Mountain House Municipal Code Ch. 1 General Provisions

This Division shall be known as the "Wastewater Control and Pretreatment Ordinance" (Ordinance) of the City of Mountain House (City) and may be cited as such.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) This Ordinance sets forth uniform requirements for Users of the City's Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) and enables the City to comply with applicable State and federal law, including the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. section 1251 et seq.) and the General Pretreatment Regulations (Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 403). The objectives of this Division are to:

(1) Prevent the introduction of Pollutants into the POTW that will interfere with its operation, pass through it inadequately treated into receiving waters, or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW;

(2) Protect POTW personnel who may be affected by wastewater and sludge in the course of their employment and the general public;

(3) Promote reuse and recycling of industrial wastewater and sludge from the POTW;

(4) Provide for fees for the equitable distribution of the cost of operation, maintenance, and improvement of the POTW; and

(5) Enable the City to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements, and any other federal or State law to which the POTW is subject.

(b) This Ordinance authorizes the issuance of Wastewater Discharge Permits; provides for monitoring, compliance, and enforcement activities; establishes administrative review procedures; requires User reporting; and provides for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the program established herein.

(c) Violations of this Division are subject to criminal fines and penalties, civil liabilities, and other penalties in accordance with law.

(d) Applicability. This Ordinance shall apply to all Users of the POTW, including any Users outside of the City's boundaries but within the City's service area and tributary to the City's sewerage facilities.

(e) Interpretation. This Ordinance shall be interpreted in accordance with the Definitions set forth in Subsection 5-8-101(g).

(f) Administration.

(1) Authority of the City Manager. Except as otherwise provided in this Ordinance, the City Manager of the City shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions herein. The City Manager may delegate any of his or her powers or duties to a City employee except imposition of fines or penalties, termination of service, or establishment of quantitative limitations.

(2) Special Agreement. The City may enter into special agreements with Industrial Users setting out special terms under which such Users may discharge to the City sewerage system. In no case will a special agreement waive compliance with a Pretreatment Standard or Requirement. However, the Industrial User may request and, if appropriate, receive a net gross adjustment to a Categorical Standard in accordance with 40 CFR section 403.15. An Industrial User may also request a variance from the Categorical Pretreatment Standard from EPA. Such a request will be approved, if at all, only if the Industrial User can prove that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when it establishes that Pretreatment standard. An industrial user that requests a fundamentally different factor variance must comply with the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR section 403.13.

(3) Classification of Users. The City will classify all dischargers for wastewater disposal purposes in accordance with the principal activity conducted upon the premises. The purpose of classification is to facilitate regulation of discharges to the City sewerage system on the basis of each discharger's waste characteristics and flow; to provide an effective means of industrial and commercial waste source control; and to establish a system of sewer use charges based upon flow and waste strength which will insure equitable recovery of City capital and operating costs. These dischargers are: Industrial Users, commercial users, and residential users. The City will further classify Industrial Users based on applicable law. All users are subject to the prohibitions set forth in this Ordinance, with such federal and State statutes and regulations as may apply and the specific pollutant limitations as may be promulgated by the City Council either by Ordinance or resolution.

(g) Definitions. Except as this Ordinance may otherwise provide, the following terms and phrases used herein shall have the following meanings:

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

(2) "Best Management Practices" or "BMPs" means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in this Ordinance. BMPs also 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.

(3) "Biochemical Oxygen Demand" or "BOD" means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees Celsius, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., milligrams per liter (mg/l)).

(4) "Categorical Industrial User" means an Industrial User subject to a Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Categorical Standard.

(5) "Categorical Pretreatment Standard" or "Categorical Standard" means any regulation that contains Pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in accordance with sections 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 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471.

(6) "Chemical Oxygen Demand" or "COD" means a measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds (organic and inorganic) in water.

(7) "Compliance Schedule" means a schedule of remedial measures and includes an enforceable sequence of actions or operations that leads to compliance with an effluent limitation or other limitation, prohibition, or standard.

(8) "Contamination" means an impairment of the quality of the environment (including waters of the State) by waste to a degree that creates a hazard to public health through the spread of disease or creation of toxic conditions. "Contamination" includes any equivalent effect that results from the disposal of waste, whether or not waters of the State are affected.

(9) "Control Authority" means the City.

(10) "Daily Average" means the arithmetic average of all effluent samples for a Pollutant collected during a calendar day.

(11) "Daily Average Limit" means the maximum allowable discharge limit of a Pollutant during a calendar day. Where Daily Average Limits are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of the day. Where Daily Average Limits are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the Pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that day.

(12) "Domestic Wastewater" means the liquid and solid waterborne wastes derived from the ordinary living processes of humans of such character as to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the public sewer or by means of a private disposal system.

