El Centro Municipal Code Div. 2 Use

(a) This division shall be interpreted in accordance with the definitions set forth in section 22-522.

(b) The provisions of this article shall apply to the direct or indirect discharge of all liquid carried wastes to facilities of the city. This article among other things provides for the regulation of sewer construction in areas within the city, the quantity and quality of discharged wastes, the degree of waste pretreatment required, the setting of waste discharge fees to provide for equitable distribution of costs, the approval of plans for sewer construction, the issuance of permits for industrial waste water discharge and of other miscellaneous permits and the establishment of penalties for violation of this article.

(Ord. No. 17-02, § 2, 2-21-17)

City manager shall mean the city manager or his duly authorized deputy, agent or department head.

Discharger shall mean any person that discharges or causes a discharge to a public sewer.

Dissolved solids or dissolved matter shall mean the solid matter in solution in the waste water and shall be obtained by evaporation of a sample from which all suspended matter has been removed by filtration as determined by the standard analytical procedure.

Domestic waste water shall mean the water carried wastes produced from noncommercial or nonindustrial activities and which result from normal human living processes.

Effluent shall mean the liquid outflow of any facility designed to treat, convey or retain waste water.

House connection shall mean the sewer connecting the building sewer or building waste drainage system to the public sewer for the purpose of conveying domestic waste water.

Industrial connection shall mean the sewer connecting a commercial or industrial building sewer or building waste system to the public sewer for the purpose of conveying industrial waste water.

Industrial waste water shall mean all water-carried wastes and waste water of a commercial or industrial enterprise excluding domestic waste water and uncontaminated water, and shall include all waste water from any producing, manufacturing, processing, institutional, commercial, agricultural, or other operation.

NPDES permit shall mean National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. Such permits are issued to point source waste water dischargers by state and/or federal regulatory agencies and define the required quality of such discharges.

Person shall mean any individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, public agency, or any other organization or group of persons, public or private.

pH shall mean the analytical value associated with a solution's relative acidity or basicity.

Public corporation shall mean this state and any political subdivision thereof, any incorporated municipality therein, any public agency of the state or any political subdivision thereof, or any corporate municipal instrumentality of this state.

Public sewer shall mean any sewer dedicated to public use and whose use is controlled by a public corporation.

Trunk or main line sewer shall mean a sewer constructed, maintained and operated by the city that conveys waste water to the city's treatment facilities and into which lateral and collecting sewers discharge.

Uncontaminated water shall mean any wasted water of the community not contaminated or polluted with waste material and which is suitable or could readily be made suitable for discharge to the municipal storm water drainage system.

User shall mean "discharger," as defined in this section.

Waste water shall mean the water-carried wastes of the community derived from domestic, commercial or industrial sources. Rainwater, groundwater or drainage of uncontaminated water is not waste water.

The following basic city policies apply to liquid waste discharges within the city's boundaries and to other discharges that are tributary to the city's facilities.

(a) Liquid wastes originating within the area serviced by the city's sewerage system will be collected, treated and disposed by the city provided that the wastes will not:

(1) Damage structures;

(2) Create nuisance conditions such as odors;

(3) Menace public health;

(4) Impose unreasonable collection, treatment or disposal costs on the city;

(5) Be unsusceptible to treatment or interfere with waste water treatment processes;

(6) Detrimentally affect the local environment;

(7) Pass through the sewage treatment plant unaffected;

(8) Exceed any federal, state or local industrial waste water pretreatment standards;

(9) Cause the city to violate the provisions of its NPDES permit; or

(10) Cause processed streams (aqueous and sludge) from the city's sewage treatment plant to be unacceptable for beneficial secondary uses.

(b) The highest and best use of the city's sewerage system is the conveyance, treatment and disposal of domestic waste water. The use of the city's sewerage system for industrial waste water discharges is subject to further regulation by the city.

(c) To comply with stated policies of the federal government and to permit the city to meet increasingly higher standards of treatment plant effluent quality, provisions are made in this article for the regulation of industrial waste water discharges. This article establishes quantity and quality limitations on industrial waste water discharges which adversely affect the city's sewerage system or effluent quality.

(d) Recovery and reuse procedures established by industrial waste water dischargers to meet the limitations set on their discharges will be preferred by the city over those procedures designed solely to meet waste water discharge limitation. Methods providing for beneficial reuse of otherwise wasted resources shall be the approved method of industrial waste water pretreatment wherever feasible.

(e) The city has the authority to immediately and effectively halt or prevent any discharge of waste water to the city sewerage system which reasonably appears to present:

(1) Imminent endangerment to the health or welfare of persons;

(2) Endangerment to the environment; and/or

(3) Interference with the operation of the treatment plant.

(Ord. No. 17-02, § 2, 2-21-17)

The city manager may perform work of an educational nature or may, for this purpose, cooperate with civic organizations, industries, water companies, sewerage agencies and other public corporations.

(Ord. No. 17-02, § 2, 2-21-17)

All fees and charges imposed under the provisions of this article are due and payable upon receipt of the notice of charges. Unpaid charges shall become delinquent forty-five (45) days after mailing or delivering the notice of charges. A basic penalty charge of ten (10) percent of the unpaid amount shall be added to any fee or charge that becomes delinquent. Interest at the rate of one and one-half (1½) percent per month shall accrue on the total of all delinquent charges plus all penalty charges. Charges, fees, penalties and interest established hereby are in addition to any other remedies provided to the city elsewhere in this article.

(Ord. No. 17-02, § 2, 2-21-17)

Any unauthorized entering, breaking, damaging, destroying, uncovering, defacing or tampering with any structure, equipment or appurtenance which is a part of the city's sewerage system shall be a violation of this article.

(Ord. No. 17-02, § 2, 2-21-17)

(a) Any person violating any provision of this article, including any condition or limitation of a permit or plan approval issued pursuant thereto, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction is punishable, for each offense, by a fine of not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), imprisonment not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days, or both.

(b) The city is entitled to and may, upon authorization of the city council, sue to recover any amounts due the city under the provisions of this article and/or for compensation to the city for damages suffered by the city including the city's payment of fines imposed by state or federal regulatory agencies incurred as a result of said violation(s).

(c) In addition to any other penalty, any person who violates any provision of this article shall be liable for a civil penalty of a minimum of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each violation of a separate provision of this article or, for continuing violations, for each day the violation continues.

(Ord. No. 17-02, § 2, 2-21-17)