The definitions in this chapter are not intended to narrow the scope
of definitions set forth in federal or state regulations. Unless the
context specifically indicates otherwise the following terms, or pronouns
used in their place, shall be interpreted as follows:
"Act or the Act"
means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act also known
as the Clean Water Act (CWA) as well as any amendments, guidelines,
limitation or standards promulgated by the EPA pursuant to the Act,
(33 USC 1251 et seq.).
"Approval authority"
refers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), or the
local California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB).
"Baseline monitoring report (BMR)"
means a required report for all industrial users subject
to a categorical pretreatment standard. A BMR provides information
that documents an industrial user's compliance status with all applicable
pretreatment standards.
"Batch dump"
means the discharge of pollutants or compatible wastes in
a manner or method that is not approved or is prohibited by the CLB.
"Best available technology (BAT)"
means a level of technology that is based on the very best
(state of the art) control and treatment measures that have been developed
or are capable of being developed for a particular industrial category.
"Best management practices (BMPs)"
means a set of schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices,
maintenance procedures, operating procedures and other management
practices used to control a user or a group of similar users' discharge
to sewerage facilities. BMPs may include, but are not limited to,
treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control
plant site runoff, spillage of leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or
drainage from raw material storage.
"Best practicable technology (BPT)"
means a level of technology represented by the average of
the best existing wastewater treatment performance levels within an
industrial category.
"Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)"
means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical
oxidation of organic matter wastewater using appropriate testing procedure
and expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/L).
"Biodegradable"
means a material that can be decomposed by a biological process.
"Biohazardous waste"
means a material that is likely to transmit etiologic agents
that cause, or significantly contribute to the cause of, increased
morbidity or mortality of human beings as set forth by the State Medical
Waste Management Act.
"Building sewer"
means the entire length of private sewage service lateral
extending from the building or structure that is connected to a sewerage
facility.
"By-pass"
means any intentional diversion of waste streams around any
portion of a user's pretreatment equipment.
"Chain of custody"
means a document used to ensure the integrity of a sample,
which includes a record of each person involved in the possession
of a sample, securing the sample, and final disposal of the sample.
"Chemical oxygen demand (COD)"
means the quantity of oxygen required to oxidize all compounds,
both organic and inorganic in wastewater using the appropriate testing
procedure and expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/L).
"City manager"
means the individual duly designated by the city council
of the CLB to administer this chapter.
"Class I user"
means any user determined by the CLB that meets the criteria
of significant industrial user (SIU) as described in 40 CFR 403.
"Class II user"
means any user determined by the CLB that is not a SIU and
may discharge pollutants or noncompatible wastes, which may impact
sewerage facilities.
"Class III user"
means any user determined by the CLB that is not a SIU and
may discharge conventional pollutants or compatible wastes which may
impact sewerage facilities.
"Class IV user"
means any user determined by the CLB that may discharge or
is proposing to discharge special wastewater that may contain toxic
or conventional pollutants, or noncompatible or compatible wastes
which may impact sewerage facilities.
"Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)"
means the code of the Federal Government of the United States
of America, which contains all of the federal regulations including
environmental regulations.
"Compatible waste"
means waste that does not contain toxic pollutants or noncompatible
wastes. This may include a combination of, but not limited to, conventional
pollutants or other wastes that sewerage facilities are designed to
accept and/or remove. Compatible wastes are noncompatible when discharged
in quantities that have an adverse effect on sewerage facilities or
NPDES permit, or when discharged in qualities or quantities violating
any National Pretreatment Standard or other discharge requirement
or as determined by the CLB and/or SOCWA.
"Composite sample"
means a collection of individual samples obtained at intervals
based on an increment of either flow or time. The resulting mixture,
a composite sample, forms a representative sample of the wastestream
discharged during the sample period.
"Conventional pollutants"
means those pollutants which are designated pursuant to Section
304(a)(4) of the Act which include, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD),
total suspended solids (TSS), fecal coliform, pH, and oil and grease.
"Daily maximum"
means the arithmetic average of all effluent samples for
a pollutant collected during a calendar day.
"Daily maximum limits"
means the maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant
during a calendar day. When 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 conception, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average
measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements
taken that day.
