Lakeport Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

This chapter sets forth uniform requirements for contributors to the wastewater collection and treatment system of the city of Lakeport municipal sewer district (hereafter CLMSD) and enables the CLMSD to comply with all applicable state and federal laws required by the Clean Water Act of 1977 as amended and the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 CFR Part 403).

The objectives of this chapter are:

A. To comply with the laws of the state of California and of the United States relating to the protection of the environment, control of water pollution, disposal of hazardous wastes and pretreatment of industrial discharges to publicly owned treatment works.

B. To prevent the introduction of wastes which will interfere with the operation of the system or other CLMSD operations.

C. To prevent the introduction of wastes into the CLMSD wastewater system which will pass through the system, inadequately treated, into receiving waters.

D. To prevent the introduction of substances which would cause the CLMSD to fail to meet air quality goals of the Lake County air quality management district.

E. To prevent introduction of toxic substances to the CLMSD wastewater system which could reach the environment in toxic amounts.

F. To prevent the introduction of wastes into the system which may affect the CLMSD's ability to dispose of, recycle, or reclaim its sludge or other residuals.

G. To reasonably maintain the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewater from the system.

H. To prevent the introduction of wastes that the CLMSD facilities are not designed to adequately treat and may therefore adversely affect the environment or may cause a violation of the CLMSD NPDES permit or may contribute to the need for modification of the CLMSD NPDES permit.

I. To protect CLMSD personnel while conducting activities related to the collection, treatment and disposal of wastes through the CLMSD facilities.

J. To prevent a public hazard or public nuisance arising from the collection, treatment and disposal of wastes through the CLMSD system.

K. To prevent the introduction of wastes to sewers connected to the CLMSD system that could result in the CLMSD being classified as a hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facility under the laws of the state of California or the United States.

(Ord. 872 § 1.1, 2008)

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:

"Act" or "the Act"

means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251 et seq.

"Authorized representative of industrial user"

may be:

A principal executive officer, if the industrial user is a corporation;

A general partner or proprietor, if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively;

A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above, if such representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the discharge originates and if such representative is identified in writing by the individual designated in subsection (1) or (2) of this definition.

"Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)"

is the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, over five days at twenty degrees Celsius, expressed in terms of weight and concentration (milligrams per liter, mg/L).

"Building sewer/private sewer lateral"

means the pipeline conveying sewage from the plumbing fixtures in the structure to a point where the private property ends and the public right-of-way begins. The building sewer is located on private property and is maintained by the property owner.

"Building sewer leakage test"

means the procedure approved by the CLMSD to determine the amount of leakage in the building sewer.

"Bypass"

means the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of an industrial user's treatment facility.

"California Plumbing Code"

means written guidelines, regulations and ordinances governing the plumbing criteria for type and use of plumbing systems as currently adopted in the California Building Standards Code as referenced in Section 15.04.010.

"Categorical industrial user"

means all industrial users subject to national categorical pretreatment standards under 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N.

"Categorical standards"

means national pretreatment standards which specify quantities or concentrations of pollutants or pollutant properties that may be discharged by industrial users in specified industrial subcategories as defined in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.

"Chemical oxygen demand"

(COD) means the quantity of oxygen utilized, by a strong chemical oxidant, in the oxidation of organic and oxidizable inorganic material under standard laboratory procedures, expressed in terms of weight and concentration (mg/L).

"City of Lakeport municipal sewer district"

means the collective wastewater treatment system owned and/or operated by the city, including all devices, systems and appurtenances thereto used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, distribution and reclamation of municipal sewage, industrial wastes of liquid nature, or other wastewater. The city of Lakeport municipal sewer district is referred to herein as "CLMSD."

"Class I user"

means any user who is subject to national categorical pretreatment standards.

"Class II user"

means any nondomestic user of the CLMSD wastewater disposal system who is not subject to national categorical standards and (1) has an average discharge flow of twenty-five thousand gallons or more per day, excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling water, and blowdown wastewaters; or (2) contributes a process waste stream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic (BOD, TSS) capacity of a treatment plant; or (3) has a reasonable potential, in the opinion of the CLMSD, to adversely affect CLMSD facility operation or for violating a pretreatment standard, local limit, or discharge requirement; or (4) has been determined by the CLMSD to discharge wastewater having a potential variability in the character of the wastewater, or the potential for increased operational or administrative cost to the CLMSD due to the characteristics of the waste.

