14.40.030 Definitions.
Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated.
A. “Accessible,” when applied to required pretreatment monitoring or treatment equipment, shall mean direct access without the necessity of removing any panel, door, vehicle, equipment, materials, or other similar obstruction.
B. “Act” or “the Act” means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251 et seq.
C. “Administrative penalty (fine)” means a punitive monetary charge unrelated to treatment cost, which is assessed by the director rather than a court.
D. “Applicable pretreatment standards” means, for any specified pollutant, Everett prohibitive standards, Everett specific pretreatment standards (local limits), state of Washington pretreatment standards, or the EPA’s categorical pretreatment standards (when effective), whichever standard is appropriate and most stringent.
E. “Approval authority” means the State of Washington Department of Ecology.
F. “Authorized representative of the user” means:
1. If the user is a corporation:
a. The president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or
b. The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided, the manager is authorized to make management decisions 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;
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 his/her authorized designee.
4. The individuals described in subsections (F)(1) through (3) of this section 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.
G. “Average daily flow” shall be defined as the arithmetical mean of the total process wastewater flow over a one-year period. This mean shall be calculated based on days when a discharge occurs.
H. Best Management Practices (BMPs). The term “best management practices” or “BMPs” means 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 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.
I. “Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)” means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, current approved edition; under standard laboratory procedures for five days at twenty degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/L)).
J. “Categorical pretreatment standard” or “categorical standard” means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the U.S. EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.
K. “Categorical user” means a user covered by one of the EPA’s categorical pretreatment standards.
L. “Chemical oxygen demand (COD)” means a measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in wastewater amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, current approved edition. COD is expressed as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in mg/L during a specific test.
M. “City” means the city of Everett, Washington.
N. “Cooling water/noncontact cooling water” means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product. Cooling water may be generated from any use, such as air conditioning, heat exchangers, cooling or refrigeration, to which the only pollutant added is heat.
O. “Color” means the optical density at the visual wavelength of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One hundred percent transmittance is equivalent to zero (0.0) optical density.
P. “Commercial user” means any discharger of industrial waste that does not meet the definition of a significant industrial user.
Q. “Composite sample” means the sample resulting from the combination of individual wastewater samples taken at selected intervals based on an increment of either flow or time.
R. “Day” shall be defined as a calendar day.
S. “Director” means the director of the city of Everett public works department, or his duly authorized representative.
T. “Discharge authorization” means a wastewater discharge permit authorizing users to discharge wastewater to the Everett POTW. These permits would be for users other than significant industrial dischargers, or categorical industries, but still requiring a control mechanism.
U. “Domestic sewage” means the liquid and water-borne wastes derived from ordinary living processes, free from industrial wastes, and of such character to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the POTW.
V. “Domestic user (residential user)” means any person who contributes, causes, or allows the contribution of wastewater into the city POTW that is of a similar volume and/or chemical make-up as that of a residential dwelling unit. Discharges from a residential dwelling unit typically include up to one hundred gallons per capita per day at two hundred mg/L of BOD and TSS.
W. “Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)” means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Management Division Director, or other duly authorized official of said agency.
X. Existing Source. For a categorical industrial user, an “existing source” is any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by the EPA of proposed categorical pretreatment standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.
Y. Existing User. For noncategorical users an “existing user” is defined as any user which is discharging wastewater prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter.
Z. Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG). The term “fats, oils, and grease” shall mean those components of wastewater amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, current approved edition. The term “fats, oils and grease” shall include polar and nonpolar fats, oils, and grease and other components extracted from wastewater by these methods.
AA. General Permit. At the discretion of the director, groups of users may be regulated under general control mechanisms if the following conditions are met. All of the facilities to be covered must:
1. Involve the same or substantially similar types of operations;
2. Discharge the same types of wastes;
3. Require the same effluent limitations;
4. Require the same or similar monitoring; and
5. In the opinion of the POTW, are more appropriately controlled under a general control mechanism than under individual control mechanisms.
AB. “Grab sample” means a sample which is taken from a wastestream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the wastestream and without consideration of time.
AC. “Grease interceptor” means an interceptor of at least seven hundred fifty gallon capacity to serve one or more fixtures and which shall be remotely located.
AD. “Grease trap” means a device designed to retain grease from one to a maximum of four fixtures.
AE. “High-strength waste” means any waters or wastewater having a concentration of BOD or total suspended solids in excess of two hundred fifty mg/L, or having a concentration of fats, oil and grease in excess of fifty mg/L.
AF. “Indirect discharge” or “discharge” means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act. The discharge into the POTW is normally by means of pipes, conduits, pumping stations, force mains, constructed drainage ditches, surface water intercepting ditches, and all constructed devices and appliances appurtenant thereto.
AG. “Industrial user” means any discharger of industrial waste that meets the definition of a significant industrial user.
AH. “Industrial waste” means any and all liquid or water borne waste from industrial or commercial processes, except domestic sewage.
AI. “Interceptor” means a device designed and installed so as to separate and retain deleterious or undesirable matter from normal wastes and permit normal liquid wastes to discharge by gravity.
AJ. “Interference” means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, either: (1) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations; (2) inhibits or disrupts its biosolids (sludge) processes, use or disposal; or (3) 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: Section 405 of the Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), 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 SWDA; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.
AK. “Liquid waste” is the discharge from any fixture, appliance or appurtenance in connection with a plumbing system which does not receive fecal matter.
