Chapter 13.10 — SEWERS

• [1] Cross references – Water, Chapter 13.15 SCCC; Storm Drains and Discharges, Chapter 13.20 SCCC; Buildings and Construction, SCCC Title 15 .

Article I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

(a) Purpose.

• (1) To provide for and regulate the disposal of sanitary sewage into the sanitary sewer system of the City in such manner and to such extent as is reasonably necessary to maintain and increase the ability of the sanitary sewer system to handle and dispose of sanitary sewage;

• (2) To provide for and regulate the disposal of industrial wastes into the sanitary sewer system of the City in such manner and to such extent as may be reasonably necessary to maintain and increase the ability of such system to handle and dispose of industrial waste without decreasing the ability of said system to handle and dispose of all sanitary sewage;

• (3) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the sanitary sewer system that will pass through the treatment works of the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant ("plant") or otherwise be incompatible with such works or interfere with the ability of the plant to treat, discharge, and recycle wastewater, or to use or dispose of plant biosolids;

• (4) To improve opportunities to recycle and reclaim treated effluent and wastewater sludge;

• (5) To protect the physical structures of the sanitary sewer system and the efficient functioning of its component parts;

• (6) To protect the City and its personnel;

• (7) To preserve and protect the health, safety, and property of the public;

• (8) To enable the City to comply with all applicable and compatible laws, rules, regulations, and orders of the State of California and of the United States;

• (9) To provide for the charging and collection of various fees and other charges reasonably necessary for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and operation of the sanitary sewer system of the City;

(10) To protect the environmental health of San Francisco Bay.

• (b) Conflicts with Other Chapters of This Code. In the event of any conflicts or inconsistencies between the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of any other chapter of this Code, the provisions of this chapter shall control.

• (c) Responsibility for Enforcement. The primary responsibility for enforcement of the provisions of this chapter shall be vested in the City Manager or his/her designee.

• (Ord. 1901 § 2, 11-27-2012)

The definitions set forth below shall govern the application and interpretation of this chapter.

• (a) "A" definitions:

(1) "Amalgam separator"

means a device that: employs filtration, settlement, centrifugation, or ion exchange to remove dental amalgam and its metal constituents from a dental office vacuum system before it discharges to the sanitary sewer; has been certified under the International Organization for Standardization's standard for amalgam separators as capable of removing a minimum of ninety-five percent (95%) of dental amalgam at flow rates comparable to the flow rate of the actual vacuum suction system in operation; and does not have any automatic flow bypass.

(2) "Ammonia"

means the form of nitrogen that is chemically definable as NH3.

• (3) "Audit protocols"

means the procedures to be followed in performing flow and pollutant audit studies.

• (4) "Authorized or duly authorized representative of the user" means:

  • (A) For 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 or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities if the following criteria are met:

      • a. The manager is authorized to make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility including having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendations, and initiating and directing other comprehensive measures to assure longterm environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations;

      • b. The manager can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for individual

wastewater discharge permit requirements; and

• c. The manager has the assigned or delegated authority to sign documents in accordance with corporate procedures.

• (B) For a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

• (C) For 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 subsections (a)(4)(A) through (C) of this section may designate a duly authorized representative in writing, specifying the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and submitting the authorization to the Director.

(5) "Average concentration"

• means the concentration of a pollutant in an industrial user's discharge that is calculated by adding the concentrations of the particular pollutant in all composite samples taken during a given time period, including, but not limited to, self-monitoring samples, and dividing the total by the number of samples taken.

(b) "B" definitions:

(1) "Baseline monitoring report"

means a report which shall include all requirements of Federal regulation, including but not limited to 40 CFR Section 403.12(b) , and:

• (A) For new sources and sources that become industrial users subsequent to the promulgation of an applicable categorical standard, submitted at least ninety (90) days prior to commencement of discharge and containing identifying information, environmental permits in place, a description of operations, flow measurements, measurements of pollutants, and the pretreatment a new source intends to use to meet the applicable standards, including estimates of measurements;

• (B) For existing industrial users, submitted within one hundred eighty (180) days after the effective date of a categorical pretreatment standard, or after the final administrative decision, and shall contain, at a minimum, identifying information, environmental permits in place, a description of operations, flow measurements, a measurement of pollutants, proper certification, and a compliance schedule as necessary.

