City of Meadville, PA Division I General Provisions

§ 912.01 Purpose and policy.

[Ord. 3514 § 1, 1998; Ord. 3698 § 1(1.2), 2012]

This article sets forth uniform requirements for users of the publicly owned treatment works (“POTW”) from the City of Meadville and enables the City of Meadville and the Meadville area sewer authority to comply with all applicable state and federal laws, including the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 403), the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law (35 P.S. Section 691.1 et seq.), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Standards for Discharges of Industrial Waste to POTWs (25 PA Code Section 97.91 et seq.) and NPDES Permit No. PA0026271 issued to the Meadville area sewer authority. The objectives of this article are:

(A) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the POTW which interfere with operation of a POTW, including interference with its use or disposal of municipal sludge;

(B) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the POTW that will pass through the POTW, inadequately treated, into receiving waters, or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW;

(C) To protect both POTW personnel who may be affected by wastewater and sludge in the course of their employment and the general public;

(D) To improve opportunities to recycle and reclaim municipal and industrial wastewaters and sludges;

(E) To provide for fees for the equitable distribution of the cost of operation, maintenance, and improvement of the POTW; and

(F) To enable the Meadville area sewer authority to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements, and any other federal or state laws to which the POTW is subject.

This article shall apply to all users of the POTW. This article authorizes the issuance of wastewater discharge permits; provides for monitoring, compliance, and enforcement activities; establishes administrative review procedures; requires user reporting; and provides for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the program established herein.

§ 912.02 Administration.

[Ord. 3514 § 1, 1998; Ord. 3698 § 1(1.3), 2012]

It is intended that this article will be implemented, administered and enforced by the Meadville area sewer authority (“MASA” or “owner”). The City of Meadville hereby designates MASA as its representative and agent for implementation, administration and enforcement of this article and grants MASA and its duly appointed agents and representatives such power as necessary to fully implement and enforce the provisions of this article, including, without limitation, the power to obtain search warrants, assess and collect civil and criminal penalties, issue enforcement orders and seek judicial enforcement. The use of the term “owner” in this article is intended to acknowledge this delegation of power and responsibility to MASA, as the owner of the POTW and is not intended to diminish or negate the city’s authority to administer and enforce this article, which powers are reserved to the city. Accordingly, the term “owner” as used in this article may also include the City of Meadville as necessary to assist MASA, as necessary to comply with federal and state laws or regulations where MASA has failed to act, or as necessary to protect the POTW or the environment where MASA has failed to act.

§ 912.03 Abbreviations.

[Ord. 3514 § 1, 1998; Ord. 3698 § 1(1.4), 2012]

The following abbreviations, when used in this article, shall have the designated meanings:

BOD

Biochemical oxygen demand.

BMP

Best management practice.

BMR

Baseline monitoring report.

CBOD

Carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand.

CFR

Code of Federal Regulations.

CIU

Categorical industrial user.

COD

Chemical oxygen demand.

EPA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

gpd

Gallons per day.

IU

Industrial user.

mg/l

Milligrams per liter.

MASA

Meadville area sewer authority.

NPDES

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.

NSCIU

Nonsignificant categorical industrial user.

POTW

Publicly owned treatment works.

RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

SIC

Standard industrial classification.

SIU

Significant industrial user.

SNC

Significant noncompliance.

TSS

Total suspended solids.

U.S.C.

United States Code.

§ 912.04 Definitions.

[Ord. 3514 § 1, 1998; Ord. 3698 § 1(1.5), 2012]

Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this article, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated.

(A) “Act” or “the Act” means the federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq.

(B) “Approval authority” means the regional administrator of EPA Region III.

(C) Authorized or Duly Authorized Representative of the User.

(1) If the user is a corporation:

(a) The 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 operating facilities, provided, the manager is authorized to make management decisions which 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 control mechanism requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

(2) If the user is a partnership, or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

(3) If the user is a federal, state, or local governmental facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.

(4) The individuals described in subsections (C)(1) through (3) of this section may designate a duly authorized representative if:

(a) The authorization is made in writing by the individual described in subsections (C)(1) through (3) of this section;

(b) The authorization specifies either an individual or a position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the industrial discharge originates, or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company; and

(c) The written authorization is submitted to the owner.

(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 owner prior to or together with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.

(D) Best Management Practices. The term “best management practices” or “BMPs” means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in Division II of this article and 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b). BMPs also 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. A BMP should include the following elements, to the extent applicable: (1) there should be specific notice to those users to which the BMP applies and what is required; (2) there should be specifications or criteria that any required control equipment must meet; (3) there should be specific requirements for or prohibitions on certain practices, activities and/or discharges to ensure that use of the BMP is protective; (4) there should be operation and maintenance requirements specified; (5) there should be timeframes directing when BMPs must be implemented; (6) there should be compliance certification, reporting and record keeping requirements; (7) there should be a provision allowing the owner to reopen or revoke the BMP conditions, including allowing the addition of numerical limits; and (8) such other requirements as the owner determines.

