§ 122-26. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

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.

Approval authority means the director of the state environmental protection division.

Authorized representative of nondomestic user. An authorized representative of a nondomestic user may be:

(1)

If the nondomestic user is a corporation, the president, secretary, treasurer or a vice president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who is delegated and performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; the manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, but only if the manager:

a.

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;

b.

Can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for control mechanism requirements and is knowledgeable of county reporting requirements; and

c.

Has been assigned or delegated the authority to sign documents, in accordance with corporate laws, governing documents, policies or procedures.

(2)

If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

(3)

If the user is a limited liability company: a member, manager or officer with the delegated authority to act on behalf of and to bind the limited liability company, in accordance with applicable laws, governing company documents, policies or procedures.

(4)

If the user is a government agency, a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the facility.

(5)

The individuals described in (1) through (4) above may designate an authorized representative if:

a.

The authorization is submitted to the county in writing; and

b.

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 or agency.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20 degrees Celsius, expressed in milligrams per liter.

Building drain means that part of the piping of a building which collects wastewater inside the walls of the building and conveys it to outside the building walls.

Building sewer means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or to other places of disposal, also called "house connection."

Cooling water means the water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration or to which the only pollutant added is heat.

County manager means the individual designated by the board of commissioners as county manager responsible for the general supervision of all county departments, including the county water system.

County water system means the administrative department within the county government which is responsible for the county water and wastewater systems.

Customer means every person who is responsible for contracting (expressly or implicitly) with the county in obtaining, having or using water or wastewater connections with, or sewer taps to, the county wastewater system and in obtaining, having or using water or other related services furnished by the county for the purpose of disposing of wastewater through such system. The term "customer" shall also include illicit users of the water or wastewater systems.

Department director means the person designated by the county as director of the county water system.

Direct discharge means the discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the state.

Director of the county health department means the licensed physician who has been duly appointed by the county board of health to act as its chief executive officer.

Domestic wastewater means that wastewater discharged into the wastewater system from domestic sources such as toilets, washing machines, dishwashers, sinks, showers and bathtubs from normal household usage.

Easement means any acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.

Environmental Protection Agency or U.S. EPA means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or where appropriate, the term may also be used as a designation for the administrator or other duly authorized official of such agency.

Existing source means any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to 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.

Federal categorical pretreatment standard or federal pretreatment standard means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with section 307(b) and (c) of the act (33 USC 1317) which applies to a specific category of industrial users.

Floatable oil and grease means oil, fat or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by flotation from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility or sand and oil/grease interceptor.

Flush toilet means the common sanitary flush commode in general use for the disposal of human excrement.

Garbage means the animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of foods.

Grab sample means a sample which is taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis with no regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.

Grit means matter consisting of sand, gravel, cinders or other heavy solid materials that have settling velocities or specific gravities greater than those of organic putrescible solids normally encountered in domestic wastewater.

Health department means the county board of health.

High strength wastewater means wastewater which contains quantities of specified constituents that exceed the quantities normally encountered in domestic wastewater (see subsection 122-189(a)).

High strength wastewater surcharge means the charge made in excess of the normal sewer service charge for all high strength wastewater.

Holding tank waste means any domestic wastewater from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum-pump tank trucks.

Indirect discharges means the introduction of wastewater into the county wastewater system for treatment and disposal by the county.

Infiltration/inflow means groundwater and surface water which leaks into the wastewater system through cracked pipes, joints, manholes or other openings.

Inflow means water that flows into the wastewater system from the surface, streams, roof drains, downspouts or other such sources.

Interference means the inhibition or disruption of the wastewater treatment processes or operations which contributes to a violation of any requirement of the county's NPDES permit or detrimentally affects the operation of the wastewater treatment processes.

National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit means a permit issued pursuant to section 402 of the act (33 USC 1342).

Natural outlet means any outlet, including storm sewers, watercourses, ponds, ditches, lakes or other bodies of surface water or groundwater.

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 section 307(c) of the act which may be applicable to such sources 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 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 is subsequently independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are subsequently 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 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 construction does not create a new building, structure, facility or installation meeting the criteria of subsection (1)(b) or (c) of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(3)

Construction of a new source as defined under this definition has commenced if the owner/operator has:

a.

Begun or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site 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; 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 contract for feasibility engineering and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this subsection.

Nondomestic user means any user of the county wastewater system who discharges wastewater into the wastewater system from a structure other than a residential unit.

Nondomestic wastewater means the wastewater generated from nondomestic users as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.

Pass through means a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States or the waters of the state 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 county's NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

Person means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, governmental entity or any other legal entity or their legal representatives, agents or assigns.

pH means the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the molar concentration of hydrogen ions in solution.

Pit privy means a shored, vertical pit in the earth used for the disposal of human or animal wastes.

