13.06.030 Definitions.
Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this Chapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
"Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
"All Known, Available, and Reasonable Methods of Prevention, Control, and Treatment" (AKART) means AKART determinations consider all the potential treatment technologies, including zero discharge and pollution prevention, best management practices (BMPs), which may be applicable to the facility. AKART determinations include an economic analysis of the cost of zero discharge and any treatment processes. The County makes AKART determinations on a case-by-case basis.
"Applicable Pretreatment Standards" means, for any specified pollutant, Pierce County prohibitive standards, Pierce County specific pretreatment standards (local limits), State of Washington pretreatment standards, or EPA's Categorical Pretreatment Standards (when effective), whichever standard is appropriate or most stringent.
"Approval Authority" means the Washington Department of Ecology is the Approval Authority within the State of Washington.
"Authorized Representative of the User" means:
1. If the user is a corporation:
a. 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
b. The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operation facilities provided the manager is authorized to make management decisions which 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 long-term compliance with environmental laws and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for control mechanism requirements; and where 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 governmental facility, a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or designee.
4. The individuals described in paragraphs 1 through 3 above 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 County.
"Batch Discharge" means any single discharge that is specifically allowed under a wastewater discharge permit, or that requires the prior approval of the Manager before discharge to the County public sewer system may begin.
"Best Management Practices" (BMPs) means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in PCC 13.06.050. 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.
"Biochemical Oxygen Demand" (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)].
"Biosolids" means municipal sewage sludge that is a primarily organic, semisolid product of the wastewater treatment process that can be beneficially recycled and meets all applicable requirements under Chapter 173-308 WAC. Septic tank sludge and products or materials made from biosolids that meet the requirements of Chapter 173-308 WAC are also classified as biosolids
"Bypass" means the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a user's treatment facility.
"Categorical Pretreatment Standard" or "Categorical Standard" means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the U.S. EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471.
"Categorical User" means a user covered by one of EPA's Categorical Pretreatment Standards.
"Certification" means a statement required under 40 CFR 403.12(b) for baseline monitoring reports for existing sources, and under 40 CFR 403.12(d) for 90-day compliance reports from new sources. In 40 CFR 403.12(b)(6) it defines this as a statement reviewed by an authorized representative of the user and certified by a qualified professional indicating whether the applicable Pretreatment Standards are being met on a consistent basis and, if not, whether additional operation and maintenance (O&M) and/or additional pretreatment is required for the user to meet the applicable Pretreatment Standards and Requirements. The certification requirements are found in PCC 13.06.260, and are in addition to the signatory requirements under PCC 13.06.270 which apply to all user reports and permit applications.
"Composite Sample" means the sample resulting from the combination of individual wastewater samples taken at selected intervals based on an increment of either flow or time.
"Contaminant" means any substance that is discharged to the County public sewer system other than clean drinking water and/or storm and surface water runoff.
"Color" means the optical density at the visual wave length of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One-hundred percent transmittance is equivalent to zero (0.0) optical density.
"Cooling Water" means water used for heat transfer (cooling or heating) further defined as either: (1) Non-Contact Cooling Water, which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product. It may be generated from any use, such as air conditioning, heat exchangers, cooling or refrigeration to which the only pollutant added is heat; or (2) Contact Cooling Water, which is polluted by the addition of biocides, slimicides, corrosion inhibitors, product contact, other pollutants, or concentration of natural ambient concentrations of pollutants to the point where it can no longer be disposed of as clean water.
"County" means all unincorporated areas of Pierce County, Departments of County Government and includes Department Directors and their designees.
"Dangerous Waste" means any waste so defined by Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 173-303-080 through -110.
"Director" means the individual designated by Pierce County as the Director of the Pierce County Planning and Public Works Department or designee.
"Domestic User (Residential User)" means any non-commercial user of the POTW who contributes, causes, or allows the contribution of wastewater into the County POTW that is of a similar volume and/or chemical make-up as that of a residential dwelling unit. Discharges from a residential dwelling unit typically include up to 220 gallons of flow per day, 225 mg/l of BOD and 225 mg/l of TSS.
