(a) Use permit required. All significant non- domestic users, and any other user requested by the City Director, must have a use permit to discharge to the POTW.
(1) With respect to discharge limits, discharge prohibitions, sampling and analyses, a user with a use permit prior to the effective date of these amendments shall be regulated by the terms of that use permit until the earlier of:
a. The issuance of a use permit under this amended chapter;
b. The modification by the City of the use permit after the effective date of this amended chapter; or
c. Twelve months after the effective date of these amendments.
(2) After the occurrence of the earlier of those events, the provisions of this amended chapter fully apply to discharge limits, discharge prohibitions, sampling and analyses with respect to that user.
(b) Use permit application required. Applications for use permits shall be submitted to the City as follows.
(1) Any person or user who will in the future become a significant non-domestic user shall submit an application at least 180 days before the date that person or user expects to become a significant non-domestic user.
(2) Any existing significant non-domestic user with a user permit prior to the effective date of this amended chapter shall submit an application not more than 180 days after the effective date of this amended chapter.
(3) Additionally, after having been directed to apply for a use permit by the City Director, a user shall submit an application for a use permit as follows.
a. Any user suspected by the City Director of being a significant non-domestic user shall submit an application not more than 30 days after having been ordered to do so by the City Director.
b. Any user who has been ordered by the City Director to obtain a use permit shall submit an application not more than 30 days after having been ordered to do so by the City Director.
(4) The City Director may extend the period allowed herein for submitting an application for a use permit, provided that the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the City Director that more time will be required for completing the application, due to extraordinary circumstances. The City Director may authorize a user to discharge to the POTW while the user’s permit application is pending under terms and conditions specified in the authorization.
(c) Use permit application contents.
(1) A use permit application shall consist of the following:
a. Name, address and location of the user;
b. The type of business entity of the user, whether a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship or other form of business organization;
c. The name of the person(s) responsible for discharges by the user;
d. Standard industrial classification (SIC) number according to the Standard Industrial Manual, Bureau of the Budget, 1972, as amended;
e. Discharge pollutants and characteristics including, but not limited to, toxic pollutants as determined by bona fide chemical and biological analyses. Sampling and analyses shall be performed in accordance with procedures established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and contained in 40 C.F.R. Part 136, as amended, or procedures approved by the City Director if no Part 136 procedure exists for the pollutant;
f. Time and duration of discharges;
g. Average daily and instantaneous peak discharge flow rates in gallons per day, including daily, monthly and seasonal variations, if any (all flows shall be measured unless other verifiable techniques are approved by the City Director);
h. Site plans, floor plans, mechanical and plumbing plans, process flow diagrams, and details to show all sewers, sewer connections, inspection manholes, sampling chambers and any other equipment directly or indirectly related to a user’s actual or potential discharge (information on such other equipment need only be submitted by the user as a supplement to the use permit application and only if requested by the City);
i. Information regarding activities, facilities and plant processes on the premises indicating all materials which are or may be discharged to the POTW intentionally or unintentionally;
j. Nature and concentration of any pollutants in the discharge limited by this division, together with a statement regarding whether or not compliance is being achieved with this division on a consistent basis and, if not, whether additional operation and maintenance activities and/or additional pretreatment is required for the user to comply with this division;
k. Each product produced by type, amount, process or processes, and rate of production, and any and all information regarding the composition, characteristics and properties of each product as needed by the City for determining the potential impact of any discharge of a product to the POTW, provided by the user in either Material Safety Data Sheets or other manner approved by the City;
l. Type and amount of raw materials utilized (average and maximum per day or other relevant time period) and any and all information regarding the composition, characteristics and properties of the raw materials as needed by the City for determining the potential impact of any discharge of a raw material to the POTW, provided by the user in either Material Safety Data Sheets or other manner approved by the City;
m. A list of all other environmental permits and a copy of each such permit held by the user applicable to the site to which the use permit applies if the permitted process, equipment or activity involves any liquid waste or wastewater;
n. The signature and certification of the person described in § 46-150(o); and
o. Such other information as the City Director may request pertaining to possible discharges to the POTW.
(2) In the case of new sources, the applicant shall supply estimated expected information to the extent actual data is not available. New sources who will be significant non-domestic users shall submit a complete permit application at least 90 days before the commencement of its discharge to the POTW.
(d) Use permit issuance. The City Director shall evaluate the application and data furnished by the user and may require additional information from the user to complete the application. The City Director shall determine whether the applicant is a significant non- domestic user. If not, the City Director shall so notify the applicant. For a significant non-domestic user, the City Director shall issue or deny a use permit based on and subject to the terms and conditions provided in this division and other applicable law. The City Director may, but is not required to, provide the user with a draft of the use permit prior to taking action to issue or deny a use permit to give the user an opportunity to provide the City with comments on the draft use permit. The City Director shall issue or deny a use permit within six months after receipt of a complete application from the user. If the City Director denies a use permit, the denial shall be in writing and shall specify reasons for the denial. The City Director may issue an individual use permit to any specific significant non-domestic user, or the City Director may establish a general use permit for any specific group of significant non-domestic users or other users, if deemed appropriate, where allowed under current State and Federal law. If the City Director determines that the user is not a significant non-domestic user, the City Director may still require a use permit or that the user be subject to the terms of a general use permit.
