For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
ACT, THE ACT, THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT and the CLEAN WATER ACT. Used interchangeably in this subchapter and refer to Pub. Law No. 92-500, being 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., as adopted in 1972 and amended by Pub. Law No. 95-217 of 1977, and any succeeding amendments and any administrative rules promulgated thereunder, as amended or revised from time to time.
ALTERNATIVE DISCHARGE LIMIT. Limits set by the YCUA in lieu of the promulgated national categorical pretreatment standard for integrated facilities in accordance with the combined wastestream formula as set by the E.P.A.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF INDUSTRIAL USER.
(1) A responsible corporate officer, if the industrial user is a corporation, who shall be a president, secretary, treasurer or 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 means the principal manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having a gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding $25,000,000 (in second quarter 1980 dollars) if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures;
(2) A general partner or proprietor if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively;
(3) A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above and if all of the following apply:
(a) The authorization is made in writing by the individual described in divisions (1) or (2) above of this definition.
(b) This authorization specifies either an individual or a position having responsibility for the overall operation of the facility from which the industrial discharge originates, such as the position of plant manager, operator of a well, or well field superintendent, or a position of equivalent responsibility, or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company; and
(c) The written authorization is submitted to the Director. If an authorization is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, or overall responsibility for environmental matters for the industrial user, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of this definition shall be submitted to the Director or YCUA prior to or together with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMP). Programs, practices, procedures or other directed efforts, initiated and implemented by users, which can or does lead to the reduction, conservation or minimization of pollutants being introduced into the ecosystem, including, but not limited to, the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA) publicly owned treatment system. BMPs include, but are not limited to, equipment or technology modifications, process or procedure modifications, reformulation or design of products, substitution of raw materials, and improvements in housekeeping, maintenance, training or inventory control, and may include technical and economic considerations. BMPs may be structural or non-structural or both. In determining what BMPs will be required of an user in a particular case, the Director may consider all relevant technological, economical, practical and institutional considerations as determined relevant and appropriate by the Director, consistent with achieving and maintaining compliance with the requirements of this chapter and other applicable laws and regulations.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES PLAN (BMPP). A written document that describes how the BMPs will be accomplished.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, five days at 20°C expressed in terms of weight and concentration (milligrams per liter).
BOARD. The Board of Commissioners of the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority.
BUILDING DRAIN. The part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the drainage from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER. That extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other places of disposal.
BYPASS. Intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of a industrial user’s treatment facility.
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 added to water or wastewater and the amount of residual chlorine remaining at the end of a specified contact period. The demand for any given water varies with the amount of chlorine applied, time of contact and temperature.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
COMBINED WASTESTREAM. The wastestream at industrial facilities where regulated process effluent is mixed with other wastewaters (either regulated or unregulated) prior to treatment.
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT. A substance amenable to treatment in the wastewater treatment plant such as biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, pH and fecal conform 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 and phosphorus and phosphorus compounds; nitrogen compounds; and fats, oils and greases of animal or vegetable origin.
COMPOSITE SAMPLE. A sample formed either by continuous sampling or by mixing discrete samples obtained at intervals over a period of time. The individual samples shall be obtained through flow-proportional composite sampling techniques, unless time-proportional composite sampling or grab sampling is authorized by the YCUA. Where time-proportional composite sampling or grab sampling is authorized by the YCUA, the samples must be representative of the discharge. Manual generation of a composite sample through the collection and combining of grab samples may be approved if the user demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Director that this will provide a representative sample of the effluent being discharged. The decision to allow the alternative sampling must be documents in the users file for that facility or facilities. Composite sampling protocols delineated in the user’s permit take precedence.
COOLING WATER. The water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.
DAILY MAXIMUM. The concentration or mass loading that shall not be exceeded on any single calendar day. Where DAILY MAXIMUM LIMITATIONS are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetical average measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that day. Where daily maximum limitations are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged during the day. If a composite sample is required for a parameter, the determination whether the daily maximum limitation for that parameter has been exceeded on a single calendar day shall be based on the composite sample collected for that parameter on that calendar day. If grab samples are required for a parameter, the determination whether the daily maximum limitation for that parameter has been exceeded on a calendar day shall be based on the average of all grab samples collected for that parameter on that calendar day. If only one grab sample is collected for a parameter on a given day, the determination whether the daily maximum limitation for that parameter has been exceeded for the day shall be based on the results of that single grab sample. If the pollutant concentration in any sample is less than the applicable detection limit, that value shall be regarded as zero when calculating the daily maximum concentration.
DEBT SERVICE CHARGES. The 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 sewage works.
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT or DNRE. The State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Administrator or other duly authorized official.
DIRECTOR. The Director of the YCUA or his or her authorized deputy, agent or representative.
