[Amended 5-13-2014 by Ord. No. 14-1290, § 1]
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in these regulations, shall have the following meanings:
ACT or THE ACT — The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the “Clean Water Act,” as amended, 33 USC § 1251 et seq.
AMBLER — The Borough of Ambler.
AMBLER WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT (AWTP) — The sewer treatment plant owned by Ambler and operated for the benefit of Ambler and areas of the Townships of Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, Whitpain and Whitemarsh served by said POTW pursuant to an intermunicipal agreement between and among the said municipalities dated December 16, 1959, as amended by several subsequent agreements.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY — The Regional Administrator of the EPA in a nonNPDES state or NPDES state without an approved state pretreatment program, and the Director in an NPDES state with an approved state pretreatment program.
AUTHORIZED AGENT — An employee of the operator, professional engineer, industrial pretreatment program coordinator, plumbing inspector, or other qualified person authorized by the operator to administer and enforce this section.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL OR SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER:
A. If the user is a corporation:
(1) 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
(2) The manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operation 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 wastewater discharge permit requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
B. If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.
C. If the user is a federal, state or local facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility or his or her designee.
D. The individuals described in Subsections A through C 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 a POTW.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs) — Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b). BMPs 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 20ºC, expressed in terms of weight and concentration [milligrams per liter (mg/l)]
BUCKS COUNTY WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY (BCWSA) — The municipal authority that owns and operates a substantial portion of the sanitary sewer system within Upper Dublin Township.
BUILDING SEWER — A private sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to a POTW.
BYPASS — The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of an industrial user’s pretreatment facility.
CARBONACEOUS BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (CBOD) — The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of carbonaceous organic matter under standard laboratory procedures, five days at 20ºC, expressed in terms of concentration [milligrams per liter (mg/l)].
CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER — An industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.
CATEGORICAL STANDARDS — Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 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, or any amendment thereto.
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND or COD — A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and inorganic, in water.
COMMONWEALTH — The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
COMPOSITE SAMPLE — A timed sequential collection of samples of equal volume or a collection of grab samples combined in a single reservoir to determine concentration(s) of pollutant(s).
CONTROL AUTHORITY — Refers to the respective operator of a sanitary sewer system or treatment plant.
COOLING WATER — The water discharged from any use, such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat and which does not contain a level of contaminants detectably higher than that of the source of the water.
DAILY MAXIMUM — The maximum allowable discharge of a pollutant during a calendar day. Where maximum limitations are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of a day. Where “daily maximum” limitations are expressed in terms of concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the pollutant derived from all measurements taken that day.
DEPARTMENT — The Department of Public Works of the Township of Upper Dublin.
DIRECT DISCHARGE — The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) — The United States 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.
FLASH POINT — The temperature at which a liquid or volatile solid gives off vapor sufficient to form an ignitable mixture with the air near the surface of the liquid or within the test vessel “Flash point” is determined by the Tagliabue open cup method (American Society for Testing and Materials D1310-63), usually abbreviated “TOC.”
GRAB SAMPLE — A 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.
GRINDER PUMP — Any electric-motor-driven, submersible pump capable of macerating all material found in normal domestic sanitary sewage, including, but not limited to, reasonable amounts of objects, such as plastics, sanitary napkins, disposable diapers, rubber and the like, to fine slurry, and pumping this material through a small-diameter discharge. [Added 5-13-2014 by Ord. No. 14-1290]
HOLDING TANK WASTE — Any waste from holding tanks, such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum-pump tank trucks.
HORSHAM WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY (HWSA) — A municipal authority that owns and operates a portion of the sanitary sewer system within Upper Dublin Township.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE — The discharge or the introduction of pollutants from any nondomestic source into a POTW, including holding tank waste discharged into the system.
INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL OR INSTITUTIONAL USER — An industrial, commercial or institutional source of indirect discharge regulated under the federal, state or local laws and regulations.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE — Any liquid, gaseous or solid substance resulting from any manufacturing or industrial processes.
INSTANTANEOUS MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DISCHARGE 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 a POTW, its treatment processes, operations, maintenance or its sludge processes, use or disposal which contributes to the violation of any requirements of the POTW’s NPDES permit. The term includes prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by a POTW in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder, 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 which are applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by a POTW.
INTERMUNICIPAL AGREEMENT — The December 1959 agreement and amendments thereto between Ambler Borough and the Townships of Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, Whitpain and Whitemarsh, and as applicable to the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, to provide for the discharge of certain sewage from the municipalities to the Ambler Wastewater Treatment Plant.
MEDICAL WASTE — Isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes and dialysis wastes.
MIDDLE TIER CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER — A user which meets the requirements found in 40 CFR 403.12(e)(3) and maybe classified as such upon a determination made solely by the operator.
NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or PRETREATMENT STANDARD — Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317), which applies to a specific category of industrial users and pretreatment standards as published in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 401–471.
NATIONAL POLLUTION DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM OR NPDES PERMIT — A permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342).
NATIONAL PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD or PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD — Any regulation developed under the authority of Section 307(b) of the Act and 40 CFR 403.5.
NEW SOURCE —
A. 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 which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that 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 the discharge of pollutants at an existing source.
(3) 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.
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 installation meeting the criteria of Subsection A(1)(b) or (c) above but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to existing process or production equipment.
C. Construction of new source as defined under this subsection has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(1) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
(a) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment.
(b) 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.
(2) 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 subsection.