(e) Use permit term. A use permit shall be issued for a term not to exceed five years. The City Director may issue the use permit for a shorter period. A permittee shall apply for reissuance of a use permit by submitting a complete application at least 180 days before the expiration of the existing use permit. If application for renewal is timely submitted, the existing use permit shall continue until final action is taken by the City Director on the application for renewal. Otherwise, the existing use permit shall expire on its stated expiration date and the permittee shall cease its discharge.
(f) Use permit modifications.
(1) The City Director shall have the right to modify any use permit issued hereunder in order to:
a. Assure compliance by the POTW with applicable laws and the POTW NPDES permit;
b. Account for changes in discharges by the user;
c. Account for new information concerning the pollutants discharged by the user;
d. Reflect changes in Federal or State laws and regulations or in City ordinances;
e. Accommodate operational changes at the POTW that, as determined by the City Director, require revision of the use permit;
f. Modify or terminate any special arrangement contained in a use permit; or
g. Assure compliance by the user with this division and other applicable laws.
(2) The user shall be informed of any modifications in the use permit at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the modification, unless a shorter time is necessary to meet applicable law or to protect human health, the environment or the POTW.
(g) Use permit conditions. Use permits may specify the following but shall contain all items required by Michigan Rule R 323.2306(a)(III):
(1) Schedule of fees and charges;
(2) Discharge limits and best management practices;
(3) Limits on average volume and maximum volume and time of discharge and/or requirements for flow regulation and equalization;
(4) Requirements for installation and maintenance of inspection and sampling facilities;
(5) Requirements for installation and operation of discharge flow monitors and sampling devices;
(6) Requirements for preparing and implementing a slug discharge plan;
(7) Requirements for preparing and implementing a pretreatment plan;
(8) Special arrangements and conditions as the City Director may require under particular circumstances for a given discharge, including self-monitoring sampling locations, frequency of sampling; number, types and standards for tests; reporting, notification and recordkeeping; parameters required to be sampled and analyzed; and other provisions regarding sampling;
(9) Compliance schedules;
(10) Requirements for submission of special technical reports or discharge reports where different from those prescribed by this division;
(11) Requirements for notification to the City of a discharge which exceeds a limit in the use permit or significant changes in the discharge;
(12) Statement of duration of permit, not to exceed five years;
(13) Statement of non-transferability and non-assignability of permit;
(14) Statement of applicable civil and criminal penalties for violation of discharge limitations, pretreatment requirements and compliance schedules; and
(15) Other terms, statements or conditions, as determined by the City Director, that are necessary to assure compliance with this division and other applicable laws.
(h) Use permit revocation.
(1) The City Director may revoke a use permit during its term or deny a use permit renewal if:
a. The permittee has failed to comply with any condition of the use permit;
b. The permittee fails, in the use permit application or during the use permit issuance process, to disclose fully all relevant facts to the City, or the permittee misrepresents any relevant fact at any time to the City;
c. The City Director determines that the permitted discharge endangers human health, the environment or the POTW, and the threat can only be abated by revocation or denial of the use permit;
d. A change in any condition that requires either a temporary or permanent reduction or elimination of the discharge;
e. The permittee is in default, after having received written notice of such default, in the payment of fees or other amounts owed to the City related to wastewater matters; or
f. Noncompliance by the permittee with any provision of this division.
(2) Upon revocation or denial of its use permit, a user shall immediately terminate its discharge to the POTW.
(i) Compliance with use permit. A user shall comply with all of the provisions of its use permit. A violation of any provision of a use permit is a violation of this division, subject to the penalty, damage, compensatory charge and other enforcement provisions of this division.
(j) Limitations of use permit transfer. Use permits are issued to a specific user for a specific operation at a specific location and are not assignable to another user or transferable to any other location without prior written approval of the City Director.
(1) The City Director shall approve a use permit transfer and make the necessary minor modifications to the use permit to show the transferee as the permittee, if the transferor demonstrates to the City the following conditions exist:
a. The transferor has not violated any provision on the use permit or of this division during the six-month period preceding the date of the transfer;
b. As of the date of the transfer, there are no unpaid charges or fees due to the City from the transferor related to use of the POTW;
c. The application for the use permit filed by the transferor remains the same with respect to the discharge, facilities and activities of the transferee, except as to the identity of the discharger; and
d. The transferor provides written evidence to the City Director that a copy of the use permit has been provided to the transferee.
(2) If these conditions are not met, then no transfer shall occur and a new use permit is required.
(Ord. 3630, passed 12-13-2004; Ord. 3738, passed 11-19-2008)