(13) "Duly Authorized Representative" means:

(A) Where the User is a corporation:

(i) 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

(ii) The manager of one (1) or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided the manager is authorized to make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility, including having the explicit or implicit duty to make major capital investment recommendations and initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term compliance with environmental laws and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for Wastewater Discharge Permit requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

(B) Where the User is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

(C) Where 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.

(D) The individuals described in paragraphs (A)(i) and (ii) above may designate a Duly Authorized Representative if the authorization is submitted to the City in writing and specifies the individual or position with overall responsibility for operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or overall responsibility for the company's environmental matters.

(14) "Environmental Protection Agency" or "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Management Division Director, the Regional Administrator, or other duly authorized official of EPA.

(15) "Existing Source" means any source of discharge that is not a "New Source."

(16) "Grab Sample" means a sample that is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes.

(17) "Indirect Discharge" means the introduction of Pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.

(18) "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 duration of the sampling event.

(19) "Interference" means a discharge that alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other source(s) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use, or disposal and thus is a cause of a violation of the City's NPDES Permit 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 11 commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA): the Clean Air Act: and the Toxic Substances Control Act.

(20) "Local Limit" means a specific discharge limit developed and enforced by the District upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR sections 403.5(a)(1) and (b).

(21) "Medical Waste" means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.

(22) "Monthly Average" means the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.

(23) "Monthly Average Limit" means the highest allowable average of daily discharges over a calendar month calculated as the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.

(24) "New Source" means:

(A) 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 apply to such source if such Standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, provided:

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

(ii) The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of Pollutants at an Existing Source; or

(iii) 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, consider 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.

(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 Subsection 5-8-101(g)(24)(A), paragraph (ii) or (iii) above, hut otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(C) Construction of a New Source commenced if the owner or operator has:

(i) Begun or caused to begin as part of a continuous onsite 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) that is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of New Source facilities or equipment: or

(ii) Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment intended to be used in the New Source's operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts that 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.

(25) "Noncontact Cooling Water" means water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.

(26) "NPDES Permit" (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit) means the written requirements established by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board that govern the quality and quantity of the Wastewater discharged from the POTW.

(27) "Nuisance" means anything that meets all of the following requirements:

(A) 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;

(B) Affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of Persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal; and

(C) Occurs during or as a result of the treatment or disposal of wastes.

(28) "Ordinance" means this Wastewater Control and Pretreatment Ordinance adopted by the City.

(29) "Pass Through" means a discharge that 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 NPDES Permit and includes an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

(30) "Permittee" means the Person to whom the City issued a Wastewater Discharge Permit under this Ordinance.

(31) "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. "Person" includes all federal, State, and local governmental entities.

(32) "pH" means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution expressed in standard units.

(33) "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, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).

(34) "Pollution" means an alteration of the quality of waters by waste to a degree that unreasonably affects either the waters for beneficial uses or facilities that include these beneficial uses. "Pollution" may include Contamination.

(35) "Pretreatment" means the reduction of the amount of Pollutants, elimination of Pollutants, or 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, process changes, or other means except by diluting the concentration of the Pollutants (unless allowed by an applicable Pretreatment Standard).

(36) "Pretreatment Requirement" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to Pretreatment imposed on a User other than a Pretreatment Standard.

(37) "Pretreatment Standard" means Prohibited Discharge Standards, Categorical Pretreatment Standards, and Local Limits.

(38) "Prohibited Discharge Standard" or "Prohibited Discharges" means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in Sections 5-8-200 and 5-8-201.

(39) "Publicly Owned Treatment Works" or "POTW" means a treatment works (as defined by section 212 of the Act) owned by the City. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling or reclamation of Sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any sewers, pipes, or other means that convey Wastewater to a Treatment Plant.

(40) "Sewage" means human excrement and gray water (i.e., household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.).

(41) "Significant Industrial User" or "SIU" means:

(A) An Industrial User subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards; or

(B) An Industrial User that:

(i) Discharges an average of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day (gpd) or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown Wastewater);

(ii) Contributes a process waste stream which makes up five (5) percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW Treatment Plant; or

(iii) 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. Upon a finding that a User meeting the criteria in this paragraph 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 CFR section 403.8(f)(6), determine that such User should not be considered a Significant Industrial User.

(42) "Slug Load" or "Slug Discharge" means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration that could cause a violation of the Prohibited Discharge Standards in this Ordinance. 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 that has a reasonable potential to cause Interference or Pass Through or in any other way violate the POTW's regulations, Local Limits, or NPDES Permit conditions.

