(Amended In Entirety by Ord. No. 173,980, Eff. 7/1/01.)
A. Definitions. (Amended by Ord. No. 183,756, Eff. 8/11/15.) For the purpose of this article, the following words and phrases are defined and shall be construed as hereinafter set out, unless it shall be apparent from the context that they have a different meaning:
1. Act shall mean the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.
2. Approval Authority shall mean the California State Water Resources Control Board upon an approval of the State Pretreatment Program, or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency without an Approved State Pretreatment Program.
3. Authorized Representative shall mean the following:
(a) a president, secretary, treasurer, or vice-president in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions, if the discharger is a corporation;
(b) the manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operating facilities, provided the manager is authorized to (1) make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility including having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendations, and initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (2) ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for control mechanism requirements; and (3) sign documents in accordance with corporate procedures;
(c) a general partner or proprietor if the discharger is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively;
(d) a principal executive officer or director having responsibility for the overall operation of the discharging facility or a ranking elected official if the discharger is a governmental entity, charitable organization or other such unincorporated entity; or
(e) a representative authorized in writing by any individual designated above, if the authorization is submitted to the Director and specifies an individual or a position having responsibility for the overall operation of the facility. This includes the position of plant manager, a position of equivalent responsibility, or an individual having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company. If an authorization under Paragraph (e) is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has the responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, or overall responsibility for environmental matters of the company, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of Paragraph (e) of this section must be submitted to the Director prior to, or together with, any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.
4. Average Daily Flow shall mean the number of gallons of wastewater discharged into the POTW during a 24-hour period.
5. Best Management Practices (BMP) shall mean activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce pollutants in discharges. BMP also 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.
6. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter in five (5) days at 20 degrees celsius expressed in terms of milligrams per liter (mg/l) and analyzed in accordance with the most recent publication of “Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater” prepared and published by the American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation.
7. Blood shall mean human or animal blood, human or animal blood components, and products made from human or animal blood. (Added by Ord. No. 183,756, Eff. 8/11/15.)
8. Bloodborne Pathogens shall mean pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human or animal blood and can cause disease in humans.
9. Board shall mean the Board of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles or its duly authorized representative.
10. Bonded Sewer shall mean any public sewer within the territorial limits of the City of Los Angeles as they now exist for which the cost of construction thereof was not directly assessed against the property in accordance with benefits, or paid for by the present or prior owners of the connecting property.
11. Bonded Sewer House Connection Sewer shall mean any house connection sewer or portion thereof from a lot, or part of a lot, to a bonded sewer located directly in front, rear, or at the side of such lot, or part of such lot.
12. Bypass shall mean the intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of a discharger’s treatment facility.
13. Categorical Standards shall mean National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or Pretreatment Standards as promulgated by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
14. City shall mean the City of Los Angeles or its duly authorized representatives.
15. Commercial Establishment shall mean a private establishment such as a restaurant, hotel, laundry, store, filling station, or recreational facility. A nonprofit private or government entity such as a church, school, hospital, military facility, correctional institution, recreational facility or a facility owned or operated by a charitable organization is considered a commercial establishment.
16. Commingled Load shall mean a load of septage which includes septage generated both within and outside the City’s boundaries.
17. Composite Sample shall mean a sample formed by mixing discrete samples taken at periodic points in time or a continuous proportion of the flow. The number of discrete samples which make up the composite sample depends upon the variability of pollutant concentration and flow.
18. Construction shall be deemed to include the acquisition of any and all rights of way or real property necessary for the performance and completion of the work referred to wherever authority is given to the City for any construction under the provisions of this article.
19. Contract Agency shall mean a governmental agency or private entity which has contracted with the City to discharge into the City’s Publicly Owned Treatment Works.
20. Cooling Water shall mean the water discharged from any use including, but not limited to, air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, during which the only pollutant added is heat.
