Fillmore Municipal Code Ch. 12.04 General

It is the purpose of this title to guide the administration of the sewerage system and to control and regulate discharges into the system, according to and in compliance with federal and state law, including the Clean Water Act of 1977, as amended, and the Federal Pretreatment Regulations (40 CFR 403).

(Ord. 625 § 1 (part), 1989)

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this title and in the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to it, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:

(1) "Act" or "the Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.

(2) "Approval authority" means the California State Water Resources Board or Regional Board.

(3) "Authorized representative of industrial user" means a responsible corporate officer or a duly authorized representative of that person from which the sewage discharge originates (40 CFR 403.12(k)).

(4) "Biochemical oxygen demand" means the quantity of oxygen, expressed in milligrams per liter, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(5) "Building sewer" means a sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to the public sewer.

(6) "CFR" means the Code of Federal Regulations.

(7) "Cesspool" means a lined excavation in the ground which receives wastewater, so constructed that the solid matter is retained and the liquid portion is permitted to seep away.

(8) "Chemical oxygen demand" means the measurement of wastewater strength in terms of the total quantity of oxygen required for oxidation of organic matter as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(9) "Chlorine demand" means the difference between the amount of chlorine added to sample of wastewater and the amount remaining at the end of a thirty-minute period, as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(10) "City" means the city of Fillmore, California.

(11) "Collector sewer" means a public sewer, usually eight inches or larger in diameter, used to collect wastewater from building connection sewers and industrial connection sewers to transport it to trunk sewers.

(12) "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.

(13) "Compatible pollutant" means biochemical oxygen demand, organic carbon, suspended solids, ammonia-nitrogen, and total coliform bacteria, plus additional pollutants identified in the city's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit if the wastewater treatment plant was designed to treat such pollutants, if such pollutants do not interfere with the operations of the wastewater treatment plant and if the wastewater treatment plant does remove such pollutants to a substantial degree.

(14) "Compliance schedule" means the time period allowed by the city manager in which an industrial user shall comply with permit conditions, or prohibitions, limitations, and requirements of this title or any other regulation or order issued by the city manager pursuant hereto.

(15) "Connection" means that part of any sewer, extending from a sewer main in a public easement or right-of-way to private property, for exclusive use of the property.

(16) "Contaminated water" means any water impaired in quality by waste to a degree which creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning or through spread of disease; "contamination" includes any equivalent effect resulting from the disposal of industrial waste.

(17) "Control authority" means the city of Fillmore (40 CFR 403.12(a)).

(18) "Customer" means a person who is, or who has agreed to be, responsible for the payment of sewer service charges established by the city.

(19) "City manager" means the city of Fillmore's city manager or designee.

(20) "Domestic wastewater" means the liquid and waterborne waste derived from the ordinary living processes, free from industrial waste, and susceptible to satisfactory disposal without special treatment into the public sewer or by means of a private wastewater disposal system. The city manager has on file the parameters and concentration of constituents that, for the purpose of this title, define domestic wastewater.

(21) "Effluent" means the liquid overflow from any treatment plant or facility designed to treat, convey, or store wastewater.

(22) "Fee" means any charge assessed to a discharger for the use, or continued use, of any portion of the sewerage system, including, but not limited to, the charges for connection or tap for new customers, monthly sewer service, industrial wastewater discharge permit, excess capacity connection, industrial wastewater treatment, excessive industrial wastewater treatment capacity, laboratory testing, waste hauler's permit, and oversize sewer and noncompliance penalties.

(23) "Floatable oil and grease" means the oil and grease floating on the surface of a sample of water as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(24) "Formula users" means those users who are regulated under the industrial wastewater discharge permit system and billed according to a formula based on the measured or set strength and volume of their wastewater discharged.

(25) "Garbage" means the putrescrible animal and vegetable wastes deriving from the handling, preparation and consumption of foods.

(26) "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.

(27) "Gravity separation device" means a device for retaining sand, silt, grit, mineral material, and oil and grease by gravity-differential separation from wastewater.

(28) "Grease" means as defined in "Standard Methods." "Grease" includes waxes, fats, oils and other nonvolatile materials tested as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(29) "Grease interceptor" or "interceptor" means a device of at least seven-hundred-fifty-gallon capacity for separating and retaining grease while permitting wastewater to be discharged into the sewerage system.

(30) "Ground garbage" means the residue from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food, shredded so that all particles are carried freely in suspension under the flow conditions normally prevailing in the public sewer, with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension.