(2) "Batch discharge"

means the discharge of wastewater resulting from an intermittent treatment process in which an identified amount of process wastewater is collected, treated to meet discharge standards, and released to the sanitary sewer system.

(3) "Best management practices"

means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices, such as standard operating procedures, general good housekeeping, or pollution prevention practices to prevent or reduce the introduction of pollutants to either the sanitary sewer or storm drain system that have been determined by the Director to be cost-effective for particular industry groups, business types, or specific industrial processes. Best management practices may also include approved alternative means (e.g., management plans) of complying with Federal, State or local regulations.

(4) "Biochemical oxygen demand"

means the quantity of oxygen expressed in parts per million (ppm) by weight, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory conditions for five days at a temperature of twenty degrees centigrade (20º C).

• (c) "C" definitions:

(1) "Categorical industrial user" or "CIU"

means a source performing any categorical process subject to Federal pretreatment standards, as described in 40 CFR Parts 405 through 471 , as amended from time to time, that has any connection to the sanitary sewer system.

(2) "Categorical pretreatment standard" or "categorical standard"

• means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA that apply to specific categories of users and which appear in 40 CFR Parts 405 through 471 , as amended from time to time.

• (3) "Clean Water Act"

is the 1972 amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq. The Act is the primary legislation concerning water pollution and its regulation. The Act establishes a permit system that must be used by point sources of pollution such as industrial facilities, government facilities, and agricultural operations. These point sources are not allowed to discharge or dispose of the pollutants they produce in surface water without a permit from the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).

(4) "Code of Federal Regulations"

(or "CFR") refers to the Code of Federal Regulations as published by the Office of the Federal Register National Archives and Records Administration. Whenever a reference is made to any portion of the CFR, or to any other Federal regulation, such reference shall apply to all amendments and additions to such portion of said regulations now or hereinafter enacted.

(5) "Composite sample"

means a flow-proportional or time-proportional sample, which accurately represents the average pollutant concentration discharged during a continuous time period. A composite sample may be obtained manually or automatically, and it may be taken discretely or continuously. For manual composite sampling, at least six individual samples from each sample point shall be combined and mixed to obtain one composite sample; flow-proportion may be obtained either by varying the time interval between each discrete sample or the volume of each discrete sample.

(6) "Continuous discharge"

means a discharge which occurs without interruption throughout the operating hours of the facility, except for infrequent shutdowns for maintenance, process changes, or other similar activities.

(7) "Critical user"

means a discharger whose wastewater contains priority pollutants, or who discharges any waste which has the potential to cause interference in concentration above those allowed in this chapter and/or who discharges in excess of one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons per day.

• (d) "D" definitions:

(1) "Dental amalgam"

means an alloy of mercury with another metal used by dentists to fill cavities in teeth.

(2) "Diluting waters"

means noncontact cooling water, boiler blowdown, domestic sewage, groundwater, stormwater, surface drainage, reverse osmosis reject, water softener regeneration, potable waters, or any other waters that are not part of an industrial process and that do not contain priority pollutants but are combined with industrial wastewater prior to the monitoring point for industrial wastewater discharge. "Diluting waters" also includes excess water used in production processes, such as rinse tanks or rinse water running when in production in excess of operational or quality requirements.

(3) "Director,"

for purposes of this chapter, shall mean the Director of Water and Sewer Utilities or his/her designee.

(4) "Discharger"

means any person discharging wastewater into the sanitary sewer system.

(5) "Domestic wastewater"

means wastewater from private residences and other premises resulting from the use of water for personal washing, sanitary purposes and/or the elimination of human wastes and related matter.

