Tracy Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

(a) The purpose of this chapter is to facilitate the maximum beneficial use of the City's sewer system while preventing blockages of the sewer lines resulting from discharges of fats, oils and grease (FOG) into the public sewer, and to specify appropriate FOG discharge requirements for food service establishments as defined herein.

(b) This chapter shall be known as the FOG control program.

(c) The provisions set forth in this chapter are designed to ensure compliance with Federal, State and local laws and regulations, and to allow the City to meet applicable standards.

(d) This chapter also establishes quantity and quality standards on all discharges containing FOG, which may alone or collectively cause or contribute to FOG accumulation in the sewer facilities causing or potentially causing or contributing to the occurrence of sanitary sewer overflows.

(Ord. No. 1276, § 1(Att. A), 11-19-2019)

This chapter shall apply to discharges of wastewater containing FOG conveyed to the public sewer from any commercial or institutional food service establishment, including Significant Industrial users, unless their wastewater discharge permit states otherwise. All industrial users, as defined in 5.24.020, are subject to local, state, and/or Federal pretreatment regulations and shall be regulated under Chapter 5.24 as well.

(Ord. No. 1276, § 1(Att. A), 11-19-2019)

(a) Unless otherwise defined herein, terms related to water quality shall be as adopted in the latest edition of Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation. The testing procedures for waste constituents and characteristics shall be as provided in 40 CFR 136 (Code of Federal Regulations).

(b) Other terms not herein defined are defined as being the same as set forth in 5.24.040 of the Tracy Municipal Code and the latest adopted applicable editions of the California Codes applicable to building construction adopted pursuant to the California Building Standards Law.

(c) Subject to the foregoing provisions, the following definitions shall apply in this chapter:

"Best management practices" or "BMPs" mean activities, prohibitions, maintenance procedures and other management practices to prevent or reduce the introduction of FOG into the public sewer.

"Blockage" means a partial or complete obstruction of wastewater flowing through a sewer pipeline.

"Brown grease" means floatable FOG, settled solids and associated wastewater retained by grease interceptors and grease traps.

"Change in law" means a change to any State or Federal law, permit or regulation; changes to the City Code; changes to any City NPDES permit or waste discharge requirement; or the subsequent existence of any court order, consent decree, injunction or other regulatory or legal imposition that affects the use and/or operation of the City's sanitary sewer system and any other public or private sanitary sewer systems, lines or other public or private infrastructure that connects to the City's sanitary sewer system.

"Change in operations" means any change in the ownership, food types, or operational procedures that have the potential to change the amount of FOG discharged by an FSE to the City's wastewater collection and treatment system.

"City" means the City of Tracy, a municipal corporation.

"Collection system" means the public sewer system consisting of all pipes and conveyance system components conveying wastewater to the City's wastewater treatment plant.

"Compliance schedule agreement" means an agreement between the city and a FSE when the FSE is in noncompliance with the requirements of the applicable FOG wastewater discharge permit.

"Composite sample" means a collection of individual samples obtained at intervals during a specified period of time. Flow-proportioned composite samples are obtained by collecting incremental samples with volumes proportional to flow. The resulting mixture (composite sample) forms a representative sample of the waste stream discharged during the sample period.

"Design hydraulic depth" means total operating depth of interceptor contents at which interceptor is designed to operate.

"Director" means the City of Tracy Director of Utilities or authorized representative.

"Enforcement officer" means any City employee or agent of the City with authority to enforce the provisions of this chapter and the authority to make any decision, on behalf of the Director, required or called for by this chapter.

"Fats, oils and grease" or "FOG" means any substance such as vegetable or animal product that is used in, or is a byproduct of, the cooking or food preparation process, and that becomes or may become viscous, or solidifies or may solidify, with a change in temperature or other conditions.

"FOG control program" means the FOG control program identified in and developed pursuant to this chapter.

"Food grinder" means any device installed in the plumbing or sewage system for the purpose of grinding food waste or food preparation by products for the purpose of disposing it in the sewer system.

