[Adopted 9-11-2023 by Ord. No. MC 2023-28]
(a) 
As allowed by the Charter, there shall be established a Department of Sewer and Solid Waste, the head of which shall be the Director of Sewer and Solid Waste who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council and may be one of the division heads. The Director shall serve during the term of the office of the Mayor appointing him/her and until the appointment and qualification of his/her successor, subject to removal as provided by the Charter.
(b) 
Within the Department of Sewer and Solid Waste there may be an Administrative Assistant designated as Secretary to the Director, who shall be appointed by the Director with the approval of the Administrator. The Administrative Assistant shall serve during the term of the office of the Director appointing him/her, subject to removal as provided in the case of a Department Director appointed by the Mayor.
(a) 
The user charge is the charge levied upon all users of the City of Plainfield Sanitary Sewer Utility service for the annual cost of operation and maintenance, and debt charges of the Middlesex County Utilities Authority (MCUA), Sayreville, New Jersey; Plainfield Joint Meeting (PJM), Middlesex, New Jersey; and the City of Plainfield (City) sewage collection, operation and maintenance costs, all as defined in this article and as required in the Federal Rules and Regulations pertaining to treatment and disposal of sewage.
(b) 
All user charges established and provided for herein shall be billed against the owners of the property from which said sewage or wastewater emanates, respectively.
(a) 
A Sewer Utility Committee shall be created to establish sewer charges. The Committee shall consist of the City Administrator, Chairman; Director of Administration and Finance; Collector of Taxes; Director of Public Works and Urban Development; and City Engineer, or their designees. This Committee will review, establish and adjust sanitary sewer service rates and charges that will produce revenue sufficient to pay operation and maintenance costs and debt service payable to the Middlesex County Utilities Authority, Plainfield Joint Meeting as well as the sewage collection, operation and maintenance costs of the Plainfield Joint Meeting and of the City of Plainfield. This Committee will also hear and/or act on grievances brought forth.
(b) 
The Sewer Utility Committee is authorized to review, make recommendations, and adjust the rate schedule and charges by user class, type of use, flow, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (SS), chlorine demand (CD) and such other criteria as the Committee shall deem appropriate at least every two (2) years.
(c) 
The Sewer Utility Committee is authorized to establish a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), including representatives of various types and classes of users of the sanitary sewerage system, that will assist the Sewer Utility Committee.
(d) 
There shall be established by the Comptroller of the City of Plainfield a Sewer User Charges Dedicated Fund for the collection and disbursement of the sewer service charges.
(e) 
Commencing January 1, 1980, and thereafter, an annual sewer user charge shall be paid by all users of the facilities provided by the Middlesex County Utility Authority, Plainfield Joint Meeting and the City of Plainfield in accordance with the terms and provisions of this article.
(a) 
Residential includes all private and domestic dwellings.
(b) 
Small Commercial and Small Industrial includes all nonresidential users.
(c) 
Large Commercial and Large Industrial includes all small commercial and small industrial users which discharge more than twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day or the weight of BOD, SS or CD equivalent to or more than the weight found in twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day of domestic wastewater.
Wherever actual readings of sewage flow are available, these readings shall be used in determining flow charges. Where actual readings of the sewage flow are unavailable and actual water flow is available, the sewage flow will be estimated by any of the following methods (Note: all meters must be properly maintained by the owner):
(a) 
For residential, small commercial and small industrial users, the yearly sewage flow shall be established by the Sewer Utility Committee using available water consumption information.
(b) 
For large commercial and large industrial users, the sewage flow shall be established using actual water consumption information.
(c) 
All well users' sewage flow shall be established by the City Engineer based upon the actual use of well water flow per year multiplied by estimated percentage of sewage contributed from well water flow.
(d) 
Where actual readings of sewage flow and water consumption information are not available, or where it can be proven by the user that the water consumption information is inaccurate, sewage flow will be established by any of the following methods:
(1) 
For residential users, the sewage flow shall be established by utilizing a standard usage for one hundred (100) gallons per capita per day or established and certified by a licensed professional engineer at the owner's expense.
