Arcata Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

This Chapter sets forth uniform requirements for users of the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) for the City of Arcata and enables the City to comply with all applicable state and federal laws including the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) and the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 CFR Part 403). The objectives of this Article are:

A. To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the POTW that will interfere with its operation;

B. To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the POTW which may pass through, be inadequately treated, or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW;

C. To protect the City’s POTW personnel who may be affected by wastewater and sludge in the course of their employment and to protect the general public;

D. To preserve the hydraulic capacity of the POTW;

E. To improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewater and sludge from the POTW;

F. To provide for fees for the equitable distribution of the cost of operation, maintenance and improvement of the POTW; and

G. To enable the City to comply with its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements and any other federal or state laws to which the City’s wastewater collection and treatment system is subject. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)

Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Chapter, the City Manager, or his/her designee, shall administer, implement and enforce all provisions of this Chapter. The term "City Manager" as used in this Chapter shall include any City Manager designee. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)

Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this Chapter, are defined as follows:

A. Act or the Act. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

B. Authorized Representative of User.

1. If the user is a corporation, "authorized representative" shall mean:

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.

b. The manager of one (1) or more manufacturing, production, or operation 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, "authorized representative" shall mean a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

3. If the user is a federal, state or local government facility, "authorized representative" shall mean a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or his/her designee.

4. The individuals described in subsections (B)(1) through (3) of this Section may authorize another representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies an individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates, or a position of equivalent responsibility, or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the City.

C. Best Management Practices or BMPs. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the U.S. EPA prohibitions against introducing pollutant(s) into a POTW as found in 40 CFR § 403.5(a)(1) and (b) and any other prohibitions as may be contained in this Chapter. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site run-off, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.

D. Biochemical Oxygen Demand or (BOD). The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees centigrade expressed in terms of concentration as milligrams per liter (mg/l).

E. Building. Any stationary or mobile, permanent or temporary, structure used for human habitation, industry, commerce, business, recreation or other purpose and which contains sanitary facilities.

F. Building Sewer or Upper Lateral. That portion of a sewer beginning at the plumbing or drainage outlet of a building and running to the City’s sewer clean-out or to the public sewer.

G. Building Sewer Certificate. A certificate issued by the City confirming that the building sewer, private sewer, and/or clean-out has been tested, inspected and meets all applicable standards.

H. Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Categorical Standard. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the U.S. EPA in accordance with Section 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 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, parts 405-471.

I. Categorical Industrial User. An industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.

J. Chemical Oxygen Demand or COD. A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and inorganic, in water.

K. Color. The optical density at the visual wavelength of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One hundred percent (100%) transmittance is equivalent to zero (0.0) optical density.

L. Domestic User. A source of domestic waste, derived principally from dwelling units not engaged in industrial activities.

M. Domestic Waste. The liquid wastes derived from activities principally performed for sanitary purposes, including without limitation, human excrement and household grey water arising from shower, dishwashing, etc.

N. Drainage Fixture Unit (DFU). The value defined by the Uniform Plumbing Code in effect in the City which is used to determine the required drainage capacity from fixtures and their service systems.

O. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

P. 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 Section 307 of the Act.

Q. Fixture. Any sink, tub, shower, water closet or other facility connected by a drain to the sewer.

R. Garbage. Solid waste occurring from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of food products.

S. Grab Sample. A sample that is taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the waste stream over a period of time not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes.

T. Holding Tank Waste. Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, mobile food trucks and vacuum tank trucks.

U. Indirect Discharge. The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.

V. Industrial User. A source of indirect discharge.

W. Industrial Waste. The liquid wastes derived from activities of a industrial user, excluding discharges which can be defined as domestic waste.

X. 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.

Y. Interference. A discharge that, alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal, and therefore, is a cause of a violation of the City’s NPDES permit (including an increase in magnitude or duration of a violation) or of the prevention of wastewater sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder, or any more stringent State or local regulations: 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.

Z. Lateral Sewer or Lower Lateral. The portion of a sewer lying within a public street or right-of-way, connecting a building sewer to the public sewer below the clean-out.

AA. Local Limit. Specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the City against industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b).

BB. Medical Waste. Isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood by-products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, fomites, etiologic agents, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes and dialysis wastes.

CC. 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 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 for new source set forth in this definition, 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 begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program any of the following:

a. Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or

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; or

c. 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 paragraph.

DD. 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.

EE. Nonsignificant Categorical Industrial Users (NSCIU). An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards for which the Director of Environmental Services has made a finding that it never discharges more than one hundred (100) gpd of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard), and for which the following conditions apply:

1. The industrial user, prior to the City 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 Section 7472.13(B), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

3. The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

FF. NPDES Permit. A National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit issued to the City to operate the POTW pursuant to Section 402 of the Act.

