(a) All industrial users shall provide necessary pretreatment as required to comply with this chapter and shall achieve compliance with all applicable pretreatment requirements and standards within the time limitations specified by appropriate statutes and regulations and this chapter. Any facilities required to pretreat wastewater to a level acceptable to the City shall be properly provided, operated and maintained at the user's expense. All industrial users shall obtain all necessary construction operating permits from the IEPA. Such pretreatment facilities shall be under the control and direction of an IEPA certified wastewater treatment plant operator. Detailed plans describing such facilities and operating procedures shall be submitted to the Department of Public Works - Water and Sewer Division for review, and shall be acceptable to the City or its authorized designee before such facilities are constructed. The review of such plans and operating procedures shall in no way relieve the user from the responsibility of modifying such facilities as necessary to produce a discharge acceptable to the City under the provisions of this chapter.
(b) All public and industrial users shall provide grease, oil and sand traps or interceptors when, in the opinion of the Plumbing Inspector, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid waste with excessive amounts of grease, oil or sand. All traps or interceptors shall be of a type and size approved by the City or its authorized designee and shall be located so as to be easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. They shall be operated, cleaned and maintained in a manner acceptable to the City or its authorized designee.
(c) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section to the contrary, the following regulations shall apply to food service establishments.
(1) Purpose. The purpose of this subsection (c) is to set forth policies, procedures, and requirements for food service establishments governing the installation, maintenance, and use of grease traps, grease interceptors or other comparable devices which represent the best practicable control technology for oil/grease removal, and to establish procedures regarding implementation and enforcement of the regulations set forth in this subsection.
(2) Definitions.
A. "Food service establishment" means an establishment that prepares and/or sells food for consumption either on or off the premises, including, but not limited to, restaurants, sandwich shops, delicatessens, bakeries, conveince stores or pizzerias. The term, as used in this subsection, does not refer to food stores or establishments that do not prepare food on premises or process food in a manner so as to contribute grease to the sewer system.
B. "Grease interceptor" means a device designed and installed to separate and retain deleterious, hazardous, or undesirable matter from normal wastes and to permit normal sewage or liquid wastes to discharge into the disposal terminal by gravity.
C. "Grease trap" means a device designed to retain grease from one to a maximum of four fixtures.
(3) Requirement for grease trap, grease interceptor, or other device.
A. A food service establishment or any other business discharging grease, oil or other similar material shall have an operable grease trap, grease interceptor or other comparable device(s) as determined by the City of Freeport, or by the City's authorized designee, to be an adequate substitute for a grease trap or grease interceptor. A properly sized interceptor or trap shall be considered first. Grease and oil interceptors or traps shall be provided at the cost of the owner.
B. All drains from food preparation and cleanup areas including, but not limited to, prewash sinks, floor drains, food waste disposal units, pots and pans sinks, scullery sinks, and garbage can wash areas shall be connected to such trap or interceptor. Grease traps required by this chapter shall be no smaller than an 80-gallon capacity trap with a 75-gallon per minute flow rate.
C. Existing grease traps, grease interceptors or similar devices.
1. Any food service establishment or other business that, on or after January 1, 1997, installed grease traps, grease interceptors, or other grease pretreatment equipment shall not be required to upgrade such equipment, so long as such equipment remains in good working order. Should the grease trap, grease interceptor or other grease pretreatment equipment become nonoperational or fail to operate in good working order, a grease trap or grease interceptor meeting the standards set forth in this subsection shall be immediately installed.
2. Notwithstanding the foregoing subsection (c)(3)C.1. above, any food service establishment or other business that, on or after, January 1, 1997, installed grease traps, grease interceptors, or other grease pretreatment equipment shall upgrade such equipment to meet the standards set forth in this subsection upon the change of ownership of the business in which the equipment is located, or upon the remodeling of the business in which the equipment is located. Remodeling of the business not requiring a building permit shall be exempted from the upgrade requirement. The remodeling shall not be separated into phases for the purpose of avoiding the requirement of a building permit.
(4) General regulations and procedures.
A. When waste treatment is required pursuant to this subsection, an approved grease trap or grease interceptor complying with the provision of this subsection shall be installed in the waste line leading from sinks, drains, and other fixtures or equipment.
B. A plumbing permit shall be obtained from the Community Development Department prior to the installation of a grease trap or grease interceptor.
C. Each trap, interceptor, or comparable device required by this subsection shall have an approved volume not less than required by this subsection.
