[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of West Haven 11-25-1968 by Ord. No. 93. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Pollution Control Commissions — See Ch. 39.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 105.
Garbage, rubbish and refuse — See Ch. 119.
Littering — See Ch. 142.
Oil and oil-burning equipment — See Ch. 162.
Sewers — See Ch. 191
Toxic Solvents — See Ch. 199.
Space Heathers — See Ch. 202.
Water pollution — See Ch. 224.
It is declared that the pollution of air is detrimental to the health, welfare and safety of the inhabitants of the City of West Haven, that it is necessary to provide for the control and regulation of air pollution caused by the emission or escape into the atmosphere of smoke, soot, dust, fumes, odors, noxious gases and other air contaminants and that the necessity, in the public interest and in the protection of the health, welfare and safety of the community, of the provisions contained in this chapter is declared hereby as a matter of legislative determination.
When used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:
ALTERATION
Any work which involves a change either in the capacity of fuel-burning equipment, the design of the furnace, the methods of combustion or in any process or equipment capable of producing air pollution, affecting the emission of smoke, dust, fumes, odors or noxious gases.
BTU (being the abbreviation for "british thermal unit")
A measure of heat. One "BTU" is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water 1° F.
BUREAU
The Bureau of Air Pollution Control.
COLD BOILER or COLD FURNACE
A boiler or furnace in which fuel has not been consumed for a period of 24 hours or more.
COMBUSTION CHAMBER
The chamber or enclosure in which the burning or heating of fuel, refuse or any combustible material takes place.
COMMISSION
The Pollution Control Commission.
DIRECTOR
The Director of Air Pollution Control.
DUST
Airborne and gasborne solid particles, including but not limited to cinders, fly ash, grit and soot.
DUST-PRODUCING SUBSTANCE
Any substance capable of producing or disseminating dust, including but not limited to cement, charcoal, coal, coke, dirt, gravel, rubbish, sand and waste material.
DUST-SEPARATING EQUIPMENT
Any device for separating dust from the gas medium in which it is carried.
EQUIPMENT
Includes devices or apparatus.
FUEL-BURNING EQUIPMENT
Any furnace, incinerator, refuse-burning equipment, boiler, burner, stoke, apparatus, device, mechanism, stack or structure used in the process of burning fuel, refuse or any combustible material.
FUMES
Gases or vapors that are of such character as to create an uncleanly, destructive, offensive or unhealthy condition.
FURNACE
A chamber or enclosure in which any combustion process takes place.
INCINERATOR
A furnace or retort for reducing substances to ashes.
INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE
An engine in which combustion of a gaseous, liquid or pulverized solid fuel takes place within one or more cylinders.
MICRO-RINGELMANN CHART
A direct facsimile reduction of the Ringelmann Smoke Chart for measuring the shade or appearance of smoke.
MINOR ALTERATIONS
Work upon existing installations or equipment which involves no change in the capacity of the equipment or in the configuration of the combustion chamber and which does not involve a change in the method of combustion or adversely affect the emission of smoke, soot, dust, fumes, odors or noxious gases.
MOTOR VEHICLE
A street or highway conveyance propelled by an internal-combustion engine.
NOXIOUS GASES
Gases which are or may be injurious, hurtful, harmful or unwholesome.
NUISANCE
The discharge into the open air of any smoke, soot, dust, fumes, odors, noxious gases or other emission which causes injury, detriment or annoyance or which endangers the comfort, repose, health or safety of any person or the public or which causes or is likely to cause injury or damage to business, health or property.
ODOR
A substance which affects the sense of smell.
OPEN AIR
All space outside of buildings, stacks or exterior ducts.
OPEN FIRES
Any fire wherein the products of combustion are emitted into the open air and are not directed thereto through a stack or chimney.
OWNER
Includes the owner or owners of the fee of the premises or lesser estate therein, a lessee or joint lessees of the whole or part thereof, an ageny or any other person directly in control of the premises.
PERSONS
Any individual, partnership, association, company, firm, corporation, government corporation, municipal corporation or other entity recognized by law as subject to rights and duties.
PORTABLE EQUIPMENT
Equipment which is designed for the purpose of being readily transferred from one location to another.
PROCESS FURNACE
Any furnace, cupola, kiln, oven, still or combustion device in an industrial or commercial plant, other than a boiler furnace.
REPAIR
Any work which requires any equipment to be wholly or partially dismantled and which results in the restoration of the same to its original state.
RINGELMANN SMOKE CHART
The Ringelmann Chart with instructions for use as published by the United States Bureau of Mines.
SMOKE
The emission, except water vapor, from a chimney, stack or open fire.
