Unless specifically indicated in these Rules, the meanings of terms used shall be as follows:
ACT or THE ACTThe Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the "Clean Water Act," as amended, 33 U.S.C. §
1251 et seq.
Any person requesting approval to discharge wastewaters into the publicly owned treatment works.
APPROVAL AUTHORITYThe Region 1 Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency or his authorized representative.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVEAn authorized or duly authorized representative of an industrial user may be:
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 functions for the corporation; or
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 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 individual wastewater discharge permit requirements; and when authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
If the user is a partnership or proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively;
If the user is a federal, state, or local government facility: a director or the highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.
The individuals described in Subsections
A through
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 the Superintendent.
AVERAGE DAILY FLOWThe total volume of sewage in gallons measured at a metering station or other point during a continuous period of 365 days divided by 365.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs)A schedule of activities, practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions (including prohibited practices) listed in Article
IX. 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. BMPs also include alternative means (i.e., management plans) of complying with certain established categorical pretreatment standards and effluent limits.
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in five days at 20° C., expressed in mg/l.
BUILDING DRAINDrainage piping which receives the discharge from sanitary waste pipes inside the walls of a building and conveys it to the building sewer, which begins 10 feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWERThe pipe extending from the building drain to the public sewer. All building sewers and building drains are considered private property from the point they exit the house to the point the lateral enters the public sewer.
CAPPED BUILDING SEWERA building sewer that has been formally capped and inspected. A user may only opt out of the minimum service fee when the building sewer has been capped and inspected. After a building sewer has been capped, the user may reestablish the connection by filing a sewer entry permit and paying an application fee. Refer to Article
II, §
240-10 for information on the connection of a building sewer to the public sewer.
The measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in water or wastewater expressed as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in a specific test. It does not differentiate between stable and unstable organic matter and thus does not necessarily correlate with biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
COMBINED SEWERA sewer receiving both surface runoff and sanitary sewage.
COMPOSITE SAMPLEA sample which represents many aliquots taken throughout an extended time period.
COOLING WATERWater discharged from any use such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.
DAILY MAXIMUM LIMITThe 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 DISCHARGEThe discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
DOMESTIC WASTEWATERThe liquid wastes and liquid-borne wastes discharged from sanitary conveniences such as toilets, washrooms, urinals, sinks, showers, drinking fountains, laundry rooms, kitchens, cafeterias, and floor drains, free of industrial wastes or toxic materials.
DPW DIRECTORThe Director of the Department of Public Works, who is responsible for review and approval of street excavation permits and inspection of connections to the public sewer. The DPW Director shall review all work proposed within the street limits.
DRAINLAYERAny contractor licensed by the DPW Director to install building sewers, private sewers and/or public sewers in the Town.
EXCESSIVEAmounts or concentration of a constituent of a wastewater which, in the judgment of the Town:
A. Will cause damage to any facility;
Will be harmful to a wastewater treatment process;
Cannot be removed in the treatment works to the degree required in the limiting stream classification standards of the Connecticut River and its tributaries;
Can otherwise endanger life or property; or
Can constitute a nuisance.
FACILITIESStructures, conduits, pumping stations, treatment and disposal works, and other appurtenances for the purpose of collecting, treating and disposing of domestic and/or industrial wastewater.
FEE SCHEDULEUnless otherwise noted, the schedule included herein, defining all fees associated with and necessary for the connection of building sewers and private sewers to the POTW.
GARBAGEThe solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from handling, storage and sale of produce.
GRAB SAMPLEA 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.
INDIRECT DISCHARGEThe discharge or the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source (including holding tank waste discharged into the system).
INDUSTRIAL PRETREATMENT PROGRAMA program maintained and administered by the Superintendent for the regulation of significant industrial users, enabling the Town to meet applicable pretreatment standards.
INDUSTRIAL WASTESThe liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade, or business as distinct from sanitary sewage.
INDUSTRYAn establishment used for producing, manufacturing, processing, and testing, and including all institutional, commercial, and agricultural activities or other operations.
INSTANTANEOUS LIMITThe 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 flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.
INTERCEPTOR SEWERA sewer, located in public and/or private property, which collects the entire flow from a number of public and/or private sewers, conveys the flow to a suitable collection point for final discharge to a place of wastewater treatment and is entirely controlled by the municipality.
INTERFERENCEA discharge which, alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge/residuals processes, use or disposal; and 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 by the POTW in accordance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the 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 Sanctuaries Act.
LOCAL LIMITSSpecific discharge limits developed and enforced by the Town for discharges from industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR
403.5(a)(1) and
(b).
Any pipe which collects sewage from multiple building drains and/or private sewers which is owned and maintained by the Town.
MAXIMUM DAILY FLOWThe highest volume in gallons measured at a metering station or other point during any continuous twenty-four-hour period.
MEDICAL WASTEIsolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.
MONTHLY AVERAGEThe sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.
NATURAL OUTLETAny outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface water or groundwater.
NEW SOURCEA. 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; or
The building, structure, facility or installation totally replaces the process of production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
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.
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 stated above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
Construction of a new source as defined under this definition has commenced if the owner or 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 is 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 WATERWater used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.
NORMAL OPERATING DAYA twenty-four-hour day in which the standard and routine operations and work of the facility are conducted. It would include, but is not limited to, daily cleaning, routine maintenance, and production. It would not include work stoppages, scheduled and unscheduled shutdowns, holiday schedules, major cleanups and the like.
