Ontario Municipal Code Art. 2 Prohibition and Discharge Limits

(a) General prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the sewerage system or POTW: any pollutant(s) or wastewater which causes pass-through or interference. These general prohibitions and the specific prohibitions listed below in paragraph (b) of this section apply to each user introducing pollutants into the sewerage system and the POTW whether or not the user is subject to other National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or any national, state, or local pretreatment requirements.

(b) Specific prohibitions. No user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the sewerage system or POTW the following pollutants, substances, or wastewater:

(1) Fuels, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, aromatics, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, cyclic hydrocarbons, olefins, paraffin hydrocarbons, solvents, or any other liquid, solid or gas which causes or is capable of causing, either alone or by interaction with other substances, a fire or explosive hazard, impairment of the effective maintenance or operation of the POTW, or in any other way, may cause danger to the life or safety of any user, damage to private properties or the sewerage facilities in the City of Ontario or the POTW. Prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, any wastestream with a closed-cup flash-point of less than one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit (140°F) or sixty degrees Centigrade (60°C) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21; by Federal Regulation 40 CFR 403.5 (b)(1);

(2) Any discharge which, alone or in combination with other wastes, results or may result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or fumes within the City of Ontario sewerage system or the POTW in quantities that cause or may cause acute worker health and safety problems;

(3) Any discharge containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in such quantities that alone or in combination with other waste substances, may create a hazard for humans, animals or the local environment, interfere with any wastewater treatment process, cause a public nuisance, or cause any hazardous condition to occur in the sewerage system. Toxic pollutants shall include, but are not limited to, any pollutant identified pursuant to § 307(a) of the Act;

(4) Any amount of a hazardous substance or toxic pollutant;

(5) Pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the POTW in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems;

(6) Any substance or matter which will cause corrosive damage to any structures, equipment, or other physical facilities of the wastewater collection system or pretreatment facility, but in no case discharges with a pH of less than 5.0 or greater than 12.5 units;

(7) Pollutants or wastewater that would cause a violation of any statute or rule, regulation, or ordinance of any public agency or regulatory agency having jurisdiction over the discharge of wastewater from the City of Ontario's sewerage system;

(8) Pollutants that interfere with the effluent or any other treatment process, residues, sludges or scums; or cause biosolids to be unsuitable for beneficial reuse, reclamation or disposal;

(9) Any solid or viscous substance or other matter of such quality, size, or quantity which could cause obstruction to the flow in the sewer or be detrimental to regional treatment plant operations. These materials include any solid greater than three-eighths (3/8) inches in any dimension, including, but not limited to, animal guts or tissues, ashes, asphalt, bones, cinders, concrete, dead animals, earth, entrails, fatty acids, feathers, gas tar, glass, glass-grinding, gravel, grass clippings, grease and oil, hair, hides or fleshing, industrial process shavings, lubricating oil, metal filings, metal, milk cartons or other similar paper products either whole or ground or garbage which does not pass through a three-eighths (3/8) inch screen, mud, offal, paunch manure, paper cups, paper dishes, polishing wastes, plaster, plastics, rags, residues from refining or processing of fuel, sand, shavings, sharps, spent grains, spent hops, spent lime, stone or marble dust, straw, tar, waste paper, whole blood, diatomaceous earth, and wood.

(10) Petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oil, refined petroleum products, dispersed biodegradable oils, fats and greases, such as lard, tallow, vegetable oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass-through, obstruct flows within the collection system, or contributes to or causes a sanitary sewer overflow;

(11) Wastewater having a temperature that will inhibit biological activity at the POTW, resulting in interference, but in no case wastewater that causes the temperature at the introduction of the POTW to exceed one hundred four degrees Fahrenheit (104°F) (forty degrees Centigrade (40°C)) unless the approval authority, upon request of the POTW, approves alternate temperature limits;

(12) Pollutants, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD) released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, will cause interference with the POTW;

(13) Pollutants that cause discoloration, pass-through, interference, or any other condition which affects the quality of the POTW effluent in such a manner that receiving water quality requirements established by regulatory agencies or discharge authorization;

(14) Any quantity of pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, herbicides, algaecides, or fertilizers which causes an interference, an upset, or a pass-through at the POTW;

