(1) 
This chapter sets forth uniform requirements for direct and indirect dischargers of pollutants from nondomestic sources into the wastewater collection and treatment system for the city of Staunton and enables the city to comply with all applicable state and federal laws including the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), and the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 CFR Part 403). The objectives of this chapter are:
(a) 
To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the municipal wastewater system which will interfere with the operation of the system;
(b) 
To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the municipal wastewater system which will pass through the system, inadequately treated, into receiving waters or the atmosphere or otherwise be incompatible with the system;
(c) 
To ensure that the quality of the wastewater treatment plant sludge is maintained at a level which allows its marketability;
(d) 
To protect both municipal personnel who may come into contact with sewage, sludge and effluent in the course of their employment as well as protecting the general public;
(e) 
To preserve the hydraulic capacity of the municipal wastewater system;
(f) 
To improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewater and sludge from the system;
(g) 
To provide for equitable distribution of the cost of operation, maintenance and improvement of the municipal wastewater system; and
(h) 
To ensure the city complies with its NPDES permit conditions, sludge use and disposal requirements and any other federal or state laws which the municipal wastewater system is subject to.
(2) 
This chapter provides for the regulation of direct and indirect discharges to the municipal wastewater collection system through the issuance of permits to certain nondomestic users and through enforcement of general requirements for other users, authorizes monitoring and enforcement activities, establishes administrative review procedures, requires user reporting, and provides for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the program established herein.
(3) 
This chapter shall apply to the city and to persons outside of the city who, by contract with the city, are included as users of the municipal wastewater system. Except as otherwise provided herein, the director of public works (director) or his designees shall administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this chapter. By discharging wastewater into the municipal wastewater system, industrial users located beyond the city limits agree to comply with the terms and conditions established in this chapter, as well as any permits or orders issued hereunder.
(Code 1985 § 22-70A; Ord. 2-23-95)
Except as otherwise provided herein, the director shall administer, implement and enforce the provisions of this chapter. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the director may be delegated by the director to other city personnel.
(Code 1985 § 22-70B)
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
(1) 
"Act" or "the Act"
means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.
(2) 
"Approval authority"
means the Virginia State Water Control Board.
(3) 
"Authorized representative of the industrial user":
(a) 
If the industrial user is a corporation, authorized representatives shall mean:
(i) 
The president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or
(ii) 
The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding $25,000,000 (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(b) 
If the industrial user is a partnership, association, or sole proprietorship, an authorized representative shall mean a general partner or the proprietor.
(c) 
If the individual user is representing federal, state or local governments, or an agent thereof, an authorized representative shall mean a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility.
(d) 
The individuals described in subsections (3)(a)(i) and (ii) of this section 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 authorization is submitted to the city.
(4) 
"Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)"
means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, five days at 20 degrees centigrade expressed in terms of weight and concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/l)).
(5) 
"Building sewer"
means a sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to the publicly owned treatment work (POTW).
(6) 
"Categorical pretreatment standard" or "categorical standard"
means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the U.S. EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1317) which applies to a specific category of industrial users and which appears in 40 CFR Chapter 1, Subchapter N, Parts 405 – 471, incorporated herein by reference.
(7) 
"City"
means the city of Staunton.
(8) 
"Color"
means the optical density at the visual wave length of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One hundred percent transmittance is equivalent to zero optical density.
(9) 
"Composite sample"
means the sample resulting from the combination of individual wastewater samples taken at selected intervals based on either an increment of flow or time.
(10) 
"Cooling water"
means the water discharged from any such use as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, or to which the only pollutant added is heat.
(11) 
Control Authority.
The term "control authority" shall refer to the city of Staunton.
(12) 
"Discharge"
means the discharge or the introduction of nondomestic pollutants into the municipal wastewater system by an industrial user.
(13) 
"Environmental Protection Agency" or "U.S. EPA"
means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or, where appropriate, the term may also be used as a designation for the Regional Waster Management Division Director or other duly authorized official of said agency.
(14) 
"Existing source"
means any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication of proposed categorical pretreatment standards under Section 307(b) and (c) (33 U.S.C. 1317) of the Act which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.
(15) 
"Grab sample"
means a sample which is taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the water stream and without consideration of time.
(16) 
"Holding tank waste"
means any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and vacuum-pump tank trucks.
(17) 
"Industrial user"
means any person which is a source of nondomestic discharge.
(18) 
"Industrial wastewater"
means a nondomestic wastewater originating from a nonresidential source.
(19) 
"Interference"
means a discharge which causes or contributes to the inhibition or disruption of the municipal wastewater system, including sewerage collection facilities, the processes or operations of the treatment plant, or the use or disposal of sewage sludge in accordance with the city's NPDES permit or any of the following regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (including Title II, commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)); any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.