DOMESTIC SEWAGE. Waste and wastewater from humans or household operations, which is discharged to, or otherwise enters, a POTW.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or E.P.A. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator or other duly authorized official.
FATS, OILS AND GREASE (FOG). Any hydrocarbons, fatty acids, soaps, fats, waxes, oils or any other non-volatile or semi-volatile material of animal, vegetable or mineral origin that is extractable by solvents in accordance with standard methods.
FLOW PROPORTIONAL SAMPLE. A composite sample taken with regard to the flow rate of the wastestream.
FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT (FSE). A non-domestic user that engages in one or more of the following food preparation activities: cooking by frying (all methods); baking (all methods); grilling; sauteing, rotisserie cooking; broiling (all methods); boiling; blanching; roasting; toasting; poaching; infrared heating; searing; barbecuing; and any other food preparation activity that produces a hot, non-drinkable food product in or on a receptacle that requires washing.
FOOTING DRAIN. A pipe or conduit which is placed around the perimeter of a building foundation and which intentionally admits ground water.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample taken from a wastestream on a one-time basis over a period of time of not more than 15 minutes without regard to the flow in the wastestream.
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.
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.
INDUSTRIAL USER. A person who contributes, causes or permits wastewater to be discharged into the POTW, including, but not limited to, a place of business, endeavor, arts, trade or commerce, whether public or private, commercial or charitable, but excludes single-family and multi-family residential dwellings with discharges consistent with domestic waste characteristics.
INDUSTRIAL USER PERMIT or INDUSTRIAL USER PRETREATMENT PERMIT. A discharge permit issued by the Director under this chapter and the YCUA industrial pretreatment program.
INFILTRATION. The portion of groundwater which is unintentionally admitted to a sewer.
INTERFERENCE. A discharge, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, to which both of the following provisions apply:
(1) The discharge inhibits or disrupts the publicly owned treatment works, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal;
(2) Pursuant to division (1) above of this definition, the discharge is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the YCUA or the Act or the State Act, 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: § 405 of the Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq., including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq., and including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq.; the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq.; the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1401 et seq.
INSTANTANEOUS MAXIMUM CONCENTRATION. The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any instant in time (independent of the flow rate or duration of the sampling event). If the concentration determined by analysis of any grab sample, composite sample or discrete portion of a composite sample exceeds the instantaneous maximum concentration, the instantaneous maximum concentration shall be deemed to have been exceeded. Any discharge of a pollutant at or above a specified instantaneous maximum concentration is a violation of this chapter and the YCUA industrial pretreatment program.
MAY. Is permissive.
MERCURY REDUCTION PLAN. A plan to ensure that the maximum allowable mercury loading to the POTW is not exceeded as described in § 54.075.
NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD, CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or CATEGORICAL STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the E.P.A. in accordance with §§ 307(b) and (c) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1317, which apply to a specific category of users which appear in 40 C.F.R. Chapter I, subchapter N (1990), parts 405 through 471.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM 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 40 C.F.R. § 403.5.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or ground water.
NEW SOURCE.
(1) Any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be a discharge and for which construction commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under § 307(c) of the Clean Water Act will be applicable to the source if the standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with § 307(c), and if any of the following provisions apply:
(a) The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at 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 of wastewater-generated processes of the building, structure, facility or installation is substantially independent of an existing source at the same site.
(2) The extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source and the extent of integration of the new facility with the existing plant should be considered in determining whether the process is substantially independent.
NONDOMESTIC USER. An industry, commercial establishment or other entity that discharges wastewater to a publicly owned treatment works other than, or in addition to, sanitary sewage.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE. All work, materials, equipment, utilities, administration and other effort required to operate and maintain the sewage works consistent with ensuring 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.
OPERATOR. The person responsible for the overall operation of a facility.
OWNER. The person who owns a facility or part of a facility.
PASS THROUGH. A discharge that exits the WWTP into state waters 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 Act, the State Act or the NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, limited liability company, 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 and the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
pH. The logarithm (base ten) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution or expressed in standard units (SU).
POLLUTANT. Any of the following: substances regulated by categorical standards; substances discharged to the POTW that are required to be monitored, are limited in the POTWs permit, or are or are to be identified in the POTWs permit application; substances for which control measures on nondomestic users are necessary to avoid restricting the approved residuals management program of the POTW; substances for which control measures on nondomestic users are necessary to avoid operational problems at the POTW; substances for which control measures on nondomestic sources are necessary to avoid worker health and safety problems in the POTW.
POLLUTION. The human-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological or radiological integrity of water.
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 pollutants into the sewage works. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or other means, except as prohibited by 40 C.F.R. § 403.6(d).