"Discharger"
means any entity which discharges or causes a discharge of
wastewater that is directly or indirectly discharged to sewerage facilities.
May be interchangeable with indirect discharger, industrial user,
permittee, person, or user.
"Discharge requirements"
means the requirements of federal, state or local public
agencies having jurisdiction over the effluent discharged into sewerage
facilities or the environment.
"Disposal"
means a controlled release to sewerage facilities or to the
environment.
"Dry weather nuisance flow (nuisance flow)"
means any water of other discharge which finds its way to
storm drains from urban areas, composed primarily of runoff from lawn
or landscape watering, washing of vehicles, hosing down of paved areas,
and a variety of other sources associated with urban activity.
"Effluent"
usually means water or wastewater discharged partially or
completely treated or untreated from an industrial user or treatment
plant, or part thereof.
"Enforcement"
means a series of progressively more stringent actions used
to seek compliance with federal, state or local laws, regulations,
limitations and this chapter, guided by the enforcement response plan
as adopted by resolution of the city council. Any enforcement may
include monetary fees, fines, or penalties.
"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)"
means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where
appropriate, the regional water management division director, the
regional administrator, or other duly authorized official of said
agency.
"Fee"
means any amount assessed to a discharger for the use of
any portion of a sewerage facility which shall include, but not be
limited to, connection fees, monthly sewer service, wastewater discharge
permit, excess capacity fee, industrial wastewater treatment, laboratory
testing, industrial inspection, and monitoring fees.
"Flow monitoring equipment"
means equipment and/or structures provided at the user's
sole expense to measure totalize record and/or sample incoming water
to the user's site or the wastewater discharged to sewerage facilities.
"Grab sample"
means a sample collected from a wastestream without regard
to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed
fifteen minutes.
"Grease"
means and includes, but is not limited to, fats, oils and
grease (FOG), waxes and other non-volatile materials as determined
by the appropriate testing procedures.
"Groundwater"
means water that is beneath the surface of the earth.
"Hazardous waste"
means any waste that is potentially damaging to the environment
or a person's health due to toxicity, ignitability, corrosivity, chemical
reactivity or other reasons.
"Indirect discharge" or "discharge"
means the introduction of pollutants into a public owned
treatment works from any non-domestic source regulated under Section
307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act.
"Industrial user"
means any site that discharges industrial wastewater to sewerage
facilities. May be interchangeable with discharger, indirect discharger,
permittee, person or user.
"Industrial wastewater"
means all liquid-carried wastes or wastewater of the community,
excluding domestic wastewater, and may include all wastewater from
any producing, manufacturing, processing, agricultural, or other operation
or location.
"Inspector"
means a person authorized by the city manager to inspect
or monitor any industrial user's discharge or anticipated discharge
to any sewerage facility.
"Interference"
means a discharge that alone or in conjunction with a discharge
or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts any sewerage
facilities, any treatment processes or operations or any sludge processes,
use or disposal and therefore, is a cause of violation of the CLB's/SOCWA's
NPDES permits (including an increase in the magnitude or duration
of a violation) or prevents lawful biosolids or treated effluent use
or disposal.
"Interjurisdictional agreements (also referred to as interagency
agreements)"
means an agreement between SOCWA and any individual or combination
of MAs or other local sewering agency that defines the authority and
responsibility to implement the waste discharge pretreatment and source
control program, and to enforce the regulations contained in this
chapter within the individual agency, or combination of MAs, or any
other local sewering agency's service area.
"Local limits"
mean a set of specific discharge limits developed and enforced
by the CLB and/or SOCWA upon user sites in order to implement the
general and specific discharge prohibitions as described in 40 CFR
403.
"Local sewering agency"
means any public agency or private company responsible for
the collection, treatment or disposal of wastewater to sewerage facilities
that are duly authorized under the laws of the state to construct
or maintain sewerage facilities.
"Lower explosive limit (LEL)"
means the point where an explosive gas in an area of atmosphere
that is at a sufficient concentration as to result in an explosion
if a sufficient ignition source is present.
"Mass emission rate"
means the weight of material discharged to sewerage facilities
during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, the mass
emission rate shall mean pounds per day of a particular constituent
or combinations of constituents.
