For the purpose of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings ascribed to them.
ABBREVIATIONS. The following abbreviations shall have the designated meanings:
(A) BOD. Biochemical oxygen demand.
(B) CWA. Clean Water Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.).
(C) C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations.
(D) EPA. Environmental Protection Agency or any successor agency.
(E) mg/l. Milligrams per liter.
(F) POTW. Publicly Owned Treatment Works.
(G) RWQCB. California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region or any successor agency.
(H) SWDA. Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 6901 et seq.).
(I) U.S.C. United States Code.
ACT or THE ACT. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act of 1977, as amended (33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.).
APPLICANT. Any person or group of persons who applies for the use of the city’s POTW.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY. California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, or any successor agency.
APPROVED AUTHORITY. Acceptance by the General Manager as to material, workmanship and type of construction as the results of investigations, inspections or tests conducted by him or her, or by reason of accepted principles or tests by the United States Bureau of Standards, American Society for Testing Materials or other nationally recognized authorities.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE INDUSTRIAL USER.
(A) If the industrial user is a corporation:
(1) A principal executive officer of at least the level of vice-president, if the industrial user is a corporation;
(2) A manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided, the manager is authorized to make management decisions which 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 control mechanism requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(B) A general partner or proprietor, if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively;
(C) A director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation, if the industrial user is a federal, state or local government facility; or
(D) 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.
BACKWATER VALVE. Any check or other device to prevent the flow of sewage from the public sewer into the building.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES or BMPs. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the general prohibitions, specific prohibitions, and local limits listed in §§ 7.20.470, 7.20.480, and 7.20.495 of this chapter. 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 or BOD. The quantity of oxygen utilized in biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in five days at 20°Celsius, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l).
BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES. The five Commissioners that control and manage the Department of Public Utilities, as provided in the City Charter.
BUILDING. Any structure erected for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons, animals, chattels or movable property of any kind.
BUILDING COURT. Two or more buildings containing four or more dwelling units or two or more commercial and/or industrial buildings on premises or parcel under one ownership and to remain under one ownership.
BUILDING COURT HOUSE SEWER. The extension from the building drain to the building court
main sewer, which shall be located within the building lot boundaries.
BUILDING COURT MAIN SEWER. The extension from the building court house sewer to a public sewer or other place of disposal.
BUILDING DRAIN. House drain.
BUILDING SEWER. House sewer.
BYPASS. The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of an industrial user’s pretreatment facility.
CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER. All industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the United States, in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of industrial users and which appear in 40 C.F.R. Ch. I, Subch. N, parts 405–471, as may be amended.
CESSPOOL. An excavation in the ground which receives the discharge of a drainage system, or part thereof, so designed and constructed as to retain the organic matter and solids discharged therein, but permitting the liquids to seep through the bottom and sides.
CITY. The City of Tulare or its designated representative.
CITY ATTORNEY. The City Attorney of the City of Tulare.
CITY BUILDING OFFICIAL. The Building Official for the City of Tulare.
CLASS OF PREMISES. All types of residential, commercial or industrial establishments connected to the city’s wastewater system will be classified into similar classes of dischargers for the purpose of billing and regulations by the City of Tulare’s Board of Public Utilities.
COMPLIANCE DETERMINATION. The sampling and analysis conducted on specific industrial wastes to ascertain compliance with any city code, ordinance or resolution, or with any more stringent applicable federal or state pretreatment standard.
COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE. The period that is allowed by the city in which an industrial user must
comply with its permit conditions or discharge requirements.
COMPOSITE SAMPLE. The sample resulting from the combination of individual wastewater samples taken at selected intervals based on an increment of either flow or time.
COOLING WATER. The water that is discharged from any use, such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration or to which the only pollutant added is heat.
COUNTY. The County of Tulare or its designated representatives.
COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER. The Health Officer for Tulare County.
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.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES. The Department of Public Utilities, as defined in the City Charter.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS. The Department of Public Works, as defined in the City Charter.
