Town of Clifton Park, NY Definitions

A principal executive officer of at least the level of vice-president, if the industrial user is a corporation;

A general partner or proprietor, if the industrial user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively;

BOD (biochemical oxygen demand)

A duly authorized representative of the individual designated above, if such representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the indirect discharge originate.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

The members of the Clifton Park Town Board shall act as the Board of Commissioners.

The result obtained when using an approved laboratory procedure to determine the quantity of oxygen utilized in the aerobic biochemical oxidation of organic matter or in a sample, expressed in milligrams per liter.

BUILDER

Any person who undertakes to construct a building or any part of a building, either under contract or for resale.

BUILDING DRAIN

That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a building drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside the building walls, and conveys it to the building lateral, which begins five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.

CHLORINE DEMAND

The result obtained when using an approved laboratory procedure to determine the difference between the amount of chlorine added to a sample and the amount of chlorine remaining in the sample at the end of a specified contact time at room temperature, expressed in milligrams per liter.

COD (chemical oxygen demand)

The result obtained when using an approved laboratory procedure to measure the oxygen requirement of that portion of matter, in a sample, that is susceptible to oxidation, by a specific chemical oxidant, expressed in milligrams per liter.

COLOR

The optical density at the visual wavelength of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One-hundred-percent transmittance is equivalent to zero (0.0) optical density.

COMPOSITE SAMPLE

The sample resulting from the combination of individual samples of wastewater taken at selected intervals, for a specified time period. The individual samples may have equal volumes or the individual volumes may be proportioned to the flow at the time of sampling.

CONNECTION

Attachment of one user to a sewer (see "extension").

CONTROL AUTHORITY

The term shall refer to "approval authority," or to the Town Board when the Town has an approved pretreatment program under the provisions of 40 CFR 403.11.

CONTROL MANHOLE

A manhole accessible to the control authority in or upstream of the street lateral, such that samples collected from the manhole represent the discharge to the POTW.

CONVENTIONAL POLLUTANT

A pollutant that the POTW treatment plant was designed to treat, defined in accordance with the Act.

COOLING WATER

The water discharged from any system of condensation, air conditioning, refrigeration, or other sources. It shall contain no polluting substances which would produce COD or suspended solids in excess of five milligrams per liter, or toxic substances, as limited elsewhere in this chapter.

COUNTY

The County in which the Town is located (Saratoga County, New York).

DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE

The Director of Building and Development, or his designee, shall be responsible for the enforcement of the rules and regulations herein promulgated, and to carry out the day-to-day duties as required under this Sewer Use Law as the representative of the Town Board.

[Amended 12-12-2022 by L.L. No. 3-2022]

DEVELOPER

Any person who subdivides land for the purpose of constructing, or causing to be constructed, buildings for which wastewater disposal facilities are required.

DIRECT DISCHARGE

The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the State of New York. (For reference, see "indirect discharge.")

DOMESTIC WASTES

see "sewage, domestic."

DRY SANITARY SEWERS

The sanitary sewer installed in anticipation of future connection to a POTW but which is not used, in the meantime, for transport of sanitary sewage.

EASEMENT

An acquired legal right for the specific use of land owned by others.

END OF PIPE

For the purpose of determining compliance with limitations prescribed by Article VIII, "end of pipe" shall mean the control manhole, provided the samples collected from the control manhole are representative of the discharge to the POTW.

END-OF-PIPE CONCENTRATION

The concentration of a substance in a sample of wastewater at end of pipe.

END-OF-PROCESS CONCENTRATION

See "national categorical pretreatment standard."

EPA, USEPA, or U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The agency of the federal government charged with the administration and enforcement of federal environmental laws, rules, and regulations; also may be used as a designation for the Administrator or other duly authorized official of this Agency.

EXTENSION

Attachment of a sewer line, with more than one user, to an existing sewer line.

FACILITY

All buildings, other structures, grounds and contiguous property at any locations related to or connected with a user at the user's location.

FLOATABLE OIL

Oil, grease, or fat in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in a wastewater treatment facility.

FLOW RATE

The quantity of liquid or waste that flows in a certain period of time.

GARBAGE

The solid wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, from the handling, storage, and sale of produce, and from the packaging and canning of food.

GRAB SAMPLE

A single sample of wastewater representing the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the wastewater at one point and time.

ICS FORM

The form used by the NYSDEC to survey industries to perform and update the Industrial Chemical Survey.

INDIRECT DISCHARGE

The introduction of wastewater into a POTW for treatment and ultimate discharge of the treated effluent to the state's waters. (For reference, see "direct discharge.")

INDUSTRIAL

Meaning or pertaining to industry, manufacturing, commerce, trade, business, or institution, and is distinguished from domestic or residential.

INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL SURVEY (ICS)

The survey of industries in New York State, initiated by the NYSDEC, to determine chemical usage and storage by those industries.

INDUSTRIAL USER

See "user, industrial."

INDUSTRIAL WASTES

The liquid or liquid-carried solid, liquid and/or gaseous wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade, service, utility, or business, as distinct from sanitary sewage.

INFILTRATION

Water, other than wastewater, that enters a sewer system (excluding building drains) from the ground through such means as defective pipes, pipe joints, connections, or manholes. Infiltration does not include, and is distinguished from, inflow. Infiltration is inadvertent; that is, not purposely designed or built into the sewer or drain.

INFLOW

Water, other than wastewater, that enters a sewer system (including building drains) from sources such as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar drains, area drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections between storm sewers and sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, stormwaters, foundation drains, swimming pools, surface runoff, street wash waters, or drainage. Inflow does not include, and is distinguished from, infiltration. Inflow is purposely designed and/or built into the sewer or drain.

INTERFERENCE

A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with discharges by other sources:

Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and

NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD or CATEGORICAL STANDARD

Therefore is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the Town POTW's SPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal by the POTW in accordance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations):

(a)

Section 405 of the Clean Water Act;

(b)

SWDA) (including Title II, more commonly referred to as the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Actvation and Recovery Act - RCRA", and including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D or the SWDA);

(c)

Clean Air Act;

(d)

Toxic Substance Control Act; and

(e)

Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act.

LATERAL, BUILDING

The portion of the sewer lateral between the building drain and street lateral. The building lateral is owned and maintained by the property owner.

LATERAL, STREET

The portion of the sewer lateral between the public collection sewer and the property line. The street lateral is maintained and kept operational by the property owner. The sewer district owns the street lateral; however, the property owner is responsible for replacement or repair of the street lateral within the public right-of-way in accordance with these standards.

Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(B) and (C) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 1347), which applies to a specific category of industrial users. These standards apply at the end of the categorical process ("end of process").

NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES) PERMIT

A permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1342).

NATIONAL PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD or PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD

Any regulation developed under the authority of Section 307(B) of the Act, and 40 CFR 403.5.

NATURAL OUTLET

Any outlet, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows, to state's waters.

NEW OWNER

That individual or entity who purchased property within the service area of the sewer district after the effective date of this chapter.

NEW SOURCE

Any source, the construction of which is commenced after the publication of the proposed regulation prescribing a Section 307(C) (33 U.S.C 1317) categorical pretreatment standard which will be applicable to such source, if such standard is thereafter promulgated.

NORMAL SEWAGE

See "sewage, normal."

NUISANCE

The use or lack of use of the POTW in such a manner so as to endanger life or health, give offense to the senses, or obstruct or otherwise interfere with the reasonable use or maintenance of the POTW.

OIL AND GREASE

The result obtained when using an approved laboratory procedure to determine the quantity of fats, wax, grease, and oil, in a sample, expressed in milligrams per liter.

OLD OWNER

That individual or entity who owns or owned a property, within the service area of the POTW, purchased prior to the effective date of this chapter, who owned or inherited the property at any time and intends to sell the property, or has sold the property to a new owner; also the agent of the old owner.

OTHER WASTES

Garbage (shredded or unshredded), refuse, wood, eggshells, coffee grounds, sawdust, shavings, bark, sand, lime, ashes, and all other discarded matter not normally present in sewage or industrial wastes; also, the discarded matter not normally present in sewage or industrial waste.

PASS-THROUGH

The discharge which exits the sewer district POTW into waters of the state in quantities, which, alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's SPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

PERMIT

A temporary revocable written document allowing use of the POTW for specified wastes over a limited period of time, containing sampling locations and reporting frequencies, and requiring other actions as authorized by this chapter.

PERSON

Any individual, public or private corporation, political subdivision, federal, state, or local agency or entity, association, trust, estate or any other legal entity whatsoever.

The logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen ions, in gram moles per liter of solution. A pH value of 7.0, the pH scale midpoint, represents neutrality. Values above 7.0 represent alkaline conditions. Values below 7.0 represent acid conditions.

PHOSPHORUS, TOTAL

See "total phosphorus."

POLLUTANT

Any material placed into or onto the state's waters, lands and/or airs, which interferes with the beneficial use of that water, land and/or air by any living thing at any time.

POLLUTION

The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and/or radiological integrity of the state's waters, lands and/or airs resulting from the introduction of a pollutant into these media.

POTW TREATMENT PLANT

That portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment to wastewater, and to treat sludge and residuals derived from such treatment.

