Township of Whitpain, PA General Provisions

Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the wastewater system which will interfere with the operation of the system or contaminate the resulting sludge at the Ambler Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the wastewater system which will pass through the system inadequately treated into receiving waters or the atmosphere or otherwise be incompatible with the system.

AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL OR SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER

Improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewaters and sludges from the system.

(4)

Provide for equitable distribution of the cost of operating the wastewater system.

(5)

Protect the general public and treatment works personnel who may be affected by wastewater and sludge in the course of their employment.

(6)

Enable the Borough of Ambler to comply with its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements and any other federal or state laws to which the treatment works is subject; and to empower the treatment works to enforce penalties against violators as required by its Enforcement Response Guide and by federal and state law.

This Part 1 provides for the regulation of direct and indirect contributors to the municipal wastewater system through the issuance of permits to certain nondomestic users and through enforcement of general requirements for the other users; authorizes monitoring and enforcement activities; requires user reporting; assumes that existing customers' capacity will not be preempted; and provides for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the program established herein.

This Part 1 shall apply to all contributors who discharge wastewater to Whitpain Township's collection system.

§ 122-2 Definitions and word usage. [1]

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases as used in this Part 1 shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:

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.

AMBLER

The Borough of Ambler.

APPROVAL AUTHORITY

The Regional Administrator of EPA.

If the user is a corporation:

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 decision-making functions for the corporation; or

The manager of one or more manufacturing, production or operating facilities, provided that the manager is authorized to make management decisions which 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 control mechanism requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

[Amended 4-3-2012 by Ord. No. 155-8]

If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)

If the user is a federal, state or local facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.

(4)

The individuals described in Subsections (1) through (3) of this definition, above, may designate another 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 Ambler Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Schedules of activities, prohibition of practices, maintenance procedures and other management practices to implement the general and specific prohibitions found in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b) and Chapter 122 of the Township Code. BMPs also 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.

[Added 4-3-2012 by Ord. No. 155-8]

BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)

The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, five days at 20° C., expressed in terms of weight and concentration [milligrams per liter (mg/l)].

BUILDING SEWER

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

CATEGORICAL STANDARDS

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

CONTROL AUTHORITY

Refers to the Manager, as Ambler has an approved pretreatment program under the provisions of 40 CFR 403.11.

COOLING WATER

The water discharged from any use, such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.

DIRECT DISCHARGE

The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the water of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)

The United States Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the term may also be used as a designation for the Administrator or other duly authorized official of said agency.

GRAB SAMPLE

A sample which is taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis, with no regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.

HOLDING TANK WASTE

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

INDIRECT DISCHARGE

The discharge or the introduction of pollutants into the POTW, including holding tank waste discharged into the system.

INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL OR INSTITUTIONAL USER

An industrial, commercial or institutional source of indirect discharge.

INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL OR INSTITUTIONAL USER PERMIT

As set forth in § 122-12B of this Part 1.

INTERFERENCE

A discharge which, 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 Ambler Wastewater Treatment Plant's NPDES 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; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, including Title II, commonly referred to as the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)"; 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.

MANAGER

The person designated by Ambler to supervise the operation of the POTW and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this Part 1, or his duly authorized representative.

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.

NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD OR PRETREATMENT STANDARD

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

NATIONAL POLLUTION DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM OR NPDES PERMIT

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

NATIONAL PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD OR PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD

Any regulation developed under the authority of Section 307(b)[2] of the act (40 CFR 403.5).

NEW SOURCE

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:

The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located;

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 process 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 Subsection (1)(b) or (c) above but otherwise alters, replaces or adds to existing process or production equipment.

Construction of new source, as defined under this subsection, has commenced if the owner or operator has:

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.

PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS

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

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

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 POTW's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude of duration of violation).

PERSON

Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint-stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, any other legal entity or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine, and the singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.

The logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.

POLLUTANT

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

POLLUTION

The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological and radiological integrity of water.

POTW TREATMENT PLANT

That portion of the POTW owned by the Borough of Ambler and operated by the Borough of Ambler in participation with the Townships of Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh and Whitpain, which is designed to provide treatment to wastewater from each participating municipality.

PRETREATMENT

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 in lieu of, introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, by process changes or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.

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

PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW)

A treatment works as defined by Section 212 of the act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by Ambler and operated for the benefit of Ambler and for the areas of the Townships of Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, Whitpain and Whitemarsh served by the POTW pursuant to an agreement between and among said municipalities dated December 16, 1959, as amended by several subsequent agreements. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this Part 1, "POTW" shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the POTW from persons inside or outside Ambler and/or the Townships who are users of the POTW.

SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER

Except as provided in Subsection (1)(b) of this definition:

All industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N; and

Any other industrial user that discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater); contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plan; or is designated as such by the Borough 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)].

[Amended 4-3-2012 by Ord. No. 155-8]

SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC)

Upon finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria in Subsection (1)(b) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the Borough 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 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that such industrial user is not a "significant industrial user."

[Amended 4-3-2012 by Ord. No. 155-8]

An industrial user or user is in significant noncompliance if its violation meets one or more of the specific criteria set forth in 40 CFR 403.8 (f)(2)(viii). For purposes of this definition, a user is in significant noncompliance if its violations meets one or more of the following criteria:

[Added 4-3-2012 by Ord. No. 155-8]

Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of wastewater measurements taken for each pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR 403.3(l);

Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33% or more of wastewater measurements taken for each six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable criterion (1.4 for BOD, CBOD, TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);