Pollutant means any dredge, spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal and agricultural waste discharged into water.

Pollution means the manmade or man-induced detrimental alteration of the chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water or soil, or the products which create or cause such alteration.

Pretreatment or treatment means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the wastewater treatment system. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, or by process changes or other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6(d).

Pretreatment requirements means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard imposed on a nondomestic user.

Prohibited discharge standard means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in section 122-181.

Properly shredded garbage means the wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension.

Publicly owned treatment works (POTW) means a treatment works as defined by section 212 of the act (33 USC 1291) which is owned in this instance by the county. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this article, "POTW" shall also include any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW from persons outside the county who are, by contract or agreement with the county, users of the county's POTW.

POTW treatment plant means that portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment to wastewater.

Public sewer means a common sewer controlled by a governmental agency or public utility, in this case, the county.

Sanitary sewer or sewer means a sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions together with minor quantities of groundwater, stormwaters and surface waters that are not admitted intentionally.

Septic tank means a subsurface impervious tank designed to temporarily retain sewage or similar waterborne wastes together with:

(1)

A sewer line constructed with solid pipe, with the joints sealed, connecting the impervious tank with a plumbing stub out; and

(2)

A subsurface system of trenches, piping and other materials constructed to drain the clarified discharge from the tank and distribute it underground to be absorbed or filtered.

Sewage means the spent water of a community. The equivalent term is "wastewater."

Sewer means a pipe or conduit that carries wastewater.

Sewer development fee means a fee assessed to users of the county wastewater system to provide the funds necessary to renew, extend and/or improve the system where such renewals, extensions and/or improvements are necessitated by the reduced available wastewater system capacity caused by the users' demands.

Significant industrial user means:

(1)

Any nondomestic user whose discharge meets any of the following, except as provided in subparagraphs (2) and (3):

a.

Any user discharging greater than 25,000 gallons per average working day of nondomestic wastewater into the county wastewater system (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);

b.

Any user who contributes five (5) percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic loading to a POTW;

c.

Any user who discharges wastewater that violates any of the prohibited discharges in section 122-181 or who is believed by the county to discharge wastewater that violates any of the aforementioned prohibited discharges;

d.

Any user subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards under 40 CFR 403 and 40 CFR chapter I, subchapter N;

e.

Any user which would be a "significant industrial user" as defined in 40 CFR 403.3.

(2)

The water system may determine that a significant industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard is a nonsignificant categorical industrial user rather than a significant industrial user upon finding that the significant industrial user never discharges more than 100 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 significant industrial user has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements.

b.

The significant industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

c.

The significant industrial user submits the certification statement required in 40 CFR 403.12(q) together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement.

(3)

Upon finding that a nondomestic user meeting the criteria in subparagraph (1)a. through c. has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting any part of a water system POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the water system may at any time on its own initiative or in response to a petition from a nondomestic user or POTW and in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6) determine that such nondomestic user is not a significant industrial user.

Sludge means the semisolid, putrid materials removed from wastewater by the action of settling or air flotation, consisting of feces, paunch, sand, gravel, mud, paper, cloth, shredded garbage, blood and other solid materials as normally removed through primary wastewater treatment, including septic tanks.

Slug means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in section 122-181 or 122-182.

Standard industrial classification (SIC) means 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.

Storm drain , sometimes termed storm sewer , means a drain or sewer for conveying surface water, groundwater, subsurface water or unpolluted water from any source.

Stormwater means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.

Surcharge means a separate charge by the county for the handling and treatment of high strength wastewater.

Suspended solids or total suspended solids or TSS means the total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of, or is in suspension in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater and referred to as nonfilterable residue.

Toxic pollutant means any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the provision of CWA 307(1) or other acts.

Unpolluted water means water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria in effect or water that would not cause violation of receiving water quality standards and would not be benefitted by discharge to the sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities.

User means any person who consumes water from the county water system or who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the county wastewater system.

Wastewater means the spent water of a community, including liquid and water-carried wastes and sewage from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, treated or untreated, together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present.

Wastewater facilities means the structures, equipment and processes required to collect, carry away and treat domestic and nondomestic wastewaters and to dispose of the effluent.

Wastewater system or county wastewater system means the total wastewater disposal facilities owned and operated by the county. Also the administrative framework which operates the facilities.

Water and wastewater systems or county water and wastewater systems means the total county water system and county wastewater system considered in the aggregate as a whole.

Water system or county water system means the total water distribution facilities owned and operated by the county. Also the administrative framework which operates the facilities.

Watercourse means a natural or artificial channel for the passage of water, either continuously or intermittently.

Waters of the state means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through or border upon the state or any portion of the state.

(Ord. of 6-28-88, § 3-26-2; Amd. of 2-22-11; Amd. of 2-26-13)

Cross reference

Definitions generally, § 1-2.