A.
The purposes of this Article are:
(1)
To establish uniform requirements for direct and indirect contributors
into the wastewater collection and treatment systems owned and operated
by the county and to enable the county to comply with applicable federal
and state laws and regulations, including the Federal General Pretreatment
Regulations (40 C.F.R. Part 403) and the State Water Pollution Regulations
(COMAR 26.08.).
(2)
To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the county's wastewater
transport, treatment and disposal systems which singly or by interaction
with other pollutants will:
(a)
Interfere with the maintenance and operation of a publicly owned treatment works (as that term is defined in § 256-57, hereinafter "POTW").
(b)
Cause any county owned, maintained or operated POTW to violate
its NPDES discharge permit.
(c)
Contaminate the sludge at a POTW.
(d)
Pass through a POTW, inadequately treated, into any receiving
waters or the atmosphere, or otherwise adversely effect the receiving
stream of a POTW.
(e)
Pose a health threat to any workers on the POTW or constitute
a hazard to humans or animals.
(f)
Be otherwise incompatible with a POTW.
(3)
To improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewaters and
sludges from the system.
(4)
To promote the cleaning of and reduce the pollution entering into
waterways in the county.
(5)
To provide an equitable distribution of all costs associated with
the wastewater system and POTW operation.
(6)
To protect the health, safety and welfare of Harford Countians and
county employees.
B.
This Article is enacted pursuant to the enabling powers conferred
by MD. Ann. Code Art. 25A §§ 5(A), 5(B), 5(J), 5(T)
and 5(W); MD. Environment Code Ann. § 9-332 and the Act
as defined herein.
For the purposes of this Article, the following definitions
shall be used:
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended by the
Clean Water Act and the Water Quality Act of 1987, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251,
et seq., and all amendments to and all federal regulations promulgated
pursuant to the above Acts.
The Deputy Director of Public Works for the Division of Water
and Sewer or his duly authorized designee. In the event of a vacancy
in, or the elimination of, the position of Deputy Director of the
Division of Water and Sewer, the Director of the Harford County Department
of Public Works or his duly appointed designee shall constitute the
Authority.
Means:
In the case of a corporation, a president, secretary, or vice
president in charge of the principal business function of the industrial
user.
In the case of a partnership or proprietorship, a general partner
or proprietor.
An authorized representative of one of the individuals specified
in (1) or (2) above if, but only if:
Such representative is responsible for the overall operation
of the facilities from which the discharge into a POTW originates;
The authorization is written and signed by one of the persons
identified in (1) or (2) above; and
The written authorization has been submitted to the Authority.
The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion
of an industrial user's treatment facility.
Harford County, Maryland.
Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated
by the EPA in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Act
as defined herein (33 U.S.C. 1317), which applies to industrial users.
This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant
to 40 C.F.R. § 403.5 or any revision thereto.
Any person who introduces or, in light of on-site materials
and processes, is capable of introducing pollutants into a POTW from
any non-domestic source regulated under the Act as defined herein,
or any state or county law or regulation.
The water unintentionally entering the public sewer system,
including sanitary building drains and sewers, from the ground through
such means as but not limited to defective pipes, pipe joints, connections
or manhole walls. "Infiltration" does not include and is distinguished
from inflow.
Water discharged into a sanitary sewer system, including
building drains and sewers, from such sources as but not limited to
roof leaders, cellar, yard and area drains, foundations drains, unpolluted
cooling water discharges, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole
covers, cross-connections from storm sewers and/or combined sewers,
catch basins, stormwaters, surface runoff, street wash waters or drainage.
"Inflow" does not include and is distinguishable from infiltration.
A discharge which alone, or in conjunction with a discharge
or discharges from other sources either:
Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations,
or its sludge processes, uses or disposal; or
Causes a violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES permit
(including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation)
or the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with
the Act as defined herein, or federal or state laws and regulations,
including: Section 405 of the Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal
Act (SWDA), 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 SWDA; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act;
and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.
Milligrams per liter and is equivalent to parts per million
by weight.