D. Toilets, lavatories, and other sanitary fixtures shall not be connected to any grease trap, grease interceptor, or comparable device.
E. Location of grease traps, and grease interceptors.
1. They shall be located outside buildings, unless a finding is made by the building inspector that the location of the building on the site or some other aspect of the use prevents an outside location and that placement within a building is not hazardous to public health and safety;
2. They shall be located and maintained at all times so as to prevent the entrance of foreign materials, shall be easily accessible for cleaning inspection and removal of intercepted grease, and shall pose no hazard to public health or safety;
3. If they are not designed in accordance with the requirements of the 2014 Illinois Plumbing Code, they must be designed by a professional engineer, must be consistent with the standards of this chapter, and must be approved by the City of Freeport.
F. Related equipment.
1. They shall be fitted with a standard service access cover or manhole. If a manhole is required, it shall be brought to grade and finished with standard manhole cover and ring;
2. A sampling box shall be located on the discharge side.
G. All discharging fixtures shall be individually trapped and vented in accordance with the 2014 Illinois Plumbing Code.
H. They shall be constructed of durable materials and shall have a full-size gas-tight cover which can easily be removed.
I. Whenever a grease trap or grease interceptor does not comply with the provisions of this subsection, the City of Freeport, or authorized designee, inspector shall require corrective measures.
J. Prohibited and/or restricted equipment.
1. The installation and use of garbage grinders (disposals) in food service establishments is prohibited;
2. The connection of high-temperature/high-flow dishwashers to a grease trap or grease interceptor is prohibited;
3. The use of enzymes or bacterial cultures designed to disperse grease is prohibited unless specifically approved in writing by the City of Freeport.
K. After the effective date of the ordinance, all establishments covered by this subsection shall install an approved grease trap or grease interceptor of sufficient size to prevent discharges into the sewer system, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection.
L. Maintenance.
1. Traps and interceptors shall be maintained in efficient operating condition by periodic removal of the accumulated grease. No collected grease shall be introduced into any public or private drainage piping. All grease and/or oil interceptors or traps shall be serviced and emptied at the cost of the owner on a continuous basis to maintain their minimum design capacity and the continuous efficient operation at all times. No waste removed from the interceptors or traps shall be reintroduced into the sanitary sewer or back into the interceptor or trap. The owner shall be responsible for the legally appropriate sanitary disposal of such waste.
2. Any grease trap or grease interceptor required by this subsection shall be readily accessible for inspection and properly maintained to assure that accumulations of grease or oil do not impair its efficiency or transport grease or oil into the sewer system.
3. All food service establishments or businesses required under this subsection to install and maintain a grease trap or grease interceptor shall maintain a maintenance record for the grease trap or grease interceptor, which shall be transmitted to City of Freeport on an annual basis. This record shall include the date, the name of the person who performed cleaning and the disposal site of the waste. The record shall also be posted in a conspicuous location and be available for review by the City's inspector at each routine inspection and at such other time as necessary for the City to determine whether a particular establishment may be performing maintenance contrary to the provisions of this subsection.
4. The City or its designee shall perform grease trap and grease interceptor inspections annually, or more often at the discretion of the City should maintenance reports not be received or should a grease trap or grease interceptor fail to operate properly.
5. In the event the City determines that a food service establishment or business required to install and maintain a grease trap either fails to maintain the maintenance record required by this section, or fails to maintain the grease trap as required by this subsection, the City may require the immediate installation of a grease interceptor.
M. Fines and the suspension and/or termination of any food or beverage permit.
1. The City shall have the discretion to impose fines or request the Stephenson County Health Department (the City's health officer) to terminate or cause to be terminated any food or beverage permit of any user if a violation of any provision of this subsection is found to cause a condition of contamination, pollution, nuisance, or other threat to public health and safety or to the publicly owned treatment works (POTW).
2. Failure to comply with a violation notice within 30 days will initiate the fine or suspension process.
3. Minimum fine of $1,000.
N. Request for ruling.
1. If an applicant for a permit or the owner of a grease trap or grease interceptor disputes the interpretation or application of this subsection, he/she may request a written ruling by the City of Freeport City Manager. The decision of the City of Freeport City Manager shall be final for all purposes.
(Ord. 96-68. Passed 10-7-96; Ord. 2017-45. Passed 6-5-17; Ord. 2020-11. Passed 3-2-20; Ord. 2022-03. Passed 2-7-22.)