For the purpose of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:
"Account"means the responsible individual or entity to which City services were rendered or provided to or for.
"Act" or "the Act"means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended by the Clean Water Act.
"Annual fee billing"means any fee or charge stated in this chapter on an annual or yearly basis may be billed monthly or bi-monthly on a pro-rata basis.
"Biochemical oxygen demand" or "BOD"means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures, as described in the current edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Waste and Wastewater.
"Biosolids beneficial reuse/disposal"means the processing, disposal, or beneficial reuse of biosolids from the POTW in compliance with the Federal statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder, including, but not limited to, Part
503 of Title 40 of CFR or more stringent State or local regulations.
means the Code of Federal Regulations.
"Chronic violations"means that sixty-six (66%) percent or more of all of the measurements taken during a six (6) month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit or the average limit for the same pollutant parameter.
"City"means the City of Turlock.
"City NPDES Permit"means a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit issued to the City by the State Water Resources Control Board, pursuant to the Act, which allows the City to discharge to the waters of the State.
"Director"means the Director of Municipal Services or other persons as may be designated by the Director to perform the services or make the determinations permitted or required in this chapter.
"Discharge"means any measurable quantity of waste or wastewater released to the sewer system.
"Domestic waste"means waste which does not contain industrial waste and which is discharged from a residential dwelling.
"Dwelling unit"means any building or portion thereof which contains living facilities, including provisions for sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation, as required by the Uniform Building Code, for not more than one (1) family, or a congregate residence for ten (10) or less persons.
"Effluent"means the liquid outflow of any facility designed to treat, convey, or retain wastewater.
"ENR Index"means the Engineering News Record Construction Cost Index for the San Francisco area.
"Fixture unit"means any unit of measure representing the sewage load-producing effects on the sewer system of different kinds of plumbing fixtures based upon the trap size required or the rated discharge capacity expressed in gallons per minute.
"Grab sample"means an individual sample collected from a waste stream on a one (1) time basis without regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time or strength over a period of time not exceeding fifteen (15) minutes.
"Grease interceptor"means an interceptor of at least seven hundred fifty (750) gallon capacity to serve one or more fixtures and which shall be remotely located.
"Grease trap"means a trap designed to retain grease from one (1) to a maximum of four (4) fixtures.
"Hazardous waste"means any waste identified and/or defined as a "hazardous waste," "extremely hazardous waste," or "acutely hazardous waste" pursuant to any provisions of the
California Health and Safety Code, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and any other Federal, State, or local regulation, law, or ordinance.
means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), 307(c), or 307(d) of the Act.
"Interceptor"means a device designed and installed to separate and retain deleterious, hazardous, or otherwise undesirable matter from normal wastes and permit normal wastes and permit normal sewage or liquid wastes to discharge into the disposal terminal by gravity.
"Interference"means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with any other discharges from other sources:
(1) Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its solids processes, use, or disposal; and
Is a cause of violation of any requirement of the City NPDES Permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or of the prevention of biosolids beneficial reuse or disposal in compliance with the Federal, State, or local laws or regulations or permits issued thereunder. A user shall be deemed to have contributed to the POTW's violation of the City NPDES Permit whenever the user:
(i) Discharges a daily pollutant loading in excess of that allowed by Federal, State, or local regulations or law or the user's waste discharge permit, if any;
Discharges wastewater which substantially differs in nature or constituents from the user's average discharge; or
Discharges when the user knows or has reason to know that any of its discharge, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, would result in a violation of the City NPDES Permit, increase the magnitude or duration of the City's violation, or would prevent biosolid beneficial reuse/disposal.
"Lot"or a "parcel" shall mean a parcel of land consisting of one (1) or more contiguous lots of record in one (1) ownership to which service is provided for any purpose.
"Lowest explosive limit"means the minimum concentration of a combustible gas or vapor in air which will ignite if an ignition source is present.
"Major extension"means a sewer line extension of pipe that is ten (10") inches or greater in diameter, or twenty (20') feet, or more, in length.
