8.04 — WASTEWATER DISCHARGE AND TREATMENT

• A. This chapter sets forth uniform requirements for direct and indirect dischargers to the water pollution control facility (WPCF) and enables the City to comply with all applicable State and Federal laws required by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 United States Code Section 1251 et seq.) and the pretreatment regulations adopted pursuant to that Act (40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 403).

• B. The objectives of this chapter are:

  1. To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the WPCF that will interfere with its operation or contaminate the resulting sludge;

  2. To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the WPCF which will pass through the WPCF inadequately treated, into the receiving water or the atmosphere or be otherwise incompatible with the WPCF;

  3. To promote reuse and recycling of industrial wastewater and sludge from the WPCF;

  4. To provide for equitable distribution of the cost of operation, maintenance and improvement of the WPCF;

  5. To protect both WPCF personnel who may be affected by wastewater and sludge in the course of their employment and the general public;

  6. To enable the City to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements, and all Federal or State laws to which the WPCF is subject;

  7. To enable the City to comply with foreseeable extensions of Federal or State regulations, including implementation of National Toxics Rule or California Toxics Rule criteria promulgated pursuant to the Act and contained 40 CFR Part 131, or a water quality control plan adopted or proposed by the State Water Resources Control Board pursuant to Water Code Section 13170.

• C. This chapter provides for the regulation of direct and indirect dischargers to the WPCF through the issuance of wastewater discharge permits to certain nondomestic users, including all industrial users and enforcement of general requirements for other users; authorizes monitoring, compliance and enforcement activities; requires industrial user reporting; assumes that existing users' capacity will not be preempted; and provides for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the programs established in this chapter.

• D. This chapter shall apply both to persons in the City and to persons outside the City who are users of the WPCF.

• E. This chapter establishes both an industrial pretreatment program (IPP) and a pollution prevention program (PPP). The IPP establishes regulations applicable to all significant industrial users (SIUs) and categorical industrial users (CIUs), including mandatory permitting and discharge requirements, sampling and reporting. The PPP is intended to supplement the IPP by allowing the oversight of users who are not SIUs or CIUs, but whose discharge may be of concern to the WPCF. Where users are identified as having the potential to be regulated under the IPP in the future or as discharging a pollutant of concern, the Public Works Director (Director) may impose regulations including permitting and discharge requirements, sampling and reporting. (Prior code § 19-1-1)

Except as otherwise provided, the Director shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this chapter. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the Director may be delegated by the Director to other City personnel. Reports submitted to the regional water quality control board (RWQCB) by the City must be signed by the City Manager, ranking elected official or other duly authorized employee. The duly authorized employee must be an individual or position having responsibility for the overall operation of the WPCF or the pretreatment program. This authorization must be made in writing by the City Manager or ranking elected official, and submitted to the RWQCB prior to or together with the report being submitted. (Prior code § 19-1-2)

The following abbreviations when used in this chapter shall have the meanings designated:

1. BOD: biochemical oxygen demand.

2. CFR: Code of Federal Regulations.

3. CIU: categorical industrial user.

4. COD: chemical oxygen demand.

5. CTR: California Toxics Rule.

6. EPA: Environmental Protection Agency.

7. IPP: industrial pretreatment program.

8. MAHL: maximum allowable headworks loading.

9. MAIHL: maximum allowable industrial headworks loading.

10. mg: milligrams.

11. mg/L: milligrams per liter.

12. NPDES: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.

13. NTR: National Toxics Rule.

14. O&M: operation and maintenance.

15. POTW: publicly owned treatment works.

16. PPP: pollution prevention program.

17. RWQCB: regional water quality control board.

18. SIC: standard industrial classification.

19. SIU: significant industrial user.

20. SWRCB: State Water Resources Control Board.

21. TSS: total suspended solids.

22. USC: United States Code.

23. WPCF: water pollution control facility.

(Prior code § 19-1-3)

Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings designated in this section.

"Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended (33 USC Section 1251 et seq.).