(31) "Industrial connection sewer" means the sewer connecting a building sewer or building wastewater drainage system to a city sewer for the purpose of conveying industrial wastewater.

(32) "Industrial user" means any producing, manufacturing, processing, institutional, commercial, agricultural or similar person that discharges, directly or indirectly, wastewater into the sewerage system, of which the solid, liquid or gaseous waste discharge has pollutants different than or stronger than or with constituents other than those defined for domestic wastewater.

(33) "Industrial waste" means any solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive substance that is discharged, flowing or permitted to escape from the operation of any industrial user, which will enter the sewerage system.

(34) "Industrial wastewater" means the liquid and water-carried industrial waste, treated or untreated, which enters the sewerage system.

(35) "Industrial wastewater discharge permit" means a conditional authorization to allow an industrial user to utilize the sewerage system for the discharge of industrial wastewater.

(36) "Inspector" means the person authorized by the city manager to inspect any raw material, waste or wastewater generation, conveyance, processing, storage or disposal facilities within the city's jurisdiction.

(37) "Interceptor main" means a sewer main, ten inches or greater in size, intended to collect wastewater from a large area.

(38) "Interceptor sewer" means a closed conduit whose primary purpose is to transport rather than collect wastewater, which shall perform one or more of the following functions as its primary purpose:

(A) Intercept wastewater from a final point in a collection system and convey the wastewater directly to the wastewater treatment plant;

(B) Serve in place of a potential treatment plant and transport the collected wastewater to an adjoining collection system or interceptor sewer and thence to treatment;

(C) Transport the wastewater from one or more municipal collection systems to another municipality or to the wastewater treatment plant for treatment; or

(D) Intercept an existing major discharge of raw or inadequately treated wastewater for transport directly to another interceptor sewer or to the wastewater treatment plant.

(39) "Interference" means the discharge by an industrial user which, alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the wastewater treatment plant, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal and which 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) or of the prevention of sludge use or disposal by the wastewater treatment plant in accordance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (including Title II, also called the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substance Control Act, and the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act (40 CFR 403.3(i)).

(40) "Mass emission rate" means the weight of material discharged to the sewerage system during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, the mass emission rate shall mean pounds per day of a particular constituent or combination of constituents.

(41) "National categorical 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 U.S.C. 1347) which applies to a specific category of industrial users.

(42) "National Pollution Discharge Elimination System or NPDES permit" means a permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 U.SC. 1342).

(43) "National prohibitive discharge standard" or "prohibitive discharge standard" means any regulation developed under the authority of Section 307(b) of the Act and 40 CFR, Section 403.5.

(44) "New source" means any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which is commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Act and as further defined in 40 CFR 403.3(k)(1).

(45) "Noncompatible pollutant" means any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant.

(46) "Nuisance" means anything which is injurious to health or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.

(47) "Pass through" means the discharge of pollutants through the wastewater treatment plant into navigable waters in quantities or concentration which, alone or in conjunction with 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) (40 CFR 403.3 (m)).

(48) "Peak flow rate" means the maximum discharge rate over a thirty-minute period between the hours of eight a.m. and ten p.m. and determined by averaging a maximum of ten substantiated peak flow rate measurements of the accrual period in gallons per minute; in the absence of actual peak flow rate data, peak flow rate may be computed in the manner set forth in the city's specifications.

(49) "Person" means any natural person, or any firm, association, joint venture, joint stock company, partnership, trust, estate, governmental entity, organization, club, company, corporation, business trust, or the manager, lessee, agent, servant, officer or employee of any of them.

(50) "pH" means the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the hydrogen-ion concentration expressed in moles per liter as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(51) "Pollutant" means any dredged soil, solid waste, incinerator residue, garbage, 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.

(52) "Polluted water" means any water altered in quality by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects: (i) the water for beneficial use; or (ii) the facilities which serve the beneficial use. The term "pollution" may include "contamination."

(53) "Pollution" means the manmade or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water.

(54) "Pretreatment" means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination 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 plant. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, or by process change, except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6(d).

(55) "Pretreatment facility" means any works or device for the treatment or flow limitation of sewage, liquid waste or industrial waste prior to discharge into a public sewer.

(56) "Pretreatment requirements" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.

(57) "Pretreatment standard" means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c), et seq., of the Act which applies to industrial users. These include "categorical standards" which establish specific concentration limits for certain pollutants and total prohibitions of other pollutants as specified in Title 40 CFR.