"Meter"means a device designed to measure the amount of influent and effluent flow.
"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 Standards under Section 307(c) of the Act which shall be applicable to the source if the standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section; provided, that:
(i) The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site where no other source is located; or
The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
The production or wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility, or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source, should be considered.
Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria of subsection
(1)(i),
(1)(ii), or
(1)(iii) of this definition, but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
Construction of a new source has commenced, if the owner or operator has:
(i) Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
(aa) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or
Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its subject 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.
"Pass-through"means a discharge which exits the POTW in quantities or concentrations which, alone or with discharges from other sources, causes or contributes to a violation or increases the magnitude of a violation of the City NPDES Permit. A user shall be deemed to have contributed to the City POTW Permit violation whenever the user:
(1) Discharges a daily pollutant loading in excess of that allowed by Federal, State, or local law or pursuant to the user's contract, if any, with the POTW;
Discharges wastewater which substantially differs in nature or constituents from the user's average discharge;
Discharges when the user knows or has reason to know that its discharge, alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, would result in a violation of the City's POTW permit; or
Discharges when the user knows or has reason to know that the POTW is violating the final effluent limitations of its permit and the user's discharge, alone or in conjunction with discharge or discharges from other sources, increases the magnitude or duration of the City POTW permit.
"Person"means any individual, firm, company, partnership, association, or private, public, or municipal corporation's responsible corporate officer, the United States of America, the State, all districts and all political subdivisions, governmental agencies, and subdivisions thereof, except the City.
"pH"means the scale of one (1) to fourteen (14) which measures acidity and alkalinity; 7.0 being neutral, zero (0) to seven (7) being acidic, and seven (7) to fourteen (14) being basic alkaline. It is the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.
"Pollutant"means anything which degrades the quality of the environment. For water pollution this may include any substance, vector or quality, such as heat, that degrades or alters the inherent quality of the water.
"POTW"means the City publicly owned treatment works.
"Premises"means a parcel or parcels of real estate, or portions thereof, including any improvements thereon, which is determined by the City to be a single user for the purposes of receiving, using, or paying for sewer service.
"Pretreatment"means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, or process changes or other means, except as prohibited in Title
40 CFR.
means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the USEPA under Sections 307(b) and 307(c) of the Act applicable to industrial users, including the general and specific prohibitions found in Title
40 CFR Section 403.5 and limits established by the City as set forth in this chapter and any additional pretreatment requirements set forth in any waste discharge permit issued by the City pursuant to this chapter.
means and includes, but is not limited to, any development of the following types:
(1) A project in which an undivided interest in the land is coupled with the right of exclusive occupancy of any office, apartment, or business unit located thereon;
An estate in real property consisting of an undivided interest-in-common in a portion of a premises, together with a separate interest in space in a building on the premises. A condominium may include, in addition, a separate interest in other portions of the real property;
A corporation which is formed or utilized primarily for the purpose of holding title to, either in fee simple or for a term of years, improved real property, if all or substantially all of the shareholders of the corporation receive a right of exclusive occupancy in a portion of the real property, title to which is held by the corporation, which right to occupancy is transferable only concurrently with the transfer of shares of stock in the corporation, with the shares of stock in the corporation held by the person having the right of occupancy.
"Public nuisance"means anything which is 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.
"Purchase capacity charge"is a one (1) time purchase capacity charge for the purchase of the capacity as established by this chapter.
"Radioactive materials"means any material containing chemical elements which spontaneously change their atomic structure with the emission of atomic energy.
"Receptor"means an approved plumbing fixture or device of such material, shape, and capacity to adequately receive the discharge from indirect waste pipes, so constructed and located so as to be readily cleaned.
"Restaurant"means any establishment that serves food to customers.
"Sampler"means a device designed to collect a user's wastewater effluent for characteristic analysis.
"Sand interceptor"means an interceptor of at least seven hundred fifty (750) gallon capacity to serve one (1) or more fixtures and which shall be remotely located.
