Definitions. Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the following terms and phrases used in this chapter shall have the
following meanings:
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 Director in an NPDES state with an approved state pretreatment
program and the Administrator of the EPA in a non-NPDES state or NPDES
state without an approved state pretreatment program.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE
(1)
A responsible corporate officer such as a president, secretary,
treasurer, or 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 operation facilities employing
more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures
exceeding $25,000,000, if authority to sign documents has been assigned
or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(2)
A general partner or proprietor if the industrial user is a
partnership or sole proprietorship, respectively.
(3)
A duly authorized representative of the individual designated in Subsection
(1) or
(2) above if:
(a)
The authorization is made in writing by the individual described in Subsection
(1) or
(2);
(b)
The authorization specifies either an individual or a position
having responsibility for the overall operation of the facility from
which the industrial discharge originates, such as the position of
plant manager, operator of a well, or a position of equivalent responsibility,
or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the
company; and
(c)
The written authorization is submitted to the County.
(4)
If authorization under Subsection
(3) is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility, a new authorization must be submitted to the County prior to or together with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure for five days
at 20° C., expressed in terms of weight and concentration [milligrams
per liter (mg/l)].
BUILDING DRAIN
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system
which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage
pipes located within three feet outside the inner face of walls of
the building and conveys it to the building sewer.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer
or other place of disposal.
BYPASS
The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion
of an industrial user's treatment facility.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or CATEGORICAL STANDARD
Any regulations containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the United States EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of industrial users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter
1, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.
COOLING WATER
The water discharged from any use such as air conditioning,
cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is
heat.
COUNTY
The Allegany County Commissioners, the governing body of
Allegany County, its departments and agencies, including the Allegany
County Sanitary District, Inc.
DIRECT DISCHARGE
The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly
to the waters of the State of Maryland.
DISCHARGE PERMIT
A permit issued by the County to any person connected to
the public sewer who discharges a waste of unusual quantity or characteristics
that, in the County's judgment, requires such a permit.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY or 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.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing
of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of products.
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.
GROUNDWATER
Water traveling below ground surface which enters the building
drain or building sewer via footer drains, sump pumps, broken or cracked
building drains or sewers or other direct or indirect connections.
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 nondomestic pollutants
from any source regulated under Section 307(b) or (c) of the Act (33
U.S.C. § 1317), into the wastewater treatment plant (including
holding tank waste discharged into the system).
INDUSTRIAL USER
A source of indirect discharge which does not constitute
a "discharge of pollutants" under regulations issued pursuant to Section
402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342).
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
The liquid wastes from industrial processes as distinct from
sanitary wastewater.
INTERFACE
The inhibition or disruption of the wastewater treatment
plant treatment processes or operations which contributes to a violation
of any requirement of the County's NPDES Permit. The term includes
prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW in accordance
with Section 405 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1345) or any criteria,
guidelines, or regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal
Act (SWDA), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or
more stringent state criteria (including those contained in any state
sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Title IV of SWDA) applicable
to the method of disposal or use employed by the POTW.
INTERFERENCE
A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge
or discharges from other sources, both:
(1)
Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations,
or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and
(2)
Therefore 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) 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
Substances Control Act, and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries
Act.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or other
body of surface or ground water.
NEW SOURCE
(1)
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:
(a)
The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed
at a site at which no other source is located; or
(b)
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 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.
(2)
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) of this definition
but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production
equipment.
(3)
Construction of a new source as defined under this definition
has commenced if the owner operator has:
(a)
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; or
(b)
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.
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, are 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, estate, governmental
entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives,
agents or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state or
local governmental entities.
pH
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, medical wastes, chemical wastes,
industrial wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat,
wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, agricultural
and industrial wastes, and the characteristics of the wastewater [i.e.,
pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, chemical oxygen demand
(COD), toxicity, odor].
POLLUTION
The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical,
biological, and radiological integrity of water.
PRETREATMENT or TREATMENT
The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination
of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties
in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging
or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction
or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological
processes, or process changes other means, except as prohibited by
40 CFR 403.6(d)
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of
food that have been shredded to such degree that all particles will
be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in
public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
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 the County or the City
of Cumberland. This definition includes any devices or systems used
in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of
sewage or industrial wastes and any conveyances which convey wastewater
to a treatment plant. The term also means the entity having jurisdiction
over the industrial users and responsibility for the operation and
maintenance of the treatment works. For the purposes of this chapter,
"POTW" shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the
POTW from persons outside the County area who are, by contract or
agreement with the County, users of the County's treatment plants.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer which is controlled by public authority.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which carries wastewater and to which storm, surface
and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE
Substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment
facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial
and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected
to occur in the absence of a bypass. Severe property damage does not
mean economic loss caused by delays in production.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit for carrying wastewater.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER
(1)
Any industrial user who:
(a)
Is subject to national categorical standards;
(b)
Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process
wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown
wastewater);
(c)
Contributes a process waste stream that makes up 5% or more
of the hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW; or
(d)
Is found by the County, state, or EPA to have significant impact
either singly or in combination with other contributing industries
to the POTW, the quality of the sludge, the POTW's effluent quality,
or air emissions generated by the system.
(2)
Upon a finding that an industrial user meeting the above criteria in Subsection
(1)(b),
(c) and
(d) of this definition has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the County 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 such industrial user is not a significant industrial user.
SLUG
Any discharge of significant quantities of water, sewage,
industrial waste in which the concentration of any given constituent
or quantity of flow could cause interference of the treatment works,
pass-through the POTW treatment plant, endanger sewer worker safety,
contaminate the sludge, or cause a violation of any permit issued
to the POTW.
STORM SEWER or STORM DRAIN
A sewer which carries storm, ground and surface waters and
drainage, but excludes wastewater and polluted industrial wastes.
STORMWATER
Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural
precipitation and resulting therefrom.
SUPERINTENDENT
The person designated by the County to supervise the operation
of the publicly owned treatment works and who is charged with certain
duties and responsibilities by this chapter, or his duly authorized
representative.
SURFACE WATER
Drainage streams or rainwater which enters the building drain
or building sewer via roof leaders, area drains, or other direct or
indirect connections.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of,
or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which
is removable by laboratory filtering.
TOXIC POLLUTANT
One of the 126 pollutants, or combination of those pollutants,
listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA under the provision
of Section 307 (33 U.S.C. § 1317) of the Act.
USER
Any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution
of wastewater into the County's POTW.
WASTEWATER
A combination of the water-carried sanitary wastes from toilets,
lavatories, sinks, showers, bathtubs, dishwashers, washing machines
or similar devices from residences, commercial buildings, institutions
and industrial establishments.
WASTEWATER SYSTEM
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing
of wastewater.
WATERCOURSE
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously
or intermittently.
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.