Watsonville Municipal Code Art. 1 Definitions 1

For the purpose of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as set forth in this article.

(a) “Acceptable waste” shall mean any waste which, as determined by the Director, can be collected, treated, or disposed of.

(b) “Accounts not in good standing” shall mean any customer account that has been closed or shut off for nonpayment of City utility bills.

(c) “Applicant” shall mean any person, corporation, or public agency applying for City utility service.

(d) “Authorized or duly authorized representative of the user” shall mean an individual who satisfies the following criteria:

(1) If the user is a corporation:

(i) The president, secretary, treasurer, or 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 operation facilities employing more than two hundred fifty (250) persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding twenty-five (25) million dollars (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

(2) If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

(3) If the user is a federal, State, or local government 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.

(4) The individuals described in subsections (d)(1) through (3) of this section may designate another authorized representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies 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 the written authorization is submitted to the Director.

(e) “Best Management Practices (BMPs)” shall mean either any schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, or other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of the waters of the United States. 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 material storage.

(f) “Biochemical oxygen demand” or “BOD” shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g. mg/l).

(g) “Building” shall mean any structure used for human habitation, business, commerce, industry, recreation, public use, or other similar purposes.

(h) “Bypass” shall mean the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a user’s treatment facility.

(i) “Categorical industrial user” or “CIU” shall mean an industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.

(j) “Categorical pretreatment standard” or “categorical standard” shall mean any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.

(k) “Chemical oxygen demand” or “COD” shall mean a measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and inorganic, in water.

(l) “City of Watsonville improvement standards” shall mean any minimum standards for public works and any other improvement construction in the City of Watsonville, adopted by the City Council from time to time and on file in the office of the Director.

(m) “City utilities” shall mean the provision of recycling, solid waste, sewer, and/or water services.

(n) “Clean Water Act” shall mean the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251 et seq., Stat. 816 PL 92-500. Any terms defined in the Clean Water Act, and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, or defined in the regulations promulgated pursuant to said Act (as may from time to time be amended) and used in this chapter shall have the same meaning as in that statute or those regulations.

(o) “CFR” shall mean the Code of Federal Regulations.

(p) “Commercial unit” shall mean any building intended or used for commerce, including subdivisions of these facilities, where occupied by separate businesses.

(q) Connection Fees.

(1) “Sanitary sewer connection fees” shall mean any fee due for any discharge of wastewater to the POTW from a new discharger or for the discharge of flow, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids (SS) from an existing discharger to the extent that the discharge quantity exceeds the discharge allocation of the existing discharger.

(2) “Water connection fees” shall mean any fee due for new connections to the water system or increases in the water demand from new units connected to existing services.

(3) “Storm sewer connection fees” shall mean any fees due for any connections to the City storm sewer by developments.

(r) “Consumption charge” shall mean any charge for any water that passes through a water meter for all purposes except for fire suppression.

(s) “Container” shall mean any receptacle provided or approved by the City for the storage and handling of solid waste or recyclables.

(t) “Containerized wastes” shall mean any solid waste placed in any container designed and/or used for the storage of solid waste.

(u) “Contractor” shall mean any individual, firm, corporation, association, or other entity duly licensed by the State to perform the type of work to be done under permit.

(v) “Critical water service customer” shall mean any customer, as determined by the Director, for whom a disruption of water service would result in a threat to public health and safety or cause irreparable damage to the customer.

(w) “Cross connection” shall mean any unprotected connection between any part of the publicly owned treatment works and any source of potential contamination.

(x) “Customer” shall mean any person, partnership, corporation, association, public agency, or other entity receiving utility services from the City.

(y) “Date of billing” shall mean the date upon which a bill is mailed or delivered personally to the customer at their last known address.

(z) “Detrimental” shall mean any substance causing or reasonably expected to cause an adverse impact to the publicly owned treatment works, to the environment, or cause the failure of the publicly owned treatment works to comply with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements, State Air Resources Control Board requirements, or California Integrated Waste Management Board requirements, or that will limit the beneficial use of treated wastewater or wastewater sludge/biosolids by the publicly owned treatment works.

(aa) “Director” shall mean the Watsonville Director of Public Works and Utilities, or his/her authorized representative.

(bb) “Discharger” shall mean any building, structure, facility, or installation that discharges wastewater to the publicly owned treatment works.

(cc) “Existing source” shall mean any source of discharge that is not a new source.