(E) “Biochemical oxygen demand” or “BOD” means a measure of the molecular oxygen utilized during a five-day incubation period for the biochemical degradation of organic material and the oxygen used to oxidize inorganic material, at 20 degrees Celsius.

(F) “Carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand” or “CBOD” means a measure of the molecular oxygen utilized during a five-day incubation period for the biochemical degradation of organic material and the oxygen used to oxidize inorganic material, at 20 degrees Celsius, except that oxygen used to oxidize reduced forms of nitrogen has been prevented by an inhibitor.

(G) “Categorical industrial user” means an industrial user subject to a categorical pretreatment standard.

(H) “Categorical pretreatment standard” or “categorical standard” means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N.

(I) “Chemical oxygen demand” or “COD” means a measure of the oxygen equivalent of the organic matter content of a sample that is susceptible to oxidation by a strong chemical oxidant.

(J) “Composite sample” means a sample formed by mixing discrete samples or aliquots.

(K) “Daily maximum” means the arithmetic average of all effluent samples for a pollutant collected during a calendar day.

(L) “Daily maximum limit” means the 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.

(M) “Environmental Protection Agency” or “EPA” means the United States Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the regional water protection division director, or other duly authorized official of said agency.

(N) “Existing source” means any source of discharge that is not a “new source.”

(O) “Flow-proportional composite sample” means a composite sample in which each individual sample or aliquot is collected after the passage of a defined volume of discharge.

(P) “Grab sample” means a sample which is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.

(Q) “Indirect discharge” or “discharge” means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act.

(R) “Industrial waste” means any liquid, gaseous or water borne wastes from industrial processes or commercial establishments as distinct from sewage.

(S) “Instantaneous maximum allowable discharge limit” means the maximum concentration or mass loading limit of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.

(T) “Interference” means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and, therefore, is a cause of a violation of the owner’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 any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations: Section 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 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 Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.

(U) “Mass loading limit” means the pounds per day (or other specific interval) of a particular pollutant allowed to be discharged to the POTW at any time.

(V) “Medical waste” means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.

(W) “New source” means:

(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 standard 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 (W)(1)(b) or (c) of this section, but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(3) Construction of a new source as defined under this subsection has commenced if the owner or operator has:

(a) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site construction program:

(i) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or

(ii) 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.

(X) “Noncontact cooling water” means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.

(Y) “Owner” shall mean the Meadville area sewer authority which is a municipal authority formed by the City of Meadville and the township of West Mead to own, possess and control the sanitary sewage systems of the City of Meadville and the township of West Mead and to accept wastewater from a portion of Vernon Township.

(Z) “Pass through” means 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, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the owner’s NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

(AA) “Person” means 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, and local governmental entities.

(BB) “pH” means a mathematical expression of the intensity of the acidic or basic character of a solution or -log [H+].

(CC) “Pollutant” means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, or odor).

(DD) “Pretreatment” means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, introducing such pollutants into the POTW. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.

(EE) “Pretreatment requirements” means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.

(FF) “Pretreatment standards” or “standards” shall mean prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.

(GG) “Prohibited discharge standards” or “prohibited discharges” means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in MMC 912.05.

(HH) “Publicly owned treatment works” or “POTW” means a “treatment works,” as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1292) which is owned by the Meadville area sewer authority. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.

(II) “Septic tank waste” means any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.

(JJ) “Sewage” means human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.).

(KK) Significant Industrial User.

(1) A “significant industrial user” is:

(a) A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

(b) A user that:

(i) Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling, and boiler blowdown wastewater);

(ii) Contributes a process wastestream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or

(iii) Is designated as such by the owner on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.

(2) Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in subsection (KK)(1)(b) of this section has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the owner may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a 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.

(3) The owner may determine that a categorical industrial user is a nonsignificant categorical industrial user (“NSCIU”) and should not be considered 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:

(a) The industrial user, prior to the owner’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;

(b) The industrial user annually submits the certification statement required by MMC 912.06(M), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

(c) The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

Where the owner has determined that an industrial user meets the criteria for classification as a nonsignificant categorical industrial user, the owner shall evaluate, at least once per year, whether an industrial user continues to meet the criteria in 40 CFR 403.3(v)(2).

(LL) Slug Discharge. 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 the POTW’s regulations, local limits or permit conditions.

(MM) “Slug load” or “slug” means any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, or at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in MMC 912.05.

(NN) “Standard industrial classification (SIC) code” means a classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.

(OO) “Storm water” means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

(PP) “Suspended solids” means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.

(QQ) “Time-proportional composite sample” means a composite sample in which each individual sample or aliquot is collected after the passage of a defined period of time, regardless of the rate of flow during that period of time.

(RR) “User” or “industrial user” means a source of indirect discharge.

(SS) “Wastewater” means liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.

(TT) “Wastewater treatment plant” or “treatment plant” means that portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.