DOMESTIC WASTEWATER. The water-carried wastes produced from noncommercial or nonindustrial activities and which result from normal human living processes.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM or DRAINAGE PIPING. All the piping within public or private premises which conveys sewage, or other liquid wastes, to a point of disposal, but shall not include the mains or laterals of a public sewer system.
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 Regional Water Management Division Director or other duly authorized official of the agency.
EXISTING FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT or EXISTING FSE. Any food service establishment that has been in continuous operation since before the effective date of this chapter under the same ownership.
EXISTING SOURCE. Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication 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.
FOG. Fats, oils, and grease.
FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENTS or FSE. Any facility defined in California Uniform Retail Food Service Establishments Law (CURFFL) § 113785, and any commercial entity discharging into the city sewer system, operating in a permanently constructed structure such as a room, building, or place, or portion thereof, maintained, used, or operated for the purpose of storing, preparing, serving, or manufacturing, packaging, or otherwise handling food for sale to other entities, or for consumption by the public, its members or employees, and which has any process or device that uses or produces FOG, or grease vapors, steam, fumes, smoke or odors that are required to be removed by a mechanical exhaust ventilation system, as required in CURFFL § 114296. A limited food preparation establishment is not considered a FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT when engaged only in reheating, hot holding or assembly of ready to eat food products and as a result, there is no wastewater discharge containing a significant amount of FOG. A limited food preparation establishment does not include any operation that changes the form, flavor, or consistency of food.
GARBAGE. A putrescible animal, fish, fowl, fruit or vegetable refuse or any part thereof resulting from the preparation, storage, handling, processing or consumption of food.
GENERAL MANAGER. The General Manager of the Department of Public Utilities or his or her duly authorized representative as provided in § 52(e)(4) of the City Charter.
GRAB SAMPLE. Sample which is taken from a waste stream without regard to the flow in the waste stream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
GREASE INTERCEPTOR. A multi- compartment device that is constructed in different sizes and is generally required to be located, according to the California Plumbing Code, underground between a FSE and the connection to the sewer system. This device primarily uses gravity to separate FOG from the wastewater as it moves from one compartment to the next. This device must be cleaned, maintained, and have the FOG removed and disposed of in a proper manner at regular intervals to be effective.
GREASE REMOVAL DEVICE. Any grease interceptor, grease trap or other mechanism, device, or process, which attaches to, or is applied to, wastewater plumbing fixtures and lines, the purpose of which is to trap or collect or treat FOG prior to it being discharged into the sewer system. GREASE REMOVAL DEVICE may also include any other proven method to reduce FOG subject to approval of the General Manager. A GREASE REMOVAL DEVICE is a form of pretreatment and as such is subject to all regulations pertaining to the installation and maintenance of pretreatment systems as recognized in this chapter and in the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 C.F.R.§ 403).
GREASE TRAP. A grease control device that is used to serve individual fixtures and have limited effect and should only be used in those cases where the use of a grease interceptor or other grease removal device is determined to be impossible or impracticable.
HOT SPOTS. Areas in sewer lines that have experienced sanitary sewer overflows or that must be cleaned or maintained frequently to avoid blockages of the sewer system.
HOUSE DRAIN, BUILDING DRAIN or MAIN DRAIN. That part of lowest horizontal piping of a
drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and/or other drainage pipes of any building and conveys same to the house sewer, and shall extend two feet beyond the outer face or edge of the building foundation or footing.
HOUSE SEWER, BUILDING SEWER. The extension from the house drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal, which is not less than two feet from any building or structure foundation or footing.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE. The discharge or introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source that is regulated by the city, including without limitation any source regulated under § 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act.
INDUSTRIAL USER or USER. A source of indirect discharge.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES. Any and all liquid or waterborne wastes from industrial or commercial processes; as distinct from domestic sewage.
