Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in these pretreatment regulations, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
"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.
means all known, available, and reasonable methods of prevention, control, and treatment. AKART represents the most current methodology that may reasonably be required for preventing, controlling, or abating the pollutants associated with a discharge. the concept of AKART applies to both point and nonpoint sources of pollution. The term "best management practices" is a subset of the AKART requirement.
"Ammonia nitrogen (NH3 or NH3-N)"means all the nitrogen in water, sewage, or other liquid waste present in the form of ammonia, ammonia ion or in the equilibrium NH + NH + H +, expressed as mg/L.
"Authorized representative of the nondomestic user"means:
1. If the nondomestic user is a corporation, regardless of form:
a. The president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other individual or person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or
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 ensure 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.
If the nondomestic user is a partnership or sole proprietorship, regardless of form: a general partner or proprietor, or person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the partnership or sole proprietorship.
If the nondomestic 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.
The individuals described above may designate another authorized representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the director. |
"Auto-related business (ARB)"means any commercial business conducting automobile and other vehicle repair, maintenance, washing, painting, salvaging services or selling automobiles or parts.
"Best management practices" or "BMPs"means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in SMC §
13.18.300(A) and
(B) and 40 CFR Parts
403.5(a)(1) and
(b). BMPs may 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.
means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20 degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/L).
"Bypass"means the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a nondomestic user's pretreatment facility.
"Categorical pretreatment standard"means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the 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 nondomestic user and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts
405 through
471.
means a representative composite of samples of a waste stream taken throughout the period of a calendar day, or equivalent representative 24-hour period, when discharges are produced by a regulated activity. Composite samplers must interface with a flow-metering device to produce a representative flow proportionate composite sample unless the director has determined that flow proportionate samples are not required or the analyte is not amenable to composite sampling (pH, temperature, oil, etc.).
"Contributing jurisdiction"means a county, city, town, water-sewer district, public utility district, other special purpose district, municipal corporation, or other unit of local government of this or another state and any Indian tribe recognized as such by the United States government authorized by law to provide a system of sewers for the collection, transmission, or treatment of wastewater that has entered into an agreement with the control authority that provides for acceptance of some or all of that entity's wastewater.
"Control authority"means the city of Sumner, as the owner of the Sumner wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) who administers and manages the overall affairs of the WWTF, including treatment operations and without limitation the administration of these pretreatment regulations.
"Control document"means a wastewater discharge permit or any other formal written wastewater discharge authorization or prohibition issued by the director.
"Daily maximum limit"means the maximum allowable discharge of a pollutant over a calendar day or equivalent representative 24-hour period. Where daily limits are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is calculated by multiplying the daily average concentration and total flow volumes in the same 24-hour period by a conversion factor to get the desired units. Where daily limits are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the composite sample value, or flow weighted average if more than one discrete sample was collected. Where flow weighting is infeasible, the daily average is the arithmetic average of all samples if analyzed separately, or the sample value if samples are composited prior to analysis.
"Dangerous waste"means solid wastes designated in Washington Dangerous Waste Regulations WAC
173-303-070 through
179-303-100 as dangerous, or extremely hazardous or mixed waste. The waste may be any of the following: characteristic hazardous waste (toxicity, corrosivity, ignitability, reactivity); listed hazardous waste; and/or state-only dangerous waste for toxicity or persistence.
means a facility where the practice of dentistry is performed, including, but not limited to, institutions, permanent or temporary offices, clinics, home offices, and facilities owned and operated by federal, state or local governments, that discharges wastewater to a publicly owned treatment works (POTW).
"Director"means the public works director of the control authority, or the designee of the director, including without limitation any designated officer, employee or other representative of any contributing jurisdiction, who is delegated certain duties and responsibilities by these pretreatment regulations.
"Discharge" or "indirect discharge"means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic user or nondomestic source subject to these pretreatment regulations or other state or federal regulations.