"Class III user"

means any nondomestic user who is not designated as a Class I or a Class II user. Class III users may include users who are not industrial nor commercial users and (1) have a reasonable potential to adversely affect the CLMSD's ability to meet the objectives of this chapter; or (2) generate hazardous waste, whether or not said waste is discharged into the sanitary sewer system, or if, in the determination of the CLMSD, there is a potential for this waste to be discharged into the sewer, even through accident, in nonprocess or process of handling of the waste; or (3) store or use hazardous materials, whether or not a hazardous waste is produced in the industrial or commercial process, if, in the determination of the CLMSD, a potential exists for significant impact upon the CLMSD facilities due to a release of these materials into the environment.

Class IV User.

Any nondomestic user who is not designated as a Class I, Class II, or Class III user may be designated as a Class IV user if the user (1) has a reasonable potential to adversely affect the CLMSD's ability to meet the objectives of this chapter; or (2) generates hazardous waste, whether or not said waste is, in the normal course of the industrial or commercial process, discharged into the sanitary sewer system, or if, in the determination of the CLMSD, there is a potential for this waste to be discharged into the sewer, even through accident, in nonprocess or process of handling of the waste; or (3) stores or uses hazardous materials, whether or not a hazardous waste is produced in the industrial or commercial process, if, in the determination of the CLMSD, a potential exists for significant impact upon the CLMSD facilities due to a release of these materials into the environment. Class IV users may be individually designated by the CLMSD based on the criteria set forth above or on categorization of the user as a member of a particular business category. The Class IV user designation shall include, but is not limited to, the following business categories: analytical laboratories, clinical laboratories, dry cleaners, laundries, vehicle maintenance facilities, vehicle repair facilities, gasoline stations, printing shops, printing allied industries, photo processors, pesticide formulators, pesticide applicators, dental offices, dental laboratories and x-ray laboratories, and veterinary providers.

"CLMSD board"

means the board of directors of the city of Lakeport municipal sewer district.

"CLMSD facilities"

means all of the CLMSD system of collecting, conveying and treating; including, but not limited to, the collection system and treatment plant. This includes any publicly owned facility connected to the CLMSD collection system which generates wastewater treated at the CLMSD treatment plant.

"Collection system"

means the CLMSD pipelines, pump stations, manholes and other similar facilities which accept, collect and convey sanitary sewage to the treatment plant.

"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.

"Cost recovery"

shall refer to costs associated with the cleanup and/or decontamination of a site after discharge of substances into the sanitary sewer, storm sewer and/or to the environment that caused interference, pass-through or a sanitary sewer blockage. This includes cleanup and decontamination of all structures/areas including residential, commercial, surface waters and the environment.

"Director"

means the CLMSD board-appointed director of the city of Lakeport municipal sewer district or his/her designee.

"Domestic user"

means any person, including those located outside the jurisdictional limits of the city, who contributes, or causes or permits the contribution of, wastewater into the CLMSD from ordinary living processes of humans of such character as to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the public sewer by means of a private building sewer. The parameters by which a domestic user shall be distinguished from a nondomestic user is the concentration of BOD and suspended solids. The concentration shall be considered to have no more than three hundred milligrams per liter BOD and suspended solids.

"Domestic wastewater"

means the liquid, solid, and water-carried waste derived from ordinary living processes of humans of such character as to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the public sewer by means of a private building sewer. The parameters by which domestic wastewater shall be distinguished from nondomestic wastewater or industrial or commercial wastewater is the concentration of BOD and suspended solids. The concentration shall be considered to have no more than three hundred milligrams per liter BOD and suspended solids.

"Enforceable best management practices (E-BMPs)"

means methods, tools, and techniques that have been determined to be the most effective and practical means of preventing or reducing pollution, including documentation of employee training, documentation of grease interceptor cleaning, and removal and disposal of grease.

"Environmental Protection Agency" or "EPA"

means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the term may also be used as a designation for the administrator or other duly authorized official of said agency.

"Fats, oils, and greases (FOG)"

means organic polar compounds derived from animal and/or plant sources that contain multiple carbon chain triglyceride molecules. These substances are measured using analytical test procedures established in 40 CFR Part 136. Fats, oils, and greases are collectively referred to herein as "grease," "greases," and/or "FOG."

"Food service facilities (FSF)"

means those facilities primarily engaged in activities of preparing, serving, or making available food or foodstuffs for consumption by the public such as a restaurant, commercial kitchen, grocery store, caterer, hotel, school, hospital, prison, correctional facility, or care institution. These facilities use one or more of the following preparation activities: frying, baking, grilling, sauteing, rotisserie cooking, broiling, boiling, blanching, roasting, toasting, poaching, infrared heating, searing, barbecuing, and any other food preparation activity that produces a hot nondrinkable food product in or on a receptacle that requires washing.