OIL AND GREASEAny material (animal, vegetable, or hydrocarbon) which is extractable from an acidified sample of waste by Freon or other designated solvent and as determined by the appropriate standard procedure.
PASS-THROUGHA discharge of pollutant 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).
PERSONAny 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, and local governmental entities.
pHThe logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.
POLLUTANTAny 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, or industrial, municipal or agricultural waste discharged in water.
POLLUTIONThe alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, or radiological integrity of water.
PRETREATMENT or TREATMENTThe 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 may be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, or process changes or other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR
403.6(d).
Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard imposed on an industrial user.
PRIVATE SEWERAny sewer located on private property that collects and conveys wastewater from two or more building sewers, discharges into a public sewer, and is not owned or maintained by the Town.
PRIVATE STORM DRAINAny drain located on private property and not owned or maintained by the Town until the point at which it connects to the public storm drain. If a private storm drain connects to a public storm drain, the storm drain is private until the point at which it connects to the public storm drain.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGEThe wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a 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 (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.
PUBLIC DRAINA drain located in a public way or easement which is owned or maintained by the Town.
PUBLIC SEWERAny sewer mainline that discharges to the Town's POTW treatment plant. This includes the mainline located within the Town that is owned or maintained by the Town or any mainline sewer located outside the Town that is owned and maintained by another city/town/district but discharges to the Town's POTW treatment works.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW) OR SEWAGE WORKSA treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. §
1292), which is owned in this instance by the Town. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of liquid wastes, including 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 these Rules, "POTW" shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the POTW from persons outside the Town who are, by contract or agreement with the Town, users of the Town's POTW. The term also means the Town and/or its agents having jurisdiction over indirect discharges to and the discharges from such treatment works.
Any watercourse, river, pond, ditch, lake, aquifer, or other body of surface water or groundwater receiving discharge of wastewaters.
SANITARY SEWERA sewer which carries domestic and/or industrial wastewaters and to which surface runoff from storms and groundwater is not intentionally admitted.
SEWAGEA combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together with such groundwater, surface water and stormwaters as may be present.
SEWERA pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
SEWER CONNECTIONA sewer pipeline running laterally from a mainline sewer to an individual tract, lot, or parcel of land to serve one or more houses or other buildings, whether or not connected to any house or building.
SEWER ENTRY PERMITAn application for connection to the public sewer. This application must be filed by all prospective users, including residential users. Filing a sewer entry permit application requires payment of a fee, which can be found in the Town's current Fee Schedule.
SHALLThis is mandatory; "may" is permissive.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USERA. Except as provided in Subsection B(1) and (2) of this definition, a significant industrial user is:
(1) An industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
An industrial user that:
(a) Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd 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 plant; or
Is designated as such by the Town on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
The Town may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards is a nonsignificant categorical industrial user rather than a significant industrial user on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than 100 gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:
(1) The industrial user, prior to the Town's finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;
The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required 40 CFR
403.12(q), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and
The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated industrial wastewater.
Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in Subsection
B of this definition has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the Town may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user, and in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR
403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCEA user is in significant noncompliance if it meets one or more of the following criteria:
A. Chronic violations of discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all the measurements for the same pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits;
Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, which means 33% or more of all measurements for each pollutant parameter taken in a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits as defined above, multiplied by the applicable criteria (1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the Superintendent determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through, including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public;
Any discharge which caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare, or the environment, or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such discharge;
Failure to meet a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance within 90 days after the schedule date;
Failure to submit required reports, including baseline monitoring reports, reports on compliance with categorical pretreatment standard deadlines, periodic self-monitoring reports, and compliance schedule reports, within 30 days of the due dates;
Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or
Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of best management practices, which the POTW has determined to have the potential to adversely affect POTW operations or implementation of the local pretreatment program.
SLUG LOAD or SLUG DISCHARGEAny discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in Article
IX of these Rules. A slug discharge is any discharge of a nonroutine, 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 these Rules, local limits or permit conditions.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
STORMWATERAny flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
STREET EXCAVATION PERMITA permit required for entry into and any construction within the limits of a Town street or right-of-way.
SUPERINTENDENTThe person designated by the Town to supervise the operation of the POTW and the industrial pretreatment program, and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by these Rules. The term also means a duly authorized representative of the Superintendent.
TOWNMunicipality; the Town of Palmer; or pertaining or belonging to the Town of Palmer.
TOWN MANAGERThe duly appointed Town Manager of the Town of Palmer or his/her authorized deputy, agent or representative.
TOXIC SUBSTANCESAny substance or mixture, whether gaseous, liquid or solid, which, when discharged into the sewer system, may tend to interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to human beings or animals, inhibit aquatic life, or create a hazard to recreation in the receiving waters of the effluent from the POTW.
TURBIDITYA condition in water or wastewater caused by the presence of suspended matter, resulting in the scattering and absorption of light rays; measure of fine suspended matter in liquids; analytical quantity usually reported in arbitrary turbidity units determined by measurements of light diffraction.
UPSETAn incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards or the provisions of these Rules because of factors beyond the control of the industrial user. An upset does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.
USERAny person who contributes to, causes or permits the introduction of wastewater into the Town's POTW.
WASTEWATERSewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, waste haulers, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed to the POTW.
WATERCOURSEA channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.