"Administrator" means the Regional Administrator of Region IX, United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Authorized representative of industrial user" or "authorized representative of user" means an authorized representative of that user, who shall be:

1. A responsible corporate officer, which means a president, secretary, treasurer, or vicepresident 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 the manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operation facilities employing more than 250 persons, if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures;

2. A general partner or proprietor if the industrial user is a partnership or sole proprietorship respectively;

3. A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above if such authorization is in writing and the representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the indirect discharge originates or if he or she has overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company.

The written authorization shall be submitted to the City. If an authorization is no longer accurate because a different individual, position, or office has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, or overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, a new authorization must be submitted to the City prior to or together with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.

"Baseline monitoring report" means an initial report submitted by an industrial user determined to be subject to a pretreatment standard pursuant to Section 8.04.380.

"Best management practices (BMPs)" means methods, measures, or practices designed and selected to reduce or eliminate the discharge of pollutants from sewer users to the City's wastewater collection system and WPCF. BMPs include structural controls, nonstructural controls, and operation and maintenance procedures which can be applied before, during, and/or after pollution producing activities.

"Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)" means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, five days at 20 degrees expressed in terms of weight and concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/l)).

"Building sewer" means that portion of a side sewer beginning at the plumbing or drainage outlet of any building or industrial facility and running to the property line or to a private sewage disposal system.

"California Toxics Rule (CTR)" means water quality objectives or standards specifically for the State of California promulgated by the EPA pursuant to the Act and codified at 40 CFR Part 131.

"Categorical industrial user (CIU)" means an industrial user which on the basis of industrial activity must comply with pretreatment standards with established discharge limitations as defined under 40 CFR 403.6.

"Categorical standards" or "National Categorical Pretreatment Standards" means any regulation containing pollution discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC Section 1317), which applies industrial users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5.

"Cease and desist order" means a compliance directive.

"Chemical oxygen demand (COD)" means the measure of the chemically decomposable material in domestic wastewater or industrial wastewater as represented by the oxygen used as determined by accepted laboratory procedures.

"City" means the City of Woodland.

"Compliance directive" means an order, also known as a cease and desist order, given by the Director requiring a user to come into compliance with a wastewater discharge permit, pretreatment standard, pretreatment requirement, or other City wastewater requirement within a specified period of time.

"Compliance schedule" means an order issued to a user not in compliance with this chapter, which sets up a timetable and deadlines to install the technology required to meet either a pretreatment standard or a pretreatment requirement or to be in compliance with the other requirements of this chapter.

"Consistent removal" means reduction in the amount of a pollutant or alteration of the nature of the pollutant by the WPCF to a less toxic or harmless state in the effluent which is achieved by the WPCF in 95% of the samples taken when measured according to the procedures set forth in 40 CFR 403.7(c).

"Control authority" means the City of Woodland, the industrial pretreatment program and/or the pollution prevention program.

"Cooling water" means the water discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.

"Correction notice" means the use of personal contact, telephone calls, or reminder letters to a user for the purpose of notifying the user of a minor violation and to seek an explanation, correct a minor violation, suggest the exercise of more due care or to notify the user that subsequent violations of the same type may be dealt with more severely.

"Daily average" means determined by performing a 24-hour composite with samples collected and composited every half-hour over a 24-hour period.

"Degrees C (°C)" means degrees Celsius.

"Degrees F (°F)" means degrees Fahrenheit.

"Director" means the Public Works Director.

"Discharge" or "indirect discharge" means the introduction of pollutants or wastewater into the WPCF by any means.

"Discharger" means any person discharging waste to the WPCF. The term is synonymous with "user."

"Domestic wastewater" means any liquid, solid, sewage or waterborne waste of the type normally resulting from flushing and washing waste products from residences and lavatories.

"End of pipe" means the point at which an industrial or commercial user discharges process waste into the City's wastewater collection system.

"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"Existing source" means any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by EPA of proposed pretreatment standards which will be applicable to such course [source] if the pretreatment standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.

"Grab sample" means a sample which is taken from a wastestream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.

"Grit" means the heavy suspended mineral matter present in water or wastewater such as, but not limited to, sand, gravel or cinders.