"May"
means permissive or discretionary.
"Member agency (MA)"
means any one, combination, or all of the individual districts
or cities which are members of SOCWA. They are: city of Laguna Beach
(CLB), city of San Clemente (CSC), city of San Juan Capistrano (CSJC),
El Toro water district (ETWD), Emerald Bay service district (EBSD),
Irvine Ranch water district (IRWD), Moulton Niguel water district
(MNWD), Santa Margarita water district (SMWD), South Coast water district
(SCWD), and the Trabuco Canyon water district (TCWD).
"Monthly average"
means the sum of all "daily discharges" measured during a
calendar month divided by the number of "daily discharges" measured
during the month.
"National pretreatment standards"
means and includes the following terms established pursuant
to 40 CFR§ 403.5 and 40 CFR § 403.6: "prohibited discharges,"
"general prohibitions," "specific prohibitions," "local limits," "categorical
standards," "categorical pretreatment standards," "pretreatment standards"
and "standards." These terms apply to any pollutant discharge regulations
that are promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b)
and (c) of the Act that limits and/or prohibits the wastewater discharged
by users into sewerage facilities.
"New source"
means those sources that are new as defined by 40 CFR 403.
"Noncompatible waste"
means waste that contains toxic or noncompatible pollutants
that may passthrough or cause interference if discharged to sewerage
facilities.
"Normal working day"
means any period of time during which production or operation
is taking place or any period which discharge to sewerage facilities
is occurring.
"Nuisance"
means anything which may be injurious to health or is indecent
or offensive to the senses or an obstruction to the free use of property
so as to interfere with the comfort or enjoyment of life or property
or which affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood
or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the
annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal.
"Ordinance"
means Chapter
17.30 of the Laguna Beach Municipal Code containing the requirements, conditions and limitations for discharges to sewerage facilities, as may hereafter be amended and modified.
"Pass through"
means a discharge from a user which exits sewerage facilities
into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which,
alone or in conjunction with any discharge from other sources, is
a cause of a violation of any requirement of SOCWA's NPDES permit,
including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
"Permittee"
means a discharger who has received a permit to discharge
wastewater into the CLB's and/or SOCWA's sewerage facilities subject
to the requirements and conditions established by the CLB and/or SOCWA.
May be interchangeable with discharger, indirect discharger, industrial
user, person or user.
"Person"
means any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company,
corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, tenant,
lessee, renter, governmental entity, or any other legal entity; or
their legal representatives, agents or assigns. This definition includes
all federal, state and local government entities. May be interchangeable
with discharger, indirect discharger, industrial user, permittee or
user.
"Pesticides"
means those compounds classified as such under federal or
state law or regulations, including, but not limited to, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane,
both isomers), DDE (dichlorodiphenylethylene), DDD (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane),
Aldrin, benzene hexachloride (alpha, beta and gamma isomers), Chlordane,
Endrin, Endrin aldehyde, TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin),
Toxaphene, alpha-endosulfan, beta-endosulfan, Endosulfan sulfate,
Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide, Dieldrin, Demeton, Guthion, Malathion,
Merex and Parathion.
"pH"
means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution,
expressed in standard units.
"Pollutant"
means any substance, constituent, compound or characteristic
of wastewaters on which a discharge limitation may be imposed, either
by the CLB, SOCWA or the regulatory agencies empowered to regulate
the CLB and SOCWA.
"Polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs)"
means those compounds classified as such under federal or
state law, including, but not limited to, Aroclors 1016, 1221, 1228,
1232, 1242, 1248, 1254, 1260 and 1262.
"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
sewerage facilities. This reduction, elimination or alteration of
pollutants can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological process,
by process changes or by other means except as described by 40 CFR
403.
"Pretreatment equipment"
means any equipment, structures or devices used for the treatment
or flow limitation of industrial wastewater prior to discharge to
sewerage facilities.
"Pretreatment requirements"
means any substantive or procedural requirement related to
pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a national pretreatment
standard.
"Prohibited discharges"
mean any prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances;
these prohibitions appear in Article V.
