"Applicant" means the person, party, firm, corporation, or other legal entity that proposes to develop real property by submitting an application for any of the activities covered by these Regulations.

"Appurtenances" means any structures, devices, and appliances other than pipes or conduits that are integral parts of a sewer system. Manholes are a common example of a sewer appurtenance.

"Biochemical Oxygen Demand" (BOD) means a measure of the amount of oxygen consumed in the biological and chemical processes that break down organic matter in water. It is a standard test used in assessing wastewater strength. For testing purposes, BOD means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20° Celsius, usually expressed as a concentration [milligrams per liter (mg/l)].

"Building Sewer" means that portion of a sewer pipe connecting one or more structures from the plumbing outlets to a sewer main. The building sewer, including that portion called the "side sewer stub," may include pretreatment devices and/or pump systems and is constructed in accordance with Pierce County Sewer Standards and is not part of the public sewer facilities. Building sewers shall be maintained by the property owner.

"Certified" means to present written, formal communication attesting as being true as represented or as meeting a standard and guaranteed by signature.

"Cesspool" means a pit receiving untreated wastewater and allowing the liquid to seep into the surrounding soil or rock.

"Collector Line" means a sewer pipe that connects side sewer stubs to an interceptor line.

"Commercial Development" means any commercial, industrial, or other non-residential facilities, uses, buildings, or structures that generate wastewater. It includes any development that is not herein defined as residential development.

"Connection Charges" means charges or assessments by the County against a property owner for connection to the public sewer system. These charges are further defined in PCC 13.04.070 and do not include permit fees, plan review and inspection fees, or sewer service charges.

"Department" means the Pierce County Planning and Public Works Department or in the future, that department of Pierce County responsible for the administration of the public sewer facilities owned by Pierce County.

"Developer" means the person, party, firm or corporation who applies for said development.

"Director" means the individual designated by Pierce County as the Director of the Pierce County Planning and Public Works Department or their designee.

"Effluent" means treated or untreated wastewater that flows out of a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial outfall. It also refers to wastewater discharged from a septic tank or on-site sewage system.

"Force Main" means a sewer pipe connected to a pump station that transports wastewater under pressure and/or against the force of gravity.

"Holding Tank" means a tank that is a component of an on-site sewage system designed to receive and temporarily store wastewater from one or more facilities or dwellings for removal, dispersal, and ultimate disposal of the wastewater at another location.

"Industrial Wastes" means any liquid, solid, or gaseous substance or combination thereof, resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, commercial food processing, business, trade or research, including development, recovering, or processing of natural resources.

"Interceptor Line" means a sewer pipe that transmits larger volumes of wastewater from collector lines to the wastewater treatment plant.

"Manager" means the individual designated by Pierce County as the Manager of the Sewer Division of Pierce County Planning and Public Works Department or designee.

"Monthly Usage Charge" means alternative monthly fees or assessments by the County against a property owner for connection to the public sewer system. These charges are further defined in PCC 13.04.077 and 13.04.085 E., and do not include permit fees, plan review and inspection fees, or sewer service charges.

"Mutual Maintenance Agreement and Easement" means a legally binding agreement between two or more property owners for the purpose of connecting two or more structures to a single building sewer located on private property and specifying for the mutual maintenance of the single building sewer by the property owners.

"On-Site Sewage System" (OSS) means any system of piping, treatment devices, or other facilities that convey, store, treat, or dispose of sewage on the property where it originates or on adjacent or nearby property under control of the user where the system is not connected to a public or approved private sewer system.

"Permit" means written authorization from the Department granting the property owner, applicant, registered sewer contractor, or the owner's duly authorized representative permission to make the required building sewer connections to the side sewer stub or to make repairs, alterations, disconnections, caps, or any other sewer construction or repair, or commence, continue, amend, or increase the wastewater discharge from a residential or commercial development as stipulated in this Sewer Code.

"Pierce County Sewer Standards" means any and all requirements and limitations identified in the specifications, details, plans, manuals, guidelines, and checklists as developed and updated by the Department for public and private sewer facilities.

"Plumbing Outlet" means the part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system of a structure that receives waste from other drainage pipes inside the walls of a structure and conveys it to a building sewer.

"Pretreatment" means 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 public sewer system. This 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 unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard).

"Private Sewer Facilities" means any wastewater collection, transmission, storage, treatment, or disposal facility owned by the owner(s) of the property or properties that are served by said facilities. Private sewer facilities, which include side sewer stubs, shall be operated and maintained by said private property owner(s) unless responsibility for operation and maintenance is otherwise assigned through an agreement, easement, or contract with a public sewer provider or private entity.

"Public Right-of-Way" means the property in which the County has any form of ownership or title and which is held for public utilities purposes, regardless of whether or not any public sewer or water facilities exists thereon or whether or not it is used, improved, or maintained for public sewer or water facilities.

"Public Sewer Facilities" means any wastewater collection, transmission, storage, treatment, or disposal facility constructed within the public right-of-way, perpetual easement dedicated to the County, or on property owned by the County within the County's service area. Public sewer facilities shall be owned, operated, and maintained by the County.

"Public Sewer System" means all public and private sewer facilities used in the collection, transmission, storage, treatment, or disposal of wastewater and connected, directly or indirectly, to the County's public sewer facilities.