(2) 
For large and small commercial, large and small industrial users, the sewage flow shall be established by the City Engineer or established and certified by a licensed professional engineer at the owner's expense.
When established sewage flow is not acceptable by either party, the City reserves the right to request the owner to install and maintain a meter to measure the actual sewage flow at the owner's expense. When the owner will not install the meter, the City shall install the meter and charge the installation, measurement, and maintenance costs of the meter to the owner.
(a) 
Large commercial and large industrial users' sewage shall be monitored as required by sewage sampling to determine the BOD, SS and CD at the owner's expense. The characteristics of the sewage shall be determined from actual sampling or other approved means and shall be based upon analysis made in accordance with the procedures outlined in the latest edition of "Standard Method of Analysis of Water and Sewage," published by the American Public Health Association. The City may require the installation and maintenance of automatic samples during a calendar quarter or as may be required.
BOD, SS and CD will be established and charged by the following method:
(b) 
Type and Class: Residential
Established BOD in Milligrams
Per Liter - 200
Established SS in Milligrams
Per Liter - 240
Established CD in Milligrams
Per Liter - 10
(c) 
Type and Class: Small Commercial and Small Industrial
Established BOD in Milligrams
Per Liter - 260
Established SS in Milligrams
Per Liter - 310
Established CD in Milligrams
Per Liter - 10
(d) 
Type and Class: Large Commercial and Large Industrial
Established BOD in Milligrams
Per Liter - 260
Established SS in Milligrams
Per Liter - 310
Established CD in Milligrams
Per Liter - 10
The estimated BOD, SS and CD of the large commercial and large industrial users shall be used to establish the rates. They will be surcharged for the actual BOD in excess of two hundred sixty (260) milligrams per liter, actual SS in excess of three hundred ten (310) milligrams per liter, and actual CD in excess of ten (10) milligrams per liter for the strength of the sewage.
Estimated BOD, SS and CD for residential, small commercial and small industrial users shall be sampled periodically, and previously established sewage strength shall be adjusted accordingly.
The City reserves the right to enter premises to sample and measure the flow to determine the BOD, SS and CD whenever necessary.
Any flows and/or strengths which are not chargeable to a particular user, whether by reason of the user being exempted from charges, or by reason of the flow entering the system by infiltration and/or inflow, shall be charged to all users proportionately on the basis of flow and/or strength as recommended by the City Engineer.
The sewer user charges shall be established by utilizing the following information and formulae:
The total sewage flow will be estimated using Elizabethtown Water Company's computer printout of water consumption data of users, and well water consumption data of users, excluding the City of Plainfield and Plainfield Board of Education flows. The flow shall be classified as a residential flow, small commercial and small industrial, flow and large commercial and large industrial flow.
Total sewage flow shall be established by adding estimated sewage flow of all types and classes of users.
(a) 
Total BOD. BOD of each class and type of users shall be estimated, using established sewage strength and established sewage flow of users. Total BOD shall be established by adding BOD of each class and type of users and surchargeable BOD of large commercial and large industrial users.
(b) 
Total SS. SS of each class and type of users shall be estimated using established sewage strength and established sewage flow of users. Total SS shall be established by adding SS of each class and type of users and surchargeable SS of large commercial and large industrial users.
(c) 
Total CD. CD of each class and type of users shall be estimated using established sewage strength and established sewage flow of users. Total CD shall be established by adding CD of each class and type of users and surchargeable CD of large commercial and large industrial users.
(d) 
Total collection costs. The number of each class and type of user shall be established by using the latest current information available. The cost of each user shall be established by dividing the total collection costs by the established number of total users. The total collection cost of each class of user shall be established by multiplying the established user cost by the number of users of that class.
