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The following definitions and acronyms shall apply to terms used in this Chapter:

"Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)" means an additional dwelling unit on the same parcel of property as, and added to, created within, or detached from a single-family detached dwelling for use as a completely independent or semi-independent unit with provisions for cooking, eating, sanitation, and sleeping.

"Basic Service Charge" means the portion of the service charges on commercial customers representing the Department-determined cost of providing service to a commercial unit. This amount is the minimum monthly service charge applicable to a commercial unit regardless of the consumption of the unit.

"CCF" means Hundred Cubic Feet.

"Commercial Class 1" means a customer class consisting of those commercial units whose wastewater discharge contains BOD or Total Suspended Solids (TSS) levels less than 300 milligrams per liter (mg/l).

"Commercial Class 2" means a customer class consisting of those commercial units whose wastewater discharge contains BOD or TSS levels equal to or greater than 300 and less than 500 mg/l.

"Commercial Class 3" means a customer class consisting of those commercial units whose wastewater discharge contains BOD or TSS levels equal to or greater than 500 and less than 700 mg/l.

"Commercial Class 4" means a customer class consisting of those commercial units whose wastewater discharge contains BOD or TSS levels equal to or greater than 700 and less than 900 mg/l.

"Commercial Class 5" means a customer class consisting of those commercial units whose wastewater discharge contains BOD or TSS levels which are equal to or exceed 900 mg/l. Also, it means any commercial unit whose wastewater discharge exceeds 150,000 gallons per day as an average during any seven days in a year, consecutive or not.

"Commercial Service Charge" means the total monthly service charge applicable to a commercial unit. It is the total of the Basic Service Charge plus the Volume Service Charge.

"Commercial Unit" means any structure or portion of a structure not classified as a residential unit. It may be a commercial, industrial, or other non-residential use.

"Contract Sewer Service Area" means the geographical area served by the public sewer system pursuant to a contract between Pierce County and a municipal corporation.

"Mixed Use Unit" means a single structure where both residential and commercial units are present.

"Mobile Home Park" means where the parcel of property on which four or more mobile homes are situated is owned by another party unrelated to the owners of the mobile homes and the property on which the mobile home rests is rented or leased to the mobile home owner on a periodic basis for less than five year intervals.

"Multi-Family Residential Class" means a customer class consisting of those residential units not in the single-family residential class including, but not limited to, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, apartment buildings, and mobile home parks.

"Owner of Record" shall mean the property owner identified in the indexed records of the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer's Office and, if those records are found not to reflect the current ownership, the indexed records of the Pierce County Auditor's Office.

"Residential Unit" means a structure or portion of a structure capable of human habitation 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 Service Charge" means the service charge applicable to a residential unit. It is a flat monthly charge and is only applicable to single-family residential and multi-family residential customer classes.

"Service Charges" means the charges required by the County for the furnishing of sewer service, or for having such service available to customers in order to cover the cost to maintain, operate, preserve, improve, and administer the public sewer system. In addition, customers are required to pay any taxes, fees, and surcharges imposed on any regular service charges. Any fee, time and material charge, administrative fine, or adjudicated civil penalty owed by any customer to the Department shall, if past due, become a service charge upon a customer if that fee, charge, fine, or penalty (or part thereof) is approximately related to providing sewer service (or its availability) to that customer. Any extraordinary service charge is additional to any regular service charges. Such a charge may be apportioned among several accounts if appropriate.

"Single-Family Residential Class" means a customer class consisting of the following residential units: (1) where there is but one residential unit on a parcel of property; (2) held under Chapters 64.32 RCW (condominiums) and 64.36 RCW (time-share); (3) held under a cooperative apartment agreement; (4) where the mobile home is under the same ownership as the underlying parcel; or (5) where the Department finds this to be the most reasonable classification.

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

"Volume Service Charge" means the portion of the commercial service charge representing the volume and strength related costs of treating a commercial unit's wastewater discharge. The charge is calculated by determining the quantity and characteristics of the wastewater discharged by the commercial unit and applying the appropriate rate.

"Wastewater Discharge" means the quantity of wastewater or other liquid released into the public sewer system by a person as determined by: (1) water use at a specific property as determined by metering of the water supply from all sources; (2) clause (1) above, as adjusted for water use determined not to contribute wastewater loading to the public sewer system as measured by standard, recognized methods approved by the Department; or (3) if water meter records are not available or inaccurate, an estimate of water use at a specific property using standard, recognized means approved by the Department.

"Wastewater Loading" means the volume of wastewater flow and its constituent pollutants including: BOD and TSS.

(Ord. 2018-99s § 1 (part), 2018; Ord. 2013-25s § 2 (part), 2013)