Ceres Municipal Code Ch. 14 Sewer Definitions and Use Requirements

This chapter sets forth uniform requirements for users of the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) for the City of Ceres and enables the City of Ceres to comply with all applicable State and federal laws, including the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.) and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. The objectives of this chapter 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 that will pass through the POTW, inadequately treated, into the disposal facilities, or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW;

C. To protect both POTW personnel, who may be affected by wastewater and sludge in the course of their employment, and the general public;

D. To promote reuse and recycling of industrial wastewater;

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

F. To enable Ceres to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sludge use and disposal requirements, and any other federal or State laws to which the POTW is subject.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

Except as otherwise provided herein, the Director of Public Works shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this chapter. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the Director of Public Works may be delegated by the Director of Public Works to other City personnel.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

For the purposes of this title, and except where otherwise expressly defined in another section of this title, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings provided in this section. Where words and phrases are not expressly defined under this section, they shall be construed as their ordinary meaning within the context which they are used:

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

Approval authority means the State of California Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

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 operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding $25,000,000.00, if 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 their designee.

4. The individuals described in subsections 1 through 3 of this definition 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 of Ceres.

Biochemical oxygen demand or BOD means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20 degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l).

Director means the [Director of Public Works or City Engineer] of the City of Ceres who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter, or a duly authorized representative.

Dwelling unit means a structure serving as the residence of any individual or family.

Environmental Protection Agency or 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.

Existing source means 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.

Grab sample means a wastewater sample taken without regard to the flow of wastewater and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.

House connection means a privately owned and maintained residential sewer pipe conveying sewage from a single building or premises to its connection with a main line.

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.

Industrial connection means a privately owned and maintained sewer pipe, other than residential, conveying sewage from a single building or complex of buildings to its connection with a main line. The house connection and industrial connection may be the same pipe.

Industrial sewage means all trade waste produced by industrial plants or factories, and does not include sanitary sewage from residences or from hotels, restaurants, eating houses, business establishments, from premises engaged solely in the sale, storage or repair of goods, wares, or merchandise, or from bathrooms, sinks, or drinking fountains in industrial plants or factories.

Industrial sewer service charge means the monthly service charge to be assessed to industrial users for the use of the City sewer system and to treat the industrial waste. The industrial sewer service charge may be based on the effort to treat the industrial waste using flow, biological oxygen demand, suspended solids or other factors to determine the rate.

Instantaneous maximum allowable discharge limit means the maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composite sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.

Interference means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and therefore prevents sewage 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.

Lateral sewer means the horizontal piping which extends from a building to the sewer main.

Local limits means pollutant limits established by the City to protect against pass through, interference or high maintenance or operational costs.

Main line means a sewer pipe six inches, or larger in diameter designed to serve large areas and receiving sewage from house, commercial or industrial connections.

Medical waste means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharp instruments, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.

New source means:

1. Any new building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants; 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 subsections 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 subsection has commenced if the owner or operator has:

a. Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site construction program any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or 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 is 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 means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.

Pass through means a discharge which exits the POTW into the disposal facilities 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 WDR, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

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, and local governmental entities.

pH means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

Pollutant means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).

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.

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

Pretreatment standards or standards shall mean prohibited discharge standards and local limits.

Prohibited discharge standards or prohibited discharges means those absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances listed in chapter 13.15.

Publicly owned treatment works or POTW means a "treatment works," as defined by section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by the City of Ceres. This definition includes any devices 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.

Septic tank waste means any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.

Settleable solids means that matter in wastewater that will not stay in suspension for one hour, but settles to the bottom.

Sewage means sanitary wastewater discharged from dwellings or from rest rooms of business or industrial establishments designed for human occupancy or use. Sewage shall not include industrial waste, stormwater, or irrigation water.

Sewer connection fee means the fee charged by the City for the right to connect to an existing main line when the property being served has not previously paid or made provision for the payment of its proportionate share of the reasonable cost of construction of main sewer lines.

Sewer district means all that area designated by the City Council to receive sewer service.

Sewer facility fee means the fee charged by the City for permission to connect to the City sewer system. Such fees shall be used to fund or reimburse the City for the reasonable cost of construction of trunk lines, pump stations, treatment works, and sewage disposal.

Sewers means only those pipelines designed and constructed to collect and convey sewage to the disposal site.

Sewer service charge means the monthly service charge assessed to all users of the sewer system for the reasonable costs of operation, maintenance, and replacement of the sewer system and including the treatment and disposal of all sewage and industrial waste discharged into the sewer system.

Sewer system means the piping, pump stations, treatment facilities, and other facilities required to transport, treat, and dispose of all sewage and industrial waste discharged from house and industrial connections.

Significant industrial user means:

1. A user that:

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

b. Contributes a process waste stream 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 City on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any local limit or requirement.

2. Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in subsection 1 of this definition has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any local limit or requirement, City may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a user, determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.

Slug load or slug means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards contained in chapter 13.15.

Storm water means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

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.

Treatment facilities means those facilities required to process the sewage and industrial waste as necessary to meet all applicable local, State, and federal regulations. The term treatment facility also means those facilities required to dispose of the treated wastewater.

Trunk line means a sewer pipe of diameter of 12 inches or greater conveying sewage from main lines to the disposal site. House or industrial connections shall not be permitted to connect directly to trunk lines.

User or industrial user means a source of indirect discharge.

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.

Wastewater discharge permit means the permit required before a significant industrial user can discharge wastewater to the POTW.

Wastewater discharge requirements means those requirements imposed by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board on the POTW.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)

A. The degree of protection required by this title is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes, and is based on scientific, engineering and other relevant technical considerations.

B. The standards set forth in this title are minimum standards, and this title does not imply that compliance will ensure that there will be no unauthorized discharge of pollutants into the waters of the United States.

C. This title shall not create liability on the part of the Title, or any officer or employee thereof, for any damages that result from reliance on the code or any administrative decision lawfully made thereunder.

(Ord. No. 2019-1054, § 2, 12-9-2019)