(e) "E" definitions:

(1) "Enforcement response plan"

means the City's plan used to guide enforcement actions taken in response to violations of this Code.

(2) "Existing source"

means any source of discharge that is not a new source.

• (f) "F" definitions:

  • (1) "Food service establishment"

means a user that prepares and/or sells food for consumption either on or off the premises or washes utensils or dishes on premises that may contribute grease to the sewer system, including, but not limited to, restaurants, sandwich shops, delicatessens, bakeries, cafeterias, markets, bed and breakfast inns, motels, hotels, meeting halls, caterers, retirement and nursing homes or pizzerias. The term, as used in this chapter, does not refer to food stores or establishments that do not prepare food on premises and do not process food in a manner which may contribute grease to the sewer system.

• (g) "G" definitions:

(1) "Garbage"

means wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of foods, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.

(2) "Grab sample"

means a single discrete sample collected at a particular time and place that represents the composition of the waste stream only at that time and place.

(3) "Grease"

means liquid or other waste containing floatable and/or dispersed grease, vegetable oil, petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or fat, oil or grease products of animal, vegetable or mineral origin which is detectable and measurable using analytical test

procedures established in the United States Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Section 136 .

(4) "Grease control device"

means a grease interceptor, grease trap, mechanical grease removal device or other device approved for use by the Director.

(5) "Grease interceptor"

• means a large tank installed underground and designed to collect and control solid food wastes and floating grease from wastewater prior to discharge into the sanitary sewer collection system. Grease interceptors are normally installed outside the building and use gravity to separate grease from the wastewater as it moves from one compartment of the interceptor to the next.

(6) "Grease trap"

means a device placed under or in close proximity to sinks or other fixtures likely to discharge grease in an attempt to separate, trap and hold oil and grease substances.

• (h) Reserved for future use.

• (i) "I" definitions:

(1) "Indirect discharge" or "discharge"

means the introduction of pollutants or any discharge of wastewater to the sanitary sewer system.

(2) "Industrial user"

• means any nonresidential user that discharges industrial wastes to the sanitary sewer system.

(3) "Industrial wastes"

means the wastes from producing, manufacturing, and processing operations of every kind and nature.

(4) Interference.

• (A) "Interference" means a discharge that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the processes or operation of the sanitary sewer system, including the plant, or causes or significantly contributes to a violation of any requirement of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which is a permit issued to the City pursuant to Section 402 of the Clean Water Act.

  • (B) "Interference" also includes prevention of biosolids use or disposal by the plant in accordance with published regulations providing guidelines under Section 405 of the Federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sections 1251 through 1387 ) or in regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.), the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. Sections 2601 through 2654 ), or more stringent State regulations (including those contained in any State biosolids management plan prepared pursuant to Title IV of SWDA) applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the plant.

• (j) Reserved for future use.

• (k) Reserved for future use.

• (l) "L" definitions:

  • (1) "Low flow discharger"

means an industrial discharger whose average process flow, as shown on the discharger's application to discharge and as measured as a rolling six-month average, is less than one thousand (1,000) gallons per day.

(m) "M" definitions:

(1) "Maximum allowable concentration"

means the highest permissible concentration or other measure of pollutant magnitude taken at a specific point in time.

• (2) "Mechanical grease removal device"

means a power operated device or combination of devices using electrical equipment to heat, filter, siphon, skim or otherwise separate and retain floating grease and solid food waste prior to the wastewater exiting the trap and entering the sanitary sewer collection system.

• (n) "N" definitions:

  • (1) "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 Clean Water Act that will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section; provided, that:

      • (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, in the sole judgment of the Director, substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source, should be considered.

  • (B) Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria of subsection (n)(1) (A)(ii) or (iii) of this section but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

  • (C) Construction of a new source as defined under this definition has commenced if the owner or operator has:

    • (i) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site construction program:

      • a. Any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment; or

      • b. Significant site preparation work, including clearing, excavating, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities, which is necessary

for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or

• (ii) Entered into a contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this subsection.