21. Director shall mean the Director of the Bureau of Sanitation of the Department of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles or the duly authorized representative thereof.
22. Discharge shall mean the introduction of pollutants into the POTW.
23. Discharger shall mean a nondomestic source of discharge.
24. Domestic Septage shall mean the liquid or solid material removed from a private sewage disposal system (PSDS), portable toilet or other holding device that receives only domestic sewage.
25. Domestic Wastewater (Domestic Sewage) shall mean sanitary wastewater and wastewater generated from household type operations.
26. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shall mean the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, its Administrator, or its duly authorized representative.
27. Food Service Establishment shall mean a facility engaged in preparing food for consumption by the public such as, but not limited to, a restaurant, bakery, commercial kitchen, caterer, hotel, school, hospital, prison, correctional facility or care institution.
28. Grab Sample shall mean a sample which is taken from a wastewater discharge on a onetime basis without regard to the volume of flow in the discharge.
29. Gravity Grease Interceptor (GGI) shall mean an approved device with a minimum total volume of 300 gallons that is specifically designed to separate, trap and hold nonpetroleum fats, oil and grease (FOG) from an industrial wastewater discharge, and which shall be remotely located from where food is handled, and is identified by the following: volume, a minimum retention time of 30 minutes, baffle(s), a minimum of two compartments and gravity separation.
30. Grease Interceptor - See Gravity Grease Interceptor.
31. Grease Trap - See Hydromechanical Grease Interceptor.
32. Gross Floor Area shall mean the area included within the exterior of the surrounding walls of a building or portions thereof, exclusive of courts.
33. House Connection Sewer shall mean any sewer pipe line, or portion thereof, constructed in a street, alley, walk or other public place or in a sewer easement granted to the City and connecting, or proposed to connect, any lot or part of a lot with any public sewer.
34. Hydromechanical Grease Interceptor (HGI) shall mean an approved device that is installed in an industrial wastewater drainage system to separate, trap, and hold nonpetroleum fats, oil and grease (FOG) from a wastewater discharge and is identified by flow rate, retention time, and separation efficiency. HGI design incorporates, in combination or separately, air entrainment, hydromechanical separation, interior baffling and internal barriers.
35. Industrial Wastewater Sewer Connection shall mean any house connection sewer, or portion thereof, used in the disposal of any and all liquid or waterborne waste from industrial or commercial processes except domestic sewage.
36. Industrial Wastewater shall mean liquid and water-carried waste other than domestic sewage. Wastewater generated from household type operations, including, but not limited to, dishwashing, laundry and car washing, performed at commercial establishments for or to support commercial purposes is considered industrial wastewater.
37. Industrial Wastewater Permit shall mean a permit issued by the Board as provided in and subject to provisions of Subdivision 1 of Subsection C and payment of fee requirements of Subsection D of Section 64.30.
38. Interceptor Sewer shall mean a collecting sewer that intercepts and collects the sewage from a number of lateral or local public sewers.
39. Interference shall mean the inhibition or disruption of the POTW process or operations or any actions or omission which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources is a cause of violation of any requirement of the City’s NPDES Permits (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation). The term interference also includes prevention of biosolids use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with Section 405 of the Act or any violation of criteria, guidelines, or regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substance Control Act, the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act or violation of more stringent State criteria (including those contained in any State sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Title II of SWDA) applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the POTW.
40. Local Industrial User (LIU) shall mean a discharger of industrial wastewater which
(a) is not subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards under 40 C.F.R. 403.6 and 40 C.F.R. Chapter I, Subchapter N,
(b) discharges an average of less than 25,000 gallons per day of process wastewater to the POTW; and
(c) as determined by the Director, does not have a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirements in accordance with 40 C.F.R. 403.8(f)(6).
