(A) Purpose and policy. These regulations set forth uniform requirements for direct and indirect contributors into the wastewater collection and treatment system for the city.
(1) The objectives of these regulations are:
(a) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the municipal wastewater system which will interfere with the operation of the system or contaminate the resulting sludge;
(b) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the municipal wastewater system which will pass through the system inadequately treated or otherwise be incompatible with the system; and
(c) To improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewaters and sludges from the system.
(2) These regulations provide for the regulation of direct and indirect contributors to the municipal wastewater system through the issuance of permits to certain nondomestic users and through enforcement of general requirements for the other users and authorizes monitoring and enforcement activities.
(3) These regulations apply to the city and to persons outside the city who are, by permit from the city, users of the publicly owned treatment works (POTW). Except as otherwise provided herein, the Director of Public Works of the city shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of these regulations.
(B) Definitions. Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms have the meanings hereinafter designated.
THE ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES or BMPs. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in 40 C.F.R. §§ 403.5(a)(1) and (b). BMPs 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.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). The quantity of oxygen required by sewage for biochemical oxidation in five days at 20°C, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l).
BUILDING SEWER. A sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of an owner to a public sewer.
COMMERCIAL USER. Any user not defined as a residential, industrial, or other type user not specifically mentioned.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, pH, coliform bacteria, and oil and grease.
CONTAMINATION. An impairment of the quality of the waters of the city by waste to a degree which creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning through the spread of disease. CONTAMINATION shall include any equivalent effect resulting from the disposal of wastewater, whether or not waters of the city are affected.
COOLING WATER. Water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling, or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added to the water is heat.
DIRECTOR. The Public Works Director of the city or such other person as may be designated by the Public Works Director.
DOMESTIC SEWAGE. Waterborne waste derived from the ordinary living processes and coming from residences, business buildings, or institutions, as distinct from industrial wastes.
GARBAGE. Any solid waste from domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of food.
HOLDING TANK WASTE. Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and vacuum pump tank trucks.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. Any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant as defined in this section.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Clean Water Act.
INDUSTRIAL USER. A source of indirect discharge.
INTERFERENCE. A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both (1) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use, or disposal; and (2) therefore is a cause of violation of any requirement of the POTW's permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (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 SWDA), the Clean Air Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. (40 C.F.R. § 403.3(k)(2))
MASS EMISSION RATE. The weight of material discharged to the sewer system during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, the MASS EMISSION RATE shall mean pounds per day of a particular constituent or combination of constituents.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES). The program for issuing, conditioning, and denying permits for the discharge of pollutants pursuant to Section 402 of the Act.
NEW SOURCE. Any new, additional, or replacement 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 Section 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 at which no other source is located; and/or
(b) The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; and/or
(c) The production or wastewater generating process of the building, structure, facility, or installation is 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.
PASS THROUGH. A discharge which exits the POTW 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 permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).
PERSON or OWNER. Any individual, firm, company, corporation, partnership, association, and private, public, and municipal corporations' responsible corporate officer, the United States of America, the State of California, districts, and all political subdivisions and governmental agencies.
POLLUTANT. Any dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical waste, biological material, radioactive material, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, or industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water.
POLLUTION. The man-made or man induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water.
PRETREATMENT. Application of physical, chemical, and biological processes to reduce the amount of pollutants in or alter the nature of the pollutant properties in a wastewater prior to discharging such wastewater into the publicly owned wastewater treatment system.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS, NATIONAL PRETREATMENT STANDARDS, or STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act, which applies to industrial users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to Section 430.5.
PUBLIC SEWER. Sewer owned and operated by the city which collects sewage waste and transports same to facilities owned and operated by the city. Such sewer also includes property outside the established city limits which are tributary to the main sewer trunk line to the wastewater treatment plant.
SEWAGE or SANITARY SEWAGE. A combination of domestic sewage and industrial wastes.
SEWAGE SYSTEM. The facilities for the collection, treatment, and disposal of sanitary sewage.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU). All industrial users (IUs) subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 C.F.R. § 403.6 and 40 C.F.R., Ch. I, subch. N and any other IU that discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater), contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant or is designated as such by the POTW on the basis that the IU has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operations or for violating a pretreatment standard or requirement (in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(6)).
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE. Any SIU or industrial user which meets one or more of the criteria defined in 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(2)(viii)(A) - (H):
(A) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 C.F.R. § 403.3(l);
(B) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33% or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 C.F.R. § 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(C) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by 40 C.F.R. § 403.3(l) (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the POTW determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharge, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);
(D) 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 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(1)(vi)(B) to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(E) 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;
(F) Failure to provide within 45 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
(G) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or
(H) Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of best management practices, which the POTW determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.
SLUG DISCHARGE. Any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or noncustomary batch discharge.
STANDARD METHODS. The latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Association.
STORM WATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
UNPOLLUTED WATER. Water not containing any pollutants limited or prohibited by the effluent standards in effect or water whose discharge will not cause any violation of receiving water quality standards.
USER. Any person contributing wastewater to the public sewer system as provided in these regulations.
WASTE. Any discharge into the public sewer system that contains pollutants.
WASTEWATER. The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, or institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water that may be present, whether treated or untreated, which is discharged into or permitted to enter the city's treatment works.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM or PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW). Any device, facility, structure, or equipment owned or used by the city for the purpose of the transmission, storage, treatment, recycling, or reclamation of industrial and domestic wastes necessary to recycle or reuse water, including intercepting sewers, outfall sewers, sewer collections systems, pumps, power plants, and other equipment, and their appurtenances, extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions, and alterations thereof; and any works, including site acquisition of the land that will be an integral part of the treatment process or is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from such treatment.
(Ord. 895 C.S., passed 3-21-12)