PRETREATMENT (TREATMENT)

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 a POTW. The reduction or alteration can be achieved by physical, chemical, or biological process, process changes, or by other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6(D).

PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS

Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard imposed on an industrial user.

PRETREATMENT STANDARD or NATIONAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD

Any categorical standard or prohibitive discharge standard.

PRIORITY POLLUTANTS

The most recently revised or updated list, developed by the EPA, in accordance with the Act.

PROHIBITIVE DISCHARGE STANDARD

See "national prohibitive discharge standard."

PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE

The wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers, and with no particle having a dimension greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.

PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW)

A treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C 1292), which is owned, in this instance, by the sewer district. This definition includes any sewers and appurtenances that transport wastewater to the POTW treatment plant, or to the trunk sewer of the SCSD, or to another POTW that is approved to accept wastewater, but does not include pipes, sewers, or other conveyances not connected directly or indirectly to a facility providing treatment.

RECEIVING WATERS

A natural watercourse or body of water (usually waters of the state) into which treated or untreated sewage is discharged.

RECORDS

Shall include, but not be limited to, any printed, typewritten, handwritten or otherwise recorded matter of whatever character (including paper or electronic media), including but not limited to, letters, files, memoranda, directives, notes and notebooks, correspondence, descriptions, telephone call slips, photographs, permits, applications, reports, compilations, films, graphs and inspection reports. For the purposes of this chapter, "records" shall mean records of and relating to waste generation, reuse and disposal, and shall include records of usage of raw materials.

ROOF DRAIN

A drain installed to receive water collecting on the surface of a roof for disposal.

SEPTAGE

All liquids and solids in and removed from septic tanks, holding tanks, cesspools, or approved type of chemical toilets, including but not limited to those serving private residences, commercial establishments, institutions and industries; also sludge from small sewage treatment plants. Septage shall not have been contaminated with substances of concern or priority pollutants.

SEPTIC TANK

A private domestic sewage treatment system consisting of an underground tank (with suitable baffling), constructed in accordance with any and/or all local and state requirements.

SERVICE AREA OF THE SEWER DISTRICT

The service area is the legally defined bounds of real property from which wastewater may be discharged into the POTW. The bounds shall be established, altered, changed, modified, reduced, enlarged, combined, or consolidated by action of the Town Board.

SEWAGE

A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, and such ground-, surface, and stormwater as may be inadvertently present. The admixture of sewage, as defined above, with industrial wastes and other wastes shall also be considered sewage within the meaning of this definition.

SEWAGE, DOMESTIC (DOMESTIC WASTES)

Liquid wastes from the noncommercial preparation, cooking, and handling of food, liquid wastes containing human excrement and similar matter from the sanitary conveniences in dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, and institutions, or liquid wastes from clothes washing and/or floor/wall washing. Therefore, domestic sewage includes both black water and gray water. (See "sewage, sanitary.")

SEWAGE, NORMAL

Sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, which show, by analysis, the following characteristics:

	Characteristic	Pounds Per Million Gallons, or Less
	BOD (five-day)	2,090 (250 milligrams per liter)
	Suspended solids	2,500 (300 milligrams per liter)
	Phosphorus	125 (15 milligrams per liter)
	Ammonia	250 (30 milligrams per liter)
	Total Kjeldahl nitrogen	417 (50 milligrams per liter)
	Chlorine demand	209 (25 milligrams per liter)
	Chemical oxygen demand	2,920 (350 milligrams per liter)
	Oil and grease	830 (100 milligrams per liter)

SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT (WATER POLLUTION CONTROL PLANT)

In spite of satisfying one or more of these characteristics, if the sewage also contains substances of concern, it may not be considered normal sewage.

SEWAGE, SANITARY

Liquid wastes from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings (including apartment houses and hotels), office buildings, factories, or institutions, and free from stormwater, surface water, industrial, and other wastes. (See "domestic wastes.")

See "POTW treatment plant."

SEWAGE, UNUSUAL STRENGTH OR CHARACTER

Sewage which has characteristics greater than those of normal sewage and/or which contains substances of concern.

SEWER

A pipe or conduit for carrying or transporting sewage.

SEWER ADVISORY BOARD

Shall consist of the Sewer Department Chairperson (as appointed by the Town Supervisor), the Code Enforcement Officer, and five property owners who reside within the sewer district, as appointed by the Town Board. The role of the Sewer Advisory Board is to advise the Town Board on any issues that involve the sewer district(s).

SEWER, COMBINED

A sewer designed to receive and transport both surface runoff and sewage.

SEWER DEPARTMENT CHAIRPERSON

That member of the Town Board designated by the Town Supervisor as the Sewer Department Chairperson, the Councilperson in charge of overseeing the Sewer Department and to act as liaison between the Town Board and the sewer district.