SMOKESCOPE
An instrument correlated with the Ringelmann Chart for measuring the shade or appearance of smoke emissions.
SOOT
A dark substance, essentially carbon, resulting from the burning or heating of fuel or refuse.
STACK or CHIMNEY
A flue, conduit or opening arranged for emitting gases, smoke, dust and fumes into the open air.
TECHNICAL ENGINEER
A person qualified by law to practice professional engineering or one having qualifications for full membership in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
UNIT OF EQUIPMENT OR APPARATUS
A separate and individual piece of equipment, including but not limited to an afterburner, boiler, collector, furnace, incinerator, oil burner, process furnace, pulverized coal burner, scrubber, set of steam-air jets or over-fire air jets and stokes.
A. 
Except as hereinafter specified, no person shall construct, reconstruct, install or alter any equipment capable of emitting into the open air smoke, soot, dust, fumes, odors, vapors, noxious gases or products of combustion or of incomplete combustion or any equipment, the use of which may eliminate or reduce or control the emission of any air contaminant, until an installation permit for such construction or reconstruction shall have been issued by the Director.
B. 
No installation permit shall be required, however, in the instance of:
(1) 
Internal-combustion engines, locomotives, motor vehicles and portable equipment.
(2) 
Minor repairs to or minor alterations of previously approved equipment.
Installation permits shall be issued under and subject to the following terms, conditions and limitations:
A. 
Applications for installation permits shall be in writing on such forms as may be prescribed by the Department and shall be accompanied by plans and specifications of the equipment or apparatus and of the work to be done, a description of the building or structure in which such equipment or apparatus is to be installed and such other information as may be required by the Director.
B. 
At the time of making application for an installation permit, payment shall be made to the Department of the application fee established in the schedule of fees to be adopted by the Commission as hereinbefore provided.
C. 
No fee shall be charged for any application or the issuance of any permit where any building or structure in which an installation is made is owned by the United States of America, the State of Connecticut or the City of West Haven.
D. 
An emergency alteration or repair may be made prior to the application for and the issuance of an installation permit in the event that an emergency arises, and there may be an interruption in essential services. When such emergency alteration or repair is made, application for a permit therefor shall be filed with the Bureau within 48 hours after the starting of such work.
E. 
Without the written approval of the Director, no construction, reconstruction, installation or alteration of any equipment for which an installation permit is required hereunder shall be made which is not in accordance with the plans, specifications and other pertinent information upon which the installation permit was issued.
F. 
A separate installation permit shall be required for each unit of equipment or apparatus.
G. 
Any violation of this section or of the installation permit shall be sufficient cause for the Director to stop all work, and he is hereby authorized to seal the installation, and further work shall not proceed until the Director is assured that the violation in question will be corrected and that the work will proceed in accordance with the installation permit.
H. 
If the construction, reconstruction, installation or alteration covered by a permit is not started within one year of the date of issue or is suspended for more than one year, the permit shall automatically be canceled, and all fees paid shall be forfeited.
I. 
Each day of work on such construction, reconstruction, installation or alteration in violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense.
Except as hereafter specified, no person shall use or cause, suffer or allow to be used any new or remodeled or reconstructed or altered equipment for which an installation permit is required hereunder unless and until an operating certificate with relation thereto shall have been issued by the Director. Such certificate shall be issued under and subject to the following terms, conditions and limitations:
A. 
No operating certificate shall be issued until the work for which an installation permit has been issued shall have been inspected and approved by the Director.
B. 
Each operating certificate shall be displayed in the boiler, furnace or equipment room on the premises in a conspicuous location.
C. 
The Director is hereby authorized to seal any equipment in operation for which an operating certificate has not been obtained as required by this chapter.
D. 
The issuance by the Director of an installation permit or operating certificate shall not exempt the person to whom such permit or certificate has been issued or other person responsible hereunder from prosecution for the emission of smoke, soot, dust, fumes, odors, vapor or noxious gases in violation of this chapter.
E. 
Each day of operation of any new, remodeled, reconstructed or altered equipment prior to the issuance of the operating certificate required hereunder shall constitute a separate offense.
No person shall cause, suffer or allow to be emitted into the open air from any fuel-burning equipment, process furnace, internalcombustion engine, motor vehicle, locomotive, floating equipment, portable equipment, stack, premises or open fire, within the City of West Haven or upon waters within the jurisdiction of said city, smoke, the shade or appearance of which is equal to or darker than No. Two of the Ringelmann Chart, except in the following instances:
A. 
