Oxnard Municipal Code Div. 3 Wastewater Introduction into the City's Municipal Wastewater System

(A) No person shall introduce or cause to be introduced to the system, directly or indirectly, any pollutant or wastewater that causes pass through or interference. These general prohibitions apply to all persons, whether or not they are subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other federal, State or local pretreatment standards or requirements.

(B) No person shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the system the following pollutants, substances, or wastewater:

(1) Pollutants that create a fire or explosive hazard in the system, including, but not limited to, waste streams with a closed-cup flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR Part 261.21;

(2) Any pollutant or wastewater having a pH less than 6.0 or more than 10.0, or that may otherwise cause corrosive structural damage to the city system or equipment;

(3) Solid or viscous substances in amounts that will cause obstruction of the flow in the system resulting in interference but in no case solids greater than ½-inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension;

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

(5) Wastewater having a temperature greater than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), or that will inhibit biological activity in the treatment plant resulting in interference, but in no case wastewater that causes the temperature at the introduction into the treatment plant to exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius);

(6) Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass through;

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

(8) Trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the city manager in accordance with section 19-41 of this article;

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

(10) Wastewater that imparts color that cannot be removed by the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions, which consequently imparts color to the treatment plant's effluent, thereby violating the city's NPDES permit;

(11) Wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes except in compliance with applicable State or federal regulations;

(12) Storm water, surface water, ground water, artesian well water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, swimming pool drainage, condensate, deionized water, single pass noncontact cooling water and unpolluted wastewater, unless specifically authorized by the city manager;

(13) Sludges, screenings, or other residues from the pretreatment of industrial wastes, except as specifically authorized by the city manager;

(14) Medical wastes, except as specifically authorized by the city manager in an IWD permit;

(15) Wastewater causing, alone or in conjunction with other sources, the treatment plant's effluent to fail a toxicity test;

(16) Detergents, surface-active agents, or other substances that may cause excessive foaming in the system;

(17) Wastes defined as hazardous waste by RCRA or the California Hazardous Waste Control Law; and/or

(18) Wastewater, when measured with a combustible gas indicator, at the point of discharge into the system or at any point in the system, that results in two readings over 5% or any single reading over 10% of the lower explosive limit of the combustible gas indicator.

(C) No person shall process or store pollutants, substances, or wastewater prohibited by this section in such a manner that they could be discharged to the system.

(D) No person shall discharge any domestic or industrial wastewater to the ground, into any surface drainage conduit, storm drain or channel, or stream or other water course.

(E) Any industrial user obtaining a new permit after the effective date of this provision to discharge to the sewer shall not discharge wastewater containing total dissolved solids (TDS) at concentrations exceeding 1,850 mg/L. This provision shall become effective on the date the approval authority issues its approval of City Ordinance 19-25.

(1) Any industrial users currently permitted to discharge to the sewer prior to the effective date of this provision shall be held to a baseline TDS discharge concentration and loading. This provision shall become effective on the date the approval authority issues its approval of Ordinance No. 2997. This requirement shall be incorporated into individual discharge permits. Industrial users shall be required to establish a baseline TDS concentration and loading based on data collected during a site specific sampling plan approved by the city.

(F) Any industrial user obtaining a new permit after the effective date of this provision to discharge to the sewer shall not discharge wastewater containing boron at concentrations exceeding 1.86 mg/L. This provision shall become effective on the date the approval authority issues its approval of Ordinance No. 2997.

(1) Any industrial users currently permitted to discharge to the sewer prior to the effective date of this provision shall be held to a baseline boron discharge concentration and loading. This provision shall become effective on the date the approval authority issues its approval of Ordinance No. 2997. This requirement shall be incorporated into individual discharge permits. Industrial users shall be required to establish a baseline boron concentration and loading, based on data collected during a site specific sampling plan approved by the city.

(G) Centralized waste treatment (CWT) facilities subject to 40 CFR 437 Subcategory D must comply with the "Best Management Practices for Centralized Waste Treatment (CWT) Facilities (Subcategory D Multiple Wastestream)", developed by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA), February 29, 2016, and any subsequent versions and amendments. Compliance with the CASA BMPs shall be demonstrated before issuance of an industrial waste discharge permit. CWTs that do not fall within Subcategory D, but are classified as Subcategories A, B, or C must comply with all applicable requirements as established in the CASA document.

(H) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged wastewater (untreated or treated) produced as a byproduct of oil production, drilling fluids or completion fluids from oil and gas well drilling, and fluids associated with or generated during hydraulic fracturing into the sewer system.

(I) No industrial user or person shall discharge or cause to be discharged organic solvents into the sewer system or use the sewer as a means of disposal for organic solvents. Industrial users having organic solvents on site shall provide and use a separate collection and disposal system outside the sewer system and shall provide safeguards against their accidental discharge to the sewer. An approved toxic organic management plan (TOMP) that includes control measures to prevent entry of toxic organics and other solvents into the sanitary sewer system shall be filed by the industrial user as a condition of permission to discharge to the sanitary sewer. The TOMP shall be updated whenever any significant change in the inventory, usage, or management of toxic organic compounds occurs. The updated TOMP shall be submitted to the City of Oxnard for approval. Records documenting appropriate disposal and handling of organic solvents shall be maintained for a period of three years and made available for inspection. Any accidental solvent discharges shall be reported to the city within 24 hours of the discharge.