(43) "Stormwater" means any flow that occurs during or following any form of natural precipitation and results from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

(44) "Total Suspended Solids" or "TSS" or "Suspended Solids" means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of or is suspended in water, Wastewater, or other liquid and that is removable by laboratory filtering.

(45) "Treatment Plant" means that portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment of municipal Sewage and industrial waste.

(46) "User" or "Industrial User" means a source of Indirect Discharge. For purposes of notification or service, "User" means the Duly Authorized Representative.

(47) "Wastewater" means treated or untreated liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and Sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, contributed to the POTW.

(48) "Wastewater Discharge Permit" or "Permit" means a permit issued to any User in accordance with this Ordinance.

(h) Abbreviations. The abbreviations used in this Ordinance shall have the meanings designated as follows:

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

All Uniform Plumbing Code and plumbing ordinance provisions shall remain in full force and effect and nothing contained herein shall be construed as to waive any requirements contained herein.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

Any time limited provided herein may be extended by written consent of the City Manager.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The provisions hereof shall not be constituted to relieve from or lessen the responsibility of any person of the damages to life or property in the discharge of industrial waste nor shall the City, not any agent thereof, be held assuming any liability by reason of performance of duties hereunder.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The City may adopt reasonable rates, charges, and/or fees for reimbursement of the costs to set up and implement the City's pretreatment program. For example, the City may adopt rates, charges, and/or fees related to:

(a) Processing wastewater discharge permit applications;

(b) Monitoring, inspection, and surveillance procedures, including the costs of collecting and analyzing a user's discharge and reviewing monitoring reports and certification statements submitted by users;

(c) Reviewing and responding to accidental discharge procedures and construction;

(d) Filing appeals;

(e) Enforcement activity taken by the City to address user noncompliance; and

(f) Other activities that the City may deem necessary to carry out the requirements of this Division.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

The City's responsibility to operate, maintain and repair sewer lines on private property shall be limited as follows:

(a) For property with a sewer cleanout, junction box, or manhole located on the property within six (6) feet of the property boundary of the property where the sewer lateral enters the property, City's responsibility shall only extend from the sewer main to and including the cleanout, junction box, or manhole on the property. It shall be the owner of the property's responsibly to operate, maintain and repair the private sewer line from the point of connection to the sewer cleanout, junction box, or manhole to upstream on the property.

(b) For properties without a sewer cleanout, junction box, or manhole located on the property within six (6) feet of the property boundary of the property where the sewer later enters the property receiving sewer service from City, City's responsibility shall only extend from the sewer main to the property line. It shall be the owner of the property's responsibly to operate, maintain and repair the private sewer line from the property boundary upstream on the property.

The operation, maintenance and repair of any private sewer line shall be the property owner's sole responsibility. The property owner shall indemnify and hold harmless the City, its officers and employees from any claims, actions, costs (including attorney fees), damages or other liability resulting or arising from the condition, operation, maintenance or repair of said private sewer line.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) The remedies provided herein shall be in addition to all other remedies authorized by law and the enumeration of certain remedies shall not preclude the application of any other remedies not herein enumerated.

(b) If all or part of a bill is not paid, the district may discontinue any or all services in accordance with Section 5-3-126 of this Code.

(c) Nonpayment of charges will result in a penalty and interest in accordance with Section 5-3-138.

(d) Any charges and penalties may be collected on the tax roll in the same manner as property taxes as provided by Section 5-3-145.

(e) The charge imposed by this article shall be a civil debt owing to the City from the person responsible for its payment, and the City may institute action in any court of competent jurisdiction to collect such debt, together with applicable penalties, interest, costs and other expenses.

(f) In addition, an administrative citation including associated fines may be issued for any violation of this article.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) The property owner, as determined by the real property tax roll of the county assessor, is liable for payment of wastewater service provided by the City either directly, through contract or permit, shall be liable for the rates, charges and fees for that service as established by the City Council. In situations where someone other than the owner occupies the property receiving the service, the owner of the property shall be primarily liable for payment of services, though the occupant may pay the charges on the behalf of the owner.

(b) It is the responsibility of the owner of the real property to provide the City's Director of Finance with the current billing address and to notify the City Director of Finance of any changes of address. For the purposes of this Section, the Director of Finance is the Administrative Services Director or the Administrative Service Director's designee.

(c) It shall be and is hereby made the duty of each property owner to ascertain from the City the amount and due date of any rates, charges and fees for which the owner is liable. It shall also be and is hereby made the duty of each owner liable for the rates, charges and fees to inform the City immediately of all circumstances, and of any change(s) in any circumstances which will in any way affect the applicability or the amount of any rates, charges and fees to premises where wastewater service is being received.

(Ord. 2024-23, § 1(Exh. A), 2024)