(dd) “Fire service” shall mean provision of water, up to and including a detector check, for a fire hydrant and/or for an automatic fire protection system.

(ee) “Food service establishment” shall mean any premises where activities of preparing, serving, or otherwise making food available for consumption such as restaurant, commercial kitchen, caterer, hotel, school, hospital, prison, correctional facility, care institutions, and fraternal organizations.

(ff) “Grab sample” shall mean a sample that is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the waste stream and over a time not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes.

(gg) “Grease interceptor” shall mean any structure or device designed for the purpose of removing and preventing fats, oils and grease from entering the sanitary sewer collection system, typically belowground outside and built as two (2) or three (3) chamber-baffled tank.

(hh) “Grease trap” shall mean any device for separating and retaining waterborne greases and grease complexes prior to the wastewater exiting the device and entering the sanitary sewer collection and treatment system. Such devices are typically compact under-the-sink units near food cleaning preparation areas.

(ii) “Hazardous waste” shall mean any waste identified as a hazardous waste under federal and/or State laws or regulations.

(jj) “Illicit discharge” shall mean any discharge to the City storm water sewer system not composed entirely of storm water, except discharges pursuant to a NPDES permit or those charges resulting from firefighting activities.

(kk) “Indirect discharge or discharge” shall mean the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.

(ll) “Infectious waste” shall mean any waste which may contain pathogens or other disease infected waste, but excluding household waste.

(mm) “Interference” shall mean a discharge that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use, or disposal; and therefore, 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 II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any State regulations contained in any State sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.

(nn) “Irrigation runoff” shall mean irrigation water not absorbed by the soil or landscaped area to which it is applied and which flows onto other areas.

(oo) “Local limit” shall mean specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the City upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(l) and (b) in order to protect the POTW from interference and/or pass-through.

(pp) “Maximum applied water allowance (MAWA)” shall mean the upper limit of water that should be applied annually through an irrigation system for a landscaped area. MAWA for a given landscape is determined by the area climate (eighty (80%) percent evapotranspiration [Eto] is used) and the amount of landscaped area for a development.

(qq) “Multiple residential” shall mean any parcel of land containing more than one residential unit.

(rr) “National pretreatment standards” shall mean any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA pursuant to Section 307(b) and (c) of the Clean Water Act, which applies to indirect dischargers. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR Part 403.5 and the industry specific national categorical pretreatment standards.

(ss) “New source” shall mean:

(1) Any building, structure, or facility, or installation from which there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after publication of proposed pretreatment standards under section 307(c) of the Act that will be applicable to such a 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 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.

(2) 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 (ss)(1)(ii) or (iii) of this section but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(3) Construction of a new source as defined under this subsection has commenced if the owner or operator has:

(i) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site 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 which 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 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.

(tt) “Noncontact cooling water” shall mean water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.

(uu) “Nonsignificant categorical industrial user” or “NSCIU” shall mean a CIU that meets the following criteria:

(1) The City may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards is a nonsignificant categorical industrial user rather than a significant industrial user on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than one hundred (100) gallons per day of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:

(i) The industrial user, prior to the City’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;

(ii) The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required in 40 CFR 403.12(q), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

(iii) The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

(2) Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in subsection (uu)(1) of this section 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 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.

(vv) “NPDES” shall mean National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.

(ww) “Pass-through” shall mean a discharge which 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, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

(xx) “Permit” shall mean any written authorization required pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or any other provision of this code.

(yy) “pH” shall mean a measure of acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

(zz) “Pollutant” shall mean a contaminant that is detrimental to the physical, chemical, or biological properties of the environment. The term includes nutrients, sediment, pathogens, toxic metals, carcinogens, oxygen-demanding materials, and all other harmful substances.

(aaa) “Pretreatment” shall mean the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, introducing such pollutants into the POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants.

(bbb) “Pretreatment standard or requirement” shall mean any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.

(ccc) “Private sanitary sewer collection system” shall mean a sewer collection system serving four (4) or more units, including, but not limited to: apartment complexes, mobile home parks, condominiums, cooperative apartment buildings and commercial centers. It may also be a sewer collection system with a privately owned and maintained sewer lift station, or an agreement between two (2) or more parcels to own, operate, and maintain an existing shared sewer lateral, with prior approval from the Director of Public Works.

(ddd) “Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)” shall mean the publicly owned treatment works, including but not limited to the City of Watsonville’s wastewater treatment plant, sanitary sewer mains, lift stations, and marine outfall.

