For the purpose of this subchapter, 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.
APPLICABLE COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT. The St. Clair County Health Department.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF INDUSTRIAL USER.
(1) An authorized representative of an industrial user may be:
(a) A principal executive officer of at least the level of vice president, if the industrial user is a corporation;
(b) A general partner or proprietor if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively; or
(c) A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above if the representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the indirect discharge originates, or for environmental matters of the company.
(2) Authorization for this representative must be submitted in writing to the city by the individual designated in divisions (1)(a) and (b) hereof.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, 5 days at 20° Centigrade expressed in terms of weight and concentration (milligrams per liter).
BUILDING DRAIN. That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives discharge from drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning 5 feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
BYPASS. The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a user’s pretreatment facility.
CATEGORICAL STANDARDS. National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or pretreatment standard.
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD). A measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in water or wastewater. It is expressed as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in a specified test. It does not differentiate between stable and unstable organic matter and thus does not necessarily correlate with biochemical oxygen demand. Also known as OC and DOC, oxygen consumed and dichromate oxygen consumed, respectively.
CHLORINE DEMAND. The difference between the amount of chlorine applied and the amount of free chlorine available at the end of the contact time, expressed in milligrams per liter.
CITY. The City of Marine City, Michigan, its agents and employees.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
COMMERCIAL WASTE. A liquid or water-carried waste material from a commercial business engaged in buying, selling, exchanging goods or engaging in the goods or services.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. A substance amenable to treatment in the wastewater treatment plant such as biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, pH and fecal coliform bacteria, plus additional pollutants identified in the NPDES permit if the publicly owned treatment works was designed to treat such pollutants, and in fact does remove the pollutant to a substantial degree. Examples of additional pollutants may include: chemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, phosphorus and phosphorus compounds, nitrogen compounds, fats, oils and greases of animal or vegetable origin.
COMPOSITE SAMPLE. A series of samples taken over a specific time period whose volume is proportional to the flow in the waste stream, which are combined into 1 sample.
COOLING WATER. The water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.
DEBT SERVICE CHARGE. Charges levied to customers of the wastewater system which are used to pay principal interest and administrative costs of retiring the debt incurred for construction of the wastewater system. The debt service charge shall be in addition to the user charge specified below.
DIRECT DISCHARGE. The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the state.
DIRECTOR. The Director of Public Works, or his or her authorized representative.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator or other duly authorized official.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample which is taken from a waste stream on a 1-time basis with no regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.
HOLDING TANK WASTE. Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum-pump tank trucks.
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANTS. Any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE. The discharge or the introduction of non-domestic pollutants into the POTW (including holding tank waste discharged into the system).
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. The wastewater discharges from industrial, manufacturing, trade or business processes, or wastewater discharge from any structure with these characteristics, as distinct from their employee’s domestic wastes or wastes from sanitary conveniences.
INFILTRATION. Any waters entering the system from the ground, through such means as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manhole walls. INFILTRATION does not include and is distinguished from inflow.
INFILTRATION/INFLOW. The total quantity of water from both infiltration and inflow.
INFLOW. Any waters entering the system through such sources as, but not limited to, building downspouts, footing or yard drains, cooling water discharges, seepage lines from springs and swampy areas and storm drain cross connections.
INTERFERENCE. The inhibition or disruption of the POTW treatment processes or operations which contributes to a violation of any requirement of the city’s NPDES permit or reduces the efficiency of the POTW. The term also includes prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW.
LABORATORY DETERMINATION. The measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes in accordance with the methods contained in the latest edition at the time of any such measurement, test, or analysis of Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Waste Water, a joint publication of the American Public Health Association, the American Waterworks Association and the Water Pollution Control Federation or in accordance with any other method prescribed by the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter.
LATERAL LINE. That portion of the sewer system located under the street or within the street right-of-way from the property line to the trunk line and which collects sewage from a particular property for transfer to the trunk line.
NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREAT-MENT STANDARD or PRETREATMENT STANDARD. Any federal regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA which applies to a specific category of industrial users.
NATIONAL POLLUTION DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT or NPDES PERMIT. A permit issued pursuant to § 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342).
NATIONAL PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD or PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD. Any regulation developed under the authority of § 307(b) of the Act and Title 40 C.F.R. § 403.5.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.
NEW SOURCE.
(1) Any significant industrial user source, the construction of which is commenced after the publication of proposed national categorical pretreatment standards which will be applicable to such source, provided that:
(a) Construction is at a site where no other source is located;
(b) Process or production equipment causing discharge is totally replaced due to construction; or
(c) Production or wastewater generating processes of the facility are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site.
(2) Construction is considered to have commenced when installation or assembly of facilities/equipment has begun, significant site preparation has begun for installation or assembly, or the owner/operator has entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. (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 divisions (1)(b) or (c) above but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to existing process or production equipment.)
NORMAL DOMESTIC SEWAGE (NDS). Wastewater which, when analyzed, shows a daily average concentration of not more than 140 mg/l of BOD; nor than 160 mg/l of suspended solids; nor more than 5 mg/l of phosphorus; no more than 25 mg/l of total Kjeldahl nitrogen.
OBSTRUCTION. Any object of whatever nature which substantially impedes the flow of sewage from the point of origination to the trunk line. This shall include, but not be limited to objects, sewage, tree roots, rocks and debris of any type.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE. All work, materials, equipment, utilities and other effort required to operate and maintain the wastewater transportation and treatment system consistent with insuring adequate treatment of wastewater to produce an effluent in compliance with the NPDES permit and other applicable state and federal regulations, and includes the cost of replacement.
OWNER or OWNERS OF RECORD OF THE FREEHOLD OF THE PREMISES OR LESSER ESTATE. A mortgagee or vendee in possession, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, trustee, lessee, or other person, firm or corporation in control of a building.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or its legal representatives, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine, the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
pH. The logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.
POLLUTANT. Any of various chemicals, substances and refuse materials such as solid waste, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat and industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes which impair the purity of the water and soil.
POLLUTION. The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water.
POTW TREATMENT PLANT. That portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment to wastewater.
PRETREATMENT or TREATMENT. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant
properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, or process changes other means, except as prohibited by Title 40 C.F.R. § 403.6(d).
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement for treating of a waste prior to inclusion in the POTW, including those by the city, state or national categorical pretreatment standards.
PRIVATE SEWER LINES. All service lines and equipment for the disposal of sewage installed or located on any property, from the property line to and including any structure or facility which exists on the property.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to the degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
PROPERTY OWNER. The owner of the property which abuts the street.
PUBLICLY-OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW). A treatment works as defined by § 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292), which is owned in this instance by the city. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plant. For the purposes of this subchapter, POTW shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the POTW from persons outside the city who are, by contract or agreement with the city, users of the city’s POTW.
PUBLIC SEWER. A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and is controlled by public authority.
REPLACEMENT. The replacement in whole or in part of any equipment, appurtenances and accessories in the wastewater transportation or
treatment systems to insure continuous treatment of wastewater in accordance with the NPDES permit and other applicable state and federal regulations.
SANITARY SEWAGE. A liquid or water-carried waste discharged from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings including but not limited to residential homes, apartment houses and hotels, office buildings, commercial businesses or industrial plants.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGE. A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such groundwaters as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT or WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT. Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWAGE WORKS. All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SEWER SERVICE CHARGE. The sum of the applicable user charge, surcharges and debt service charges.
SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE. Substantial physical damage to property, damage to the user’s pretreatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in absence of a bypass. SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.