"Domestic user"means any person who contributes, causes, or allows the contribution of wastewater to the POTW that the director determines is of similar volume and/or chemical makeup to that of a residential dwelling unit. Discharges from a residential dwelling unit typically include kitchen wastes, human wastes, and housekeeping cleaning materials in volumes and/or concentrations normally discharged from these classes of users and typically include up to 100 gallons per capita per day, 30 mg/L NH3, 300 mg/L of BOD, and 300 mg/L of TSS.
"Domestic wastewater"means a source of waste or wastewater generated from activities at a residential dwelling unit.
"Ecology"means the Washington State Department of Ecology.
"Engineering report"means a document that thoroughly examines the engineering and administrative aspects of a particular nondomestic wastewater facility. The report shall contain the appropriate information required in WAC
173-240-060 or
173-240-130.
means the United States Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Director of the Region 10 Water Division, or other duly authorized official.
"Existing source"means any source of discharges subject to categorical pretreatment standards and discharging prior to the promulgation of those standards or otherwise not meeting the definition of a new source.
"Fats, oils and grease (FOG)"means components of wastewater able to be measured by the methods described in the current edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, or methods identified in 40 CFR Part
136. The term "fats, oils and grease" shall include polar and nonpolar fats, oils, and grease and other components extracted from wastewater by these methods.
means any establishment for the preparation and/or serving of food or other edible products and/or are required to have a food business permit issued by the Tacoma-Pierce County health department. This term includes but is not limited to restaurants, coffee shops, cafeterias, breweries, wineries and distilleries, short-order cafes, grocery store delis, luncheonettes, taverns, lunchrooms, places which manufacture retail sandwiches, church kitchens, childcare facilities where food is prepared, adult care facilities, institutional cafeterias, catering establishments, mobile food vending vehicles, food trucks, mobile vendors and operations connected therewith, and similar facilities by whatever name called.
"Grab sample"means a sample which is taken from a waste stream without regard to the flow in the waste stream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.
"Gravity grease interceptor"means a grease interceptor of at least 1,000 gallons to serve one or more fixtures and which is remotely located underground and outside of a food service establishment. It is designed to collect, contain or remove food wastes and FOG from the waste stream while allowing the balance of the liquid waste ("gray water") to discharge to the wastewater collection system by gravity.
"Grease interceptor"means a pretreatment device designed to separate and collect fats, oils, grease, and solids and prevent these pollutants from entering the sanitary sewer. Grease interceptors may be either hydromechanical grease interceptors (HGIs) or gravity grease interceptors (GGIs) and shall meet the requirements of SMC §
13.18.400 and §
13.18.410. Grease interceptors shall be located to allow access for inspection and maintenance.
means a device designed to retain FOG from one to a maximum of four fixtures, with a maximum capacity of 50 gpm/100 pounds, and a minimum of 20 gpm/40 pounds. Grease traps shall be located to allow access for inspection and maintenance.
"Hauled waste"means a waste transported by haulers and discharged to a POTW through a conveyance system other than a pipe (e.g., by truck or rail). Hauled waste might be sewage or domestic waste, or it might include nondomestic waste, or a combination of both types of waste.
"Hazardous waste"means any waste designated as hazardous under the provisions of 40 CFR
261 or a dangerous waste under chapter
173-303 WAC – State Waste Discharge Permit Program, Dangerous Waste Regulations.
means any waters or wastewater having concentrations of BOD or TSS in excess of 300 mg/L, having concentrations of NH3 in excess 30 mg/L, or having concentrations of FOG in excess of 100 mg/L.
"Hydromechanical grease interceptor"means a device located inside a food service establishment designed to retain FOG from fixtures whose total capacity in gallons (gal) (L) shall not exceed two and one-half times the certified gallons per minute (gpm) (L/s) flow rate of the interceptor in accordance with the Uniform Plumbing Code. It is designed to collect, contain, or remove food wastes and FOG from the waste stream while allowing the balance of the liquid waste to discharge to the wastewater collection system by gravity or mechanical means.