"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.

"Grease interceptor"

means a device for separating and retaining greases and like compounds prior to entry into the CLMSD facilities. These devices also serve to remove and collect settleable solids from food service facilities prior to entry into the sanitary sewer. Such devices are collectively referred to herein as "grease interceptors."

"Grease interceptor minimum design capability"

means the design features of a grease interceptor and its ability or volume to effectively intercept and retain greases from grease-laden wastewater discharge to the sanitary sewer.

"Hazardous pollutants"

means any constituent or combination of constituents that is classified as hazardous under state or federal regulations or is included on the federal list of toxic pollutants as specified in 40 CFR Part 403.

"Holding tank waste"

means any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers and vacuum-pump tank trucks.

"Indirect discharge"

means the discharge or the introduction of pollutants from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act (33 USC 1317) into the CLMSD treatment works (including holding tank wastes discharged into the system).

"Industrial user (IU)"

means a source of indirect discharge. (See definition of "indirect discharge.")

"Industrial waste or wastewater"

means all water-carried wastes and wastewater of the community, excluding domestic wastewater, derived from any producing, manufacturing, processing, institutional, commercial, agricultural, or other operation. Industrial wastewater may also include wastes of human origin similar to domestic wastewater which have been mixed with industrial wastes or wastewater prior to discharge to CLMSD facilities.

"Interceptor"

means a device for separating and retaining greases and like compounds prior to entry into CLMSD facilities. These devices also serve to remove and collect settleable solids prior to entry into CLMSD facilities.

"Interference"

means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources:

Both inhibits or disrupts the CLMSD, its treatment processes or its operations, use, or disposal, and therefore causes a violation of any requirement of the CLMSD National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or prevents sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the Act (33 USC 1345), the Clean Air Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act;

Is likely to endanger life, health, or property or otherwise cause a nuisance; or

In the opinion of the CLMSD, otherwise adversely affects the CLMSD's ability to meet the objectives of Section 13.20.010.

"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 USC 1317) which applies to industrial users. These regulations are found in 40 CFR, Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.

"National Pollution Discharge Elimination System or NPDES permit"

means a permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 USC 1342).

"New source"

means a facility from which there is, or may be, a discharge of pollutants, construction of which began after the publication of the proposed pretreatment standards pursuant to Section 307(c) of the Act, which will apply to the facility if the standards are promulgated, provided certain location and construction criteria are met as defined in 40 CFR 403.3(k).

"Noncooking facilities"

means those facilities primarily engaged in the preparation of precooked foodstuffs that do not include any form of cooking. These include cold dairy and frozen foodstuffs preparation and serving facilities.

"Notice of violation (NOV)"

means a document informing the user that the user has violated this chapter and requiring user to prescribe appropriate corrective action.

"Ordinance,"

referring to the term "this ordinance" and/or "pretreatment ordinance" and similar uses of the term "ordinance," shall refer to the entirety of the ordinance codified in this chapter, as may be amended and modified.

"Owner"

shall mean individual, firm, company, corporation, or group upon whose property the building or structure is located or will be constructed.

"Pass-through"

means a discharge which exits the CLMSD into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which cause, or in the determination of the CLMSD have a potential for causing, a violation of any requirement of the CLMSD NPDES permit (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. The masculine gender shall include the feminine and the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.

"pH"

means the logarithm (base ten) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in moles per liter of solution. pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution.

"Pollutant"

includes sewage or any characteristic of sewage and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any commercial producing, manufacturing, or processing operation of whatever nature.

"Pollution"

means an alteration of the quality of the waters of the United States by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects (1) such waters for beneficial use or (2) facilities which serve such beneficial uses, or which creates a hazard to the public health.

"Pretreatment" or "treatment"

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 CLMSD facilities. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, or process changes by other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR Section 403.6(d).

"Pretreatment requirement"

means any substantive or procedural pretreatment requirement, other than a national pretreatment standard, applicable to industrial users (IUs).

"Pretreatment standard"

means any regulation of the CLMSD, state, or EPA containing pollutant discharge limits or other procedural or substantive requirements of all users.

"RCRA"

means the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 USC 6901 et seq.) and as amended.

"RUE"

means the residential unit equivalent representing the average amount of sewage generated by a detached single-family dwelling in the city. The volume of the sewage flow generated by an RUE is approximately two hundred gallons per day which is equal to approximately eight hundred cubic feet per month. The RUE flow rate does not include the extraneous leakage that may occur in the piping between the property line and the plumbing fixtures inside and outside of the structure.

