For the purpose of the POTW subchapters, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACT or THE ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY. The State Department of Environmental Management.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE USER.
(1) If the user is a corporation:
(a) The president, secretary, treasurer, 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 operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding 25 million 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 director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or his or her 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 Board.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or BOD. The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20°C, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l).
BYPASS. The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of an industrial user’s treatment facility.
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) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter N, parts 405-471.
CLEAR WATER FLOW. Groundwater or precipitation related water which enters the sanitary sewer collection system through pipe defects (infiltration) or conduits (inflow).
COMBINED SEWER. Sewer which carries both sanitary and stormwater flow by design.
COMPOSITE SAMPLING. Method of sampling weights sample volume with discharge flow rate.
CONTROL AUTHORITY. The State Department of Environmental Management or, upon the delegation of local authority by the State Department of Environmental Management, the city.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Region V Water Management Division Director, or other duly authorized official of said agency.
EXISTING SOURCE. Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by the EPA 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.
FATS, OILS, AND GREASE. Organic polar compound derived from animal or plant sources that contain multiple carbon chain triglyceride molecules. These substances are detectable and measurable using analytical test procedures established in 40 C.F.R. § 136 as amended. All are sometimes referred to herein as “grease”or “greases.”
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample which is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
GREASE TRAP. A device for separating and retaining waterborne grease and grease complex prior to the wastewater exiting the trap and entering the sanitary sewer and collection system.
GREASE TRAP/INTERCEPTOR MINIMUM DESIGN CAPABILITY. The design features of a grease trap/interceptor and its ability of volume required to effectively intercept and retain greases from grease-laden wastewaters discharged to the public sanitary sewer.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE OR DISCHARGE. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under § 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act.
INSTANTANEOUS MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DISCHARGE LIMIT. The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.
INTERFERENCE. A discharge, which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources does one of the following:
(1) Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, its sludge processes, or its selected sludge use or disposal methods;
(2) Causes a violation of any requirement of the POTW’s NPDES permit, including an increase in magnitude or duration of a violation; and
(3) Prevents the use of the POTW’s sewage sludge or its sludge disposal method selected in compliance with the following statutory provisions, regulations, or permits issued thereunder or more stringent state or local regulations:
(a) Section 405 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1345);
(b) The Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (42 U.S.C. § 6901), including:
1. Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); and
2. The rules contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA (42 U.S.C. § 6941).
(c) The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7401); and
(d) The Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. § 2601).
LOADING BASED LIMITATION. A measure of pollutant expressed in lb/day. It is calculated by the following formula: pollutant concentration expressed in mg/l x pollutant flow expressed in MGD x 8.34 (weight of one gallon of water) - pollutant load expressed in tlb/day.
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.
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 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 on 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. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as 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, should be considered.
(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 this section but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
(3) Construction of a new source as defined under this division (3) has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(a) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site 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 is 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 subsection.
NONCONTACT COOLING WATER. Water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
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 city’s NPDES permit (IN0020109), including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
pH. A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.
POLLUTANT. Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, 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, BOD5, COD, toxicity, metals, dissolved metals, solids, dissolved solids, odor, and the like).
PRETREATMENT. 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, introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS. 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 § 51.111.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS or POTW. A “treatment works”, as defined by § 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292), which is owned by the city. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.
SAND INTERCEPTOR. A structure or device designed for the purpose of removing and preventing fats, oils, and grease from entering the sanitary sewer collection systems. These devices are often below-ground units outside and are built as two or three chamber baffled tanks.
SEPTIC TANK WASTE. Any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
SEWAGE. Human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, and the like).
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL/COMMERCIAL USER (SIU).
(1) A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards;
(2) A user that:
(a) Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling, and boiler blowdown wastewater);
(b) Contributes a process wastestream 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 Board 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 a finding by the Board that a user meeting the criteria in division (2) has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the Board may, at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a user, and in accordance with procedures in 40 C.F.R. § 403 8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC). For compliance provisions of the POTW subchapters, SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC) is defined as follows:
(1) Violations of wastewater discharge limits:
(a) Chronic violations. Sixty-six percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit in a six-month period;
(b) Technical Review Criteria (TRC). Thirty-three percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit by more than the TRC in a six-month period. There are two groups of TRCs:
1. Group I for conventional pollutants (BOD5, COD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease). TRC = 1.4 (40%); and
2. Group II for all other pollutants. TRC = 1.2 (20%).
(c) Violations. Any violation(s) of an effluent limit (average or daily maximum) that the Wastewater Utility Manager believes has caused, along or in combination with other discharges, interference (such as slug loads) or pass-through; or endangered the health of the sewage treatment personnel or the public; and
(d) Authority to halt. Any discharge of a pollutant which has caused imminent endangerment to human health/welfare or to the environment and resulted in the POTW’s exercise of this emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge.
(2) Violation of compliance schedule milestones, contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order, for starting construction, completing construction, and attaining final compliance by 90 days or more after the scheduled date;
(3) Failure to provide reports for compliance schedules, self-monitoring data, or categorical standards (baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, and periodic reports) within 30 days from due date;
(4) Failure to accurately report non-compliance; and
(5) Any other violation or group of violations which the Wastewater Utility Manager considers to be significant.
SLUG LOAD or SLUG. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in § 51.111.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC) CODE. A classification pursuant to the “Standard Industrial Classification Manual”, issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.
STORMWATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.
UPSET. An exceptional incident in which there is an unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical standards or permitted pretreatment standards 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, bypass of treatment units, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.
USER or INDUSTRIAL USER. A source of indirect discharge.
WASTEWATER. Liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
WASTEWATER DISCHARGE PERMIT. A permit issued by the city or the State Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to a user of the Wastewater Utility which establishes specific conditions and requirements.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT. The portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
(Ord. 2008-38, passed 12-10-2008; Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)