(e) 
Flow rate. Total flow cost shall be estimated by adding MCUA flow cost, Plainfield's share of PJM operating and maintenance cost, City sanitary sewer maintenance costs, and pumping station costs. Flow rate shall be established by dividing total flow cost by total sewage flow.
(f) 
BOD rate. BOD rate shall be established by dividing MCUA BOD cost by total BOD in tons.
(g) 
SS rate. SS rate shall be established by dividing MCUA SS cost by total SS in tons.
(h) 
CD rate. CD rate shall be established by dividing MCUA CD costs by total CD in tons.
(i) 
Collection rate. Collection rate shall be established by dividing the established total collection costs of each class of user by the total established flow of each class of user.
(j) 
Chargeable rates. The sewer user charge shall be established using chargeable rates of flow, BOD, SS, and CD and established sewage strength. All charges shall include flow cost, BOD cost, SS cost, CD cost and collection cost of one hundred (100) cubic feet of sewage. The chargeable rate shall take into consideration a reserve for uncollected charges.
Large commercial and large industrial users shall be surcharged for the actual BOD in excess of the two hundred sixty (260) mg/liter, the actual SS in excess of three hundred ten (310) mg/liter, and the actual CD in excess of ten (10) mg/liter. The chargeable rates of BOD, SS, and CD as calculated pursuant to Section 2:16-9 hereof shall be used as the surcharge rate.
The users shall pay collection cost of user charges and surcharges. The collection cost shall include collector's employees, salaries and administrative costs, engineering, audit fees, laboratory and testing costs related to user charges and surcharges.
(a) 
Each owner shall be notified, at least annually, by August 1, by way of sewer user charge bill, of the rate and charges billed to said user for the wastewater services for the calendar year.
(b) 
All user charges established and provided for herein shall be billed against the owners of the property from which said sewage or wastewater emanates, respectively.
(c) 
Such charges, including those set for in Section 2:16-9 and 2:16-10, shall become due to the City and shall be a lien upon the premises until paid, and the City shall have the same remedies for the collection thereof, with interest, costs, and penalties, as it has by the law for the collection of taxes upon real estate.
(d) 
The user charges established and provided for herein shall be payable semi-annually with the preliminary billing for the year due and payable on March 1 and the final billing due and payable on September 1.
(e) 
The preliminary sewer user charge shall be estimated at one-half (1/2) of the previous year's final bill.
(f) 
In the event that any sewer service charge for sanitary sewer service outside of the City, and tax exempt property in the City, shall not be paid as and when due, the unpaid balance and interest thereof and reasonable attorney's fees and costs shall be recovered by the City against the owner in Civil Action.
No user shall discharge toxic pollutants without the expressed written permission of MCUA, PJM, and the City of Plainfield. Any user who has received written permission to discharge into the system toxic pollutants, which cause an increase in the cost of managing the effluent or the sludge of the treatment works, shall pay for such increased costs.
There is no exemption from the user list except the City of Plainfield and the Plainfield Board of Education.
If any Section, sentence, clause or phrase of this article is, for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate distinct and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.
No person shall, for the purpose of defrauding the City of Plainfield of any sewer service charge due to it pursuant to this article, tamper with, or otherwise adjust, water meter or sewage meter or any other meter and/or measurement of strength of sewage or give any false information concerning same. Any user and/or owner and/or representative who violates this section shall be liable for a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) and imprisonment for not more than ninety (90) days or both for each separate violation hereof.
All non-domestic waste to be discharged into the City of Plainfield's collector sewer system is to be reviewed and approval secured from MCUA and the PJM. Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters of wastes to any public sewer:
(a) 
Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit.
(b) 
Any water or waste which may contain more than one hundred (100) milligrams per liter by weight of fat, oil, wax or grease, or containing other substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two (32) and one hundred fifty (150) degrees Fahrenheit.
(c) 
Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, alcohol, tar, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, gas or vapor.
