This article is created for the purpose and intent of establishing an industrial wastewater permit and pretreatment program under the applicable rules of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the applicable provisions of the laws of the Town of East Greenbush. It establishes uniform requirements for industrial contributors into the Town's wastewater and treatment system and thus enables the Town to comply with all applicable state and federal requirements.
[Added 6-11-2003 by L.L. No. 3-2003]
This section of this article shall apply to all nondomestic users of the Town of East Greenbush publicly owned treatment works (POTW) which discharge directly into or indirectly into the POTW sanitary sewer system. In addition, it should be unlawful for any nondomestic user located outside the Town limits to continue to discharge to the POTW except by separate agreement duly approved by the Town Board, Town of East Greenbush, in like manner as the approval of this article.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The Director of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation Pretreatment Program.
The National Categorical Pretreatment Standards or "pretreatment standards."
Any industrial or commercial establishment with a classification as designated in the "Standard Industrial Classification Manual," current edition and who discharges nondomestic wastewaters.
A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both:
Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use of disposal; and
Is a cause of or significantly contributes to either a violation of any requirement of the Town's SPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation). The term includes 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 Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1345), or any criteria, guidelines, or regulations developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (including Title II, more commonly referred to as the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act") (RCRA), or more stringent state criteria (including those contained in any New York State sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Title IV, Subtitle D of SWDA), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the POTW.
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 with provisions listed in 40 CFR 403.3(k)(1).
The person responsible for the overall operation of the POTW.
The person who owns a facility or part of a facility.
Any individual, association, partnership, corporation, municipality, state, federal agency, and any agent or employee thereof.
The reduction of the amount of, or alteration of, pollutant properties in wastewater 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, production process changes or by other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6, General Pretreatment Regulations for Existing and New Sources of Pollution.
Any industrial user of the Town's POTW who:
Is subject to promulgated categorical pretreatment standards;
Has substantial impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the operation of the treatment works;
Uses, on an annual basis, more than 10,000 pounds or 1,000 gallons of raw materials containing priority pollutants/substances of concern and discharging a measurable amount of these pollutants to the sewer system from the process using these pollutants; or
Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling, and boiler blowdown wastewater) or contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW.
A user is in significant noncompliance if its violation(s) meet(s) one or more of the following criteria:
Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those, in 66% or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period, which exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit or average limit for the same pollutant parameter;
Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those, in which 33% or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period, which equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limits multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease; TRC = 1.2 for all other pollutants);
Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or long-term average) that the Commissioner 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 of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the Commissioner's exercise of emergency authority;
Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement (consent) order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
Failure to report accurately any noncompliance;
Any other violation which the Commissioner determines will adversely affect the implementation or operation of the local pretreatment program.
The official permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to the Town of East Greenbush that provides regulation and limitations of acceptable discharges from the Town's POTW to the receiving waters of the state.
A.
All nondomestic users must notify the Commissioner of the nature and characteristics of their wastewater prior to commencing their discharge. The Commissioner is authorized to prepare a form for this purpose.
B.
It shall be unlawful for significant industrial users to discharge wastewater, either directly or indirectly, into the Town's sanitary sewer system without first obtaining an industrial user pretreatment permit from the POTW Commissioner. Any violation of the terms and conditions of an industrial user pretreatment permit shall be deemed a violation of this article. Obtaining an industrial user pretreatment permit does not relieve a permittee of its obligation to obtain other permits required by federal, state or local law.
C.
The Commissioner may require that other industrial users, including liquid waste haulers, obtain an industrial user pretreatment permit as necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.
D.
Any industrial user located beyond the Town limits shall submit a permit application in accordance with § 43-56 of this article within 90 days of the effective date of this article. New industrial users located beyond the Town limits shall submit such applications to the Commissioner 180 days prior to discharging into the sanitary sewer. Upon review and approval of such application, the Commissioner may enter into a contract with the user which requires the user to subject itself to, and to abide by, this article, including all permitting, compliance monitoring, and reporting and enforcement provisions herein.
E.
Existing connections. Any significant industrial user which discharges nondomestic waste into the sanitary sewer system prior to the effective date of this article and who wishes to continue such discharges in the future, shall, within 90 days after said date, apply to the Town for an industrial user pretreatment permit and shall not cause or allow discharges to the POTW to continue after 180 days from and after the effective date of this article except in accordance with a permit issued by the Commissioner.
F.
New connections. Any significant industrial user proposing to begin or recommence discharging nondomestic wastes into the sanitary sewer system must obtain a pretreatment permit prior to beginning or recommencing such discharge. An application for this permit must be filed at least 180 prior to the anticipated start up date.
A.
In order to be considered for a pretreatment permit, all industrial users required to have a permit must submit the following information on an application form approved by the Town and Commissioner:
(1)
Name, address, and location (if different from the address).
(2)
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code of both the industry as a whole and any processes for which federal categorical standards have been promulgated.
(3)
Wastewater constituents and characteristics, including any pollutants in the discharge which are limited by any federal, state or local standards. Sampling and analysis will be undertaken in accordance with 40 CFR Part 136.