"Industrial waste"means any nondomestic waste, including, without limitation, solid, liquid, or gaseous waste resulting from any commercial, industrial, manufacturing, trade, health service, educational institution, business, laboratory, research establishment or facility, or from the development, recovery, or processing of natural resources.
"Industrial wastewater"means nondomestic wastewater, process wastewater or any liquid waste stream resulting from any commercial or industrial process; or from the development, recovery, or processing of natural resources.
"Instantaneous limit"means the maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of a discrete (waste stream) sample. For analytes for which nondomestic users must take a grab sample for compliance purposes, this standard is the same as the daily maximum limit. For all other pollutants, the instantaneous limit shall be twice the daily maximum limit. For analytes for which nondomestic users must take a composite sample for compliance purposes, this standard is twice the daily maximum limit.
"Interference"means a discharge that, alone or in conjunction with discharge(s) from other sources, either: (1) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations; (2) inhibits or disrupts the WWTF's biosolids (sludge) processes, use or disposal; or (3) is a cause of a violation of the WWTF's NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage biosolids use or disposal in compliance with statutory and/or regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder, or any more stringent state or local regulations, including but not limited to the following: Section 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), 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 SWDA; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act. A discharge from a nondomestic user which causes a blockage resulting in a discharge at a point not authorized under the NPDES permit(s) is included in the definition of "interference."
"Local limits"means effluent limitations developed for nondomestic users by the control authority to specifically protect the POTW from the potential for deleterious impacts including pass-through, interference, and the beneficial use of biosolids. Such limits shall be based on the POTW's site-specific flow and loading capacities, receiving water considerations, and reasonable treatment expectations for nondomestic wastewater.
"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.
"Minor industrial user" or "MIU"means any nondomestic user or person that does not otherwise qualify as a significant industrial user of the POTW and is identified by the director as having the potential to discharge wastewater that, when taken into account with the wastewaters of other industrial users, may have a significant impact on the POTW.
"Monthly average"means the arithmetic mean of the effluent sample results collected during a calendar month or specified 30-day period. Where composite samples are required, grab samples taken for process control or by the control authority are not to be included in a monthly average.
"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 categorical pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Act, which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section; provided, that:
a. The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located;
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)(a) or (c) of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
Construction of a new source as defined under this definition 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
Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities that 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 operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase agreements 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 definition.
"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. Noncontact cooling water may contain protective additives which may be deleterious to the POTW.
"Nondischarging categorical industrial user (NDCIU)"means any person that generates wastewater subject to a categorical pretreatment standard that does not discharge that wastewater subject to the categorical pretreatment standard to the POTW. NDCIUs are considered a potential source of indirect discharge.
"Nondomestic user"means any person that does not qualify as a domestic user and is a source, or potential source, of discharge to the POTW. This includes but is not limited to food service establishments, auto-related businesses, medical facilities, commercial or industrial facilities, and warehouses.
"Nonpolar FOG"means fats, oils or grease (FOG) in water or waste from a petroleum or mineral source as measured using analytical procedures established in 40 CFR
136.
means a pretreatment device with a large capacity underground vault installed between a drain serving a nonpolar FOG discharger and the connecting sewer pipe. These vaults are designed with baffles or coalescing plates to trap sediments and retain floating oils. The large capacity of the vault slows down the wastewater, allowing oil to float to the surface and solid material to settle on the bottom. Any customer that is a potential discharger of petroleum-based and/or nonpolar FOG is required to have an OWS.
Operation and Maintenance Manual.A detailed operation and maintenance manual is prepared for an industrial wastewater facility that includes mechanical components before completing the construction. The manual shall contain all components listed in WAC
173-240-150.
means a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with discharge(s) from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the WWTF's NPDES permit(s), including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.
