City of Middletown, NY Article I Words and Terms Defined

§ 389-1 Abbreviations and definitions.

A. Abbreviations:

	BOD	Biochemical oxygen demand
	BMP	Best management practice
	BMR	Baseline monitoring report
	CFR	Code of Federal Regulations
	CIU	Categorical industrial user
	COD	Chemical oxygen demand
	EPA	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
	gpd	Gallons per day
	IU	Industrial user
	mg/L	Milligrams per liter
	POTW	Publicly owned treatment works
	RCRA	Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
	SIU	Significant industrial user
	SNC	Significant noncompliance
	SPDES	State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
	TSS	Total suspended solids
	U.S.C.	United States Code

B. Definitions. Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:

ACT or THE ACT

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.

ADMINISTRATOR

The regional administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region II.

APPROVAL AUTHORITY

Approval Authority shall be NYSDEC if New York State acquires an approved state pretreatment program. Under all other cases, the Region II EPA Administrator shall be the Approval Authority.

AUTHORIZED OR DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE USER

(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 decisionmaking functions for the corporation; or

(b) The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided the manager is authorized to make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility including having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendations, and initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for individual wastewater discharge permit 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, sole proprietorship or limited-liability company: a general partner, proprietor or managing member or manager, 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 his/her designee.

(4) The individuals described in Subsections (1) through (3) above, may designate a duly 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 City.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)

BMPs refers to schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b). BMPs include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.

BOD

(Denoting "biochemical oxygen demand") The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days at 20° C., expressed in parts per million by weight (e.g., mg/L).

BUILDING DRAIN

That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other pipes inside the walls, not including subsurface soil drains of the building, and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.

BUILDING SEWER

The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.

BYPASS

The term "bypass" has the meaning set forth in § 389-40 herein.

CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER

An industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.

CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or CATEGORICAL STANDARD

Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 to 471.

CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD)

A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and inorganic, in water.

CITY

The City of Middletown, NY.

COMBINED SEWER

A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.

COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS or COMMISSIONER

The Commissioner of Public Works of the City of Middletown, NY, or his authorized deputy, agent or representative.

COMMON COUNCIL

The Common Council of the City of Middletown, NY.

CONTROL AUTHORITY

The City of Middletown, NY.

DAILY DISCHARGE

The discharge of a pollutant measured during a calendar day or any twenty-four-hour period that reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling. For pollutants with limitations expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is calculated as the total mass of the pollutant discharged over the day. For pollutants with limitations expressed in other units of measurement, the daily discharge is calculated as the average measurement of the pollutant over the day.

DAILY MAXIMUM

The arithmetic average of all effluent samples for a pollutant collected during a calendar day or any twenty-four-hour period that reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling.

DAILY MAXIMUM LIMIT

The maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant during a calendar day or any twenty-four-hour period that reasonably represents the calendar day for purposes of sampling. Where daily maximum limits are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of the day. Where daily maximum limits are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that day.

ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE PLAN

Plan that details how the City will enforce this Sewer Use Ordinance.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Management Division Director, the Regional Administrator, or other duly authorized official of said agency.

EPA

See "Environmental Protection Agency," above.

EXISTING SOURCE

Any source of discharge that is not a new source.

GARBAGE

Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and sale of produce.

GRAB SAMPLE

A sample that is taken from a waste stream without regard to the flow in the waste stream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.

INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE

The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.

INDUSTRIAL USER

See "user."

INDUSTRIAL WASTES

The liquid wastes from industrial processes, as distinct from sanitary sewage.

INSTANTANEOUS LIMIT

The maximum concentration 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.

INTERFERENCE

A discharge that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and, therefore, is a cause of a violation of the City's SPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations: Section 405 of the Act;[1] the Solid Waste Disposal Act, including Title II, commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA);[2] any state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.[3]

LOCAL LIMIT

Specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the City upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b).

MEDICAL WASTE

Isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.

MONTHLY AVERAGE

The sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.

MONTHLY AVERAGE LIMIT

The highest allowable average of daily discharges over a calendar month, calculated as the sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.

NATURAL OUTLET

Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.

NEW SOURCE

(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[4] that 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;

(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 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 paragraph.

NONCONTACT COOLING WATER

Water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.

NYSDEC

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

PASS-THROUGH

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 City's SPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

PERSON

Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, limited-liability company, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity; or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state, and local governmental entities.

pH

A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

POLLUTANT

Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).

POTW

A treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292), which is owned by the City. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, slug, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.

PRETREATMENT or TREATMENT

The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants or the alteration of the nature 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 a physical, chemical or biological process or process changes or by other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6(d).

PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS

Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.

PRETREATMENT STANDARDS or STANDARDS

Pretreatment standards shall mean prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.

PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS or PROHIBITED DISCHARGES

Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in § 389-27 of this chapter of the Code of the City of Middletown.

PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE

The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.

PUBLIC SEWER

A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and which is controlled by public authority.

SANITARY SEWER

A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm-, surface- and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.

SEPTIC TANK WASTE

Any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.

SEWAGE

Human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.).

SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT

Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.

SEWAGE WORKS

All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.

SEWER

A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU)

(1) An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

(2) An industrial user that:

(a) Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);

(b) Contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or

(c) Is designated as such by the City on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement [in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6)].

(3) Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria of this Subsection (2) has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the City may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user or POTW, 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 NONCOMPLIANCE

The term "significant noncompliance" has the meaning set forth in § 389-52B herein.

SLUG DISCHARGE

Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards. A slug discharge is any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass-through, or in any other way violate the POTW's regulations, local limits or conditions of a permit issued pursuant to this chapter.

STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC)

A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1972.

STATE POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM or SPDES PERMIT

A permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342).

STORMWATER

Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

SUSPENDED SOLIDS

See "total suspended solids."

TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS) or SUSPENDED SOLIDS

Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory filtering.

UNPOLLUTED WATERS

Any waters which are void of pollutants and/or which have been determined by the NYSDEC as a class stream that is not polluted.

UPSET

The term "upset" has the meaning set forth in § 389-40 herein.

USER or INDUSTRIAL USER

A source of indirect discharge.

WASTEWATER

Liquid and water carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT or TREATMENT PLANT

That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.

WATERCOURSE

A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

[1] Editor's Note: See 33 U.S.C. § 1345.

[2] Editor's Note: See 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.

[3] Editor's Note: See 42 U.S.C. § 7401 et seq., 15 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. and 33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq., respectively.

[4] Editor's Note: See 33 U.S.C. § 1317(c).

C. "Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.