GG. On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems Policy, or OWTS Policy. The On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems Policy adopted by the California State Water Resources Control Board on June 19, 2012, and any amendments or successor policies thereto, for siting, design, operation and maintenance of on-site wastewater treatment systems.

HH. Pass-Through. A discharge which exits the POTW into the 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 POTW’s NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

II. pH. A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units.

JJ. Pollutant. Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, wastewater, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical waste, chemical wastes, industrial wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and agricultural wastes, and including but not limited to the following characteristics of wastewater: pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, odor.

KK. Pretreatment. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of 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.

LL. Pretreatment Requirements. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on an industrial user, other than a pretreatment standard.

MM. Pretreatment Standards or Standards. Prohibitive discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.

NN. Private Sewer. A privately owned, maintained and operated on-site wastewater treatment system.

OO. Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW. Any devices or systems owned by the City used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of wastewater or industrial waste of a liquid nature including sewers, pipes and other conveyances owned by the City which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.

PP. Public Sewer. A sewer owned and operated by the City.

QQ. Seasonal Flow. The discharge from an industrial user over any continuous fifteen (15) day period during which the average volume and/or strength of any regulated wastewater characteristic exceeds the respective yearly averages by fifty percent (50%).

RR. Sewer. Any private or publicly owned pipe or conduit for carrying wastewater.

SS. Sewer Clean-Out. A "Y" connection on the service lateral, brought to grade, for the purpose of cleaning, testing and maintaining the lateral sewer and located at the property line in the public right-of-way or in a City utility easement.

TT. Sewer Connection Permit. The permit issued by the City for installation of, connection to, or use of a public sewer or the POTW.

UU. Sewer Service Charges. Fees, rates, rentals or other charges for services, equipment, materials, labor and facilities furnished by the City for use of its POTW.

VV. Significant Industrial User. Except as provided in subsections (VV)(3) and (4) of this Section, a significant industrial user is:

1. Industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

2. An industrial user that:

a. Discharges an average of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);

b. Contributes a process waste stream which makes up five percent (5%) or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the treatment plant; or

c. Is designated as significant by the Director of Environmental Services 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.

3. Upon making a finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria in subsection (1) of this definition fulfills the requirements of a nonsignificant categorical industrial user, the Director of Environmental Services may determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.

4. Upon making a finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria in subsection (2) of this definition has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the Director of Environmental Services may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from and industrial user, and in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.

WW. Slug Load, or Slug Discharge. Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which has reasonable potential to cause a violation of the pretreatment standards as appear in this Chapter or violation in any other way of the City’s regulations pertaining to its POTW, local limits, or permit conditions; or any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to, an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge.

XX. Suspended Solids or Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.

YY. User. A domestic user or industrial user.

ZZ. User Classification. The classification of users based on the 1972 edition of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual prepared by the Executive Office of Management and Budget.

AAA. Wastewater. Liquid and water-carried domestic and industrial waste from buildings, whether treated or untreated, which contribute to either a private sewer or the POTW.

BBB. Wastewater Constituents and Characteristics. The individual chemical, physical, bacteriological and radiological parameters, including volume and flow rate and such other parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the contents, quality, quantity, and strength of wastewater.

CCC. Wastewater Discharge Permit. The permit issued by the City to control the discharge of industrial wastewater to the POTW.

DDD. Wastewater Treatment Plant or Treatment Plant. That portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment of domestic and industrial wastes. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015; Ord. 1512, eff. 2/15/2019)

The following abbreviations shall have the meanings designated as follows:

(Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)

In the event that any sections of this Chapter conflict or are otherwise inconsistent with the edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code or successor code that has been or may be hereafter adopted by the City of Arcata, the provisions of this Chapter shall prevail to the extent permitted by law. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)

Where all or a portion of any property is subject to a tenancy, the owner and tenant are each responsible for compliance with this Chapter. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)

No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, tamper with or prevent access to any structure, appurtenance or equipment, or other part of the public sewer or POTW. Any person found in violation of this requirement shall be subject to the sanctions set out in this Chapter. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)

Except as hereinafter provided, it shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, seepage pit or other facility intended or used for the disposal of wastewater. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)

All users are to be classified by assigning each one (1) to a "user classification" category according to the principal activity conducted on the user’s property, by individual user analysis, or by a combination thereof. The purpose of such collective and/or individual classification is to facilitate the regulation of wastewater discharges based on wastewater constituent and characteristics to provide an effective means of source control, and to establish a system of charges and fees which will insure an equitable recovery of wastewater system costs. (Ord. 1461, eff. 9/18/2015)