SHALL. The act referred to is mandatory; MAY is permissive.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER. Any industrial user of the city’s wastewater disposal system who:
(1) Is subject to national categorical pretreatment standards;
(2) Has a discharge flow of 25,000 gallons or more per average work day;
(3) Has a flow greater than 5% of the flow in the city’s wastewater treatment system;
(4) Has in his or her wastes toxic pollutants as defined pursuant to § 307 of the Act state statutes and rules; or
(5) Is found by the city, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the wastewater treatment system, the quality of sludge, the system’s effluent quality, or air emissions generated by the system.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE. One or more of the following:
(1) Chronic violation of wastewater discharge limit, defined here as when 66% or more of all the measurements for a pollutant parameter taken during a 6-month period exceed by any magnitude the corresponding daily maximum limit or the corresponding average limit;
(2) Technical review criteria violation of wastewater discharge limit, defined here as when 33% or more of all of the measurements for a pollutant parameter taken during a 6-month period equal or exceed the product of the corresponding daily maximum limit multiplied by the applicable TRC factor, or the product of the corresponding average limit multiplied by the applicable TRC factor. (TRC Factor = 1.4 for BOD, fats, oil and grease, and 2.2 for all other pollutants except);
(3) Any other violation of a daily maximum limit or an average limit that the Director determines has alone or in combination with other discharges caused interference or pass through, including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public;
(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, public welfare, or the environment, or has resulted in the POTW exercising its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5) Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a city-issued discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance;
(6) Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, and/or reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; and
(8) Any other violation, or group of violations, which the Director determines as adversely affecting operation or implementation of the city’s pretreatment program.
SLUG LOAD. Any substance released in a discharge at a rate and/or concentration which causes interference to a POTW.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC). A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget.
STATE. The State of Michigan.
STORM SEWER OR STORM DRAIN. A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes.
STORMWATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
SUPERINTENDENT. The person designated by the city to supervise the operation of the publicly owned treatment works, who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this subchapter, or his or her duly authorized representative.
SURCHARGE. As part of the service charge, any customer discharging wastewater having strength in excess of limits set forth by the city shall be required to pay an additional charge to cover the cost of treatment of such excess strength wastewater.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Any pollutant or combination of pollutants which is or can potentially be harmful to public health or environment including those listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the provisions of CWA § 307(a) or other acts.
TRUNK LINE. The main sewer line located under any street or within any street right-of-way which collects and transmits the sewage of the various properties served by the sewer system.
UNCONTAMINATED INDUSTRIAL WASTE. Wastewater which has not come into contact with any substance used in or incidental to industrial processing operations and to which no chemical or other substance has been added.
UPSET. An exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with national categorical pretreatment standards because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the user. An UPSET does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.
USER. Any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the POTW.
USER CHARGE. A charge levied on users of a treatment works for the cost of operation and maintenance of sewerage works pursuant to § 204(b) of Pub. Law No. 92-500, being known as the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., and includes the cost of replacement.
USER CLASS. The kind of user connected to sanitary sewers including but not limited to residential, industrial, commercial, institutional and governmental.
(1) COMMERCIAL USER. An establishment listed in the office of the management and budget’s Standard Industrial Classification Manual (SICM), involved in a commercial enterprise, business or service which, based on a determination by the city, discharges primarily segregated domestic wastes or wastes from sanitary conveniences and which is not a residential user or an industrial user.
(2) GOVERNMENTAL USER. Any federal, state or local government user of the wastewater treatment works.
(3) INDUSTRIAL USER. Any user who discharges industrial wastes, as defined in this subchapter.
(4) INSTITUTIONAL USER. Any establishment listed in the SICM involved in a social, charitable, religious or educational function which, based on a determination by the city, discharges primarily segregated domestic wastes or wastes from sanitary conveniences.
(5) RESIDENTIAL USER. A user of the treatment works whose premises or buildings are used primarily as a domicile for 1 or more persons, including dwelling units such as detached, semi-detached and row houses, mobile homes, apartments or permanent multi-family dwellings (transit lodging is not included, it is considered commercial).
WASTEWATER. The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water, and stormwater that may be present, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted to enter the POTW.
WATERCOURSE. A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
WATERS OF THE STATE. All 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 or any portion thereof.
(Prior Code, § 30-82) (Ord. 92-7, passed 8-20-1992)