(d) 
Any garbage except properly shredded domestic garbage from domestic dwellings. The installation and operation of any domestic garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths (3/4) horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the City, PJM and MCUA.
(e) 
Have a flash point lower than one hundred eighty-seven (187 degrees Fahrenheit) as determined by the Tagliabue (Tag) close cup method.
(f) 
Any ashes, cinders, stones, sand, mud, straw, shavings or sawdust, metal, sticks, coarse rubbish, glass, rags, tar, feathers, plastics, waste rubber, animal guts or tissues, entrails, blood, hair, hides, wood, paunch manure or any other substance likely to damage, destroy or cause an obstruction to the flow in any sewer or which may interfere with the proper operation of the sewage works.
(g) 
Any waters, sewage, or wastes having a pH lower than five point zero (5.0) or higher than nine point five (9.5), or having any other corrosive works or personnel.
(h) 
No user shall discharge toxic pollutants or radioactive substances without the expressed written permission of MCUA, PJM and the City of Plainfield. Any waters or wastes containing a toxic, poisonous or radioactive substance in sufficient quantity to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process or to constitute a hazard to humans, animals or marine life, or create any hazard in the receiving waters. Radioactive waste or materials may be discharged upon MCUA, PJM and the NJDEP into a public sewer if Condition I and II below are met and if either Condition III or IV is also met, provided that such discharges are in compliance with applicable State or Federal regulations:
(1) 
Condition I: Such wastes must be readily soluble or dispersible in water.
(2) 
Condition II: The gross quantity of all radioactive materials so discharged must not exceed one (1) curie per year.
(3) 
Condition III: The daily quantity of any radioactive material, if diluted by the average daily volume of sewage discharged into the system from the installation, must not exceed the maximum concentrations allowed by regulations of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
(4) 
Condition IV: Daily quantities of radioactive materials up to the maximum permitted by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission may be so discharged, provided that the total monthly quantities, if diluted by the average monthly volume of sewage discharged from the installation, do not exceed the concentrations permissible under Condition III above.
(i) 
Any noxious, malodorous or taste-producing gas, vapor or substance, such as phenols, capable of creating a public or private nuisance, or which may prove toxic to the sewage treatment processes, or which may exceed acceptable limits for discharge to receiving waters.
(j) 
Materials which exert or cause:
(1) 
Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids, such as but not limited to Fuller's earth, lime slurries and lime residues or of dissolved solids such as but not limited to sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.
(2) 
Excessive discoloration, such as but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.
(3) 
Unusual BOD, SS, or CD requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.
(4) 
Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting "slugs", as defined herein.
(k) 
Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.
(l) 
Any substance prohibited by any Federal, State, County or municipal regulatory agency or governmental body including but not limited to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the MCUA, PJM or the City of Plainfield Sewer Utility, as set forth or determined by the rules, regulations or requirements of such regulatory agencies or bodies.
(a) 
If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in Section 2:16-18 and which may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance or unacceptable to MCUA, PJM or the City of Plainfield Department of Sewer and Solid Waste may:
(1) 
Reject the wastes.
(2) 
Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers.
(3) 
Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge and/or treatment.
(4) 
Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges.
(b) 
If the City permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the City or any or all State regulatory agencies having jurisdiction, and no construction of such facilities shall be commenced until said approvals are obtained in writing.
All septic tank scavengers must have a permit issued by the municipality in which they collect septic tank waste. The scavengers have to produce proof to the municipality that they have disposed of the collected septic tank waste at NJDEP approved treatment plants which accept septic waste.
(a) 
An owner's sewer utility final charges, as set forth in Section 2:16-12, must have been paid in full for the previous year and the preliminary billing for the present year must have been paid before an appeal will be accepted and considered for review by the City.
(b) 
All appeals and proof of inaccurate consumption must be filed with the Director of the Department of Sewer and Solid Waste, 515 Watchung Ave., Plainfield, N.J. on or before December 1st of the year the bills were issued.