"Public agency"
means the state and any city, county, district, agency, other
local authority or public body of or within this state.
"Rainwater"
means water resulting from precipitation which directly falls
upon any surface.
"Regulatory agencies"
means those agencies having jurisdiction over the operation
of the CLB and/or SOCWA, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A)
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
(B)
State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB);
(C)
Regional water quality control board (RWQCB);
(D)
South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD);
(E)
California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal-EPA).
"Representative sample point"
means a location set forth in the user's WD permit or other
control mechanism from which wastewater can be collected that is as
nearly identical in content and consistency as possible to that of
the entire flow of wastewater being sampled. For categorical users,
this point shall be at the end of each regulated process, and for
all other users shall be determined on a case-by-case basis.
"Routine sampling"
means any sampling conducted by the CLB or SOCWA to verify
compliance of a user's discharge to sewerage facilities. Sampling
may consist of either grab or composite samples or a combination of
both.
"Sampling equipment"
means equipment or structure provided at the user's sole
expense for the CLB, SOCWA or the user to measure and record wastewater
constituents, collection of samples, or to provide access to plug
or terminate the discharge.
"Scum"
means any layer of matter or combination of air and matter
that forms on or rises to the surface of a liquid or body of water.
"Sewerage facilities"
mean any and all systems used for collecting, conveying,
pumping, reclamation, recycling, reuse, storage, transportation, treatment
or disposal of sewage, industrial waste of a liquid nature, wastewater,
sludge or biosolids that is owned and operated by the CLB, SOCWA or
other public agency which is tributary to systems operated by the
CLB and SOCWA. This definition includes, but is not limited to, publicly
owned treatment works (POTWs) as defined by Section 212 of the Act
(33 U.S.C. Section 1292), public sewers, trunk lines, sewer mains,
wet wells, treatment plants and ocean outfalls which are owned by
the CLB or SOCWA.
"Significant industrial user (SIU)"
means a user as defined by 40 CFR 403, except as provided
in paragraphs C and D of this definition which includes the following:
(A)
An industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards;
or
(B)
An industrial user that: discharges an average of twenty-five
thousand gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the CLB
or SOCWA (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown
wastewater); contributes a process wastestream which makes up five
percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity
of CLB's or SOCWA's sewerage facilities; or is designated as such
by the CLB or SOCWA on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable
potential for adversely affecting the CLB's or SOCWA's operation or
for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement;
(C)
The CLB or SOCWA may determine that an industrial user subject
to categorical pretreatment standards is a nonsignificant categorical
industrial user (NSCIU) rather than a significant industrial user
on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than one
hundred 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:
(i)
The industrial user, prior to the CLB's or SOCWA's finding,
has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment
standards and requirements,
(ii)
The industrial user annually submits the certification statement
required in 40 CFR 403.12(q) together with any additional information
necessary to support the certification statement, and
(iii)
The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated
wastewater;
(D)
Upon a finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria
in subsection B of this definition has no reasonable potential for
adversely affecting CLB's or SOCWA's operation or for violating any
pretreatment standard or requirement, CLB or SOCWA 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 should not be considered a significant industrial
user.
"Significant noncompliance"
means a violation by a SIU (or any IU which violates subsections
C, D or H of this definition) as described in 40 CFR 403.8(f)(2)(viii)(A-H)
which meets one or more of the following criteria:
(A)
Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here
as those in which sixty-six percent or more of all of the measurements
taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed
(by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement,
including instantaneous limits, as described in 40 CFR 403.3(l);
(B)
Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as
those in which thirty-three percent or more of all of the measurements
taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period equals
or exceeds the product of the numeric pretreatment standards or requirement
including instantaneous limits, as described in 40 CFR 403.3(l) multiplied
by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease,
and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(C)
Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement
as defined in 40 CFR 403.3(l) (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous
limit, or narrative standard) that CLB or SOCWA determines has caused,
alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through,
including endangering the health of CLB or SOCWA personnel or the
general public;
(D)
Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment
to human health, welfare or to the environment, or has resulted in
the CLB's or SOCWA's exercise of its emergency authority under 40
CFR 403.8(f)(1)(vi)(B) to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(E)
Failure to meet, within ninety days after the scheduled date,
a compliance schedule milestone contained in a wastewater discharge
permit, other control mechanism or enforcement order for starting
construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(F)
Failure to provide within forty-five days after the due date,
required reports, including, but not limited to, baseline monitoring
reports, ninety-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports
and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
(G)
Failure to accurately report noncompliance;
(H)
Any other violation or group of violations, which may include
a violation of best management practices, which CLB and SOCWA determines
will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local
pretreatment program.