41. Lot shall mean any piece or parcel of land, as bounded, defined or shown upon the latest map, plat or deed recorded in the office of the County Recorder of Los Angeles County provided however that in the event any building or improvements appurtenant to said building covers more area than a “lot,” as herein defined, the term “lot” shall be deemed to be and include all such pieces or parcels of land upon which said buildings or improvements are wholly or partly located.
42. May is permissive.
43. Medical Waste shall mean waste as defined in the California Health and Safety Code.
44. National Categorical Pretreatment Standard (National Standard) shall mean any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act.
45. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES Permit) shall mean a permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act.
46. Non-Domestic Septage shall mean the liquid or solid material removed from a private sewage disposal system (PSDS) or other sanitation holding device that receives industrial wastewater or a combination of domestic and industrial wastewater.
47. Pass Through shall mean a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the State in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is the cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW’s NPDES Permit (including an increase in the magnitude and duration of a violation).
48. Peak Flow shall mean the maximum five minute rate of wastewater flow to be generated from the premises as estimated by the City Engineer.
49. Person shall mean any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine, the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
50. pH shall mean the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in gram equivalents per liter of solution.
51. Pharmaceutical Waste shall mean a discarded prescription or over-the-counter human or veterinary drug.
52. Pigment shall mean a substance that imparts black or white or a color to other materials.
53. Point of Discharge shall mean any physical location at which a discharger, directly or indirectly, disposes wastewater. The term point of discharge also includes, but is not limited to, disposal to ponds, injection wells, leach fields, or surface spreading.
54. Pollutant shall mean any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, pigment, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt or other waste.
55. Portable Toilet shall mean any portable or permanently installed sanitation apparatus or system which includes a tank for toilet waste retention. Portable Toilet includes sanitation holding devices from airplanes, trains, boats with type III marine sanitation devices, buses, movie dressing room trailers, recreational vehicles, or other similar transport vehicles.
56. 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 to a less polluted state prior to, or in lieu of, discharging such pollutants into the POTW. Pretreatment can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, or process changes by other means, except as prohibited by 40 Code of Federal Regulation (C.F.R.) at Section 403.6(d).
57. Pretreatment Requirements shall mean any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a National Categorical Pretreatment Standard.
58. Private Septage Disposal Facility (PSDF) shall mean a disposal site, other than a City designated discharge location, with a direct connection to the City sewer, which accommodates the discharge of hauled septage.
59. Private Sewage Disposal System (PSDS) shall mean any septic tank, cesspool, seepage pit, leach field, or any other receptacle, or any combination thereof, which receives any wastewater not discharged into a public sewer.
60. Public Sewer shall mean any sewer, other than a house connection sewer, which has been constructed in a public street, alley, walk, or other public place, or in a sewer easement, and is a part of the POTW.
61. Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) (Sanitary Sewer System) shall mean treatment works defined by Section 212 of the Act, which are wholly or partially owned by the City. This includes any public sewers, treatment plants, land, appurtenances, pumping stations, or equipment. For the purpose of this ordinance, POTW shall also include any sewers within the City of Los Angeles that convey wastewater to the POTW from persons outside the City who are, by contract or agreement with the City, dischargers to the City’s POTW.
62. Rules and Regulations shall mean Rules and Regulations adopted by the Board Governing the Disposal of Industrial Wastewater into the Publicly Owned Treatment Works of the City of Los Angeles.
63. Sanitary Wastewater shall mean wastewater of human origin derived from toilets, urinals, showers, baths and restroom sinks.
64. Septage shall mean the liquid or solid material removed from a private sewage disposal system (PSDS), portable toilet or other sanitation holding device that receives wastewater.
65. Septage Hauler shall mean a person or an owner/operator of a business that holds Septage Disposal Permit(s) issued by the Director to discharge septage to the City’s POTW.
66. Sewage Generation Factor shall mean as a number which, when multiplied by a parameter which indicates the level of activity in an occupancy such as floor area or number of seats, produces an estimate of the average sewage discharge from the occupancy.
