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Township of Hempfield, PA
Westmoreland County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
A. 
This chapter sets forth uniform requirements for users of the publicly owned treatment works for the Township of Hempfield and enables Hempfield Township to comply with all applicable state and federal laws, including the Clean Water Act (33 United States Code [U.S.C.] § 1251 et seq.) and the General Pretreatment Regulations (Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Part 403).
B. 
The objectives of this chapter are to:
(1) 
Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the wastewater system of THTMA which will interfere with the operation of the collection or treatment systems including interference with the use or disposal of the resulting sludge;
(2) 
Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the wastewater system of THTMA which will pass through the system, inadequately treated, into receiving waters or the atmosphere or otherwise be incompatible with the system;
(3) 
Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the wastewater system of THTMA which would expose THTMA personnel to chemical hazards.
(4) 
Improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewaters and sludges from the system; and
(5) 
Provide for equitable distribution of the cost of the municipal wastewater system.
(6) 
Enable THTMA to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements, and any other federal or state laws to which the publicly owned treatment works is subject.
C. 
This chapter provides for the regulation of all the users of the publicly owned treatment works 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 customer's capacity will not be preempted and provides for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the program established herein.
D. 
This chapter shall apply to Hempfield Township and to persons outside Hempfield Township who are, by contract or agreement with Hempfield Township, users of the sewage treatment plant of THTMA.
Except as otherwise provided herein, the manager of the sewage treatment plant of THTMA shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, 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.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY
The Regional Administration in an NPDES state with an approved state pretreatment program and the Regional Administrator in a non-NPDES state or NPDES state without an approved state pretreatment program.
APPROVED PRETREATMENT PROGRAM OR PRETREATMENT PROGRAM
The program administered by THTMA that meets the criteria established by 40 CFR 403.8 and 403.9 and which has been approved by a Regional Administrator or State Director in accordance with 40 CFR 403.11.
AUTHORIZED OR DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE USER
A. 
If the user is a corporation:
(1) 
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 function for the corporation; or
(2) 
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 explicitly or implicitly 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 (or general permit) requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
B. 
If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship; a general partner or proprietor, respectively.
C. 
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 their designee.
D. 
The individuals described in Subsections A, B, and C, 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 THTMA.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES or BMPS
Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in §§ 67A-5 and 67A-6 [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.
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 concentration (milligrams per liter mg/l).
BUILDING SEWER
A sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to the wastewater system of Hempfield Township or THTMA.
CATEGORICAL INDUSTRIAL USER
An industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD 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 or COD
A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and inorganic, in water.
CONTROL AUTHORITY
The term "Control Authority" shall refer to the "approval authority," defined hereinabove; or the manager of THTMA if there is an approved pretreatment program applicable under the provisions of 40 CFR, 403.11.
DAILY MAXIMUM
The arithmetic average of all effluent samples for a pollutant collected during a calendar day.
DAILY MAXIMUM LIMIT
The maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant during a calendar day. 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.
DIRECT DISCHARGE
The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
DIRECTOR
The chief administrative officer of a state or interstate water pollution control agency with an NPDES permit program approved pursuant to Section 402(b) of the Act and an approved state pretreatment program.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or EPA
The United States Environmental Protection Agency, or where the term may also be used as a designation for the Regional Water Protection Division Director, the Regional Administrator, or other duly authorized official of said agency.
EXISTING SOURCE
Any source of discharge that is not a "new source."
GRAB SAMPLE
A sample which is taken from a waste stream with no regard to the flow in the waste stream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
HOLDING TANK WASTE
Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and vacuum-pump tank trucks.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE or DISCHARGE
The discharge or the introduction of pollutants in the sewage treatment plant of THTMA from any nondomestic source.
INDUSTRIAL USER
A source of indirect discharge.
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 which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both inhibits or disrupts the sewage treatment plant or THTMA, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and, therefore, is a cause of a violation of any requirements of THTMA Sewage Treatment Plant's NPDES 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 thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): 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 Substance Control Act, and the Marine Protection, Research and Statuaries Act.
LOCAL LIMIT
Specific discharge limits developed and enforced by THTMA upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b) and §§ 67A-5 and 67A-6 of this chapter.
MEDICAL WASTE
Isolation wastes, infectious agency, 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.
NEW SOURCE
A. 
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:
(1) 
The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located;
(2) 
The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
(3) 
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.
B. 
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 A(2) or (3) of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
C. 
Construction of a new source as defined under this definition 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
Water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
NPDES PERMIT OR PERMIT
A permit issued to a POTW pursuant to Section 402 of the Act.
NPDES STATE
A state (as defined in 40 CFR 122.2) or interstate water pollution control agency with an NPDES permit program approved pursuant to Section 402(b) of the Act.
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 or duration of a violation).
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estates, governmental entity, or any other legal entity; of 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).
PRETREATMENT
The reduction of the amount of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes; by 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 CFR 403.6(e).
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENT
Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.
PRETREATMENT STANDARD
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 § 67A-5 or 67A-6 of this chapter.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS or POTW
A treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292), which is owned by THTMA. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation or sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances, which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.
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.).
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU)
A. 
Except as provided in Subsection B of this definition, a significant industrial user of the wasetewater disposal system of THTMA is defined as:
(1) 
All industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards under 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR Chapter 1, Subchapter N; and
(2) 
An industrial user that:
(a) 
Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per average workday or more of process wastewater to POTW excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater; or
(b) 
Contributes a process wastestream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
(c) 
Has in their wastes toxic pollutants as defined pursuant to Section 307 of the Act of (State) Statutes and Rules; or
(d) 
Is found by THTMA, State Control Agency, or the U.S. EPA to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the wastewater treatment system, the quality of sludge, the system's effluent quality, or air emissions generated by the stream, or
(e) 
Is designated as such by the control authority 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).
B. 
Upon finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria in Subsection A of this definition has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the control authority may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user, and in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that unless the industrial user is classified as a categorical industrial user.[1]
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE
Refer to Article V.
SLUG LOAD or SLUG DISCHARGE
Any discharge at a flow rate or concentration, which would cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in § 67A-5 or 67A-6 of this chapter. A slug discharge is any discharge of a nonrouting, 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 permit conditions.
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
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
STORMWATER
Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural participation, and resulting therefrom.
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS or SUSPENDED SOLIDS
The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and that is removable by laboratory filtering.
TOXIC POLLUTANT
Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the provisions of CWA 307(a) or other Acts.
USER or INDUSTRIAL USER
Any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the POTW. A source of indirect discharge.
WASTEWATER
The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed into or permitted to enter the POTW.
WASTEWATER CONTRIBUTION PERMIT
As set forth in § 67A-18 of this chapter.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT OR TREATMENT PLANT
That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
WATERS OF THE STATE
All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion thereof.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
The following abbreviations when used in this chapter shall have the designated meanings:
Abbreviation
Meaning
BOD
Biological oxygen demand
BMP
Best management practice
BMR
Baseline monitoring report
CFR
Code of Federal Regulations
CIU
Categorical industrial user
COD
Chemical oxygen demand
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
gpd
Gallons per day
IU
Industrial user
l
Liter
mg
Milligrams
mg/l
Milligrams per liter
NPDES
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
NSCIU
Nonsignificant categorical industrial user
POTW
Publicly owned treatment works
RCRA
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
SIC
Standard Industrial Classification
SIU
Significant industrial user
SNC
Significant noncompliance
SWDA
Solid Waste Disposal Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et. seq.
TSS
Total suspended solids
USC
United States Code