"Person"means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity, regardless of form; or their legal representatives, agents, or assignees. This definition includes all federal, state, and local governmental entities.
"pH"means the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in standard units. pH is an expression of the intensity of the alkaline or acid condition of a liquid. The pH may range from zero to 14, where zero is most acid and 14 most alkaline.
"Plan review authority"means the authority granted to the control authority to review and approve all engineering reports, plans, and specifications for the construction of nondomestic wastewater treatment facilities before construction thereof may begin. No approval shall be given until the director is satisfied that said plans and specifications and the methods of operation and maintenance submitted are adequate to protect the quality of the state's waters as provided for in RCW
90.48.110.
means the detailed drawings and specifications used in the construction or modification of non-domestic wastewater facilities as provided in WAC
173-240-140. Except as otherwise allowed, plans and specifications are preceded by an approved engineering report. For some industrial facilities final conceptual drawings for all or parts of the system may be substituted for plans and specifications with the permission of the director.
means any substance, either liquid, gaseous, solid or radioactive, discharged to the POTW which, if discharged directly, would alter the chemical, physical, thermal, biological or radiological properties of waters of the state. This includes any discharge likely to create a nuisance or render such waters harmful, detrimental or injurious to any beneficial uses, terrestrial or aquatic life, or to public health, safety or welfare, and includes any 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, carbonaceous oxygen demand, toxicity, or odor).
"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; BMP or by other means, except not by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
"Pretreatment facility"means wastewater treatment equipment, unit, device, facility, or portions thereof designed for providing pretreatment of wastewater.
"Pretreatment requirement"means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a nondomestic user, other than a pretreatment standard.
"Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)"means a treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. Section
1292), which is owned by the control authority or a contributing jurisdiction. 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.
means a structure or sampling installation for the purpose of accurately measuring the volume or flow and sampling of wastewater, the design, location and operation of which must be approved by the director.
"Septage"means sewage and typically associated solids from domestic activities pumped from a septic tank serving one or more private residences, including wastes from chemical toilets, campers, or trailers.
"Sewage"means human excrement and gray water from household showers, toilets, kitchens, clothes and dish washing, and related domestic user activities.
Significant Industrial User or SIU.1. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this definition, a significant industrial user is:
a. A nondomestic user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or
A nondomestic 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);
Contributes a process waste stream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the treatment plant; or
Is designated as such by the director, on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
Upon a finding that a nondomestic user meeting the above criteria for a significant industrial user is not a categorical industrial user, or is a nondischarging categorical industrial user, and has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the director may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a nondomestic user, and in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR
403.8(f)(6), determine that such nondomestic user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
"Significant noncompliance"means:
1. Any violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement, including numerical limits, narrative standards, and prohibitions, that the director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through, including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public.
Any discharge that has caused imminent endangerment to the public or to the environment or has resulted in the director's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge.
Any violation(s), including of best management practices, which the director determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.
Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66 percent or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter taken during a rolling six-month period, exceed, by any magnitude, a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits of SMC §
13.18.330.
Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33 percent or more of wastewater measurements taken for each pollutant parameter during a rolling six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by SMC §
13.18.330, multiplied by the applicable criteria. Applicable criteria are 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH.
Failure to meet, within 90 days of the scheduled date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance.
Failure to provide any required report within 45 days after the due date. This includes initial and periodic monitoring reports, and reports on initial compliance and on meeting compliance schedules.
Failure to accurately report noncompliance.
"Slug load" or "slug discharge"means 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. This includes discharges at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards of SMC §
13.18.300.
means the same as pretreatment standard.
"Standard method"means the current version of Standard Methods for Examination of Water and Wastewater.
"State"means the state of Washington.
"Stormwater"means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
"Total suspended solids (TSS)"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, as included in current EPA standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater.
"Wastewater"means any combination of 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.
(Ord. 2839 § 1 (Exh. A), 2024; Ord. 2895 § 1, 2024)