(4)
Time and duration of discharge.
(5)
Daily maximum, daily average and monthly average wastewater flow rates, including daily, monthly and seasonal variations, if any.
(6)
Description of activities, facilities and plant processes on the premises, including a list of all raw materials and chemicals used at the facility, which are or could accidentally or intentionally be discharged to the POTW.
(7)
The site plans, floor plans and mechanical and plumbing plans and details to show all sewers, floor drains, and appurtenances by size, location, and elevation.
(8)
Each product produced by type, amount, process or processes and rate of production.
(9)
Type and amount of raw materials processed (average and maximum per day).
(10)
Number and type of employees, and hours or operation, and proposed or actual hours of operation of the pretreatment system.
(11)
Whether additional operation and maintenance (O&M) and/or additional pretreatment is required for the user to meet all applicable federal, state, and local standards. If additional pretreatment and/or O&M will be required to meet the standards, then the industrial user shall indicate the shortest time schedule necessary to accomplish installation or adoption of such additional treatment and/or O&M. The completion date in this schedule shall not be longer than the compliance date established for the applicable pretreatment standard. The following conditions apply to this schedule:
(a)
The schedule shall contain progress increments in the form of dates for the commencement and completion of major events leading to the construction and operation of additional pretreatment required for the user to meet the applicable pretreatment standards (such events include hiring an engineer, completing preliminary plans, completing final plans, executing contracts for major components, commencing construction, completing construction, beginning operation, and conducting routine operation). No increment referred to above shall exceed nine months, nor shall the total compliance period exceed 18 months.
(b)
No later than 14 days following each date in the schedule and the final date for compliance, the user shall submit a progress report to the Commissioner, including, as a minimum, whether or not it complied with the increment of progress, the reason for any delay, and, if appropriate, the steps being taken by the user to return to the established schedule. In no event shall more than nine months elapse between such progress reports to the Commissioner.
(12)
Any other information as may be deemed by the Commissioner to be necessary to evaluate the permit application.
B.
All plans required in Subsection A must be certified for accuracy by a state-registered professional engineer.
C.
All applications must contain the following certification statement and be signed in accordance with Subsection C(1), (2), (3) or (4) below:
"I certify under penalty of law that this document and all attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance with a system designed to assure that qualified personnel properly gather and evaluate the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the person or persons who manage the system, or those persons directly responsible for gathering the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there are significant penalties for submitting false information, including the possibility of fine and imprisonment for knowing violations."
(1)
By a responsible corporate officer, if the industrial user submitting the reports is a corporation. For the purpose of this subsection, a responsible corporate officer means:
(a)
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
(b)
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 (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(2)
By a general partner or proprietor if the industrial user submitting the reports is a partnership or sole proprietorship, respectively.
(3)
The principal executive officer or director having responsibility for the overall operation of the discharging facility if the industrial user submitting the reports is a federal, state or local government entity, or their agents.
(4)
By a duly authorized representative of the individual designated in Subsection C(1), (2) or (3) of this section if:
(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 well field superintendent, 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 Town.
(5)
If an authorization under Subsection C(4) of this section is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, or overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of Subsection C(4) of this section must be submitted to the Town prior to or together with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.
D.
The Commissioner will evaluate the data furnished the industrial user and may require additional information. After evaluation of the data furnished, the Commissioner may issue an industrial user pretreatment permit subject to terms and conditions provided herein. A consent order may be issued at any time at the discretion of the Commissioner which will define the terms and conditions addressing the violation or nonconformance of this article, the industrial user permit, or any applicable state or federal regulations.
Pretreatment permits shall include such conditions as are reasonably deemed necessary by the Commissioner to prevent pass through or interference, protect worker health and safety, facilitate POTW sludge management and disposal, protect ambient air quality, and protect against damage to the POTW collection system or plant. Permits may contain, but need not be limited to, the following:
A.
Limits on the average and/or maximum rate of discharge, time of discharge, and/or requirements for flow regulation and equalization.
B.
Limits on the average and/or maximum concentration, mass, or other measure of identified wastewater constituents or properties.
C.
Requirements for the installation of pretreatment technology or construction of appropriate containment devices, or other mechanical components, designed to reduce, eliminate, or prevent the introduction of pollutants into the treatment works.
D.
Development and implementation of spill control plans or other special conditions, including additional management practices necessary to adequately prevent accidental, unanticipated, or routine discharges.
E.
The unit charge or schedule of user charges and fees for the management of wastewater discharges to the POTW.
F.
Requirements for the installation and maintenance of inspection and sampling facilities.
G.
Specifications for monitoring programs, which may include sampling locations, frequency of sampling, number, types, and standards for tests, and reporting schedules.
H.
Compliance schedules.
I.
Requirements for submission of technical reports or discharge reports.
J.
Requirements for maintaining and retaining plant records relating to wastewater discharge as specified by the Commissioner and affording the Commissioner, or his representative, access thereto.
K.