(J) No industrial user, dental discharger or person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any mercury or amalgam waste into the sewer system. All dental dischargers that place or remove amalgam must operate and maintain an amalgam separator that complies with ANSI/ADA Specifications 108 (2009) with Technical Addendum (2011) or ISO 11143 Dentistry-Amalgam Separators and any subsequent versions or amendments. The dental discharger shall comply with the most recent Best Management Practices for Dental Amalgam Waste as recommended by the American Dental Association, and specified in 40 CFR 441 (Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Dental Category) June 14, 2017. Records documenting appropriate handling and disposal of mercury and amalgam shall be maintained for three years and made available for inspection.

(K) No industrial user or person shall discharge or cause to be discharged wastewater that exceeds any applicable site-specific limitation for gross beta radioactivity established by the city. The maximum allowable industrial loading (MAIL) to the wastewater treatment plant for gross beta radioactivity is 6.29 X 108 pCi/d. Any SIU that has the potential to discharge gross beta radioactivity at concentrations that may cause interference or pass-through at the POTW will be issued a site-specific limitation based on an allocation of the MAIL established by the city. The site-specific limitation will be incorporated into the individual SIU's discharge permit.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-13) (Ord. No. 2494, 2997)

(A) The city manager is authorized to establish local limits pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5(c).

(B) Limits for the pollutants listed below are established to protect against pass through and interference in accordance with 40 CFR Part 403.5(c). No person shall introduce, or cause to be introduced, wastewater containing quantities or concentrations in excess of the limits identified in the following table:

(C) All concentrations for metallic substances are for "total" metal unless otherwise indicated. At the discretion of the city manager, mass limitations may be imposed on users in addition to or in place of the concentration based limitations on the above listed pollutants.

(D) The city manager may develop BMPs, by ordinance or in individual wastewater discharge permits or general permits, to implement local limits and the requirements of this section.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-14) (Ord. No. 2494, 2761, 2997)

(A) The federal categorical pretreatment standards found at 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471 are hereby incorporated by reference. A violation of such standards shall constitute a violation of this section.

(B) Where a categorical pretreatment standard is expressed only in terms of either the mass or the concentration of a pollutant in wastewater, the city manager may impose equivalent concentration or mass limits in accordance with 40 CFR Part 403.6(c).

(C) When wastewater subject to a categorical pretreatment standard is mixed with wastewater not regulated by the same standard, the city manager shall impose an alternate limit using the combined waste stream formula in 40 CFR Part 403.6(e).

(D) A user may obtain a variance from a categorical pretreatment standard if the user can prove, pursuant to the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR Part 403.13, that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when developing the categorical pretreatment standard.

(E) A user may obtain a net gross adjustment to a categorical standard in accordance with 40 CFR Part 403.15.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-15) (Ord. No. 2494)

(A) The city manager may prohibit the introduction of medical wastes and may require that any such wastes be rendered noninfectious prior to discharge if deemed to pose a threat to public health and safety.

(B) No person shall discharge solid wastes from hospitals, clinics, offices of medical doctors, convalescent homes, medical laboratories or other medical facilities to the system including, but not limited to, hypodermic needles, syringes, instruments, utensils or other paper and plastic items of a disposable nature, or recognizable portions of the human anatomy or laboratory animals, except where prior written approval for such discharges is given by the city manager. Approved discharges shall be considered industrial wastewater discharge under this article. The city manager may revoke such approval at any time.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-16) (Ord. No. 2494)

The city reserves the right to establish, by ordinance or in IWD permits, more stringent standards or requirements on discharges to the system.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-17) (Ord. No. 2494)

The city reserves the right to enter into special agreements with users, setting out special terms under which they may discharge into the system. In no case will a special agreement waive compliance with a pretreatment standard or requirement. However, the user may request a net gross adjustment to a categorical standard in accordance with 40 CFR Part 403.15. The user may also request a variance from the categorical pretreatment standard from the approval authority. Such a request will be approved only if the user can prove that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when establishing that categorical pretreatment standard. A user requesting a fundamentally different factor variance must comply with the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR Part 403.13.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-18) (Ord. No. 2494)

(A) The city manager may grant a variance from one or more of the provisions of this article. Prior to issuing such a variance, the city manager shall verify that in no case will the granting of a variance allow the user to exceed applicable categorical pretreatment standards or requirements or federally mandated prohibitions.

(B) The city manager may require the user to monitor the volumes and/or concentrations of the discharge in excess of previous levels, if the city manager deems it necessary to properly enforce any variance granted under this section.

(C) The city manager reserves the right to impose requirements that are stricter than, or in addition to, those specified under the authority of sections 19-25 and 19-26 should the quantity or quality of the user's discharge merit unique consideration by virtue of the impact of the user's discharge on the system or public health and welfare.

(D) The city manager reserves the right to revoke the variance at any time.

(E) The city manager reserves the right to charge additional fees related to the granting of a variance.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-19) (Ord. No. 2494)

No user shall ever increase the use of process water for the purpose of diluting a discharge, or in any other way attempt to dilute a discharge. The city manager may impose mass limitations on users suspected of using dilution to meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements, or in other cases when the imposition of mass limitations is appropriate.

(`64 Code, Sec. 25-20) (Ord. No. 2494)