§ 98-126. Definitions.
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Act or the act means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.
Approval authority or administrator means the EPA region VI administrator or the director of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) delegated state with an approved state pretreatment program or their duly authorized representatives, as defined in 40 CFR 403.3(c).
Authorized representative of the industrial user means that the reports required by this section shall include the certification statement as set forth in 40 CFR 403.6(a)(2)(ii), and shall be signed as follows:
(1)
By a responsible corporate officer, if the industrial user submitting the reports is a corporation. For the purpose of this subsection, a responsible corporate officer means:
a.
A president, secretary, treasurer or vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any person with similar policy- or decision-making responsibilities for the corporation; or
b.
The manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding $25,000,000.00, in second-quarter 1980 dollars, if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(2)
By a general partner or proprietor if the industrial user submitting the reports is a partnership or sole proprietorship, respectively.
(3)
By a duly authorized representative of the individual designated in subsection (1) or (2) of this definition if:
a.
The authorization is made in writing by the individual described in subsection (1) or (2) of this definition;
b.
The authorization specifies either an individual or a position having responsibility for the overall operation of the facility from which the industrial discharge originates, such as the position of plant manager, operator of a well or wellfield superintendent, or a position of equivalent responsibility for environmental matters for the company; and
c.
The written authorization is submitted to the director.
(4)
If an authorization under subsection (3) of this definition is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, or overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of subsection (3) of this definition must be submitted to the city prior to or contemporaneously with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.
Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) means the quantity of oxygen by weight, expressed in mg/l, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory conditions for five days at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius.
Blowdown means the minimum discharge of recirculating water for the purpose of discharging materials contained in the water, the further buildup of which would cause concentration in amounts exceeding limits established by best engineering practices.
Building sewer means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal, also called house lateral and house connection.
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) means the measure of the oxygen consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in the water or wastewater expressed in mg/l as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in a specific test, but not differentiating between stable and unstable organic matter and thus not necessarily correlating with biochemical oxygen demand.
City or individuals representing the city means the City of Baytown, Texas, or any authorized person acting in its behalf.
Composite sample means a sampling method that combines discrete aliquots of a sample collected over time, based on the flow of the wastestream being sampled. There are two methods used to collect this type of sample. One method collects a constant sample volume at time intervals which may vary based on the stream flow (e.g., 200 milliliters (ml) sample collected for every 5,000 gallons discharged). The other method collects aliquots of varying volume, based on stream flow, at constant time intervals.
Contact cooling water means water used for cooling which comes into contact with raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product.
Control authority refers to the POTW of the city.
Control manhole means a manhole giving access to a building sewer at some point before the building sewer discharge mixes with other discharges in the public sewer.
Director means the director of the city public works/utilities department, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.
Disposal garbage means animal and vegetable wastes and residue from preparation, cooking and dispensing of food; and from the handling, processing, storage and sale of food products and produce.
Environmental protection agency or EPA means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Grab sample means an individual sample collected over a period of time not exceeding 15 minutes.
Indirect discharge or discharge means the introduction of pollutants into a POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under section 307(b), (c) or (d) of the act.
Industrial user (IU) or user means a source of indirect discharge.
Industrial waste means waste resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade or business from the development of any natural resource, disposal garbage or any mixture of the waste with water or normal wastewater, or distinct from normal wastewater.
Industrial waste charge or user charge or surcharge means the charge made on those persons who discharge industrial wastes with high loadings over that of normal domestic sewage into the city's sewer system to recover excessive costs for treatment by the city.
Interference means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both: (i) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and (ii) therefore, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's TPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation, or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued there under, or more stringent state or local regulations, or section 405 of the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and including state regulations contained in any state 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.
Maximum allowable discharge limit means the highest allowable discharge.
Milligrams per liter (mg/l) means the same as parts per million and is a weight-to-volume ratio; the milligram-per-liter value multiplied by the factor 8.34 shall be equivalent to pounds per million gallons of water.
National pretreatment standard, pretreatment standards or standards means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with section 307 (b) and (c) of the act, which applies to industrial users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5.
Natural outlet means any outlet into a watercourse, ditch, lake or other body of surface water or groundwater.
New source means 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 (i) the building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; (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. 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 subsections (i) through (iii) of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to existing process or production equipment. Construction of a new source has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(1)
Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
a.
Any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment; or
b.
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
(2)
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.
Noncontact cooling water means water used for cooling which does not come into contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product.
Nondomestic user means any person who discharges, causes or permits the discharge of wastewater from any facility other than a residential unit.
Normal domestic wastewater means wastewater, excluding industrial wastewater, discharged by a person into sanitary sewers and in which the average concentration of total suspended solids is not more than 250 mg/l and BOD is not more than 250 mg/l.