(eee) “Publicly owned water works (“POWW”)” shall mean the City of Watsonville’s publicly owned water works and refers to all equipment, buildings, and facilities for the production, treatment and distribution of potable water. This includes, but is not limited to, all pipes, pumps, reservoirs, wells, valves, and meters.

(fff) “Public sanitary sewer main” shall mean any pipe or conduit, which is owned by the City of Watsonville, intended to carry sewage to the POTW.

(ggg) “Recyclables” shall mean any materials which can be separated from the waste stream, collected and processed so that they may be used again.

(hhh) “Residential unit” shall mean any building, mobile home, or portion thereof, which is intended or being used for human habitation and includes provisions for sleeping and cooking or sleeping and sanitation.

(iii) “Sanitary landfill” shall mean any site where solid waste is disposed using sanitary land filling techniques prescribed by local, State, and federal authorities in the interests of the public health and protection of the environment.

(jjj) “Sanitary sewer lateral” shall mean that portion of any sanitary sewer beginning at the plumbing or drainage outlet of any building and extending to the POTW.

(kkk) “Service availability charge” shall mean any periodic fee to compensate for access to City utilities. This fee is in addition to consumption charges for the various City utility services.

(lll) “Service connection” shall mean the water service line originating from a water main up to and including a meter, a battery of meters, or a private fire service.

(mmm) “Sewage” shall mean liquid and water carried waste, from residences, businesses, institutions, and industrial facilities.

(nnn) “Sewer services” shall mean the provision of sanitary sewer, storm water management, or urban run-off control services.

(ooo) “Significant industrial user” or “SIU” shall mean a discharger who meets the following criteria:

(1) An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

(2) An industrial user that:

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

(ii) Contributes a process wastestream 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 reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.

(ppp) “Significant noncompliance” or “SNC” shall mean an industrial user is in significant noncompliance with applicable pretreatment requirements if any violation meets one or more of the criteria listed in subsections (ppp)(1) through (8) of this section at any time during the previous twelve (12) months. This enforcement step requires at least annual public notification in the newspaper.

(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six (66%) percent or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six (6) month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR 403.3(l);

(2) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirty-three (33%) percent or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six (6) month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);

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

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

(5) Failure to meet, within ninety (90) days after the scheduled date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance;

(6) 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;

(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;

(8) Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of best management practices, which the POTW determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.

(qqq) “Sludge” shall mean a semi-liquid sediment, resulting from the accumulation of settleable organic and/or inorganic solids deposited from wastewaters or other fluids.

(rrr) “Slug load” or “slug discharge” shall mean any discharge at a flow rate or concentration, which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards. A slug discharge is any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass-through, or in any other way violate the POTW’s regulations, local limits or permit conditions.

(sss) “Solid waste” shall mean any discarded waste in any form, excluding recyclables.

(ttt) “Storm sewer” shall mean any conduit or pipe which is intended to carry storm water discharge.

(uuu) “Storm water discharge” shall mean any storm water runoff, snowmelt, runoff, or surface runoff and drainage.

(vvv) “Storm water sewer system” shall mean those facilities within the City by which storm water discharge may be conveyed to waters of the United States, including any roads with drainage systems, municipal streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, manmade channels or storm sewers, which are not part of a POTW.

(www) “Total suspended solids” or “TSS” shall mean 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.

(xxx) “Unacceptable materials” shall mean any waste material which, as determined by the Director, cannot be disposed of, collected, treated, or recycled.

(yyy) “User” or “industrial user” shall mean a source of indirect discharge.

(zzz) “Waste” shall mean any and all waste substances liquid, solid, radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing, or processing or whatever nature, including such waste placed in containers of whatever nature prior to, and for the purpose of disposal.

(aaaa) “Wastewater” shall mean sewage.

(bbbb) “Water main” shall mean any City-owned potable water distribution pipelines located in streets, highways, public ways, or City utility easements used to serve the general public or a fire district.

(cccc) “Watercourse” shall mean any river, stream, creek, wetland, slough, waterway, or channel.

(dddd) “Water well” shall mean any artificial excavation constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting water from the ground.

(eeee) “Xeriscaping” shall mean any method, as approved by the Director, of water efficient landscaping which utilizes planning, design, soil analysis, efficient irrigation, minimization of turf areas, appropriate plant selection, mulches, or appropriate maintenance to minimize water use.

(§ 1, Ord. 1252-10 (CM), eff. February 11, 2010, as amended by § 1, Ord. 1437-22 (CM), eff. October 13, 2022)