"Industrial pretreatment program (IPP)" means a program to regulate wastewater discharges from industrial sources.

"Industrial user" means a discharger of industrial wastewater. Used in this chapter, the term shall be generic and when used shall include CIUs, SIUs and governmental agencies.

"Industrial wastewater" means any liquid or waterborne waste from manufacturing, processing, commercial or industrial facilities, except domestic waste, boiler blowdown, and uncontaminated or noncontact cooling water: provided, however, that substantial discharge of boiler blowdown closely associated with industrial activity shall be considered industrial wastewater when such discharge has a reasonable potential to affect or interfere with the WPCF, its treatment process, or operations as determined by the Director. The term is synonymous with "nondomestic wastewater."

"Industrial wastewater discharge permit" means a waste discharge permit issued to CIUs and SIUs.

"Interceptor" means generally, a two or more compartment tank designed to prevent undesirable materials from leaving a commercial or industrial site and entering the WPCF. The tank allows adequate retention time so that wastewater may cool and the material it contains may stabilize.

In this title, the usage of the term is generic and shall mean grease traps, sand traps or separators wherever they may be located.

"Interference" means the inhibition or disruption of the WPCF, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal which contributes to a violation of the WPCF's NPDES permit or prevents sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with applicable Federal or State statutes, regulations or permits.

"Lateral sewer" means the portion of a side sewer lying within a public right-of-way connecting a building sewer to the main sewer maintained by the City.

"Local limits" means specific prohibitions or limits on pollutants or pollutant parameters developed by the City in accordance with 40 CFR 403.5(c) and contained in Section 8.04.120. Such limits shall be deemed pretreatment requirements.

"Main sewer" means a public sewer designed to accommodate more than one lateral sewer.

"Maximum allowable headworks loading (MAHL)" means the maximum loading of a given pollutant that the WPCF can accept without causing an exceedance of the most limiting of the following restrictions:

• WPCF upset limits (activated sludge and/or anaerobic digestion);

2. Pass-through limits (either NPDES discharge limits or water quality objectives);

• Sludge disposal limits;

• WPCF design capacity limits.

"Maximum allowable industrial headworks loading (MAIHL)" means the maximum loading of a given pollutant that can be discharged by the sum total of all industrial users without causing an exceedance of the most limiting of the following restrictions:

• WPCF upset limits (activated sludge and/or anaerobic digestion);

2. Pass-through limits (either NPDES discharge limits or water quality objectives);

• Sludge disposal limits;

• WPCF design capacity limits.

"National Categorical Pretreatment Standards" or "categorical standards" means any regulation containing pollution discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC Section 1317), which applies to industrial users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5.

"National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)" means any regulation developed under the authority of Section 307(b) of the Act and 40 CFR 403.5.

"National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit" or "NPDES permit" means a permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 USC Section 1342).

"National Toxics Rules (NTR)" means water quality objectives or standards promulgated by the EPA pursuant to the Act and codified at 40 CFR part 131.

"Natural outlet" means outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.

"New source" means:

1. Any building structure, facility, installation or other source 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 Act which will be applicable to such new source if such pretreatment standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section; provided, that:

   • a. The building structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located;

   • b. The building, structure, facility or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or

• c. 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 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 paragraph (1) above 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 either:

   • a.

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

• i.

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

• b. 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 contract 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 subparagraph.

"Noncontact cooling water" means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any additives, raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product.

"Nondomestic wastewater" means wastewater from industrial, commercial or other nonresidential sources. The term is synonymous with "industrial wastewater."

"Notice of violation" means a written notice to a user that the Director has determined that a violation of pretreatment standards or pretreatment requirements exists and requiring the noncompliance to be corrected and explained in a timely manner.

"Pass through" means a discharge which exits the WPCF in quantities or concentrations which, alone or with discharges from other sources, may cause a violation of the WPCF's NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

"Permit" means a wastewater discharge permit issued by the City, including both industrial wastewater discharge permits and pollution prevention permits.

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

"pH" means the logarithm (Base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.

"Pollutant" means substances which include, but are not limited to, the following: any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, petroleum products or by-products, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water, which may effect characteristics of wastewater (including, but not limited to, pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity or odor).

