Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this subchapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated.
ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, Public Law 92-500 (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.), which is on file in the office of the Director.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY. The Chief of the Surface Water Quality Division, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality or delegated representative.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF 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 operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having 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) 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 another 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 city.
BASELINE MONITORING REPORT. The initial report provided by the user when making out an application for a wastewater discharge.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or (BOD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure for five days at 20°C, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l)
BYPASS. The intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of a user’s treatment facility needed for compliance with pretreatment standards.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or CATEGORICAL STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with § 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 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or (COD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the chemical oxidation of organic matter with a strong chemical oxidant under standard laboratory procedure and expressed in milligrams per liter.
CITY. The City of Saginaw.
COMBINED SEWER. A sewer intended to receive both wastewater and stormwater.
DAILY MAXIMUM. The concentration (or mass loading, expressed in terms of pounds per day) that shall not be exceeded on any single calendar day or 24-hour period. Where DAILY MAXIMUM limitations 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. Where daily maximum limitations are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged during the day. Sampling for DAILY MAXIMUM shall be a 24-hour flow proportioned composite sample, except that a minimum of four grab samples shall be taken in lieu of a 24-hour flow proportioned composite sample for pH, cyanide, phenol (total), residual chlorine, oil and grease, sulfides, volatile organic compounds (and any other parameters specified by the Director). If it is not feasible to obtain a flow proportioned composite sample, a time proportioned composite sample or a minimum of four grab samples may be used in lieu of the flow proportioned composite sample if the user demonstrates to the Director that a representative sample will be obtained. 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 (except as otherwise provided in a permit, order, or agreement issued under this subchapter). 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 or 24-hour period shall be based on the composite sample collected for that parameter on that calendar day or 24-hour period. 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 or 24-hour period shall be based on the average of all grab samples collected for that parameter on that calendar day or 24-hour period. 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.
DIRECTOR. The Director of Public Utilities of the city, or the authorized deputy, agent, or representative of such person.
DISCHARGE. The introduction of wastewater, wastes or pollutants into the POTW, whether intentional or unintentional, and whether direct or indirect (including flow and infiltration).
DISSOLVED SOLIDS. Those solids in wastewater other than suspended solids.
DOMESTIC USER. A user that discharges only segregated normal strength domestic waste into the POTW.
DOMESTIC WASTE. Water-carried waste of human origin generated by personal activities from toilet, kitchen, laundry or bathing facilities, or by other similar facilities used for household or residential purposes.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Division Director, or other duly authorized official.
EXISTING SOURCE. Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by EPA of proposed categorical pretreatment standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with § 307 of the Act.
GARBAGE. Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking, serving of food, from the handling, storage and sale of produce, or from the canning or packaging of food.
GRAB SAMPLE. A sample which is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW, intentionally or unintentionally, from any nondomestic source regulated under § 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act.
INDUSTRIAL USER. A source of indirect discharge.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE. The liquid, solid, or gaseous wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, food processing, laboratories, landfills, trades, or businesses, and other nondomestic users, including leachate and contaminated groundwater, whether treated or not, as distinct from sewage.
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 city’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 thereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations: § 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), being 42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq., 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, being 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401 et seq.; the Toxic Substances Control Act, being 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq.; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act, being 16 U.S.C. §§ 1431 et seq., and 33 U.S.C. §§ 1401 et seq.
MAY. Is permissive. (See SHALL.)
MEDICAL WASTE. Isolation wastes, infectious agents and associated biologicals, liquid human and animal wastes, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.
NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM PERMIT or NPDES PERMIT. The permit issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to the city concerning discharges from the POTW.
NATURAL OUTLET. Any outlet into a watercourse, river, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface or subsurface water.
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 § 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;
(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 divisions (1)(b) or (1)(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 (3) has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(a) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction program:
1. Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
2. 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.
(b) 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. 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 division (3)(b).
NONCONTACT COOLING WATER. Water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
NONDOMESTIC USER. Any user other than a domestic user.
PASS THROUGH. A discharge which exits the POTW 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 city’s NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
PERSON. Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, 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 governmental entities.
pH. The logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions in moles per liter of solution.
POLLUTANT. Without limitation, all of the following:
(1) 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;
(2) Certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., but not limited to, pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor);
(3) Substances regulated by categorical pretreatment standards;
(4) Substances discharged to the POTW which are required to be monitored by a user, are limited in the POTW’s NPDES permit, or required to be identified in the POTW’s application for an NPDES permit or in a user’s application for a wastewater discharge permit;
(5) Substances for which control measures on users are necessary to avoid restricting the POTW’s sludge use and disposal program, to avoid operational problems at the POTW, or to avoid worker health and safety problems; and
(6) Toxic substances.
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 the POTW. This reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, by process changes, or by other means, except by increasing the use of process water or in any other way attempting to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS. Prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES. Prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in § 51.028.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS or POTW. A treatment works, as defined by § 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by the city. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any sewers, pipes, or other conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant which is part of the POTW.
QUANTIFICATION LEVEL. The measurement of the concentration of a pollutant obtained by using a specified laboratory procedure calculated at a specified concentration above the detection level. It is considered the lowest concentration at which a particular pollutant can be quantitatively measured using a specified laboratory procedure for monitoring of the pollutant as determined in accordance with applicable state and federal regulations.
RECEIVING WATERS. Any watercourse, river, pond, ditch, lake, aquifer, or other body of surface or subsurface water receiving discharge of sewage.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm, surface, and subsurface waters shall not intentionally be admitted.
SEPTIC TANK WASTE. Any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
SEWAGE. Human excrement and gray water (i.e., from household showers, dishwashing operations, and the like).
SEWER. A pipe or conduit for carrying storm and/or wastewater.
SHALL. Is mandatory. (See MAY.)
SHALL DISCHARGE. Discharging, causing or allowing to be discharged, either directly or indirectly.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER or SIU.
(1) A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
(2) A user that:
(a) Discharges 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% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
(c) Is designated as such by the city on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(3) Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in divisions (2) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the city may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a user, and in accordance with procedures in 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER.
SLUG LOADING or SLUG. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in § 51.028, or any discharge of a non-routine episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC) CODE. A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.
STORM SEWER. Any drain or sewer, either natural or artificial, which is intended expressly for the conveyance of stormwater.
STORMWATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including stormwater runoff and snow melt runoff.
SURCHARGE. The additional treatment charges by the city for the treatment of wastewater containing pollutants in excess of specified concentrations, loadings, or other applicable limits.
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS. The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, which is removable by laboratory filtering and determined in accordance with procedures specified in 40 C.F.R. Part 136.
TOXIC SUBSTANCE. Any pollutant defined by the EPA and any material or substance which alone or with other materials or substances can cause risk to health or the environment, or cause interference.
USER. A source of discharge of wastewater or wastes to the POTW, whether intentional or unintentional.
WASTE(S). Substances in liquid, solid, or gaseous form that are discharged, or otherwise placed, dumped, or allowed into the POTW, by any person.
WASTEWATER. Liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT. The portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
(Prior Code, § 51.18) (Ord. D-1635, passed 9-9-1991, effective 9-9-1991; Ord. D-1927, passed 7-15-2002, effective 8-1-2002)