A permit issued under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) for discharge of wastewaters to the navigable waters
of the United States pursuant to § 402 of the Act, as amended.
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 § 307(c) of the Act as defined herein (33 U.S.C. § 1317(c))
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; or
The building structure, facility or installation totally replaces
the process or production equipment that causes a discharge of pollutants
at an existing source; or
The production of wastewater generating processes of the building,
structure, facility or installation are substantially independent
of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether wastewater
generating processes are substantially independent, factors such as
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
that 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 Paragraphs (1)(b) or (1)(c) of this section
but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production
equipment.
Construction of a new source as defined under this paragraph
has commenced if the owner operator has:
Begun or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction
program: any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or
equipment; or 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
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 paragraph.
A discharge which exits a POTW 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).
Any individual, partnership, corporation, firm, company,
association, joint venture, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental
entity or 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 of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution, indicating the degree of acidity
or alkalinity of a substance. A stabilized pH shall be considered
to be a pH which does not change beyond the specific limits when the
waste is subjected to aeration.
Any dredged spoil, solid waste, hazardous waste, incinerator
residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical waste,
biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded
equipment, rock, sand, hazardous substances, toxic pollutants, cellar
dirt and industrial, municipal, commercial and agricultural waste
or any other contaminant discharged into the POTW or any water which
may find its way into a POTW.
The reduction, elimination or alteration of pollutant properties
to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharge or introduction
into a POTW, which can be accomplished by physical, chemical or biological
processes, process changes or other means except as prohibited by
40 C.F.R. § 403.6(D).
A treatment works as defined by § 212 of the Act
as defined herein owned or operated by or on behalf of the county,
including any and all sewer lines, pumping stations, channels, connections,
pipes, devices and systems used in the transport, storage, treatment,
recycling, reclamation and disposal of sewage, wastewater, industrial
waste and sewage sludge. Included within the definition are sewers,
pipes, connectors, channels and equipment used to convey wastewater
to a treatment facility.
Any waste pumped from a septic tank or holding tank which contains wastewater from any person (county resident). Wastewater from a facility or process subject to the pretreatment requirements in § 256-61 shall not be transported by a septage hauler without prior written authorization from the Authority.
The permit any septage hauler must obtain before discharging
septage to a POTW.
Any person who hauls or transports septage that is discharged
in the county.
Substantial physical damage to property; damage to a pretreatment
facility which causes it 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 or include economic loss caused by delays in production.
Any industrial user who:
Is subject to Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards;
Has a discharge flow of 25,000 gallons or more per day (excluding
sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewaters) to a
POTW; or
Has a flow greater than or equal to 5% of the average dry weather
hydraulic or organic capacity of a POTW; or
Is designated by the Authority on the basis that the industrial
user has a reasonable potential of adversely affecting the POTW's
operation or for violating a pretreatment requirement; or
Has in its wastes toxic pollutants as defined pursuant to § 307
of the Act as defined herein or state law or regulation; or
Is found by the POTW or the state to have the potential to significantly
impact, either alone or in combination with other contributing industries,
on the wastewater treatment system, the quality of sludge, the POTW's
effluent discharge quality, or the air emissions generated by the
system.
Any discharge of significant quantities of wastewater, sewage,
industrial waste or pollutants which, on consideration of the concentration
of any given constituent or the quantity of flow, could cause interference
of a POTW, pass-through a POTW, endanger sewer worker safety, contaminate
the sludge, release a prohibited discharge as defined in this Article,
or cause a violation of any permit issued to a POTW.
State of Maryland.
Any pollutant or combination of pollutants identified as
toxic pursuant to § 307(a) of the Act as defined herein
or any other federal laws or regulations. (See, 40 C.F.R. § 401.15;
40 C.F.R. Part 403, Appendix B.)
The liquid or water-carried industrial or domestic wastes
from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities and institutions,
whether treated or untreated.
A permit to deposit or discharge liquid industrial wastes
into any POTW owned or operated by or on behalf of the county.