(20) 
"Medical waste"
means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood byproducts, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, fomites, etiologic agents, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes and dialysis wastes.
(21) 
"Municipal wastewater system" or "system"
means a "treatment works" as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1292) which is owned by the state or municipality. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant. The term also means the municipal entity having responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the system.
(22) 
New Source.
(a) 
Any source of a discharge, the construction or operations of which commenced after the publication of proposed categorical pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) (33 U.S.C. 1317(c)) of the Act which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307(c); provided, that:
(i) 
No other source is located at that site; or
(ii) 
The source completely replaces the process or production equipment of an existing source at that site; or
(iii) 
The new wastewater-generating process of the source is substantially independent of an existing source at that site; and the construction of the source creates a new facility rather than modifying an existing source at that 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.)
(b) 
For purposes of this definition, construction or operation has commenced if the owner or operator has:
(i) 
Begun or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
(A) 
Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or
(B) 
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
(ii) 
Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this definition.
(23) 
"Nondomestic pollutants"
means any substances other than human excrement and household gray water (shower, dishwashing operations, etc.). Nondomestic pollutants include the characteristics of the wastewater (i.e., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, odor).
(24) 
"Pass through"
means a discharge which exits the treatment plant effluent into waters of the U.S. in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with an indirect discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).
(25) 
"Person"
means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state or local governmental entities.
(26) 
"pH"
means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units; neutral wastewaters are numerically equal to seven while the number increases to show increasing alkalinity and decreases to show increasing acidity.
(27) 
"Pollutant"
means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat-wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and agricultural wastes.
(28) 
"Pretreatment" or "treatment"
means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater thereby rendering them less harmful to the municipal wastewater system prior to introducing such pollutants into the system. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, by process changes, or by other means, except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
(29) 
"Pretreatment standard and requirements"
means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, including national pretreatment categorical standards and prohibitive discharge standards imposed on an industrial user.
(30) 
"Prohibited discharge standards" or "prohibited discharges"
means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain defined types of industrial wastewater; these prohibitions appear in SCC § 13.55.050.
(31) 
"Residential users"
means persons only contributing sewage wastewater to the municipal wastewater system.
(32) 
"Receiving stream or water of the state"
means all streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or under-ground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion thereof.
(33) 
"Sewage"
means human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.).
(34) 
Significant Industrial User.
The term "significant industrial user" shall mean:
(a) 
Industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards; and
(b) 
Any other industrial user that:
(i) 
Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater;
(ii) 
Contributes a process wastestream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the treatment plant; or
(iii) 
Is designated as significant by the city on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for causing pass through or interference.
(35) 
"Slug load"
means any pollutant (including BOD) released in a discharge at a flow rate or concentration which will cause a violation of the specific discharge prohibitions in Article II of Chapter 13.55 SCC.
(36) 
"Standard industrial classification (SIC) code"
means a classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget.
(37) 
"Stormwater"
means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom, including snow melt.
(38) 
"Suspended solids"
means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.
(39) 
"Director"
means the person designated by the city to supervise the operation of the municipal wastewater system and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter or his duly authorized representative.
(40) 
"Toxic pollutant"
means one of 126 pollutants or combination of those pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency under the provision of Section 307 (33 U.S.C. 1317) of the Act.
(41) 
"Treatment plant"
means that portion of the municipal wastewater system designed to provide treatment of sewage and industrial waste.
(42) 
"Treatment plant effluent"
means any discharge of pollutants from the municipal wastewater system into waters of the state.
(43) 
"User"
means any person who contributes, or causes or allows the contribution of sewage or industrial wastewater into the municipal wastewater system, including persons who contribute such wastes from mobile sources.
(44) 
"Wastewater"
means the liquid and water-carried industrial wastes, or sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which is contributed to the municipal wastewater system.
This chapter is gender neutral and the masculine gender shall include the feminine and vice versa. "Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive or discretionary. The use of the singular shall be construed to include the plural and the plural shall include the singular as indicated by the context of its use.
(Code 1985 § 22-70C)
The following abbreviations shall have the designated meanings:
♦ BOD
-
Biochemical oxygen demand
♦ CFR
-
Code of Federal Regulations
♦ COD
-
Chemical oxygen demand
♦ EPA
-
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
♦ gpd
-
Gallons per day
♦ LC
-
Lethal concentration for 50 percent of the 50 test org
♦ l
-
Liter
♦ mg
-
Milligrams
♦ mg/l
-
Milligrams per liter
♦ NPDES
-
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
♦ O&M
-
Operation and maintenance
♦ POTW
-
Publicly owned treatment works
♦ RCRA
-
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
♦ SIC
-
Standard industrial classification
♦ SWDA
-
Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.)
♦ TSS
-
Total suspended solids
♦ USC
-
United States Code
(Code 1985 § 22-70D)