King City Municipal Code Ch. 15.08 Sewers—definitions

Note: Prior ordinance history: Ords. 320 §§ 2.01—2.38 and 394 § 1.

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

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Applicant” means the person making application for permit to install a public sewerage facility and shall be the owner of premises to be served by the sewer for which a permit is requested or the owner’s authorized agent.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

The user may designate a duly authorized representative. 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.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Best management practices” or “BMPs” means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in Chapter 15.13. BMPs include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage. BMPs also include alternative means (i.e., management plans) of complying with, or in place of certain established categorical pretreatment standards and effluent limits.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“B.O.D.” (denoting biochemical oxygen demand) means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at twenty degrees Celsius, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg/L) by weight.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Building” means any structure containing sanitary facilities used for human habitation, a place of business, recreation or like purpose.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Building sewer” means that portion of any sewer beginning at the plumbing or drainage outlet of any building or industrial facility and running to the property line or to a private sewage disposal system.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Categorical pretreatment standard” or “categorical standard” means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 C.F.R. Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 and 471.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Charges” means the fees, tolls, rates, rentals and charges for the treatment and disposal of industrial wastes.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“City” means the city of King.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“City council” means the city council of the city.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“City manager” means the city manager of the city, or the city manager’s authorized deputy, agent or representative.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Clerk” means the city clerk of the city.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Contractor” means an individual, firm, corporation, partnership or association duly licensed by the state to perform the type of work to be done under a permit.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Daily maximum” means the arithmetic average of all effluent samples for a pollutant collected during a calendar day.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Domestic sewage” means sanitary sewage normally emanating from residential and commercial structures and uses.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Engineer” means the engineer appointed by and acting for the council and shall be a registered civil engineer.

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“Existing source” means any source of discharge that is not a “new source.”

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Fixture” means any sink, tub, shower, water closet or other facility connected by drain to a sewer.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Garbage” means solid waste from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Indirect discharge” or “discharge” means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“User” or “industrial user” means a source of indirect discharge.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Industrial waste” means all liquids or solid waste substances not sewage, emanating from any producing, manufacturing or processing operation of whatever nature.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Instantaneous limit” means 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.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Interceptor” means a device designed and installed so as to separate and retain deleterious, hazardous or undesirable matter from normal wastes and permit normal sewage or liquid wastes to discharge into the disposal terminal by gravity.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Interference” means a discharge that, 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, is a cause of a violation of the city’s WDRs or of the prevention of 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.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Lateral sewer” means the portion of a sewer lying within a public street connecting a building to the main sewer.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Living unit” means any residence, apartment, habitation or other structure to be occupied by a single person or family requiring sewage disposal service.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Local limits” means specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the city upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in Section 15.13.080.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Main sewer” means a public sewer designated to accommodate more than one lateral sewer.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Natural outlet” means any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

(a) “New source” means 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 that will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, provided that:

(1) The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or

(2) The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or

(3) 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.

(b) 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 this section but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(c) Construction of a new source as defined under this section has commenced if the owner or operator has:

(1) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction program:

(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

(2) 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 section.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Non-significant categorical industrial user” means an industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard that never discharges more than one hundred gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:

(a) The industrial user, prior to city’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;

(b) The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required in this title, together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

(c) The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Outlet” means any part of a plumbing system to which a fixture is attached.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Outside sewer” means a sanitary sewer beyond the limits of the city not subject to the control or jurisdiction of city.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Pass through” means a discharge which exits the POTW into 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 city’s WDRs, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Permit” means any written authorization required pursuant to this or any other regulation of city for the installation of any sewage works.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Person” means any human being, individual, firm, company, partnership, association and private or public or municipal corporation, the United States of America, the state of California, a district and any political subdivision, governmental agency and mandatory thereof.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“pH” means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration in gram equivalents per liter of solution.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Plumbing system” means all plumbing fixtures and traps or soil, waste, special waste and vent pipes, and all sanitary sewer pipes within a building and extending to the building sewer connection three feet outside the building wall.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

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

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Pretreatment standards” or “standards” shall mean prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Private sewer” means a sewer serving an independent sewage disposal system not connected with a public sewer and which accommodates one or more buildings or industries.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Properly shredded garbage” means the garbage 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.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Public sewer” means a sewer lying within a street and which is controlled by or under the jurisdiction of the city.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Publicly owned treatment works” or “POTW” means a treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1292), which is owned by the city. 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.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Sanitary sewage” means any and all waste substances, liquids or solids, associated with human habitation, but excluding stormwaters, surfacewaters, groundwaters and industrial wastes.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Sanitary sewer” means a sewer which carries sanitary sewage and to which stormwaters, surface-waters and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Sewage” means a combination of water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, public building, institutions and industrial establishments.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Sewage treatment plant” means the city sewage treatment works and facilities auxiliary thereto.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Sewer” means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Sewerage system” means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing of sewage, including major interceptors.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Side sewer” means the sewer line beginning three feet outside the foundation wall of any building and terminating at the main sewer and including the building and lateral sewer.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) of this section, a significant industrial user is:

(a) An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

(b) An industrial user that:

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

(2) 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

(3) Is designated as such by the city on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement;

(c) The city may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards is a non-significant categorical industrial user rather than a significant industrial user on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than one hundred gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:

(1) The industrial user, prior to city’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements,

(2) The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required in this ordinance, together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement, and

(3) The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater;

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

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Significant noncompliance” means:

(a) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six percent or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter taken during a six month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits as defined in this chapter;

(b) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirty-three percent or more of wastewater measurements taken for each pollutant parameter during a six month period equals or exceeds the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits multiplied by the applicable criteria (1.4 for B.O.D., TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);

(c) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by this chapter (daily maximum, long term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the city manager determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through, including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public;

(d) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to the public or to the environment, or has resulted in the city manager’s exercise of emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;

(e) Failure to meet, within ninety days of the scheduled date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in an industrial wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;

(f) Failure to provide within forty-five days after the due date, any required reports, including baseline monitoring reports, reports on compliance with categorical pretreatment standard deadlines, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;

(g) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or

(h) Any other violation(s), which may include a violation of best management practices, which the city manager determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Single-family unit” means and refers to the place of residence for a single family. Property improved for multifamily purposes shall constitute the number of units that the facilities thereon provide in number of single-family units.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Slug load” or “slug discharge” means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration, which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in Chapter 15.13 of this title. A slug discharge is any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the POTW’s regulations, local limits or industrial wastewater discharge permit conditions.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

See “Pretreatment standards.”

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Storm sewer” or “storm drain” means a sewer which carries storm and surface or ground waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Street” means any public highway, road, street, avenue, alley, way, place, easement or right-of-way.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Suspended solids” means solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage, or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

See “Industrial user.”

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Waste discharge requirements” or “WDRs” refers to the city’s current wastewater treatment plant permit issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)

“Watercourse” means a channel in which a flow of water occurs either continuously or intermittently.

(Ord. 772 § 5, 2019)