67. Shall is mandatory.
68. Sharps shall mean hypodermic needles, hypodermic syringes, blades and broken glass. Sharps also include any devices, instruments or other objects which have acute rigid corners, edges or protuberances.
69. Significant Change shall mean alterations or additions to the discharger’s operation, processes, pretreatment systems, production, or alterations to the nature, quality or volume of the discharger’s wastewater that affect pretreatment standards or requirements since the issuance of the effective Industrial Wastewater Permit.
70. Significant Industrial User (SIU), subject to the provisions established in 40 C.F.R. 403.3(v), shall mean the following:
(a) any discharger of industrial wastewater that is subject to National Categorical Pretreatment Standards;
(b) any other discharger that discharges an average of 25,000 gallons or more per day of process wastewater (“process wastewater” excludes sanitary, non-contact cooling water and boiler blowdown wastewaters) or contributes process wastewater which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic (BOD, TSS, etc.) capacity of the treatment plant;
(c) any discharger that is designated by the Director to have a reasonable potential to adversely affect the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
71. Slug Discharge shall mean any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or a 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.
72. Special Drainage Connection shall mean any house connection sewer or storm drain connection from any swimming pool, wading pool, fountain, pond, tank, vat or receptacle which receives or disposes of rain water or surface water.
73. Special House Connection Sewer shall mean any house connection sewer from a lot, or part of a lot, which does not have a public sewer directly in front, rear, or at the side of such lot or part of such lot, and which has not been directly assessed for a public sewer.
74. Split Sampling shall mean dividing of wastewater samples for analysis at two (or more) analytical laboratories for comparison of results.
75. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) shall mean classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1972, or subsequent revisions.
76. State shall mean the State of California.
77. Storm Drain Connection shall mean any pipeline, or portion thereof, constructed in a street, alley, walk, or other public place, or in an easement granted to the City, and connecting or proposed to connect any lot or part of a lot with any storm drain.
78. Storm Drain System shall mean all of the property involved in the operation of the storm drainage collection and disposal system of the City of Los Angeles, including conduits, natural or artificial drains, channels and watercourses, together with appurtenances, pumping stations and equipment.
79. Suspended Solids (SS) shall mean the total nonfilterable residue in water, wastewater or other liquids, which is removable in accordance with the most recent publication of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, prepared and published by the American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation.
80. Temporary Permit shall mean an interim status permit issued to a discharger until a final decision is made by the Director to issue an Industrial Wastewater Permit.
81. Toxic Pollutant shall mean any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the Administrator of EPA under the provisions of Section 307 of the Act, or other Federal or State statutes, rules or regulations.
82. Type III Marine Sanitation Device shall mean a device that is designed to prevent the overboard discharge of treated or untreated domestic sewage.
83. Wastewater shall mean liquid and water-carried industrial and/or domestic wastes and sewage from facilities, including, but not limited to, dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, agricultural activities, hospitals, medical facilities and other institutions, together with other wastes which may be present, whether treated or untreated, which enter the POTW.
84. Waters of the State shall mean all saline waters, streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems 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 of California or any portion thereof.
B. Abbreviations. The acronyms or sets of letters set forth in this subsection, when used in this chapter, shall stand for and be understood and may be accepted or used as abbreviations for those terms or phrases set forth opposite each:
BOD - Biochemical Oxygen Demand
BMP - Best Management Practice
CFR - Code of Federal Regulations
COD - Chemical Oxygen Demand
FOG - Fats, Oil and Grease
FSE - Food Service Establishment
EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
mg - Milligrams
mg/l - Milligrams per liter
O&M - Operation and Maintenance
NCPS - National Categorical Pretreatment Standards
NPDES - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
POTW - Publicly Owned Treatment Works
PSDF - Private Septage Disposal Facility
PSDS - Private Sewage Disposal System
SIC - Standard Industrial Classification
SS - Suspended Solids
SWDA - Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. 6901, et seq.
USC - United States Code