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 USERS — Commercial, industrial, municipal or other users whose discharge may have an effect on the sanitary sewer system.
NON-SIGNIFICANT CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER — A user which meets the requirements found in 40 CFR 403.3 (v)(2) and maybe classified as such upon a determination made solely by the Authority.
OCCUPIED BUILDING — Any structure erected and intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sanitary sewage and industrial wastes, or either thereof, is or may be discharged, and a portion of all of which structure is situate 300 feet or less form the nearest edge of the right-of-way or a sanitary sewer easement, provided that such property abuts or has direct access to the right-of-way or easement.
OPERATOR — An entity lawfully operating a public sanitary sewer system in the Township or receiving sewage from within the Township for further conveyance and/or treatment. Operators serving the Township include, but may not be limited to Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority (“BCWSA”), Upper Moreland-Hatboro Joint Sewer Authority (“UMHJSA”), Horsham Water and Sewer Authority (“HWSA”), Ambler Borough, Abington Township and Springfield Township.
PASS-THROUGH — A discharge which exits a POTW into waters of the United States or the Commonwealth or the atmosphere in quantities or concentrations which alone, or in conjunction with discharge(s) from other sources, are a cause of a violation of any requirement of a POTW’s NPDES permit or a violation of any air emission standard set by the Clean Air Act or state or local rules and regulations governing emissions to the air (including an increase in the magnitude of duration of violation).
PERSON — Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint-stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity or their 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 — 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 discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial waste, or any other contaminant discharged into water. The term includes certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, CBOD, COD, toxicity or odor).
POLLUTION — The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water.
POTW TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT — That portion of a POTW designed to provide treatment to wastewater.
PRETREATMENT or TREATMENT — The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to, or in lieu of, discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction, elimination or alteration can 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 or except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6(d).
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS — Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a Pretreatment Standard, as mandated by the Department and contained in this chapter. These requirements are in addition to any National Categorical Pretreatment Standard and they shall take precedent over the National Categorical Pretreatment Standards when this chapter’s requirements are more restrictive.
PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS — Prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards and local limits.
PROCESS WASTEWATER — Any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, by-product or waste product.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES — Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances as identified elsewhere in these regulations or as described in an operator’s industrial wastewater discharge and pretreatment rules.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW) — A treatment works as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by the Township or another municipality or municipal authority, including any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling or reclamation of municipal sewage and industrial waste. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to a POTW treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not ultimately connected to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this chapter, “POTW” shall also include any sewers outside the Township that convey wastewaters to a POTW from persons outside the Township who are, by contract or agreement with the Township, users of a POTW.
RIGHT-OF-WAY — Includes the cartway and the shoulder of the street or road in which a sewer main is located.
SANITARY SEWAGE — The waste products or excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals, household liquid waste and all substances defined by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as “sewage,” but shall not include stormwater, roof or surface waters, steam or air-conditioning condensate, oils, tar, grease, gasoline, benzene or other combustible gases and liquids, industrial waste or substances which would impair, impede, affect, interfere with or endanger the sewer system or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever, or the functioning of the processes of sewage treatment.
SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE — Substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable or substantial and 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.
SEWER SYSTEM or SANITARY SEWER SYSTEM — Refers to a sanitary sewage collection, transport, and/or treatment system acquired or constructed by and operated by an operator serving the Township and all additions, extensions, and improvements thereto, but excluding stormwater management facilities and storm sewers.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU) —
A. Except as provided in Subsection A(2) below:
(1) An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards.
(2) An industrial user that
(a) Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day (gpd) or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontract cooling and boiler blow- down wastewater).
(b) Is designated as such by the operator 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) The operator may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards 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 gpd of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:
(a) The industrial user, prior to operator’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements.
(b) The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required in Section 6.14 B [see 40 CFR 403.12(q)], together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement.
(c) The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.
(4) Upon finding that a user meeting the criteria in Subsection A(1) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting a POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the control authority [as defined in 40 CFR 403.12(a)] may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user or POTW, and in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC) — An industrial user or user is in significant noncompliance if its violation meets one or more of the specific criteria set forth in 40 CFR 403.8 (f) (2) (viii).
SLUG LOAD or SLUG DISCHARGE — Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration, which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in § 192-14 of this chapter. A slug discharge is any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary 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) — A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1972, as amended.
STATE — The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
STORM SEWER — A public or private conveyance or system of conveyances (including roads, streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, man-made channels, swales, pipes, culverts or storm drains and other stormwater management facilities) primarily used for collecting and conveying stormwater runoff.
STORMWATER — Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
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 expressed in terms of weight and concentration [milligrams per liter (mg/l)].
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS or SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS) — 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 expressed in terms of concentration [milligrams per liter (mg/l)].
TOWNSHIP — The Township of Upper Dublin or its authorized agent.
TOXIC POLLUTANT — Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the EPA under the provision of the Act, Section 307(a) or other state or federal statutes.
UPPER DUBLIN SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT — The sewage treatment plant within Upper Dublin Township owned and operated by the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, and also referred to as the “Upper Dublin Wastewater Treatment Plant.”
UPPER MORELAND HATBORO JOINT SEWER AUTHORITY (UMHJSA) — The municipal authority that owns and operates a portion of the sanitary sewer system within Upper Dublin Township.
USER — Any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into a POTW.
WASTEWATER — The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present, whether treated or untreated.
WATERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH — 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 commonwealth or any portion thereof.