(A) Unless otherwise noted, the terms and phrases used in this chapter shall have the following meanings.
All other words shall be construed as having the meaning defined in Glossary of Water and Sewage Control Engineering, published by the Water Pollution Control Federation, Washington, D.C., or by their general usage, if undefined.
ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. section 1251 et seq.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY. The Commissioner of the State Department of Health and Environmental Control.
AUTHORIZED OR DULY 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 operating facilities, provided the manager is authorized to 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; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for individual wastewater discharge permit requirements; and where 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 their designee.
(4) The individuals described in divisions (1) through (3), above, may designate a duly 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 town.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OR BMPS. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in 403.5(a)(1) and (b) and/or R61-9 403.5(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 utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, five days at 20 degrees C., expressed in milligrams per liter and as further defined in Standard Methods.
CALENDAR QUARTER. January to March, April to June, July to September, or October to December of the same year.
CAPACITY FEE. Fee charges to an individual or business for the purpose of obtaining the right or privilege to discharge wastewater into the town’s treatment works.
CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER. An industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD OR CATEGORICAL STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. section 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471 and/or SC R.61-9.403 Appendix C.
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD). Total quantity of oxygen required for the chemical oxidation or organic matter to carbon dioxide and water, expressed in mg/1, and based on testing methods approved by 40 CFR Part 136 or other equivalent methods approved by EPA.
CHIEF OPERATOR. The person designated by the town to supervise the operation of the POTW, and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter. The term also means a duly authorized representative of the chief operator.
COLOR. The color value obtained by the ADMI colorimetric method as approved by 40 CFR Part 136 or other acceptable methods approved by EPA.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer intended to receive both wastewater and storm or surface water.
COMMERCIAL USER. Any private establishment such as restaurants, hotels, stores, filling stations, laundromats, or recreational facilities with dry weather wastewater flows less than 25,000 gpd and not meeting the definition of a significant industrial user.
COMPOSITE SAMPLE. A combination of discrete samples of wastewater taken proportional to the discharge flow rate over the compositing period or if approved by the town a combination if discrete samples of waste water taken at equal time intervals over the compositing period.
CONTROL AUTHORITY. The Town of Pendleton.
COOLING WATER. The water used for air conditioning, refrigeration, or other cooling applications.
DAILY MAXIMUM. The arithmetic average of all effluent samples for a pollutant collected during a calendar day.
DAILY MAXIMUM LIMIT. The maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant during a calendar day. Where DAILY MAXIMUM LIMITS are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of the day. Where DAILY MAXIMUM LIMITS are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that day.
DOMESTIC SEWAGE. A combination of water carrying normal strength sewage from residences, commercial establishments, institutions and the like, but excluding industrial wastes, as hereinafter defined.
ELDER VALVES. Enables “disconnection” of sewer service lateral. All appurtenances on the customer side of the ELDER VALVE will be privately owned. The town will own all infrastructure downstream of the ELDER VALVE.
ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE PLAN. A written instrument or policy which the town shall use in implementing enforcement actions, fines, penalties, compliance schedules, etc. should violations of this chapter occur.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, OR EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or where appropriate the term may also be used as a designation for the Administrator or other duly authorized official of said agency.
EQUALIZATION BASIN. Structures specifically constructed to avoid slugging or surcharging the treatment works with respect to flow or sewage mass.
EXISTING SOURCE. Any source of discharge that is not a “New Source.”
FLOATABLE OIL. Oil, fat, or grease in such a physical state that it will separate by gravity from wastewater.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation of cooking and dispensing of food from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample that is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
HEADWORKS ANALYSIS. An evaluation of the ability of the treatment works (POTW) to receive pollutants and shall be performed in accordance with EPA and DHEC regulations, guidelines, etc.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.
INDUSTRIAL USER.
(1) Any non-governmental, non-resident user which discharges wastewater to the treatment works and is identified in the Standard Industrial Classifications Manual (SIC Codes) under divisions A, B, D, E, and I;
(2) A user which discharges any waste water containing toxic pollutants or which has any other adverse effect(s) on the treatment works;
(3) A user whose wastewater discharge must be regulated in accordance with DHEC and EPA regulations;
(4) A source of indirect discharge and which does constitute a “discharge of pollutants” under regulations issued pursuant to Section 403 of the Act.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE. The liquid waste from industrial manufacturing processes, trade or business, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
INFILTRATION. The extraneous groundwater entering the treatment works through such means as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manhole walls.
INFLOW. The surface water entering the wastewater disposal system from such sources as, but not limited to: roof drains; cellar, yard and area drains; foundation drains; drains from springs and swampy areas; manhole covers; cross connections from storm sewers; catch basins; storm waters; surface runoff; or drainage of any fashion.
INSTANTANEOUS 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, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and therefore, is a cause of a violation of the town’s NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued hereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations: Section 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, including Title II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.
LOCAL LIMIT. The specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the town upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b) and/or SC R.61-9 403.5(a)(1) and (b).
MEDICAL WASTE. Isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood byproducts, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, fomites, etiologic agents, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes and dialysis wastes.
MONTHLY AVERAGE. Yhe sum of all “daily discharges” measured during a calendar month divided by the number of “daily discharges” measured during that month.
MONTHLY AVERAGE LIMIT. The highest allowable average of “daily discharges” over a calendar month, calculated as the sum of all “daily discharges” measured during a calendar month divided by the number of “daily discharges” measured during that month.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT (NPDES PERMIT). A permit issued for the discharge of treated wastewater to the waters of the United States.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into water courses, ponds, ditches, lakes or other bodies or surface or groundwater.