AL. “Maximum allowable discharge limit” means the maximum concentration (or loading) of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time.
AM. “Medical wastes” means 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.
AN. Middle Tier Significant Categorical Industrial User. At the director’s discretion, a categorical industrial user may be deemed a “middle tier significant CIU” where the industrial user meets all of the following conditions:
1. The industrial user’s total categorical wastewater flow does not exceed any of the following:
a. 0.01 percent of the design dry weather hydraulic capacity of the POTW, or five thousand gallons per day, whichever is smaller, as measured by a continuous effluent flow monitoring device unless the industrial user discharges in batches;
b. 0.01 percent of the design dry weather organic treatment capacity of the POTW; and
c. 0.01 percent of the maximum allowable headworks loading for any pollutant regulated by the applicable categorical pretreatment standard for which approved local limits were developed by the POTW;
2. The industrial user has not been in significant noncompliance, as defined in 40 CFR 403.8(f)(2)(viii), for any time in the past two years;
3. The industrial user does not have daily flow rates, production levels, or pollutant levels that vary so significantly that decreasing the reporting requirement for this industrial user would result in data that are not representative of conditions.
AO. “New source” means:
1. Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Act 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; or
b. The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
c. The production or wastewater-generating processes of the building, structure, facility, or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source should be considered.
2. Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source, if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria of subsection (AO)(1)(b) or (c) of this section but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
3. Construction of a new source as defined under this subsection has commenced if the owner or operator has:
a. Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
(i) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
(ii) Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or
b. Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which 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.
AP. New User. A “new user” is not necessarily a “new source” and is defined as a user that applies to the city for a new building permit or any person who occupies an existing building and plans to discharge wastewater to the city’s collection system after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter. Any person who buys an existing facility that is discharging nondomestic wastewater will be considered an “existing user” if no significant changes are made in the operation.
AQ. “Nonsignificant categorical industrial user” means a categorical industrial user that meets the restrictions laid out in subsection (BH)(3) of this section.
AR. “Pass through” means 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).
AS. “Permittee” means a person or user issued a wastewater discharge permit or discharge authorization.
AT. “Person” means 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. This definition includes all federal, state, or local governmental entities.
AU. “pH” is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units.
AV. “Pollutant” means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, agricultural and industrial wastes, and the characteristics of the wastewater (i.e., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, chemical oxygen demand (COD), toxicity, or odor).
AW. “Pretreatment” means 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) introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This 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).
AX. “Pretreatment requirements” means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
AY. “Pretreatment standards” or “standards” shall mean prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits established by the city (POTW).
AZ. “Process wastewater” is industrial waste minus cooling water/noncontact cooling water.
BA. “Prohibited discharge standards” or “prohibited discharges” means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in Section 14.40.050(A) and (B).
BB. “Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)” means a “treatment works,” as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 USC 1292), which is owned by the city. This definition includes all devices, facilities, or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant. The term also means the city of Everett water pollution control facility.
BC. Sanitary Flow. See “Sewage.”
BD. “Septic tank waste” means any domestic and/or residential sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
BE. “Sewage” means human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, food preparation, etc.).
BF. “Sewer” means any pipe, conduit, ditch, or other device used to collect and transport sewage from the generating source.
BG. Shall, May. “Shall” is mandatory, “may” is permissive.
BH. Significant Industrial User (SIU). Except as provided in subsections (BH)(3) and (4) of this section, the term “significant industrial user” means:
1. All industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR Chapter I, subchapter N; and
2. Any other industrial user that:
a. Discharges an average of twenty-five thousand gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);
b. Contributes a process wastestream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
c. Is designated as such by the control authority on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement (in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6)).
3. The control authority may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR Chapter I, subchapter N is a nonsignificant categorical industrial user rather than a significant industrial user on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than one hundred gallons per day (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 the control authority’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;
b. The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required in 40 CFR 403.12(q) together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and
c. The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.
4. Upon a finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria in subsection (BH)(2)(b) of this section has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standards or requirement, the control authority 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 industrial user is not a significant industrial user.
BI. “Slug load” means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the discharge standards in Sections 14.40.050 through 14.40.080 or any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge, or any discharge greater than or equal to five times the amount or concentration allowed by permit or this chapter. This five-times level is based on an instantaneous measurement.
BJ. “Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code” means a classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.
BK. “State” means the state of Washington.
BL. “Stormwater” means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
BM. “Total suspended solids” means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering and is amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, current approved edition.
BN. “Toxic pollutant” means one of the pollutants, or combination of those pollutants, listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA under Section 307 (33 USC 1317) of the Act, or other pollutants as may be promulgated.
BO. “Treatment plant effluent” means the discharge from the POTW into waters of the United States.
BP. “User” or “industrial user” means a source of indirect discharge. The source shall not include “domestic user” as defined herein.
BQ. “Wastewater” means 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.
BR. “Wastewater discharge permit (industrial wastewater discharge permit, discharge permit, discharge authorization)” means an authorization or equivalent control document issued by the city to users discharging wastewater to the POTW. The permit may contain appropriate pretreatment standards and requirements as set forth in this chapter.
BS. “Wastewater treatment plant,” “treatment plant” or “pollution control facility” means that portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
BT. “Zero discharge permit” means a permit for a categorical user that operates its processes so that no industrial waste is discharged to the POTW.
The use of the singular shall be construed to include the plural and the plural shall include the singular as indicated by the context of its use. (Ord. 3070-08 § 1.3, 2008.)