INSANITARY. A condition which is contrary to sanitary principles or is injurious to health. Conditions to which the word INSANITARY shall apply include the following, but shall not be limited thereto:
(A) The discharge of sewage to the atmosphere or the ground surface without proper treatment;
(B) Any opening in a drainage system, except where lawful, which would permit the escape of gases or sewage or would permit persons to make physical contact with the sewage;
(C) Faulty septic tanks or drain fields permitting sewage to seep or stand on the surface of the ground; and
(D) Any connection, cross-connection, construction or condition, temporary or permanent, which would permit or make possible by any means whatsoever for any amount of sewage or polluted waters to enter a water distribution system used for domestic purposes.
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, either alone or by interaction with other discharges, inhibits or disrupts the system, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal and is, therefore, a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city’s water discharge requirements issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, including without limitation any increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation, or of the prevention of the use or disposal by the city of sludge in accordance with the following statutory provisions and regulations: § 405 of the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and including state regulations that are contained in any state sludge management plan that is 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 or 40 C.F.R. part 503 (sewage sludge regulations).
LOCAL LIMIT. Any requirement or prohibition against pollutant discharges from any nondomestic user, as established by the city, to address federal, state and local regulations.
LOT. A single or individual parcel or area of land legally recorded, on which is situated a building together with the yards, courts and unoccupied spaces legally required for the building and which is owned by or is in the lawful possession of the owner of the building.
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. The 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.
MUNICIPAL SEWER SYSTEM or THE SYSTEM. All public sewers heretofore or hereafter constructed and/or owned by the city, including any device or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes and any conveyances which transport wastewater to the sewage treatment plant.
NATIONAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Act, which applies to industrial users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 C.F.R. § 403.5.
NEW FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT or NEW FSE. Any food service establishment that starts operations after the effective date of the FOG Ordinance (§ 7.20.495 of this chapter) regardless whether in a newly constructed building, a remodeled building or using an existing building or space.
NEW SOURCE.
(A) Any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be a discharge, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards pursuant to § 307(c) of the Act which will be applicable to the source if the pretreatment standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with the section provided that:
(1) The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located;
(2) The building, structure, facility or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes a discharge at an existing source; or
(3) The production of wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether or not the new building, structure, facility or installation is substantially independent from the existing source, certain factors, including without limitation the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source, should be considered.
(B) 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 meeting the criteria of divisions (A)(2) or (3) of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to the existing process or production equipment.
(C) Construction of a
NEW SOURCE, as defined under this definition, has commenced if the owner or operator thereof has:
(1) Begun or caused to have begun, as a part of a program of continuous on-site construction that includes:
(a) Any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment; or
(b) Significant site preparation work, including without limitation the clearing, excavation or removal of existing buildings, structures, facilities or installations, which is necessary for the placement, assembly or installation of new source facilities or equipment.
(2) Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in the operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase contracts that can be terminated or modified without substantial loss and contracts for feasibility, engineering and design studies do not constitute contractual obligation under this paragraph.
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.
OIL INTERCEPTOR. A device for retaining oil by gravity-differential separation from waste effluent, and of a design and capacity approved by the General Manager.
OUTSIDE SEWER. Sewer lines owned by the city lying outside the city limits.
PASS THROUGH. A discharge that exits the POTW in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any
requirement of the city’s waste discharge requirements including any increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
PERMIT. Any written authorization by the General Manager to install or construct sewers or to connect to and discharge to the POTW pursuant to this or any other regulation of the city.
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. A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units.
PLUMBING CODE. The California Plumbing Code, as adopted in § 4.04.060 of this code.
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 discharge equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes and certain characteristics of wastewater (including, but not limited to, pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity or odor).
POTW TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT. That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment (including recycling and reclamation) of sewage and industrial waste.
PREMISES. Any lot, piece or parcel of land, any building or other structure or any part of any building or structure used or useful for human habitation or gathering or for carrying on a business or occupation.
PRETREATMENT. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants or the alteration of the nature of the pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of, discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT FACILITY. Any works or device for the treatment or flow limitation of sewage, liquid waste or industrial waste prior to its discharge into the POTW.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENT. Any substantive or procedural requirement that is related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard, that is imposed upon an industrial user.