Operator means the person responsible for the overall operation of a facility.
Overload means the imposition of organic or hydraulic loading on a treatment facility in excess of its engineered design capacity.
Owner means the person who owns a facility or part of a facility.
Pass through means a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States, or any state, 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 POTW's TPDES permit, including an increase, in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
Person or any individual means and includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association and any other legal entity.
pH means the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration.
Pollutant means dredged spoils, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, except those regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq.), heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal and agricultural waste discharged into water. It does not mean sewage from vessels; or water, gas or other material which is injected into a well to facilitate production of oil or gas, or water derived in association with oil and gas production and disposed of in a well, if the well used either to facilitate production or for disposal purposes is approved by authority of the state in which the well is located and if the state determines that the injection or disposal will not result in the degradation of groundwater or surface water resources.
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 instead of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or by other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6(d). Appropriate pretreatment technology includes control equipment, such as equalization tanks or facilities, for protection against surges or slug loadings that might interfere with or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW. However, where wastewater from a regulated process is mixed in an equalization facility with unregulated wastewater or with wastewater from another regulated process, the effluent from the equalization facility must meet an adjusted pretreatment limit calculated in accordance with 40 CFR 403.6(e).
Pretreatment requirements means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.
Process wastewater means any water which, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct or waste product.
Public sewer means pipe or conduit carrying wastewater or unpolluted drainage in which owners of abutting properties shall have the use, subject to control by the city.
Publicly-owned treatment works (POTW) or wastewater treatment plant 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 wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes sewers, pipes and other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW treatment plant. The term also means the municipality, as defined in section 502(4) of the act, which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works.
Sanitary sewer means a public sewer that conveys domestic wastewater or industrial wastes or a combination of both and into which stormwater, surface water, groundwater and other unpolluted wastes are not intentionally passed.
Significant industrial user means:
(1)
All dischargers subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR chapter I, subchapter N; and
(2)
All noncategorical dischargers that, in the opinion of the director, have a reasonable potential to adversely affect the POTW's operation, or that contribute a process wastestream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant, or that discharge an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW. However, the director need not designate as significant any noncategorical industrial user that, in the opinion of the director and with the agreement of the administrator, has no potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement. Any noncategorical industrial user designated as significant may petition the director to be deleted from the list of significant industrial users on the grounds that it has no potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
Slug load or slug means any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or noncustomary batch discharge of water, wastewater or industrial waste which, in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration or flows during normal operation.
Standard industrial classification (SIC) code means a classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual currently issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget. The SIC defines industries in accordance with the composition and structure of the economy and covers the entire field of economic activities.
Storm sewer means a public sewer that carries stormwater and surface water and drainage and into which domestic wastewater or industrial waste is not intentionally passed.
Stormwater means rainfall or any other forms of precipitation.
Strong acid means any substance with a pH less than 6.0.
Suspended solids or total suspended solids (TSS) means solids measured in mg/l that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, wastewater or other liquids and which are largely removable by a laboratory filtration device.
To discharge includes to deposit, conduct, drain, emit, throw, run, allow to seep or otherwise release or dispose of, or to allow, permit or suffer any of these acts or omissions.
Toxic pollutant means one of 126 pollutants or combination of those pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA under the provision of section 307 (33 U.S.C. § 1317) of the act.
Trap means a device designed to skim, settle or otherwise remove grease, oil, sand, flammable wastes or other harmful substances.
Unpolluted wastewater means water containing:
(1)
No free or emulsified grease or oil;
(2)
No acids or alkalis;
(3)
No phenols or other substances producing taste or odor in receiving water;
(4)
No toxic or poisonous substances in suspension, colloidal state or solution;
(5)
No noxious or otherwise obnoxious or odorous gases;
(6)
Not more than an insignificant amount in mg/l each of suspended solids and BOD, as determined by the state natural resource conservation commission; and
(7)
Color not exceeding 50 units as measured by the platinum-cobalt method of determination as specified in 40 CFR 136.
Waste means rejected, unutilized or superfluous substances in liquid, gaseous or solid form resulting from domestic, agricultural or industrial activities.
Wastewater means a combination of the water-carried waste from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may be present.
Wastewater facilities includes all facilities for collection, pumping, treating and disposing of wastewater and industrial wastes.
Watercourse means a natural or manmade channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
(Code 1967, §§ 34-11, 34-52(a); Ord. No. 1765, § 1, 3-13-75; Ord. No. 6191, § 2, 3-26-92; Ord. No. 6667, § 1, 6-8-93; Ord. No. 8118, § 1, 10-23-97; Ord. No. 10,344, § 2, 5-25-06)
Cross reference
Definitions generally, § 1-2.