction in the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to, or in lieu of, discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration can be physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or by other means. Dilution is not considered PRETREATMENT unless expressly authorized by an applicable national pretreatment standard for a particular industrial category.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.
PROPERTY OWNER. Any person having legal or equitable title to real property or any person having or exercising care, custody or control over any real property.
PUBLIC SEWER. Local collector, trunk and interceptor sewer lines including lift stations and all appurtenances that are owned or controlled by the POTW.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW). A treatment works as defined by § 212 of the Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1292, including any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage and industrial waste. The systems include sewers, pipes and equipment used to convey wastewater to the treatment facility. The term also includes the municipality as defined in § 502(4) of the Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1362(4) which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such treatment works.
READINESS TO SERVE CHARGE. A fixed monthly charge payable by a user based on the size of the water meter servicing the user.
SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE. Substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities of a user which causes them to become all or partially 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.
SEWAGE. Any liquid or water carried waste received from domestic, commercial and industrial customers, including any infiltration or inflow as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT. Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWER. Any pipe or conduit for the conveyance of sewage.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGE. Any change in a discharger’s effluent which causes the constituents of the discharge to be different and/or increases in the concentration or flow by 20% over those reported on the discharger’s permit application.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU). Any discharger to the POTW who:
(1) Has an average discharge flow of 25,000 gallons or more of process wastewater per day (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blow down wastewater) or contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW, or as determined by the City Manager under authority of 40 C.F.R. § 403.12 and in R 323.2302 of the MAC on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement (in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(6) and R 323.2306(h) of the MAC);
(2) Is found by the City Manager, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing users, on the wastewater treatment system the quality of sludge, the system’s effluent quality or air emissions generated by the system; or
(3) Is subject to federal categorical pretreatment standards under 40 C.F.R. § 403.6 and R 323.2311 of the MAC and 40 C.F.R. Chapter I, Subchapter N. Upon a finding that an industrial user meeting criteria under division (1) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the City Manager may at anytime, on his or her own initiative, or in response to a petition received from an industrial user or the POTW, and in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(6) and R 323.2306(h) of the MAC, determine that such industrial user is not a SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE. Any industrial user with a violation that meets one or more of the following criteria:
(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all of the measurements taken during a six- month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit, instantaneous limit or the average limit for the same pollutant parameter;
(2) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33% or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limit, instantaneous limit or the average limit multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC=1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH).
(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or longer term average) that the City Manager determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);
(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW’s exercise of its emergency authority under § 2.65 of this chapter to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5) Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance;
(6) Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;
(8) Any violation or group of violations, which the City Manager determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program. As required by federal regulations, the city shall at least annually publish a list of industrial users which during the previous 12 months were in SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE with applicable standards or pretreatment requirements; or
(9) Failure to meet BMP requirements.
SLUG DISCHARGE. Any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or 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.
STORM DRAIN. Any underground pipe or any facility intended to convey only storm water runoff, street wash waters, groundwater and drainage. This term also includes discharges allowed by state or federal discharge permits.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. All matter existing in non-liquid state which is removable by filtration in accordance with 40 C.F.R. part 136 referenced as “Residue, Non-filterable”, or an alternative method approved by the EPA Administrator in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 403.12(b)(5)(vi) and R 323.2310(e)(vi) of the MAC.
SYSTEM. Refers to the POTW.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Any pollutant identified pursuant to § 307 of the Clean Water Act, being 33 U.S.C. § 1317, or pursuant to Part 115 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, Public Act 451 of 1994, being M.C.L.A. §§ 324.11501 et seq., or pursuant to any other applicable laws or regulations.
UNCONTAMINATED INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS. Water which has not come into contact with any substance used in, or incidental to, industrial processing operations, such as non-contact cooling water and to which no deleterious or toxic substance has been added.
UPSET. An exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards (or other limits of this chapter) because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the industrial user. An UPSET does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, and lack of preventive maintenance or careless or improper operation.
USER CLASS. Either a domestic, commercial or industrial group of users.
WASTEWATER. Water, or any liquid, whether or not containing pollutants, which is discharged or permitted to be discharged into the sanitary sewer system.
(Ord. effective 11-15-2013)