(15) Any drainage from a vehicle radiator;

(16) Any recognizable portions of the human or animal anatomy;

(17) Any wastes which cause excessive incrustations, scale, or precipitates on sewer walls; or having any detrimental characteristics that may cause damage to the City of Ontario's sewerage system or injury to service and maintenance personnel;

(18) Any strongly odorous waste or waste tending to create odors;

(19) Noxious or malodorous liquids, gases, solids, or other wastewater which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance or a hazard, or to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance or repair;

(20) Any infectious waste except where prior written approval for such discharges is given by the Administrator. Such waste shall be rendered non-infectious prior to discharge if the infectious waste is deemed to pose a threat to the public health and safety, or will result in any violation of applicable waste discharge requirements;

(21) Any waste containing substances that may precipitate, solidify, gel, polymerize, or become viscous at temperatures between forty degrees Fahrenheit (40°F)and one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (100°F);

(22) Any waste generated outside the City of Ontario unless otherwise approved by the Administrator.

(23) Any excessive amounts of deionized water, steam condensate, distilled water, or single pass cooling water;

(24) Any trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the Administrator;

(25) Sludges, screenings, or other residues from the pretreatment of industrial wastes;

(26) Any emulsifying agent which suspends or emulsified fat, grease or oil and is specifically used to prevent oil and grease buildup in any gravity separation device or interior plumbing;

(27) Any wastewater that causes alone, or in conjunction with other sources, the local POTW's effluent to fail a toxicity test;

(28) Any detergents, surface-active agents (surfactants), or other substances that causes excessive foaming in the sewer collection system or at the POTW;

(29) Any wastewater containing excessive quantities of bromide causing, alone or in conjunction with other sources, the regional treatment plant's effluent to violate the NPDES permit for chloro-dibromomethane or dichloro-bromomethane;

(30) Any wastewater containing excessive quantities of 2,3,7,8-TCDD (Dioxin);

(31) Hydrolysate;

(32) Unused, unwanted, or expired pharmaceuticals (both over the counter and prescription- only medications), except in accordance with federal and state regulations, or in the absence of such regulations, using best management practices;

(33) Any septic waste originating from chemical toilets;

(34) Any quantity of wastewater flow in excess of permitted limits or purchased capacity;

(35) Any wastewater containing excessive quantities of 1,2,3 trichloropropane; and

(36) Pollutants, substances, or wastewater prohibited by § 6-7.201 shall not be processed or stored in such a manner that they could be discharged to the sewerage system.

(c) When specific limits must be developed by the City or POTW:

(1) The Administrator developing a pretreatment program pursuant to 40 CFR 403.8 shall develop and enforce specific limits to implement the prohibitions listed in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section. The Administrator shall continue to develop these limits as necessary and effectively enforce such limits.

(2) Where pollutants contributed by user(s) result in interference or pass-through, and such violation is likely to recur, the Administrator shall develop and enforce specific effluent limits for industrial user(s), and all other users, as appropriate, which, together with appropriate changes in the POTW regional treatment plant's facilities or operation, are necessary to ensure renewed and continued compliance with the POTW's NPDES permit or sludge use or disposal practices.

(3) Specific effluent limits shall not be developed and enforced without individual notice to persons or groups who have requested such notice and an opportunity to respond.

(4) The Administrator, or IEUA may develop best management practices (BMPs) to implement paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section. Such BMPs shall be considered local limits and pretreatment standards for the purposes of this part and Section 307(d) of the Act.

(d) Where specific prohibitions or limits on pollutants or pollutant parameters are developed by either the Administrator or IEUA in accordance with paragraph (b) above, such limits shall be deemed pretreatment standards for the purposes of Section 307(d) of the Act.

(e) The Administrator shall develop, apply, and enforce specific limits or best management practice requirements as necessary to implement the prohibitions listed in § 6-7.201 and to comply with sewage quality standards that are imposed on it by the local POTW. Where specific prohibitions or best management practices are developed by the Administrator, such limits shall be deemed and enforceable as pretreatment standards.

(f) EPA enforcement actions under Section 309(f) of the Clean Water Act.