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 section 307(c) of the Act that 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; 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; 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 division (1)(b) or (c) above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
(3) Construction of a new source as defined under this division has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(a) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction program:
(i) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
(ii) 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; or
(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 paragraph.
NONCONTACT COOLING WATER. Water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact
with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
PASS THROUGH. Discharge which exits the treatment works 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 POTWs NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).
PERMIT FEE. A fee to be paid by any person who is required to obtain a permit or written approval to discharge sewage into the treatment works.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state and local government entities.
pH. A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.
POLLUTANT. Any 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, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).
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 discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, 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, other than a National Pretreatment Standard, imposed on an industrial user.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with sections 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 CFR, Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES. Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in §§ 50.110 through 50.125 of this chapter.
PUBLIC SEWER. A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and is controlled by public authority.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW). A treatment works as defined by Section 212 of the Act, which is owned by a municipality (as defined by Section 5 02(4) of the Act). This definition includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes sewers, pipes, and other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW Treatment Plant. The term also means the municipality as defined in Section 502(4) of the Act, which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works.
QUALIFIED LABORATORY. Those laboratories currently certified by S.C. DHEC to perform wastewater analyses.
RECURRING VIOLATION. More than one violation for the same parameter in a calendar quarter.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sewage to which storm, surface, and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
SCAVENGER WASTES. The contents of privies, septic tanks, cesspools, industrial wastes, chemical compounds and sludges which are hauled by truck or other mobile conveyance.
SEPTIC TANK WASTE. Any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
SEWAGE. A combination of water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface and storm waters as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT FACILITY. Any arrangement of the devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWAGE WORKS. All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage or industrial waste waters.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SEWER SURCHARGE. A charge for sewer service and treatment service for wastes having characteristics different from sanitary wastes and for which additional charges must be assessed in order for the waste to make compensation for additional expenses incurred.
SHALL is mandatory; MAY is permissive.
SHREDDED GARBAGE. The waste from the preparation of cooking and dispensing of food that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be earned freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers with no particle greater than 3/8 inches in any dimension.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU).
(1) An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
(2) An industrial user that:
(a) Discharge 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% r more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
(c) Is designated as such by the town on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE. Shall be applicable to all significant industrial users (or any other industrial user that violates paragraphs (3), (4), or (8) below of this section and shall mean:
(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits;
(2) Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33% or more of wastewater measurements taken for each pollutant parameter during a six-month period equals or exceeds the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits multiplied by the applicable criteria (1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the Chief Operator determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges , 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 the public or to the environment, or has resulted in the Chief Operator's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5) Failure to meet, within 90 days of the scheduled date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in an individual wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(6) Failure to provide within 45 days after the due date, any required reports, including baseline monitoring reports, reports on compliance with categorical pretreatment standard deadlines, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or
(8) Any other violation(s), which may include a violation of Best Management Practices, which the Chief Operator determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.
SLUG LOAD or SLUG DISCHARGE shall be defined as:
(1) Any discharge of wastewater which in flow, measured in gallons per minute, exceeds for any period of duration longer 15 minutes, more than five times the average 24-hour flow in gallons per minute occurring during normal operation;
(2) Any discharge of wastewater which in concentration measured in mg/1 for any duration of time exceeds by more than five times the average 24-hour concentration measured in mg/1;
(3) Any discharge of wastewater from an accidental spill or non-customary batch dump which causes harm or damage to the treatment works; and
(4) Any discharge of wastewater regardless of flow and concentration which causes a violation of prohibited discharge standards as hereinafter defined in this chapter, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the pretreatment regulations.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC) CODE. A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.
STANDARD METHODS. The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the most recent edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation or any other procedures recognized by the DHEC and EPA.
STATE. The State of South Carolina.
STORM DRAIN. Sometimes termed “storm sewer” means a sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage but excludes sewage and industrial wastes.
STORM WATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
STREET. Streets, avenues, drives, boulevards, roads, alleys, lanes and viaducts and all other public highways in the sanitary area.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage, or other liquids which are removable by laboratory filtering and is further defined in Standard Methods.
TOTAL SOLIDS. The sum of suspended matter, settleable matter and dissolved matter, both volatile and non-volatile and as further defined in Standard Methods.
TOWN. The Town of Pendleton, South Carolina.
TOXIC POLLUTANT OR SUBSTANCES. Any substances whether gaseous, liquid, or solid, which when discharged to the POTW in sufficient quantities may tend to interfere with any wastewater treatment process, or to constitute a hazard to the environmental or recreation in the receiving waters of the effluent from the POTW. These substances include but are not limited to those 126 pollutants, or combination of those pollutants, listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA under the provisions of 307 (33 U.S.C. 1317) of the Act, or other acts.
TREATMENT WORKS or WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT. All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage or industrial waste waters.
USER or INDUSTRIAL USER. Any person who directly or indirectly discharges, causes or permits the discharge of wastewater to the POTW.
WASTEWATER. The combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions, including cooling water, holding tank waste, and infiltration/inflow whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
(1) SANITARY WASTEWATER. The combination of liquid and water carried wastes discharged from toilet and other sanitary plumbing facilities.
(2) INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER. A combination of liquid and water carried wastes discharged from any industrial establishment and resulting from any trade or process carried on in that establishment and shall include the wastes from pretreatment facilities and cooling water.
WATERCOURSE. A channel in which flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
WATERS OF THE STATE. All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, water courses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies of 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.
(Ord. 11-01, passed 1-3-11; Am. Ord. 19-04, passed 5-6-19; Am. Ord. 22-07, passed 5-2-22; Am. Ord. 23-06, passed 4-4-23)