"Sludge"
means any solid, semi-solid or liquid decant, subnate, or
supernate from an industrial manufacturing process, utility service
or pretreatment equipment.
"Slug discharge"
means any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature that
may exceed the standards and prohibitions contained in Article V of
this chapter and significantly exceeds the usual industrial flow or
pollutants loading, either mass or concentration, including, but not
limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge,
which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through,
or in any other way violate the regulations, local limits or permit
conditions associated with sewerage facilities.
"Solvent"
means any substance that is used to dissolve another substance
in it.
"South Orange County Wastewater Authority (SOCWA)"
means the Joint Powers Agency (JPA) which is formed by the
participating MAs. The MAs individually and/or collectively use SOCWA's
sewerage facilities. SOCWA is the holder of the NPDES permits, which
state the pretreatment and waste discharge requirements for the sewerage
facilities.
"Spill containment"
means any protection equipment provided and installed at
the user's sole expense to prohibit the discharge of noncompatible
wastes to sewerage facilities.
"Standard methods"
mean procedures described in the current edition of "Standard
Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater," as published
jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water
Works Association and the Water Environment Federation.
"Stormwater"
means any flow occurring during or following any form of
natural precipitation, which runs off or travels over the ground surface
to a drainage area or channel or drains uncontrolled to a municipal
separate storm sewer system for discharge into a water of the United
States.
"Street drainage"
means water resulting from surface runoff generated by rainwater,
stormwater or other sources.
"Subsurface drainage"
means a method of draining that is situated under the ground
(e.g., leachate control system).
"Surface runoff"
means runoff other than that which is caused by rainfall,
stormwater, or street drainage (e.g., car wash runoff, washdown runoff)
originating from a user.
"Total organic carbon (TOC)"
means the measure of total organic carbon in domestic or
other wastewater as determined by the appropriate testing procedure.
"Total suspended solids"
means any insoluble material contained as a component of
wastewater and capable of separation from the liquid portion by laboratory
filtration as determined by the appropriate testing procedures and
expressed in terms of milligrams per liter (mg/L).
"Toxic pollutant"
means any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as
toxic by the EPA under the provisions of Section 307(a) of the Act
or other acts, or that can harm human health, aquatic life, or the
biological treatment processes.
"Unpolluted water"
means water to which no constituent has been added, either
intentionally or accidentally.
"Upset"
means any upset that meets the criteria as described in 40
CFR 403.
"User"
means any person or entity which discharges or causes a discharge
of wastewater to a sewerage facility as defined by EPA regulations.
May be interchangeable with discharger, indirect discharger, industrial
user, permittee or person.
"Volatile"
means natural (plant or animal origin) or synthetic substances
that is capable of being evaporated or changed to vapor at relatively
low temperatures.
"Waste"
means sewage or any other waste substances, either liquid,
solid, or gaseous, or radioactive material.
"Waste manifest"
means a receipt which is retained by the generator of hazardous
wastes as required by the state or the United States Government pursuant
to RCRA or the California Hazardous Materials Act, or that receipt
which is retained by the generator for recyclable wastes or liquid
non-hazardous wastes as required by the CLB.
"Wastewater"
means liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage
from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing,
and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which is discharged
or permitted to enter sewerage facilities.
"Wastewater constituents and characteristics"
mean the individual chemical, physical, bacteriological,
radiological, volume, flow rate and such other parameters that serve
to define, classify or measure the quality and quantity of wastewater.
"Wastewater discharge (WD) permit"
means the form of authorization from the CLB and SOCWA issued
to an industrial user for the discharge of wastewater. This wastewater
discharge permit sets forth the limits and conditions under which
the industrial user shall be able to discharge wastewater into sewerage
facilities.