(58) "Private sewer" means a sewer, other than a connection, laid by a private party on public or private property, to serve one or more buildings which are not immediately adjacent to a public sewer.

(59) "Public sewer" means any sewer dedicated to public use and controlled by a public authority.

(60) "Radioactive material" means material containing chemical elements that spontaneously change their atomic structure by emitting particles, rays or energy forms in excess of normal background radiation.

(61) "Regional users" means users of the city's sewerage system by written agreement with the city, other than an industrial wastewater discharge permit, wherein the city guarantees treatment and disposal of their wastewater at an agreed-upon reimbursement.

(62) "Sampling well" means an approved opening to a building sewer for inspection, sampling or flow measurement.

(63) "Sanitary sewer" means a conduit for wastewater or industrial wastes, or both, into which stormwaters, surface waters, groundwaters and unpolluted waters are not admitted.

(64) "Seepage pit" means a lined excavation in the ground which receives the discharge of a septic tank and is constructed to allow it to seep through its bottom and sides.

(65) "Septic tank" means a watertight receptacle which receives the domestic wastewater discharge of a building and is constructed to separate solids from the liquid, digest organic matter through a period of detention, and allow the liquid to percolate into the soil outside the tank through a system of open joint or perforated piping or a seepage pit.

(66) "Settleable solids" means solids settling out of a liquid in a given time, according to the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(67) "Sewage" means wastewater from domestic, agricultural, commercial, institutional and industrial sources, together with such surface water, groundwater and stormwater as may be present.

(68) "Sewer" means a pipe or conduit for wastewater, and its appurtenances.

(69) "Sewer main" means an interceptor main.

(70) "Sewerage system" means the sewerage system of the city of Fillmore, sometimes "the public sewer," the combination of facilities used for collection, pumping, transportation, treatment and final disposal of wastewater, including sewers conveying wastewater from points outside the city for users under contract with the city.

(71) "Significant change" means plus or minus twenty-five percent from a user's typical discharge pattern in flow, peak flow rate, constituents, concentration of constituents or other characteristics.

(72) "Significant industrial wastewater user" means any industrial user who (i) has a discharge flow of ten thousand gallons or more per average workday; (ii) discharges in wastewater toxic pollutants, as defined under Section 307 of the Act or under state statutes or rules, or (iii) is found to have significant impact, singly or in combination with other users, on the sewer system, the quality of sludge or effluent, or air emissions.

(73) "Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)" means a classification pursuant to the latest edition of the Standard Industrial Classification manual by the executive office of the President, Office of Management and Budget.

(74) "Standard Methods" means the current edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater" published by the American Public Health Association. All tests shall be conducted in accordance with these procedures except where the city manager approves other procedures necessary for unusual wastes.

(75) "State" means the state of California.

(76) "Stormwater" means any flow occurring during or following and resulting from any form of natural precipitation.

(77) "Suspended solids" means the solid matter suspended in wastewater as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(78) "Total dissolved solids (TDS)" means the solid matter in solution in wastewater, as determined by evaporation of a wastewater sample from which all suspended matter has been removed by filtration as determined by the procedures of "Standard Methods."

(79) "Toxic total organics" means the summation of all quantifiable values greater than 0.01 milligrams per liter for those toxic organics listed in 40 CFR 403, Appendix B.

(80) "Toxic pollutant" means any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the administrator of the EPA under the provisions of Section 307(a) of the Act or of other acts or designated toxic by either the state or city.

(81) "Trunk sewer" means a sewer constructed, maintained and operated by the city that conveys wastewater to wastewater treatment plant and into which the interceptor, lateral and collecting sewers discharge.

(82) "Uncontaminated water" means wastewater not contaminated or polluted with sewage and which is suitable for discharge into the stormwater drainage system, excluding unlined natural watercourses.

(83) "United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)" means the EPA, or the administrator or other duly authorized official of said agency.

(84) "User" means any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of industrial or domestic wastewater to the city's sewerage system; a discharger.

(85) "Waste" means all materials, liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from or related to any producing, manufacturing or processing operation of whatever nature prior to, and for purposes of, disposal.

(86) "Wastewater" means the liquid and water-carried waste, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted to enter the sewerage system.

(87) "Wastewater treatment plant" means an assemblage of devices, structures, and equipment for treatment of wastewater.

(88) Abbreviations. The following abbreviations mean as set out below:

(Ord. 625 § 1 (part), 1989).