(1) If, within thirty (30) days after notice of an interference or pass through violation has been sent by EPA to the POTW, and to persons or groups who have requested such notice, the POTW fails to commence appropriate enforcement action to correct the violation, EPA may take appropriate enforcement action under the authority provided in Section 309(f) of the Clean Water Act.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002, as amended by § 3, Ord. 2945, eff. January 6, 2012, and § 2, Ord. 3190, eff. October 7, 2021)

It in unlawful for any user to discharge or cause to be discharged to the sewerage system any rainwater, stormwater, groundwater, street drainage, subsurface drainage, roof drainage, yard drainage, yard fountains, ponds or lawn sprays, or any other unpolluted water. Any discharges from swimming pools, wading pools, or therapy pools in which chlorine may be present, may be permitted by the Administrator to discharge to the sewerage system. If permission is granted for the discharge of such water into the sewerage system, the user shall provide for restricted flow and pay any applicable fees.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002)

It is unlawful for a user to discharge, or cause to be discharged, any radioactive waste into the sewerage system except:

(a) When the user is authorized to use radioactive materials by the State Department of Health Services or other governmental agency empowered to regulate the use of radioactive materials;

(b) When the radioactive waste is discharged in strict conformity with current California Radiation Control Regulations as set forth in Title 17 of the Cal. Code of Regulations;

(c) When the user is in compliance with all rules and regulations of all other applicable regulatory agencies; and

(d) When an industrial wastewater permit has been obtained from the City.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002)

(a) The installation of any garbage grinder with a motor of one and one-half (1½) horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Administrator. Such grinders must shred the waste to a degree that all particles are carried freely under normal flow conditions prevailing in the sewerage system or pass through a three-eighth (3/8) inch screen.

(b) Matter from garbage grinders shall not be discharged into a public sewer except matter that is generated in preparation of food normally consumed on the premises, or where the permittee has obtained a permit for a specific use from the Administrator, and agrees to undertake whatever wastewater treatment and self-monitoring is required. Garbage grinders shall not be used for grinding plastic, paper products, inert materials, or garden refuse.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002, as amended by § 2, Ord. 3190, eff. October 7, 2021)

No user shall discharge wastewater delivered by vehicular transport, rail car, or dedicated pipeline directly or indirectly to the sewerage system except where authorized by the Administrator. Discharge of chemical toilet wastes from airplanes and mobile recreation units into the sewer shall be permitted only at locations specified by the Administrator. Discharge of hauled wastes from septic tanks or cesspools, or any source other than chemical toilet wastes, directly or indirectly into the sewerage system, shall be prohibited. Users seeking a domestic waste hauler permit shall complete and file an application with the IEUA.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002)

The installation, replacement, or enlargement of any self-regenerating water softening appliance which discharges into the community sewer system that is tributary to the regional sewerage system is not permitted. This section shall not apply to any portable exchange water softener of the type that is regenerated off-site at a lawfully regulated location. The Inland Empire Utilities Agency may make available to residential owner of (operational) self-regenerating water softeners a voluntary rebate program to compensate them for the reasonable value for removal and disposal of the self-regenerating water softening appliance.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002, as amended by § 2, Ord. 3190, eff. October 7, 2021)

(a) No user shall discharge solid wastes from hospitals, clinics, offices of medical doctors, convalescent homes medical laboratories or other medical facilities to the sewerage system including, but not limited to, hypodermic needles, syringes, instruments, utensils or other paper and plastic items of a disposable nature except where prior written approval for such discharges is given by the Administrator.

(b) The City shall have the authority to require that any discharge of an infectious waste to the sewer be rendered non-infectious prior to discharge if the infectious waste is deemed to pose a threat to the public health and safety, or will result in any violation of applicable waste discharge requirements.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002)

Spent solutions, sludges, and materials of quantity or quality in violation of, or prohibited by this chapter, or any permit issued under this chapter must be disposed of in a legal manner at a legally acceptable point of disposal as defined by the City or appropriate Regulatory Agency. All waste manifests shall be retained for a minimum of three (3) years, and made available to the City upon request.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002)

(a) Except where authorized to do so by an applicable pretreatment standard or pretreatment requirement, it is unlawful for any user to increase the use of process water or dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with a pretreatment standard or requirement. Whenever dilution is authorized, the Administrator may impose mass limits on the user.