"Environmental Protection Agency" (EPA) means the United States Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Division Director, or other duly authorized official of said agency.
"Existing Source" means a categorical industrial user which is a source of discharge for which construction or operation commenced prior to the publication by EPA of proposed categorical pretreatment standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.
"Existing User" means a user which is discharging wastewater prior to the effective date of this Chapter. Any person that buys an existing facility that is discharging non-domestic wastewater will be considered an "existing user" if no significant changes are made in the manufacturing operation.
"Grab Sample" means a sample which is taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.
"Indirect Discharge or Discharge" means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any non-domestic source regulated under Sections 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act and by applicable State and local regulations.
"Insignificant Industrial User" means an industrial user of the POTW identified by the County as having no significant process wastewater discharge and/or accidental discharge or spill potential.
"Interference" means a discharge which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, either: (1) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations; (2) inhibits or disrupts its solids processes, utilization, or disposal; or (3) is a cause of a violation of the County's NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge/biosolids use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued (or more stringent State or local regulations): Section 405 of the Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), including Title II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any federal or State regulations contained in any federal or State biosolids/sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.
"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.
"Maximum Allowable Discharge Limit" means the maximum concentration (or mass loading) of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.
"May" means permissive. (Shall is mandatory.)
"Medical Wastes" means infectious agents, such as isolation wastes, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.
"Minor Industrial User" (MIU) means an industrial user of the POTW identified by the County as having the potential to discharge a waste stream that, when taken with the waste stream from other industrial users, may have a significant impact on the POTW. MIUs without waste streams that have potential for accidental spills to the sewer may be classified as Dry MIUs and may or may not be subject to ASPP requirements.
"New Source" means:
1. 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 Act, which will be applicable to such source if such 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; or
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 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 1.b. or c. above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
3. Construction of a new source as defined under this paragraph has commenced if the owner or operator has:
a. Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site construction program
(1) any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
(2) 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 is 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 paragraph.
New User. While "new sources" are exclusively categorical industries, "new users" includes all users that apply to the County for a new building permit or occupy an existing building and plan to (or begin to) discharge a new source of wastewater to the County's public sewer system after the effective date of this Chapter. New Users may be found to be Significant Industrial Users or Minor Industrial Users, or Insignificant Industrial Users upon review of the user's permit application or other relevant information submitted to the County or obtained from other local jurisdictions.
"Other Wastes" means substances such as decayed wood, sawdust, shavings, bark, lime, refuse, ashes, offal, oil, tar, chemicals, and all other substances except sewage and industrial wastes.
"Pass Through" means the occurrence of 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 County's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or causes the POTW's effluent to violate a water quality standard for which permit limits would be applicable if a potential to violate the standard was known.
"Permit" means the Industrial Wastewater Discharge permit authorizing the permittee to discharge non-domestic wastewater into the County's sewer system. A permit is issued under the authority of this Chapter, and prescribes discharge requirements and limitations.
"Permittee" means a person or user issued an industrial wastewater discharge permit.
"Person" means an individual, firm, co-partnership, association, corporation, organization, cooperative, public or municipal corporation, or agency of the state or local government or other legal entity.
"pH" means a measure of the acid or alkaline nature of a substance, expressed in standard units of the hydrogen ion concentration.
"Pollutant" means any substance discharged into a POTW or the public sewer system which, if discharged directly, would alter the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological characteristics or properties of waters of the State [i.e., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), metals, organics, toxicity, odor].
"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 POTW. 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).
"Pretreatment Requirements" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, or the County's Pretreatment Program, imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
"Pretreatment Standards or Standards" means prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits established by the County or any standard of treatment based upon AKART and included in a discharge permit.
"Process Wastewater" means wastewater discharged from one or more industrial processes or industrial cleanup procedures. Process wastewater does not include domestic waste or non-contact cooling or heating water. Process wastewater may refer to one process discharge or several commingled process discharges.