"Pump Station" means a mechanical device installed in a sewer that moves the liquids to a higher elevation or through a force main.

"Registered Professional Engineer" means an individual or corporation holding a currently valid license to practice engineering in the State of Washington.

"Registered Sewer Contractor" means any contractor who is duly registered pursuant to the requirements of this Sewer Code to construct, install, repair, reconstruct, excavate, or connect any building sewer, side sewer stub, or sewer line extension to the public sewer system.

"Residential Development" means any facilities, uses, buildings, or structures for human habitation that generates wastewater including, but not limited to: private houses; accessory dwelling units; each unit of a duplex, triplex, fourplex, apartment building, condominium, or townhouse; or a mobile home.

"Residential Equivalent" (RE) means that service unit which, for purposes of sewer service measurement, is 220 gallons per day (GPD), having a waste strength of not greater than 225 milligrams per liter of BOD and not greater than 225 milligrams per liter of Total Suspended Solids (TSS).

"Septage" means a semisolid substance consisting of settled sewage solids combined with varying amounts of water and dissolved materials generated from an on-site sewage system with a septic tank.

"Septic Tank" means a watertight treatment receptacle receiving the discharge of wastewater from a building sewer or sewers and designed and constructed to permit separation of settleable and floating solids prior to the discharge of the liquid wastes.

"Sewer" means a pipe or conduit that collects and carries wastewater away from a source to a wastewater treatment plant.

"Sewer Code" means Title 13 of the Pierce County Code.

"Sewer Development Review Application" means an application submitted by an applicant for the review of a commercial development (pretreatment review), land use application, or any other proposal by an applicant as required by the Department or the local jurisdiction. A sewer development review application is not an authorization to repair or construct sewer improvement or make a new connection to the public sewer system.

"Sewer Facility Plan" means a plan that identifies the sewer facilities required to convey and treat wastewater within a given area. The Sewer Facility Plan shall include location and description of disposal facilities, collector and interceptor lines, pumping and monitoring stations, and control and treatment facilities, if appropriate. It may also include preliminary engineering to insure the feasibility of any future proposed facilities which are proposed as part of the plan. The preliminary engineering for the Sewer Facility Plan shall include all criteria necessary to establish sizing of the sewer facilities identified in the plan.

"Sewer Line Extension" means the following: (1) The construction, upgrading, and/or extension of public or private sewer facilities including, but not limited to, collector lines, interceptor lines, and or pump stations; or (2) Those sewer facilities of sufficient complexity to require a Sewer Facilities Plan by a registered professional engineer as determined by the Director.

"Sewer Line Extension Permit" means a permit issued to an applicant as authorization for the construction of a sewer line extension and the Department's plan review and inspection thereof.

A sewer line extension permit does not authorize the connection of plumbing outlets or the discharge of wastewater to the public sewer system.

"Sewer Main" means a collector line or interceptor line. Sewer mains generally begin and end with a manhole.

"Sewer Service Area" means the geographical area identified in the Unified Sewer Plan for existing or planned sewer service. It represents the area served by the public sewer system.

"Sewer Service Permit" means a permit issued to an applicant for the repair, capping, abandonment, and/or construction of sewer improvements that do not meet the definition of a "sewer line extension" and the Department's plan review and inspection thereof. A sewer service permit may also be issued to an applicant as authorization for the connection of plumbing outlets or the discharge of wastewater to the public sewer system, or a proposed increase in wastewater discharge to the public sewer system with or without proposed sewer improvements.

"Side Sewer Stub" means that portion of a building sewer constructed from a sewer main to a property line or the edge of a perpetual easement of a property being served. The side sewer stub shall be considered part of the building sewer and shall be maintained by the property owner.

"Side Sewer Tee" means the tee fitting at the point at which the side sewer stub joins the sewer main.

"Structure" means a combination of materials constructed and erected on or under the ground or attached to something having location on or under the ground, including but not limited to, trailers, mobile homes and house trailers, but shall not include residential fences, retaining walls, and similar improvements of a minor character.

"Total Suspended Solids" (TSS) means a measure of the particulate matter contained in wastewater.

"Treatment" means chemical, biological, or mechanical procedures applied to wastewater to remove, reduce, or neutralize contaminants.

"Unified Sewer Plan" (USP) means the planning document prepared by the Department to identify the system of the sewer facilities required to convey and treat wastewater within the Sewer Service Area. The Unified Sewer Plan serves as the "sewerage general plan" that is required to be adopted by the County pursuant to Chapter 36.94 RCW.

"Wastewater" means water-carried wastes from residential, commercial, or industrial facilities together with other waters which may inadvertently enter the system through ground water infiltration and surface water inflow. This term is used interchangeably with the term "sewage."

"Wastewater Facilities" means the structures, equipment, and processes required to collect and treat wastewater and to dispose of its effluent and waste by-products.

"Wastewater Treatment Plant" (WWTP) means a publicly owned facility used to provide treatment to any liquid or waterborne waste of residential, commercial or industrial origin. For purposes of this Sewer Code, it specifically refers to the Chambers Creek Regional WWTP and any other WWTP facility in which the County has ownership interest.