"Sanitary sewer"

means a pipe or conduit intended to carry wastewater or waterborne wastes from homes, businesses, and industries to the CLMSD; a sewer collection system.

"Significant industrial user (SIU)"

means any industrial user of the CLMSD facilities which is:

A categorical industrial user (CIU); or

Any other industrial user that:

a.

Discharges an average of twenty-five thousand gallons per day or more of process wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling water, and boiler blowdown wastewaters); or

b.

Contributes a process waste stream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic (BOD, TSS) capacity of the treatment plant; or

c.

Has a reasonable potential, in the opinion of the CLMSD, to adversely affect CLMSD facility operation or for violating a pretreatment standard or requirement;

The CLMSD may determine that an industrial user which has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting CLMSD facility operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement is not a significant industrial user. 40 CFR 403.3(t)(2).

"Significant noncompliance"

means one or more of the following:

Chronic violations, defined as those in which sixty-six percent or more of all the measurements taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit for the average limit for the same pollutant parameter;

Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined as those in which thirty-three percent or more of all the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limit or the average limit multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC equals 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);

Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or longer-term average) that the CLMSD determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through (including endangering the health of the CLMSD facility, personnel or the general public);

Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare, or the environment, or has resulted in the CLMSD's exercise of its emergency authorities under 40 CFR 403.8(f)(1)(vi)(B) to halt or prevent such a discharge;

Failure to meet, within ninety days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;

Failure to provide, within thirty days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules.

"Slug discharge"

means a discharge capable of causing adverse impacts to the CLMSD, its workers, or the environment, or any pollutant including an oxygen-demanding pollutant released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which may cause interference with the operation of the CLMSD sewerage system. The discharge will be considered a slug discharge if the flow rate or concentrations or quantities of pollutants exceed, for any time period longer than fifteen minutes, more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration, quantity or flow during normal operations. A slug discharge is considered to be a discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill, or a noncustomary batch discharge. Batch discharges are intentional, controllable discharges that occur periodically within an industrial user's process (typically the result of a noncontinuous process). Accidental spills are unintentional, largely uncontrolled discharges that may result from leaks or spills of storage containers or manufacturing processes in an area with access to floor drains.

"Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)"

means a federal classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America, Office of Management and Budget.

"State"

means the state of California.

"Stormwater"

means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.

"Suspended solids"

means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.

"Total suspended solids (TSS)"

refers to a standardized water quality measurement that uses a filter to capture and weigh trapped particles from a water sample.

"Toxic pollutant"

means any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed in Appendix A to the ordinance codified in this chapter.

"Trap"

means a cast iron or stainless steel containment device used for trapping substances and to prevent grease, sand or flammable liquids from entering the sewerage system.

"Treatment plant"

means any facility owned by the CLMSD that is designed to provide treatment to wastewater.

"User"

means any person, including those located outside the jurisdictional limits of the city, who contributes, or causes or permits the contribution of, wastewater into the CLMSD.

"Variance for cause request"

means a submittal provided by a food service facility or other user to provide site-specific technical information which demonstrates why a grease interceptor is not feasible, practicable, and/or necessary for a particular use, activity and/or structure.

"Wastewater" or "waste"

means the liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions, together with any ground water, surface water, and stormwater that may be present, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted to enter CLMSD facilities.

"Wastewater discharge permit"

is set forth in Section 13.20.300.

"Waters of the state"

means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion thereof.

"Waters of the U.S."

means all portions of oceans within twelve nautical miles of baseline of any shore of any state in the U.S.; streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which carry water across or share jurisdiction or rights with more than any single state within the United States of America.

(Ord. 872 § 2.1, 2008; Ord. 924 § 12, 2020)

The following abbreviations shall have the designated meanings:

BOD–Biochemical Oxygen Demand

CCR–California Code of Regulations

CFR–Code of Federal Regulations

COD–Chemical Oxygen Demand

EPA–Environmental Protection Agency

L–Liter

mg–Milligrams

mg/L–Milligrams per Liter

NPDES–National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

SIC–Standard Industrial Classification

TSS–Total Suspended Solids

USC–United States Code

(Ord. 872 § 2.2, 2008)

If any provision, paragraph, word, section, or article of this chapter is invalidated by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions, paragraphs, words, sections, and articles shall not be affected and shall continue in full force and effect.

(Ord. 872 § 2.3, 2008)

All other ordinances and parts of other ordinances inconsistent or conflicting with any part of this chapter are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency or conflict.

(Ord. 872 § 2.4, 2008)