"Prohibited Discharge Standards" or "Prohibited Discharges" means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in PCC 13.06.050.
"Publicly Owned Treatment Works" (POTW) means a "treatment works," as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1292), which is owned by, or under the jurisdiction or control of, the County. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, conveyance, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. For purposes of this Chapter, the POTW shall be the County's public sewer system.
"Self Monitoring Reports" means a report submitted to the County by the User containing information generated by the User, such as sampling test results on wastewater discharges quality or quantity.
"Septic Tank Waste" means any sewage from holding tanks such as chemical toilets, and septic tanks or from tanks within campers, trailers, and vessels holding human and/or kitchen wastes.
"Sewage" means water-carried human wastes, or a combination of water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such ground, surface, storm, or other waters as may be present. This term is used interchangeably with the term "wastewater".
"Sewer" means any pipe, conduit, ditch, or other device used to collect and transport sewage or stormwater from the generating source.
"Shall" means mandatory. ("May" is permissive.)
"Significant Industrial User" (SIU) means:
1. A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
2. A user that:
a. Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling, heating, and boiler blowdown wastewater);
b. Contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5 percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW; or
c. Is designated as such by the County on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
3. Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in subsection 2. has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any applicable pretreatment standard or requirement, the County may at any time, on its own initiative, or in response to a petition received from a 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.
"Significant Non-compliance" means significant non-compliance occurs when a violation or series of violations by an industrial user meets one or more of the following criteria:
1. Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined as those in which 66 percent or more of all the measurements taken during a six month period exceed a numeric Pretreatment Standard or Requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by this Section;
2. Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined as those in which 33 percent or more of all measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six month period equal or exceed a numeric Pretreatment Standard or Requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by PCC 13.06.030, multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils, and grease (FOG), and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
3. Any other violations(s) of a pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined in PCC 13.06.030, that the Manager determines to have caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, an interference or pass-through, or endangered the health of the general public or sewage treatment personnel;
4. Any discharge of a pollutant that causes an imminent endangerment to human health, welfare, or to the environment, or results in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
5. Failure to meet a compliance schedule milestone contained in an Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit or enforcement order for starting or completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
6. Failure to provide, within 45 days after the due date, required reports, such as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, or other reports required by compliance schedules;
7. Failure to accurately report non-compliance; or
8. Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of Best Management Practices, which the Manager finds will adversely affect the operation and implementation of the County's Pretreatment Program.
"Slug Load" means any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause pass through or interference to the POTW and/or violates the pretreatment standards of this Chapter.
"Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code" means a classification pursuant to the "Standard Industrial Classification Manual" issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.
"State" means State of Washington.
"Storm Sewer" means a sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but from which sewage and polluted industrial wastes are excluded.
"Storm Water" means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snow melt, and which is not contaminated by any industrial process.
"Total Suspended Solids" (TSS) means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering, following the methods prescribed by 40 CFR Part 136.
"Toxic Organics/Toxic Pollutant" means one of the pollutants, or combination of those pollutants, listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by EPA under Section 307 (33 U.S.C. 1317) of the Act (found in Appendix A of 40 CFR Part 423), and also including other substances that exhibit toxic effects on living organisms.
"Treatment Plant Effluent" means the discharge from the POTW into waters of the State or the United States.
"Upset" means an exceptional incident in which a discharger unintentionally and temporarily is in a state of noncompliance with the standards set forth in this Chapter due to factors beyond the reasonable control of the Discharger, and excluding noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation thereof.
"User (Industrial User)" means any person, business, or corporation with a source of wastewater discharge which does not qualify that person, business, or corporation as a Domestic User as defined in this Section.
"Wastewater" means liquids and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, institutions, etc., whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.
"Wastewater Discharge Permit" means an authorization or equivalent control document issued by the County to users discharging wastewater to the POTW. The permit may contain appropriate pretreatment standards and requirements as set forth in this Chapter or in other applicable regulations.
"Wastewater Treatment Plant" or "Treatment Plant" means that portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of wastewater.