(2) "Ninety (90) day compliance report"

means a report which shall include all requirements of Federal regulation, including but not limited to 40 CFR Section 403.12(d) , and:

• (A) For a new source, submitted within ninety (90) days following the commencement of the introduction of wastewater into the POTW, and containing, at a minimum, flow measurements, a measurement of pollutants, and certification of compliance with pretreatment standards; and

• (B) For industrial users, submitted within ninety (90) days following the final date for compliance with an applicable pretreatment standard and containing, at a minimum, flow measurements, a measurement of pollutants, certification of compliance with pretreatment standards and the actual production during sampling period; and for industrial users subject to equivalent mass or concentration limits, a reasonable measure of the long-term production rate.

• (o) "O" definitions:

(1) "Owner"

means any person who owns private premises that contain a source as defined in this section.

(2) "Operator"

means any person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises a source as defined in this section.

• (p) "P" definitions:

(1) "Pass-through"

means a discharge which exits the plant 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 plant's NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

(2) "pH"

means the logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions in moles per liter of solution.

(3) "Plant"

means the San Jose/Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility, which is also known as the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant.

(4) "Pollutant not present"

means a pollutant regulated by a categorical pretreatment standard that is not used or stored in a categorical industrial user's facility, is not added to or created by any industrial or pretreatment process at the facility, and is not present above the background levels of the water supply.

• (5) "Pretreatment requirements"

means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on an industrial user other than a pretreatment standard.

(6) "Pretreatment standard"

means prohibited discharge standards, including those in Federal regulations such as 40 CFR Section 403.5 , categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.

(7) "Priority pollutants"

means all pollutants as defined by the "General Pretreatment Regulations" of the Environmental Protection Agency, found at Title 40, Chapter 1, Subchapter W, Parts 401 and 403 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(8) "Process flow"

means the daily, twenty-four (24) hour flow of wastewater from any kind or nature of production, manufacturing, or processing operation, including industrial and commercial operations where water is used for the removal of any type of waste other than sanitary sewage. Process flow does not include diluting waters.

• (q) Reserved for future use.

• (r) "R" definitions:

(1) "Reasonable control measures"

means control technologies, best management practices, source control practices, and waste-minimization procedures that prevent or reduce the introduction of pollutants to the sanitary sewer system and are determined by the Director to be cost-effective for particular industry groups, business types, or specific industrial processes.

• (s) "S" definitions:

(1) "Sanitary sewage"

means water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, excluding ground, surface, and stormwaters, subsurface drainage, and also excluding industrial waste.

(2) "Sanitary sewer overflow"

is any overflow, spill, release, discharge or diversion of untreated or partially treated wastewater from a sanitary sewer system, including overflows or releases that reach waters of the United States, overflows or releases that do not reach waters of the United States, and backups into buildings and/or private property caused by conditions within the publicly owned portion of the sewer system.

(3) "Sanitary sewer system"

means all publicly owned treatment works (POTW), including the plant, sewers, treatment plants, and other facilities owned or operated by the City for carrying, collecting, pumping, treating, storing, recycling, and disposing of sanitary sewage and industrial wastes.

(4) "Sewer"

means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

(5) "Sewer lateral"

(same as "sewer service lateral") means the sewer connection piping used to convey sewage from a building or facility on a parcel (private or public property) to the Cityowned sewer main. Each sewer lateral is owned by the entity that owns the property or facility from which that sewer lateral serves to convey sewage.

(6) "Significant change"

means any change in an industrial user's operation that results in any of the following:

• (A) An increase or decrease in twelve (12) month average process flow of twenty-five percent (25%) over the standard discharger's average process flow for the discharger's most immediate preceding twelve (12) months.

• (B) An increase or decrease in twelve (12) month average process flow that results in a change from low flow discharger to standard discharger or from standard discharger to low flow discharger.

• (C) An increase or decrease in twelve (12) month average process flow that results in a change from nonsignificant industrial user to significant industrial user or from significant industrial user to nonsignificant industrial user.

