City of Las Vegas, NM Article II General POTW Use Requirements

§ 435-5 Prohibited discharge standards.

A. No industrial user shall introduce or cause to be introduced into the POTW any pollutant or wastewater which causes pass-through or interference. These general prohibitions apply to all users of the POTW whether or not the source is subject to categorical pretreatment standards or any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirement. Furthermore, no user may contribute the following substances to the POTW:

(1) Pollutants which create a fire or explosive hazard in the POTW system, including but not limited to waste streams with a closed-cup flashpoint of less than 140° F. (60° C.) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21.

(2) Any pollutants which will cause, but in no case discharges with a pH of less than 5.0 or more than 10.5, corrosive structural damage to the POTW or equipment or endangering governing agency personnel unless the POTW is specifically designed to accommodate such discharges.

(3) Solid or viscous substances in amounts which will cause obstruction of the flow in the POTW resulting in interference, but in no case solids greater than two inches in any dimension.

(4) Any pollutant, including oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which will cause interference with the POTW.

(5) Any wastewater having a temperature greater than 104° F., or which will inhibit biological activity in the treatment plant resulting in interference, but in no case heat in such quantity that it causes the temperature at the treatment plant to exceed 104° F.

(6) Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass-through.

(7) Pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or fumes within the POTW in a quantity that may cause acute or chronic worker health and safety problems.

(8) Any trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the City of Las Vegas in accordance with § 435-14.

(9) Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases, solids, or other wastewater which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance, a hazard to life, or to prevent entry into the sewers for maintenance and repair.

(10) Any wastewater which imparts color which cannot be removed by the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions, which consequently imparts color to the treatment plant's effluent thereby violating the City's NPDES permit. Color (in combination with turbidity) shall not cause the treatment plant effluent to reduce the depth of the compensation point for photosynthetic activity by more than 10% from the seasonably established norm for aquatic life.

(11) Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes except as specifically approved by the Supervisor in compliance with applicable federal regulations.

(12) Stormwater, surface water, groundwater, artisan well water, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, swimming pool drainage, condensate, deionized water, noncontact cooling water, and unpolluted industrial wastewater, unless specifically authorized by the Supervisor.

(13) Any sludge, screenings, or other residues from the pretreatment of industrial wastes.

(14) Any medical wastes, except as specifically authorized by the Supervisor in a wastewater discharge permit.

(15) Any wastewater causing the treatment plant effluent to fail a toxicity test.

(16) Wastewater causing, alone or in conjunction with other sources, the treatment plant's effluent to fail toxicity test.

(17) Any wastes containing detergents, surface active agents, or other substances which may cause excessive foaming in the POTW.

(18) Any discharge of fats, oils, or greases of animal or vegetable origin is limited to 100 mg/l.

(19) Wastewater causing two readings on an explosion hazard meter at the point of discharge into the POTW, or at any point in the POTW, of more than 2% or any single reading over 5% of the lower explosive limit of the meter.

B. Pollutants prohibited by this section shall not be processed or stored in such a manner that they could be discharged to the POTW. All floor drains located in process or materials storage areas must discharge to the industrial user's pretreatment facility before connecting with the POTW. If the industrial user storing the specified pollutant does not have a pretreatment facility, the floor drain shall be either plugged with concrete or valved off. The valve shall be locked closed at all times and opened only with permission from the City of Las Vegas.

§ 435-6 Categorical pretreatment standards.

The National Categorical Pretreatment Standards found at 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471, are hereby incorporated.

§ 435-7 Local limits.

A. The Supervisor is authorized to establish local limits pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5(c). Local limits are established in Tab 4 of the Pretreatment Manual.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: The Pretreatment Manual is on file and available for review in the City Office.

B. Local limits apply at the point where the indirect discharge is introduced to the POTW before mixing with other wastewaters. All concentrations for metallic substances are for total metals unless indicated otherwise. In addition to or in place of concentration based limitations, the Superintendent may impose mass limitations.

§ 435-8 Right of revision.

The City of Las Vegas reserves the right to establish, by ordinance or in wastewater discharge permits, more stringent standards or requirements on discharges to the POTW if deemed necessary to comply with the objectives presented in § 435-1 of this chapter or the general and specific prohibitions in § 235-5 of this chapter.

§ 435-9 Special agreement.

The City of Las Vegas reserves the right to enter into special agreements with industrial users setting out special terms under which they may discharge to the POTW. In no case will a special agreement waive compliance with a pretreatment standard or requirement. However, the industrial user may request a net gross adjustment of a categorical standard in accordance with 40 CFR 403.15. They may also request, from EPA, a variance from the categorical pretreatment standard. Such a request will be approved only if the industrial user can prove that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when establishing that particular pretreatment standard. An industrial user requesting a variance must comply with the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR 403.13.

§ 435-10 Dilution.

No industrial user shall increase the use of process water, or in any way attempt to dilute a discharge, as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with a discharge limitation unless expressly authorized by an applicable pretreatment standard or requirement. The Supervisor may impose mass limitations on industrial users which are using dilution to meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements, or in other cases when the imposition of mass limitations is appropriate.