"Sand trap"means a trap designed to retain or separate deleterious, hazardous, or otherwise undesirable materials from sand from one (1) to a maximum of four (4) fixtures.
"Sewage"means water or a combination of liquid or water containing human waste conducted away from residences, business buildings, and institutions together with the liquid or water carried waste resulting from a manufacturing process employed in commercial or industrial establishments including, but not limited to, washing, cleaning, or drain water from such processes.
"Sewage sludge"means any solid, semisolid, or liquid decant, subnate, or supersubnate produced by any manufacturing process, utility service, or pretreatment facility operation.
"Sewer assessment fee"means a fee, to be paid by a person who connects to a sewer line or develops property, for existing sewer lines which serve the premises at the time the building permits are obtained.
"Sewer connection"means a sewer line conveying waste from a premises to a sewer main or sewer lateral line.
"Sewer lateral"means a sewer line that discharges into a sewer main and/or receives sewage from a sewer connection.
"Sewer line"means a sewer lateral or sewer main and any sewer lines on private property.
"Sewer main"means a sewer line ten (10") inches or larger in diameter receiving sewage from one (1) or more sewer laterals or sewer connections.
"Sewer service"means the discharge or authority to discharge into the system.
"Sewer service user rates"mean the fees charged monthly to an individual user for actual use of the sanitary sewer collection system and wastewater treatment facility and are paid on an ongoing basis.
"Sewer system" or "system"means all sewer treatment plants and all other facilities owned and operated by the City for carrying, collecting, treating, and disposing of sewage or waste.
"Significant industrial user"means, except as provided in subsection
(3) of this definition:
(1) All industrial users subject to categorical standards under 40 CFR
403.6 and
40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N; and
Any other industrial user that:
(i) Discharges an average of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW, excluding domestic, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater;
Contributes a process wastestream which makes up five (5%) percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW; or
Is designated by the Director on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standards.
Upon a finding that an industrial user who meets the criteria in subsection
(2) of this definition has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any Pretreatment Standards, or other pretreatment requirements, the Director may, at any time, on the Director's own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user or the POTW, and in accordance with 40 CFR
403.8(f)(6), determine that such industrial user is not a significant industrial user.
The City of Ceres and the Community Services Districts (e.g., Keyes and Denair) shall be charged for sewer services in the same manner as industrial users, with charges determined by applying effluent meter readings to the applicable user's rate.
"Sludge"means sewage sludge in the process of being treated.
"Slug load discharge"means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could violate the discharge standards set forth in this chapter or any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature including, but not limited to, an accidental spill of a non- customary batch discharge.
"Technical review criteria violations" or "TRC"means thirty-three (33%) percent or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six (6) month period equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limit or the average limit multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC=1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH).
"Total suspended solids" or "TSS"means a measure of water quality as defined in Section 209 of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, prepared and published jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation, Washington, D.C.
"Trap"means a fitting or device designed and constructed to provide, when properly vented, a liquid seal which will prevent the back passage of air without materially affecting the flow of sewage or waste water.
"Trap size"means the size of the trap measured in inches in diameter.
"USEPA"means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
"User"means any person who discharges, causes, or permits the discharge of waste into the system.
"Waste"means and includes sewage and any and all other waste substances, water, liquid, or solid, gaseous or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human, fowl, or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing, or processing operation of whatever nature, including such waste placed within containers of whatever nature prior to, and/or for the purposes of, disposal.
"Waste discharge permit"means a document to be obtained from the City prior to connection to or discharge into the sewer system, which gives the user permission to connect to and/or discharge into the sewer system, subject to the conditions in the permit.
"Wastewater"means the liquid portion of waste from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions, which may be present, whether treated or untreated, which is discharged into or permitted to enter the POTW.
"WQC enterprise fund"means a fund within the City of Turlock treasury used for the operations and routine maintenance of the wastewater treatment facility and sewer/storm collection system.
(895-CS, Enacted, 04/11/1996; 1018-CS, Amended, 02/12/2004; 1236-CS, Amended, 11/09/2017; 1321-CS, Amended, 11/21/24)