Smoke, the shade or appearance of which is equal to but not darker than No. Two of the Ringelmann Chart, may be emitted for a period or for periods aggregating three minutes in any period of 15 minutes.
B. 
Smoke, the shade or appearance of which is equal to but not darker than No. Three of the Ringelmann Chart, may be emitted for a period of five continuous minutes when a fire box is being cleaned or a new fire is being built in a cold boiler or furnace.
C. 
For the purpose of grading the shade or appearance of smoke, the Ringelmann Chart, which is hereby made a part of this chapter by reference, shall be the standard. In grading and determining the shade or appearance of smoke, the Micro-Ringelmann Chart, the Smokescope or other generally recognized means or equipment, when correlated with the Ringelmann Chart, may be used.
No person shall cause, suffer or allow to be emitted into the open air from any fuel-burning equipment, process furnace, stack, premises or open fire or to pass any convenient measuring point adjacent to the stack outlet dust in the gases to exceed 0.85 pound per 1,000 pounds of gases, adjusted to 50% excess air for product of combustion, except as follows:
A. 
For any equipment constructed or installed prior to the effective date of this chapter, the foregoing dust-emission concentration figure may be exceeded, but a dust-collecting efficiency of at least 90% for any dust-separating apparatus will be required.
B. 
The foregoing dust-emission concentration figure may be exceeded during the cleaning periods, provided that the methods used and the period of time are approved by the Director.
C. 
The amount of solids in the gases shall be determined according to the Test Code for Dust-Separating Apparatus of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, revised and amended to date, which is hereby made a part of this chapter by reference.
No person shall cause, suffer or allow to be emitted into the open air such quantities of fumes, vapors, odors and noxious gases in such place or manner as to be detrimental to any person or to the public or to endanger the health, comfort and safety of such person or of the public or in such manner as to cause or have a tendency to cause injury or damage to property or business.
When any person owning or controlling any premises, motor vehicle or portable equipment has been previously notified of three or more violations of § 67-6, 67-7 or 67-8 within any consecutive twelve-month period in respect to the emission of smoke, soot, dust, fumes, odors, noxious gases or other air contaminent, such person may be notified by the Director to show cause on a specified day not less than 10 days from the date of the notice why the equipment causing such violations should not be sealed. The notice herein provided for shall be addressed to the owner or owners, lessees or occupant of the premises, motor vehicle or portable equipment affected thereby. Service of any such notice may be made by delivery of a copy thereof to the owner or any one of several owners, to the lessee or to any one of several lessees or to any person of suitable age or discretion in charge or apparently in charge of the premises or, if no person is found in charge of the premises, then by affixing a copy of such notice prominently upon or near the premises on which the violations have occurred. Upon such hearing, if the Director finds that adequate corrective means and methods have not been employed to correct the cause of such condition, then the Director may order such equipment to be sealed until such person submits a statement of the intended change in equipment with a definite plan for its accomplishment and the approximate date of compliance which meets the approval of the Director.
No person shall tamper with or remove the seal on any equipment that has been sealed at the direction of the Director unless authorized by the Director, in writing, to do so.
No person shall burn any garbage, refuse, rubbish or other material in an open fire within the city except at such places and under such conditions and subject to such safeguards as to air pollution and fire as may from time to time be prescribed by the Director. To the extent that it shall not be possible to dispose of any material or substance by incineration and no other means of disposal is reasonably possible except by burning in the open, the Director shall be privileged to permit the burning in the open of such material or substance, notwithstanding the provision of this chapter, under such conditions and subject to such safeguards as to air pollution and fire as shall be prescribed by him.
No person shall so handle, transport, work, load, unload, treat or deal with any dust-producing substance in any place in the city as, by the spreading or dissemination of dust, to annoy or disturb unreasonably or to endanger the comfort, repose, health or safety of any person not therein or thereupon engaged or to cause detriment to the business or property of others.
All piles of coal, dirt, sands and other dust-producing substances in the open air shall be covered or treated so as to effectively control the spreading or dissemination of dust.
No person shall cause, suffer or allow any dust-producing substance to be transported through any street without protective covering, at all times, sufficient to prevent effectually the spreading or dissemination of dust from such dust-producing substance into the open air or upon any public or private property. The provisions of this section shall be enforced by the Police Department. Each violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense.
Whenever it is adequately demonstrated that compliance with the terms of this chapter cannot be effectively and immediately accomplished, the Director shall have authority to grant a temporary permit for the continuance of such noncomplying practices or the continued operation of such noncomplying equipment, provided that adequate steps are being or will be taken to secure compliance with this chapter. The time for which such temporary permit may be granted shall not be greater than shall be reasonably necessary to obtain such equipment or adopt such procedures as will result in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.