(b) When a wastestream regulated by a categorical standard is combined prior to treatment with other wastestreams, either regulated or non-regulated, the Administrator shall apply a combined wastestream formula to calculate an alternate discharge limit.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002, as amended by § 2, Ord. 3190, eff. October 7, 2021)

(a) Bypass is prohibited unless:

(1) Bypass was unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;

(2) There were no feasible alternatives to the bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime. This condition is not satisfied if adequate back-up equipment should have been installed in the exercise of reasonable judgement to prevent a bypass which occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventative maintenance; and

(3) The user submitted notices as required under subsection (b) of this section.

(b) If a user knows in advance of the need for a bypass, the user shall submit prior notice to the Administrator, at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the anticipated bypass. After considering its potential adverse effects, an anticipated bypass may be approved by the Administrator if the three (3) conditions that are listed in subsection (a) of this section, are met.

(c) In case of an unanticipated bypass that causes or may cause a violation of an industrial wastewater permit or any applicable pretreatment standard, the user shall notify the Administrator and IEUA pursuant to § 6-7.509.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002, as amended by § 2, Ord. 3190 , eff. October 7, 2021)

(a) No user, except City of Ontario personnel involved in maintenance functions of the sewerage system, shall discharge any wastewater directly into a manhole or other opening in a sewer other than through an approved building sewer, unless approved by the Administrator upon written application by the user and payment of any applicable fees and charges established herein.

(b) No user shall circumvent or obviate the intent or purpose of this chapter by discharging, or causing to be discharged, into any storm drain, stormwater channel, stormwater drainage system facility, or natural watercourse, whether currently carrying water or not, or into any pipe, public street, or waterway leading to such drain, channel, facility, or natural watercourse, any material, waste, or wastewater, not including unpolluted water, which is prohibited or restricted as to its discharge into the public sewer system.

(c) No user shall deposit or discharge into any sump which is not impermeable or into any pit or well, or onto the ground:

(1) Acids or caustics, whether neutralized or not;

(2) Excessively saline wastes (electrical conductivity greater than 2,000 umhos/cm);

(3) Any material, waste, or wastewater, which by seeping underground or by being leached or by reacting with soil is detrimental to the surface or ground water; and

(4) Violates waste disposal requirements, waste discharge requirements, as adopted by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region, State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Environmental Health Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, or any other Regulatory Agency with appropriate jurisdiction.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002)

(a) Local limits are established to protect against pass through and interference. No SIU shall discharge wastewater to the public sewer in excess of the local limits that are established by the IEUA and/or adopted by the City. It is unlawful for an SIU to discharge wastewater to the public sewer that exceeds the local limits and/or Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (the more stringent regulations apply) or which will result in the inability of the local POTW to meet its NPDES wastewater discharge permit requirements and/or its effluent limitations. Modifications of the local limits may be necessary to meet the requirements for discharge to the POTW or for basin groundwater recharge.

(b) Wastewater discharged to the sewerage system by a categorical industrial user shall be limited to the stricter of the discharge limit listed under subsection (a) of this section, and/or Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations for applicable categorical standards.

(c) The Administrator may specify a mass limit for any pollutant in the user's industrial wastewater permit. Any mass limit shall be based on the local discharge limit or Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards, whichever is stricter, and the user's average daily wastewater discharge. The average daily wastewater discharge shall be based on the previous twelve (12) months of operation or other representative data. The Administrator may revise the mass limit previously established in the user's permit at any time, based on the user's current or anticipated operating data, and the City's ability to comply with the regional contract and the requirements of any other regulatory agency. The excess use of water to establish an artificially high flow rate for mass emission rate determination is prohibited.

(d) In order for the POTW to remain in uninterrupted compliance with mandated changes in federal, state or local wastewater pretreatment requirements, the City Council shall adopt any required changes to the City's wastewater discharge local limits.

(e) The Administrator may specify an electrical conductivity limit of one-thousand two-hundred and eighty (1,280) micro Ohms per centimeter in lieu of the TDS local limit, if there is reason to believe that there may be significant interference with the analytical procedure to determine TDS.

(§ 3, Ord. 2755, eff. April 4, 2002, as amended by § 2, Ord. 2913, eff. January 1, 2010, and by § 2, Ord. 3190, eff. October 7, 2021)