• (D) An increase or decrease in twelve (12) month production rate of twenty-five percent (25%) for any industrial user subject to production-based limits over the industrial user's production rate for the most immediate preceding twelve (12) months.

• (E) Adding or deleting processes, process discharges or sample points.

• (F) Waiver of monitoring requirements for any pollutant not present.

• (7) "Significant industrial user" means:

  • (A) An industrial user that has processes subject to categorical pretreatment standards except as provided under subsection (s)(7)(C) of this section; or

  • (B) An industrial user that:

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

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

    • (iii) Is designated as such by the Director on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the plant's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement;

  • (C) A significant industrial user includes an industrial user that has processes subject to categorical pretreatment standards if the industrial user:

    • (i) Does not discharge more than one hundred (100) gpd of total categorical process wastewater;

    • (ii) Has complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards;

    • (iii) Never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater; and

• (iv) Submits annually a certificate statement pursuant to 40 CFR Section 403.12(g) .

(8) "Significant noncompliance"

• means a violation or violations by an industrial user meeting one or more of the following criteria:

• (A) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits defined here as those in which sixty-six percent (66%) or more of all the measurements taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR Section 403.3(l) ;

• (B) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirtythree percent (33%) or more of all the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR Section 403.3(l) , 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);

• (C) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by 40 CFR Section 403.3(l) (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the Director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through (including endangering the health of the Director, personnel or the general public);

• (D) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the plant's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;

• (E) Failure to meet, within ninety (90) days after the scheduled due date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;

• (F) Failure to provide, within forty-five (45) days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety (90) day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;

• (G) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; and

• (H) Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of reasonable control measures, which the Director determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the pretreatment program.

(9) "Slug control plan"

means the document prepared pursuant to 40 CFR Section 403.8(f)(1)(iii)(B)(6) by a significant industrial user that describes the procedural and operational controls in place to prevent a slug load or slug discharge.

(10) "Slug load" or "slug discharge"

means any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or noncustomary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass-through or in any other way cause a violation of the provisions of this chapter or applicable permit conditions.

(11) "Source"

means any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be a potential as determined by the Director to discharge pollutants above the local limits included in this chapter or State or Federal limits or wastewater of such volume or strength that it may cause interference, pass-through or operational problems in the sanitary sewer system or at the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant.

• (12) "Standard discharger"

means any industrial discharger who is not a low flow discharger.

(t) "T" definitions:

(1) "Total toxic organics (TTOs)"

• are the sum of the concentrations for each of the regulated toxic organic compounds listed at Title 40, Chapter 1, Subchapter W, Part 401, Section 401 . 15 CFR and are found in the discharge at a concentration greater than ten micrograms per liter. Some categorical standards (40 CFR Parts 405 through 471 ) list the specific toxic organic compounds that are to be included in the summation.

(2) "Trucked or hauled waste"

means any waste discharged into the sanitary sewer system after being placed in a motorized vehicle for removal from the location where the waste was generated or produced.

• (u) "U" definitions:

(1) "Upset"

means an unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the industrial user. An upset does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventative maintenance, or careless or improper operation.

(2) "User"

means any person responsible for payment of sewer service charges.

• (v) Reserved for future use.

• (w) Reserved for future use.

• (x) Reserved for future use.

• (y) "Y" definitions:

(1) "Yellow grease"

means grease which is associated with food preparation or processing, which has not been contaminated with wash water or chemicals, or by being spilled or otherwise contaminated.

• (z) "Z" definitions:

(1) "Zero discharger" or "ZDC"

means an industrial facility that performs any categorical process subject to Federal pretreatment standards, as described in 40 CFR Parts 405 through 471 , that has any connection to the sanitary sewer system, but does not discharge wastewater from the categorical process to the sanitary sewer.

• (Ord. 1901 § 2, 11-27-2012; Ord. 1920 § 1, 2-25-2014; Ord. 2039 §§ 1 – 9, 1-11-2022)