No person shall in any manner hinder, obstruct, delay, resist, prevent or in any way interfere with the Director or any of the personnel of the Bureau in the performance of their duty hereunder or, after proper identification, refuse to permit him or them to perform his or their duty by refusing him or any of them entrance to the premises at reasonable hours. If necessary, a search warrant may be issued by the Director of Air Pollution Control based upon an affidavit stating probable cause to search the premises for Air Pollution Ordinance violations.
All persons owning, operating or in charge or in control of any equipment or premises who shall cause or permit or participate in any violation of this chapter, either as proprietors, owners, lessees, tenants, managers, superintendents, constructors, installers, mechanics, repairmen, captains, janitors, engineers, operators, firemen or otherwise, shall be individually and collectively liable for any penalties imposed by this chapter.
In addition to such other powers as are provided herein, the Director shall have the following powers and duties:
A. 
He shall have authority to refuse to approve any application for an installation permit or operating certificate and to suspend or revoke any permit if the installation, equipment, construction, reconstruction or alteration does not conform to the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto.
B. 
He shall send notices, in writing, of his action in refusing an installation permit or operating certificate or of any order or requirement set forth in this chapter.
C. 
He may, in his discretion, require a test to be made as one of the conditions of approval of any new or altered installation. Such test shall be made at the expense of the person seeking such approval. Notice of the time and place of the test shall be given to the Director at least 10 days in advance. Reasonable facilities shall be made available to the Director or his representative to witness the test.
D. 
He may require that samples be taken and analyses made of any fuels used in installations upon any premises to determine whether they are of the grade and character called for by the specifications or permits or suitable for the equipment installed. Such analyses shall be made at the expense of the owner.
E. 
He may require the owner or operator of any equipment capable of producing air pollution to submit a stack analysis, which shall include the type and quantity of gases being discharged as well as the quantity and character of the solid matter. These tests shall be conducted by or under the supervision of a licensed professional engineer, at the expense of the owner. Notice of the time and place of the test shall be given to the Director at least five days in advance thereof. Reasonable facilities shall be made available to the Director or his representative to witness the tests.
F. 
He may require the written registration of points of emission of air pollution, whether by stack, ducts, flue or by any other means, when, in his opinion, such information is necessary for the conduct of the work of the Bureau. A period of 60 days shall be allowed for the filing of such registration.
G. 
The written registration of points of emission shall include the following information: location of point or points of emission, size of outlets, height of outlets, rate of emission, composition of effluent or emission and such other data as may be required by the Director.
Any person whose application for a permit or certificate has been refused or who is aggrieved by any decision, order or ruling of the Director may appeal therefrom to the Board.[1] Such appeal shall be in writing and shall be taken within 10 days after the mailing of the notice of refusal, decision, order or ruling. The appeal shall state the refusal, decision, ruling or order appealed from, the reason for appeal and the relief requested. The procedure to be followed on such an appeal shall be as follows:
A. 
The Director shall transmit to the Board all papers and records relating to the refusal, decision, order or ruling which is appealed.
B. 
Any person taking an appeal shall, at the time of filing thereof, pay a deposit of $25. If the decision of the Director is affirmed by the Board, said deposit shall be retained by the city. If the decision is reversed or modified, said deposit shall be returned to the appellant.
C. 
The Board shall set a date for the hearing of the appeal, which shall be not less than 10 days nor more than 30 days after the filing of the appeal, and shall give due notice thereof to the appellant. Such an appeal shall act as a stay of the refusal, decision, order or ruling appealed from.
D. 
At such hearing, any party may appear in person or be represented by an agent or attorney. Within a period of 10 days after the hearing, the Board shall affirm, modify or set aside the refusal decision, order or ruling of the Director. The decision of the Board shall be binding on the Director and the appellant.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said "Board" refers to the Pollution Control Commission, which is directed to act as an appeal board pursuant to § 39-2C of Ch. 29. Pollution Control Commission, of this Code.
Any person violating any provision of this chapter or of the regulations adopted pursuant thereto or who shall fail to obey any order of the Director made pursuant thereto shall be fined not more than $100 for the first offense and not more than $200 or imprisoned for each succeeding offense. Each day of such violation shall constitute a separate offense.
No permit shall be issued for the erection, construction or alteration of any building or structure if, incident thereto, any equipment is to be constructed, reconstructed, installed or altered for which an installation permit is required under § 67-3 hereof until the Director shall have issued an installation permit for such equipment or indicated that, in his judgment, the plans and specifications submitted provide for or will permit the installation of facilities adequate for compliance with the provisions of this chapter.