Requirements for notification of any new introduction of wastewater constituents or of any substantial change in the volume or character of the wastewater being introduced into the POTW.
L.
Requirements for the notification of any change in the manufacturing and/or pretreatment process used by the permittee.
M.
Requirements for notification of excessive, accidental, or slug discharges.
N.
Other conditions as deemed appropriate by the Commissioner to ensure compliance with this article, and state and federal laws, rules and regulations.
O.
A statement that compliance with the permit does not relieve the permittee of responsibility for compliance with all applicable federal pretreatment standards, including those which become effective during the term of the permit.
A.
Permit duration. Permits shall be issued for a specified time period, not to exceed five years. A permit may be issued for a period less than five years, at the discretion of the Commissioner.
B.
Public notification. The Commissioner will publish [in official government publication or daily newspaper(s)], notice of intent to issue a pretreatment permit, at least 14 days prior to issuance. The notice will indicate a location where the draft permit may be reviewed and an address where written comments may be submitted.
C.
Permit appeals. The Commissioner will provide all interested persons with notice of final permit decisions. Upon notice to the Commissioner, any person, including the industrial user, may petition to appeal the terms of the permit within 30 days of the notice to the Town Board.
(1)
Failure to submit a timely petition for review shall be deemed to be a waiver of the appeal.
(2)
In its petition, the appealing party must indicate the permit provisions objected to, the reasons for this objection, and the alternative condition, if any, it seeks to be placed in the permit.
(3)
The effectiveness of the permit shall not be stayed pending a reconsideration by the Board. If, after considering the petition and any arguments put forth by the Commissioner, the Board determines that the reconsideration is proper, it shall remand the permit back to the Commissioner for reissuance. Those permit provisions being reconsidered by the Commissioner shall be stayed pending reissuance, if any, upon such reconsideration.
(4)
A Board of Directors' decision not to reconsider a final permit shall be considered final administrative action for purposes of judicial review.
(5)
Aggrieved parties seeking judicial review of the Town Board action must do so by filing a complaint with a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice Laws and Rules.
D.
Permit action.
(1)
The Commissioner may modify the permit for good cause, including, but not limited, to the following:
(a)
To incorporate any new or revised federal, state, or local pretreatment standards or requirements.
(b)
Material or substantial alterations or additions to the discharger's operation processes, or discharge volume or character which were not considered in drafting the effective permit.
(c)
A change in any condition in either the industrial user or the POTW that requires either a temporary or permanent reduction or elimination of the authorized discharge.
(d)
Information indicating that the permitted discharge poses a threat to the control authority's collection and treatment systems, POTW personnel or the receiving waters.
(e)
Violation of any terms or conditions of the permit.
(f)
Misrepresentations or failure to disclose fully all relevant facts in the permit application or in any required reporting.
(g)
Revision of or a grant of variance from such categorical standards pursuant to 40 CFR 403.13.
(h)
To correct typographical or other errors in the permit.
(i)
To reflect transfer of the facility ownership and/or operation to a new owner/operator.
(j)
Upon request of the permittee, provided such request does not create a violation of any applicable requirements, standards, laws, or rules and regulations.
(2)
The filing of a request by the permittee, providing for a permit modification, or the revocation and reissuance, or termination, or a notification of planned changes or anticipated noncompliance, does not stay any permit condition.
E.
F.
Permit termination. Pretreatment permits may be terminated for the following reasons:
(1)
Falsifying self-monitoring reports.
(2)
Tampering with monitoring reports.
(3)
Refusing to allow timely access to the facility premises and records by the Commissioner or his designated agents.
(4)
Failure to meet effluent limitations.
(5)
Failure to pay fines.
(6)
Failure to pay sewer charges.
(7)
Failure to meet compliance schedules.
G.
Permit reissuance. The user shall apply for permit reissuance by submitting a complete permit application a minimum of 90 days prior to the expiration of the user's existing permit.
H.
Continuation of expired permits. An expired permit will continue to be effective and enforceable until the permit is reissued if:
(1)
The industrial user has submitted a complete permit application at least 90 days prior to the expiration date of the user's existing permit.
(2)
The failure to reissue the permit, prior to expiration of the previous permit, is not due to any act or failure to act on the part of the industrial user.
I.
Special agreements. Nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the POTW and any user whereby wastewater of unusual strength or character is accepted into the POTW and specially treated and subject to any payments or user charges, as may be applicable. However, no discharge which violates pretreatment standards will be allowed under the terms of such special agreements. If, in the opinion of the Commissioner, the wastewater may have the potential to cause or result in any of the following circumstances, no such special agreement will be made:
J.
In addition to fines or penalties imposed by Article X of the Sewer Regulations of the Town of East Greenbush, if the violation of the user's permit or the Town's SPDES permit results in fines or penalties issued by the Department of Environmental Conservation or the Environmental Protection Agency, the industrial user shall be subject to a fine equal to the fine or penalty imposed upon the Town in addition to any fine or penalty imposed under Article X of this chapter together with administrative costs incurred by the Town.