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard, imposed on a nondomestic user.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Clean Water Act and the State Act. This term includes prohibited discharges and local limits defined in R 323.2303 and categorical standards.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE. Garbage that has been shredded to a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW). The treatment works owned and/or operated by the YCUA and includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. The term also includes sewers, pipes and other conveyances if they convey wastewater to or through the publicly owned treatment works. The term also means the municipality (the Township of Ypsilanti) that has jurisdiction over indirect discharges to, and discharges from, the treatment works.
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 in the wastewater transportation or treatment systems to ensure continuous treatment of wastewater in accordance with the NPDES permit and other state and federal regulations.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE. Substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable or substantial or permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass. SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.
SEWAGE or 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 storm water that may be present, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted to enter the sewage works.
SEWAGE TREATMENT or WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT. Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWAGE WORKS. All municipal facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SEWER SERVICE CHARGE. The sum of any applicable user charges, surcharges and debt service charges.
SHALL. Is mandatory.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU). Either of the following:
(1) A nondomestic user subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 C.F.R. § 403 (March 26, 2007) and 40 C.F.R. Chapter I, subchapter N (1990); or
(2) (a) A nondomestic user that, in the opinion of YCUA or of the township, has a reasonable potential to adversely affect the POTW’s operation, or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement or that 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 that discharge an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW, excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling, and boiler blowdown wastewater. Any user designated as significant may petition the township to be deleted from the list of significant industrial users on the grounds that it has no potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(b) The Director may determine that a user that meets the criteria of divisions (1) and (2) of this definition is not currently a SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER, if the Director finds that the user has no reasonable potential to adversely affect the operation of the POTW, to violate any pretreatment standard or requirement, or that a industrial user permit is not required to meet the purposes and objectives of this subchapter. A determination that a user is not a significant industrial user (or that a permit is therefore not required) shall not be binding and may be reversed by the Director at any time based on changed circumstances, new information, or as otherwise determined necessary by the Director to meet the purposes and objectives of this subchapter.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE. Any of the following:
(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined as results of analyses 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);
(2) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined as results of analyses in which 33% or more of all of the measurements taken for the same each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 C.F.R. 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable technical review criteria. (Technical review criteria equals 1.4 for compatible pollutants and 1.2 for all other pollutants, except pH.);
(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement, as defined by 40 C.F.R. § 403.3(l) (daily maximum, or longer-term average instantaneous limits, or narrative standard) that the YCUA determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through, including endangering the health of township or YCUA personnel or the general public;
(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or the environment or has resulted in the YCUA’s exercise of its emergency authority under Rule 323.2306(a)(vi) of the Part 23 Rules under the State Act or its emergency authority under this subchapter to halt or prevent the discharge;
(5) Failure to meet, within 90 days after a scheduled date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a YCUA or other local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(6) Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, a required report such as, but not limited to, a baseline monitoring report, 90-day or other compliance report, periodic self-monitoring report, or report on compliance with a compliance schedule;
(7) Failure to timely or accurately report noncompliance; or
(8) Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of best management practices, that YCUA determines will affect or has adversely affected the operation or implementation of the YCUA pretreatment program or operation of the POTW.
SLUG, SLUG LOADING, SLUG DISCHARGE. Either:
(1) Any discharge of pollutants at a volume or concentration that causes upset of or interference with the POTW or causes the pass through of pollutants to receiving waters;
(2) Any discharge of a pollutant(s), measured by a grab sample, at a concentration exceeding five times the composite or grab sample discharge limit;
(3) Any discharge of wastewater outside the pH range of five to 11 S.U. for either a continuous duration of greater than or equal to 15 minutes or for a sum total of 30 minutes within one day; or
(4) Any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or non-customary batch discharge.
STATE. The State of Michigan.
STATE ACT. Public Act 451 of 1994, being M.C.L.A. §§ 324.11501 et seq., the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), as amended, and any administrative rules promulgated thereunder, as amended or revised from time to time.
STORM SEWER or STORM DRAIN. A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes.
STORM WATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
SURCHARGE. An extra charge to cover the cost of treating, sampling and testing extra strength sewage.
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.
TOWNSHIP. The Charter Township of Plymouth, Michigan or its Board of Trustees.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Any pollutant or combination of pollutants which is or can potentially be harmful to the public health or the 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.
USER. Any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the sewage works.
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 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 involved in a commercial enterprise, business or service which, based on a determination by the YCUA 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 an “industrial waste” as defined in this section or any nondomestic source who discharges pollutants to the sewage works or POTW.
(4) INSTITUTIONAL USER. Any establishment involved in a social, charitable, religious or educational function which, based on a determination by the YCUA 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 one or more persons, including dwelling units such as detached, semidetached and row houses, mobile homes, apartments, or permanent multi-family dwellings (transient lodging is not included, it is considered commercial).
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, § X-3.40)