PRETREATMENT STANDARD or STANDARDS. Prohibitive discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES. Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances which are identified in this chapter.
PUBLIC SEWER. Any sewer which is part of the POTW, including any sewer within any street and any outside sewer.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS or POTW. A treatment works as defined by § 212 of the Act, which is owned by the city. This definition includes any devices and systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes sewers, pipes and other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plant. The term also means the municipality as defined in § 502(4) of the Act, which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works.
REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR. Region IX of the Environmental Protection Agency or any successor agency.
SAND INTERCEPTOR. A device for retaining sand, grit or other mineral material by gravity-differential separation from waste effluent, and of a design and capacity approved by the General Manager.
SANITARY SEWER. A sewer which carries sewage and wastewater, and to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOW or SSO. An overflow from the sanitary sewer system of domestic wastewater, as well as industrial and commercial wastewater.
SEPTIC TANK. A watertight receptacle which receives the discharge of a drainage system or part thereof, designed and constructed so as to retain solids, digest organic matter through a period of detention, and allow the liquids to discharge into the soil outside of the tank through a system of open joint piping, or a seepage pit meeting the requirements of this code.
SEWAGE or SANITARY SEWAGE. Human excrement and graywater (household showers, dishwashing operations, and the like).
SEWER. Pipe or conduit for holding and carrying sewage and wastewater including the manholes and all other appurtenant facilities which are necessary or convenient to the holding or carrying of sewage and wastewater, but shall not include house drain or plumbing within the house.
SEWER CONTRACTOR. A contractor holding a valid license to do sewer work in the city.
SEWER FUND. The sewer/wastewater treatment enterprise accounts created for the collection, treatment and disposal of the city’s domestic, commercial and industrial sewage or wastewater.
SEWER LATERAL. Building sewer.
SEWER MAIN. Public sewer.
SEWER SERVICE. The services and facilities for treatment and disposal of sewage furnished or available to premises by the POTW.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER.
(A) Except as provided in paragraphs (B) and (C) of this definition, the term
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER means any industrial user which:
(1) Is subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 C.F.R. § 403.6 and 40 C.F.R. Ch. I, Subch. N;
(2) Discharges 25,000 gallons or more per day of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling water and boiler blowdown wastewater;
(3) Contributes a process wastewater which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the treatment plant; or
(4) Is designated as significant by the city on the basis that the industrial user has reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(B) The General Manager may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 C.F.R. § 403.6 and 40 C.F.R. Ch. I, Subch. N is a non-significant categorical industrial user rather than a
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than 100 gallons per day (GPD) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:
(1) The industrial user, prior to General Manager’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;
(2) The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required in 40 C.F.R. § 403.12(q) together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and
(3) The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.
(C) Upon a finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria of this section has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the General Manager may, at any time, on the General Manager’s own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user and, in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 403.8(f)(6), determine that the industrial user is not a
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER.
SLUG LOAD OR DISCHARGE. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in this chapter, or any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to, an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the POTW’s regulations, local limits or permit conditions.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC) CODE. A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 1972, as amended.
STANDARD METHODS. The current edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association.
STORM SEWER, STORM DRAINS. A pipe which carries storm sewage and drainage, but excludes sanitary sewage and polluted industrial wastes.
STORM WATER. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting from the precipitation, including snowmelt.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS. The total suspended matter that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension in, water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering; expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/l). This is also called suspended matter in Standard Methods.
TOXIC POLLUTANT. Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the provision of § 307(a) of the Act.
TULARE CITY CODE or CODE. The City Code for the City of Tulare.
TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT (25%) RULE. A requirement for grease interceptors to be maintained such that the combined FOG and solids accumulation does not exceed 25% percent of the design hydraulic depth of the grease interceptor.
USER or INDUSTRIAL USER. A source of indirect discharge.
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.
(1995 Code, § 7.20.020) (Ord. 17-03, passed 3-21-2017; Ord. 15-02, passed 5-5-2015)