City of Cortland, NY General Provisions

Unless otherwise defined herein, terms shall be as adopted in the most current edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater published by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association and the Water Pollution Control Federation. Waste constituents and characteristics shall be measured by Standard Methods unless expressly stated or as established by federal or state regulatory agencies.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

ADMINISTRATOR

The Superintendent of Wastewater or their designated representative.

[Amended 2-3-2015 by L.L. No. 3-2015]

AGENCY

The City of Cortland Department of Wastewater Treatment.

BENEFICIAL USES

Uses of the waters of the state that may be protected against quality degradation, including domestic, municipal, agricultural and industrial supply, power generation, recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, navigation and the preservation and enhancement of fish, wildlife and other aquatic resources or reserves and other uses, both tangible or intangible as specified by federal and state law.

BUILDING SEWER

A sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to a community sewer.

COMMUNITY SEWER

A sewer owned and operated by the agency tributary to a treatment facility operated by the agency.

COOLING WATER

The water discharged from any system of condensation, air conditioning, cooling refrigeration or other sources. It shall contain no polluting substances which would produce BOD₅ or suspended solids each in excess of 10 milligrams per liter, or of toxic substances as limited in Article II.

FEDERAL ACT

The Federal Water Pollution Act, PL 92-500, and any amendments thereto; as well as any guidelines, limitations and standards promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Act.

GARBAGE

Animal and vegetable wastes from the preparation, cooking and disposing of food and from the handling, processing, storage and sale of food.

HOLDING TANK WASTE

Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks and vacuum pump tank trucks.

INDUSTRIAL USER

Any nongovernmental user of publicly owned treatment works identified in any of the following divisions of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1972, Office of Management and Budget:

Division A	Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
Division B	Mining
Division D	Manufacturing
Division E	Transportation, Communication, Electric, Gas and Sanitary Services
Division I	Services

INDUSTRIAL WASTES

Any liquid, gaseous or solid substances, or a combination thereof, resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade or business or from development or recovery of natural resources.

INDUSTRY

Any establishment which uses water in a product or generates a wastewater during any period of production.

INFILTRATION

The water entering a sewer system, including sewer service connections, from the ground, through such means as but not limited to defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manhole walls. "Infiltration" does not include, and is distinguished from, inflow.

INFLOW

The water discharged into a sewer system, including service connections from such sources as but not limited to roof leaders, cellar, yard and area drains, cooling water discharges, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections from storm sewers, catch basins, stormwaters, surface runoff, street wash waters or drainage. "Inflow" does not include and is distinguished from infiltration.

INTERFERENCE

A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both:

(1)

Inhibits or disrupts the agency's wastewater collection and/or treatment system, including its wastewater treatment processes or operations and its sludge treatment processes, use or disposal; and

(2)

Therefore, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the agency's State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) 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 applicable federal, state and local regulations.

MAJOR CONTRIBUTING INDUSTRY

Any wastewater contributor identified in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual in any of Divisions A, B, D, E and I that:

(1)

Has a discharge flow of 50,000 gallons or more per average workday (if seasonal, the average shall be computed on the period of use); or

(2)

Has a flow or pollutant loading greater than 5% of the design capacity of the agency's treatment works; or

(3)

Has in its wastes toxic pollutants in toxic amounts as defined in the standards issued under Section 307(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972; or

(4)

Is found by the agency's authorized representative to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the treatment works or upon the quality of effluent from the treatment works.

MASS EMISSION RATE

The weight of material discharged to the community sewer system during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, a mass emission rate shall mean pounds per day of a particular constituent or combination of constituents.

PASS-THROUGH

A discharge which exits the agency's wastewater collection and treatment system into water 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 agency's SPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

PERSON

Any individual, firm, company, partnership, association and private, public and municipal corporations' responsible corporate officer, the United States of America, the State of New York, districts and all political subdivisions, governmental agencies and mandatories[1] thereof.

POLLUTANTS

Shall mean, or may be defined now or hereafter by appropriate local, state or federal authorities or by the Commissioner as, substances which may be present in wastewater, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, the amount which may contain soluble or insoluble solids of organic or inorganic nature which may deplete the dissolved oxygen content of natural waters, contribute solids, contain oil, grease or floating solids which may cause unsightly appearance on the surface of such waters or contain material detrimental to aquatic life.

PREMISES

A parcel of real estate or portion thereof, including any improvements thereon, which is determined by the agency to be a single user for purposes of receiving, using and paying for service.

PRETREATMENT

The treatment of wastewaters from sources before introduction into the sewage treatment works.

PRIORITY POLLUTANTS

Any of the contaminants on the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) List of 126 Pollutants which are defined as priority pollutants.

PRIVATE SEWER

A sewer either on private property or in a public street which has not yet been constructed by nor is controlled by a public agency.

PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW)

The treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292), which is owned, in this case, by the City of Cortland. This definition includes any sewers and appurtenances that transport wastewater to the treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected directly or indirectly to a facility providing treatment.

SANITARY SEWER

A sewer intended to carry only sanitary or sanitary and industrial wastewater from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions.

SANITARY WASTE

Wash water, culinary wastes and liquid waste containing only human excreta and similar matter, flowing in or from a building drainage system or sewer originating in a dwelling, business building factory or institution.

SHALL

The term "shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.

SHREDDED GARBAGE

Garbage shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, with no particle having a dimension greater than 1/2 inch in any direction.

SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU)

(1)

Any discharger subject to categorical pretreatment standards.

(2)

Any other industrial user that discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewaters) to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) or that contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the WWTP; or

(3)

That is designated as such by the WWTP on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the WWTP operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement. The WWTP may, at any time, upon its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a noncategorical user, with the consent of the appropriate control authority, determine that such industrial user is not a significant industrial user.

(4)

Uses more than 10,000 pounds or 1,000 gallons per year of priority pollutants or substances of concern and discharges measurable quantities of these pollutants to the sewer system which can be shown to:

(a)

Interfere with the operation of the WWTP;

(b)

Pass through the treatment plant and pollute the receiving waters;

(c)

Concentrate in the sludge, thereby limiting opportunities for disposal or reuse; or

(d)

Pose a hazard to City workers; or

(5)

Industries which are major contributing industries as previously defined.

SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC)

An industrial user is in significant noncompliance of the Wastewater Discharge Law if its violation(s) meets one or more of the following criteria:

[Amended 4-2-2002 by L.L. No. 1-2002; 12-3-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2016]

(1)

Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period, exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits.

(2)

Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those, in which 33% or more of all of the measurements for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, multiplied by the applicable TRC [TRC = 1.4 for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), fats, oil and grease; TRC = 1.2 for all other pollutants].

(3)

Any violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or long-term average) that the Administrator determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through (including endangering the treatment plant personnel or the general public).

(4)

Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health or welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the Administrator's exercise of their emergency authority under § 289-45 of this chapter.

(5)

Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a permit, or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance.

(6)

Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports and reports on compliance with compliance schedules.

(7)

Failure to report accurately any noncompliance with this chapter.

(8)

Any other violation, which may include a violation of best management practices, which the Administrator determines will adversely affect the implementation or operation of the Local Industrial Pretreatment Program.

STORM SEWER

A sewer intended to carry only stormwaters, surface runoff, street wash water and drainage.

SUBSTANCES OF CONCERN

Are those substances defined by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) as substances of concern in their industrial chemicals survey (ICS) form.

TOXIC SUBSTANCES

Any substance, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which, when discharged to the sewer system in sufficient amounts, may tend to interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to recreation in the receiving waters of the effluent from the sewage treatment plant, pose a hazard to men working in the sewer system or constitute a hazard to fish or animal life.

TREATMENT WORKS

Any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage and/or industrial wastes of a liquid nature or necessary to recycle or reuse water at the most economical cost over the useful life of the works, including interceptor sewers, outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, metering stations, pumping, power and other equipment and appurtenances; extensions, improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations thereof; elements essential to provide a reliable recycled supply such as standby treatment units and clear well facilities; and any works, including site acquisition of the land that will be an integral part of the treatment process or is used for ultimate disposal of residues resulting from such treatment; or any other method or system for preventing, abating, reducing, storing, treating, separating or disposing of municipal waste, including storm runoff, or industrial waste, including waste in combined stormwater and sanitary sewer systems.

UNPOLLUTED WATER

Water to which no constituent has been added, either intentionally or accidentally, which would render such water unacceptable to the agency having jurisdiction thereof for disposal to storm or natural drainages or directly to surface waters.

USER

Any person that discharges, causes or permits the discharge of wastewater to the community sewer system.

USER CLASSIFICATION

A classification of user based on flow and chemical constituents.

WASTE

Any substance which contains sewage and any and all other waste materials from habitation, of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing or processing operations of whatever nature, including such wastes placed within containers of whatever nature prior to and for purposes of disposal.

WASTEWATER

Waste and water, whether treated or untreated, discharged into or permitted to enter a community sewer.

WASTEWATER CONSTITUENTS AND CHARACTERISTICS

The individual chemical, physical, bacteriological and radiological quality (parameters), including volume and flow rate and such other parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the contents, quantity, quality and strength of wastewater.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

Any arrangement of devices and structures or methods used for treating sewage.

WATERS OF THE STATE

Any water, surface or underground, within the boundaries of the State of New York.

[1]

Editor's Note: So in original.