SEWER, PUBLIC

The portion of the sewer system that is on public property, or that is within an easement that has been granted to the sewer district.

SEWER, SANITARY

A sewer which carries sewage, and to which storm-, surface, and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.

SEWER, STORM (STORM DRAIN)

A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but excludes sewage and industrial wastewaters, other than cooling waters and other unpolluted waters.

SEWERAGE SURCHARGE

The demand payment for the use of a public sewer and/or sewage treatment plant for the handling of any sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes accepted for admission thereto in which the characteristics thereof exceed the maximum values of such characteristics in normal sewage.

SEWERAGE SYSTEM (also "POTW")

All facilities for collecting, regulating, pumping, and transporting wastewater to and away from the POTW treatment plant.

SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER

See "user, significant industrial."

SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC)

A user is in significant noncompliance if its violation(s) meet(s) one or more of the following criteria:

Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those, in 66% or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period, which exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit or average limit for the same pollutant parameter;

Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those, in which 33% or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period, which equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limits multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease; TRC = 1.2 for all other pollutants);

STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC)

Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or long-term average) that the DPW 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);

(4)

Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the DPW's exercise of its emergency authority under Article X of this chapter;

(5)

Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance

(6)

Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;

(7)

Failure to report accurately any noncompliance;

(8)

Any other violation which the DPW determines will adversely affect the implementation or operation of the local pretreatment program.

SLUG

A substantial deviation from normal rates of discharge or constituent concentration (see "normal sewage") sufficient to cause interference. In any event, a discharge which, in concentration of any constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds, for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flow during normal user operations, shall constitute a slug.

A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1972, and subsequent revisions.

STANDARD METHODS

Procedures contained in the latest edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater," published by the American Public Health Association; procedures established by the Administrator, pursuant to Section 304(G) of the Act, and contained in 40 CFR Part 136, and amendments thereto. (If 40 CFR Part 136 does not include a sampling or analytical technique for the pollutant in question, then procedures set forth in the EPA publication, "Sampling and Analysis Procedures for Screening of Industrial Effluents for Priority Pollutants," April 1977, and amendments thereto, shall be used.); any other procedure approved by the Administrator, or any other procedure approved by the DPW, whichever is the most conservative.

STATE

The State of New York.

STATE'S WATERS

See "waters of the state."

STORMWATER

Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation; also the flow resulting therefrom.

SUBSTANCES OF CONCERN

Those compounds which the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has determined may be harmful to man or the environment.

SUMP PUMP

A mechanism used for removing water from a sump or wet well.

SUSPENDED SOLIDS

The result obtained, using an approved laboratory procedure, to determine the dry weight of solids, in a sample, that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension, or are settleable, and can be removed from the sample by filtration, expressed in milligrams per liter.

TOTAL KJELDAHL NITROGEN (TKN)

The result obtained, using an approved laboratory procedure, to determine the quantity of ammonia in a sample and released during the acid digestion of organic nitrogen compounds, expressed as milligrams of nitrogen per liter.

TOTAL PHOSPHORUS

The result obtained, using an approved laboratory procedure, to determine the total quantity of orthophosphate, in a sample of wastewater, following the hydrolysis of phosphorus compounds, expressed as milligrams of phosphorus per liter of sample.

TOWN

The Town of Clifton Park, Saratoga County, New York.

TOXIC SUBSTANCES

Any substance, whether gaseous, liquid, or solid, that when discharged to a public sewer in sufficient quantities may be hazardous to POTW operation and maintenance personnel, tend to interfere with any biological sewage treatment process, or to constitute a hazard to recreation in the receiving waters, due to the effluent from a sewage treatment plant or overflow point; any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA under provisions of CWA 307(A), or other acts.

USER

Any person who contributes, causes, or permits the contribution of wastewater into the POTW. The following categories of users are identified:

Initial users in the service area — parcel that had a street lateral installed during the original construction of the sewer collection system.

New users that are within the service area that require a new connection at the public sewer [i.e., subsequent subdivision of land that creates additional lot(s) after the original sewer collection system was placed in operation]. In these cases, the new user will be responsible for all costs associated with the installation of the street lateral.

USER, SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL (SIU)

New users outside the original service area either in a subsequent extension or as outside users. In these cases, the new user is responsible for all costs associated with the extension of the sewage collection system, and any related capital recovery fees.

USER, INDUSTRIAL

A discharger to the POTW who discharges nondomestic wastewaters.

An industrial user of the Town POTW who is:

Subject to national categorical pretreatment standards promulgated by the EPA;

Having substantial impact, either singly or in combination with other industries, on the operation of the treatment works;