"Food service establishment (FSE)" means food facilities defined in California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law (CURFFL) Section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code, and any commercial or industrial entity within the boundaries of the sanitary sewer service area of the regional wastewater control facility, operating in a permanently constructed structure such as a room, building, or place, or portion thereof, maintained, used, or operated for the purpose of storing, preparing, serving, or manufacturing, packaging, or otherwise handling food for sale to other entities, or for consumption by the public, its members or employees, and which has any process or device that uses or produces FOG, or grease vapors, steam, fumes, smoke or odors that are required to be removed by mechanical ventilation as required by Health and Safety Code Section 114149. An establishment that limits its food preparation activities to those defined as "limited food preparation" in Health and Safety Code Section 113818 is not considered a FSE when engaged only in reheating, hot holding or assembly of ready to eat food products, provided that the establishment has no wastewater discharge containing a significant amount of FOG.

"Grab sample" means a sample taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.

"Grease control device" means any grease interceptor, grease trap or other mechanism, device or process which attaches to, or is applied to, wastewater plumbing fixtures and lines, the purpose of which is to trap, collect and/or treat FOG prior to it being discharged into the public sewer.

"Grease interceptor" means a multicompartment device that primarily uses gravity to separate FOG from the wastewater as it moves from one compartment to the next. The design, construction, sizing and installation of grease interceptors shall conform to this chapter and the most current edition of the California Plumbing Code. In the event of conflict, this chapter will control.

"Grease trap" means a grease control device that is used to serve individual plumbing fixtures. A grease trap is typically installed indoors, under or near a dishwashing sink.

"Hot spots" mean sewer lines that have experienced grease related blockages or SSOs and that must be cleaned or maintained frequently to avoid blockages of the public sewer.

"Inspector" means a person authorized by the Director to inspect any existing or proposed wastewater generation, conveyance, processing and/or disposal facilities.

"Institution" means a school, church, hospital, lodge, club, convalescent home or other similar entity.

"Interceptor" means a "grease interceptor."

"Manifest" means that receipt which is retained by the generator of wastes for disposing recyclable wastes or liquid wastes as required by the city.

"New construction" means any structure planned or under construction for which a connection permit has not been issued.

"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 representative, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine and the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.

"Public sewer" means a sewer owned and operated by the City. All public sewers must be constructed in accordance with Tracy's regulations and specifications for construction of sanitary sewers.

"Remodel" or "remodeling" means any physical and/or operational change to an FSE that involves any one or a combination of the following:

(1) Under-slab plumbing in the food processing area;

(2) A thirty (30) percent or greater increase in the net public seating area;

(3) A thirty (30) percent or greater increase in the size of the kitchen area;

(4) Any change in the size or type of food preparation equipment;

(5) Any remodel, addition, alteration or repair valued greater than seventy-five thousand and no/100ths ($75,000.00) dollars.

"Sanitary sewer" means a sewer to which storm, surface and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.

"Sanitary waste" means domestic wastewater.

"Sanitary sewer overflow" or "SSO" means any overflow, spill, release, discharge or diversion of untreated or partially treated wastewater from a sanitary sewer system.

"Sewage facilities" means any and all facilities used for collecting, conveying, pumping, treating and disposing of wastewater.

"Sewer lateral" means the pipe between the City's sewer main line and the customer's service connection.

"Sludge" means any solid, semi-solid and/or liquid decant, sediment or supernatant from a manufacturing process, utility service, tank, vault or FOG control facility.

"Storm sewers or storm drains" means a sewer which carries storm and/or surface run-off water but excludes domestic sewage and polluted industrial wastes.

"Variance" means an approval granted to a permittee to vary from a specific requirement or requirements of this chapter when it can be demonstrated that the requirement(s) can be met with an equal or better process, technology or method.

"Waste" means sewage and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, associated with human habitation or of human or animal nature, including such wastes placed within containers of whatever nature prior to and for the purpose of disposal.

"Wastehauler" means any person carrying on or engaging in vehicular transport of waste as part of, or incidental to, any business for the purpose of discharging said waste into the City's system.

"Wastewater" means the liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions, together which may be present, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted to enter the POTW.

"Wastewater constituents and characteristics" means the individual chemical, physical, bacteriological and radiological parameters, including volume and flow rate and such other parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the quality and quantity of wastewater.

"Yellow grease" means spent cooking oil and other fats and oils collected from commercial or industrial cooking operations. Yellow grease is typically collected in bins outside of the FSE for recycling.

(Ord. No. 1276, § 1(Att. A), 11-19-2019)