"Pollutant of concern" means any pollutant or substance, the discharge of which is prohibited by Section 8.04.080, General discharge prohibitions.

"Pollution" means the man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water.

"Pollution prevention permit" means a wastewater discharge permit issued by the City to users who are neither SIUs nor CIUs.

"Pollution prevention program (PPP)" means a program to regulate wastewater discharges not covered by the IPP.

"Pretreatment" means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, or process changes by other means, except that increase in the use of process water or other attempts to dilute a discharge of wastewater are prohibited.

"Pretreatment requirements" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard, including, but not limited to, local limits.

"Pretreatment standard" means any National Categorical Pretreatment Standard.

"Public nuisance" means any violation of this code, an unreasonable interference with the public's right to property or any condition recognized in law or equity as a public nuisance. It expressly includes conduct that interferes with public health, safety, peace or convenience.

"Public Works Director" means the Public Works Director of the City or the Director's designee.

"Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)" means a treatment works as defined by Section 212 of the Act, which is owned by a State or municipality (as defined by Section 502(4) of the Act). This definition includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastewater. It also includes sewers, pipes, pump stations, and other conveyances which convey wastewater to a POTW.

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

"Sewage" means liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and wastewater from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, or institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the WPCF.

"Sewage system" means all facilities owned or controlled by the City, including the WPCF, for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.

"Show cause order" means an order for a user to appear before the City to explain noncompliance and why enforcement action should not be taken.

"Side sewer" means the sewer line beginning at the foundation wall of any building and terminating at the main sewer and including the building sewer and lateral sewer together.

"Significant industrial user (SIU)" means:

1. Any categorical industrial user (CIU) in accordance with 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR Chapter I, subchapter N;

• Any other industrial user which:

• a.

  • Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons or more per day;

• b. Contributes a process wastewater which makes up five percent or more of the dry weather average hydraulic or organic capacity of the WPCF; or

• c. Is designated as such by the City on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the WPCF's operation, for violating a pretreatment standard or pretreatment requirement, or for causing pass through of pollutants, sludge contamination, or endangerment of WPCF workers or the public.

"Significant noncompliance" means violation by an industrial user of one or more of the specified criteria listed in 40 CFR 403.8(f)(2)(viii).

"Slug discharge" means any discharge containing an unusual volume of flow or concentration of liquid, water, sewage, wastewater or pollutants.

"Spill" means a release, whether accidental or intentional, of a material.

"Standard industrial classification (SIC)" means a classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.

"State" means the State of California.

"Stormwater" means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting from it.

"Total suspended solids" means the total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of or is suspended in water, sewage or other liquids and which is removable by laboratory filtering.

"Toxic pollutant" means any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in 40 CFR 401.15.

"User" means any person who discharges, contributes, causes, or permits the contribution of wastewater into the WPCF.

"Wastewater" means liquid and water-carried wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, or institutions, whether treated or untreated.

"Watercourse" means a channel or depression in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

"Wastewater discharge permit" means either an industrial wastewater discharge permit or pollution prevention permit issued by the City and establishing limitations on the discharge of wastewater.

"Wastewater pollution control facility (WPCF)" means the POTW owned and operated by the City.

"Wastewater treatment plant" means a POTW or portions of a POTW which provide treatment of wastewater.

(Prior code § 19-1-4)

This chapter is severable. If any sentence, provision, paragraph, word or section of this chapter is invalidated by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining sentences, provisions, paragraphs, words, and sections shall not be affected and shall continue in full force and effect. (Prior code § 19-1-5)

The provision of this chapter shall not be construed to relieve from or lessen the responsibility of any person for damage to persons or property resulting from the discharge of wastewater, nor shall the City, or any officer, agent or employee of the City, be construed to be assuming any liability by reason of the performance of its or their responsibilities or duties pursuant to this chapter.

(Prior code § 19-1-6)

This chapter shall apply to all users of the WPCF whose discharge occurs outside of City boundaries upon equal terms with its applicability within the City. (Prior code § 19-1-7)