City of Oswego, NY Terminology

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

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

BOD (denoting 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 discharge originates.

The quantity of oxygen used in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in five days at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter.

BUILDING DRAIN

That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face of the building wall.

BUILDING SEWER

The extension from the building drain to the POTW.

CITY

The City of Oswego (incorporated in 1848) or the City Council of the City of Oswego, or the City's authorized representative.

CITY ENGINEER

New York State licensed professional engineer, full-time on staff and employed by the City of Oswego, and otherwise qualified to oversee POTW operations. This definition shall also include his authorized deputy, agent or representative.

COMBINED SEWER

A sewer intended to receive both wastewater and stormwater or surface water.

COMMERCIAL USER (CLASS II)

Includes a property occupied by a nonresidential establishment not within the definition of an industrial user (Class III) and which is connected to the POTW.

COMPLIANCE

Conformance with wastewater discharge permit limits and conformance with all the terms of this Part 2. Compliance shall be determined by periodic monitoring by the City and/or self-monitoring, as applicable.

CONTROL AUTHORITY

The City or City Engineer.

CONTROL MANHOLE

A structure maintained by the owner and approved by the City Engineer that is continuously and immediately accessible and adequate for the insertion of a flow metering device and the collection of samples, and suitable for inspection, observation sampling, testing and measuring of user discharges.

CONVENTIONAL POLLUTANT

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

COOLING WATER

The water discharged from any system of condensation, air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration which does not come into contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or final product.

DAY

The twenty-four-hour period beginning at 12:01 a.m.

EASEMENT

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

EPA

The United States Environmental Protection Agency.

EXISTING SOURCE

Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by EPA of proposed National Categorical Pretreatment Standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with § 307 of the Act.

GARBAGE

The solid animal and vegetable waste resulting from the domestic or commercial handling, storage, dispensing, preparation, cooking and serving of foods and from the packaging and canning of food.

GRAB SAMPLE

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.

GROUNDWATER

Water within the earth.

HEADWORKS

The point at which wastewater enters the wastewater treatment plant. The headworks may consist of bar screens, comminutors, a wet well or pumps.

INDIRECT DISCHARGE

The introduction of pollutants into a POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under § 307(b), (c) or (d) of the Act.

INDUSTRIAL CONTRIBUTORY FLOW METHOD BASED LIMIT

The local limit being applied to permitted users based upon the maximum allowable industrial loading to the POTW and the maximum daily flow from the permitted users used for the contributory flow.

INDUSTRIAL USER (CLASS III)

Any source of indirect discharge.

INDUSTRIAL WASTES

The liquid wastes, other than sanitary wastewater, resulting from manufacturing, industrial or other processes.

INFILTRATION

The water entering a sewer system from the ground through such means as, but not limited to, defective pipes, pipe joints, connections or manhole walls. Infiltration does not include and is distinguished from inflow.

INFLOW

The water discharged into a sewer system, building drains and building sewers from such sources as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar, yard and area drains, foundation drains, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross-connections from storm sewers and combined sewers, catch basins, stormwater, surface runoff, street wash water or drainage. It does not include and is distinguished from infiltration.

INSTANTANEOUS MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE DISCHARGE LIMIT

The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.

INTERFERENCE

A discharge that, alone or in conjunction with discharges by other sources, inhibits or disrupts any sewer system, wastewater treatment process, sludge disposal system or their operations and, therefore, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the City's POTW SPDES permits (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or of the prevention of sludge disposal by the POTW in accordance with the statutory provisions and regulations or permits (or more stringent state or local regulations) referenced by 40 CFR 403.3(I)(2).

MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE HEADWORKS LOADING (MAHL)

The estimated maximum loading of a pollutant that can be received at the POTW's headworks without causing pass-through or interference; the most protective (lowest) of the AHLs (See definition.) estimated for a pollutant.

MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE INDUSTRIAL LOADING (MAIL)

The estimated maximum loading of a pollutant that can be received at the POTW's headworks from all permitted industrial users and other controlled sources without causing pass-through or interference. The MAIL is usually calculated by applying a safety factor to the MAHL and discounting for uncontrolled sources, hauled waste and growth allowance.

MONITORING STATION

A permanent structure constructed, maintained and operated by and at the owner's expense and approved by the City Engineer as to design and construction for the express purpose of providing an accessible point out of the traveled way for metering and sampling waste discharges continuously into the City POTW system in a safe and accurate manner.

MUNICIPAL NPDES/SPDES PERMIT

The current State or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permits, as issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, to the City of Oswego POTW.

NATIONAL CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD

Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.

NATIONAL PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARD

Any regulation developed under the authority of § 307 (b) of the Act, and 40 CFR 403.5, and further described in Article VIII of this Part 2.

NATURAL OUTLET

Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake or any other body of surface water or groundwater.

NEW SOURCE

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 § 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:

The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which 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

POLLUTANT OF CONCERN (POC)

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.

OIL AND GREASE

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

OTHER WASTES

Properly shredded solid wastes such as garbage, refuse, wood, egg shells, coffee grounds, sawdust, shavings, bark, sand, lime, cinder, ashes and all other discarded matter not normally present in wastewaters.

OWNER

The person or persons who legally own, lease or occupy private property which discharges or will discharge to the City's POTW.

PASS-THROUGH

The discharge which exits the City 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 permits (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 Part 2.

PERSON

Any individual, firm, company, association, society, partnership, corporation, municipality or other similar organization, agency or group.

A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

PHOSPHORUS

The total quantity of phosphorus contained in a particular waste.

PLUMBING INSPECTOR

City-licensed master plumber, full-time on staff and employed by the City, and otherwise qualified to oversee the construction/installation of sewer systems, building drains and building sewers.

POLLUTANT

Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical waters, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal and agricultural waste discharged into water.

Any pollutant that might reasonably be expected to be discharged to the POTW in sufficient amounts to pass through or interfere with the works, contaminate its sludge, cause problems in its collection system or jeopardize its workers.

POTW TREATMENT PLANT

That portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment to wastewater.

PRETREATMENT

The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to discharge to the City of Oswego's POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, production 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 pretreatment standard, imposed on a user.

PRETREATMENT STANDARDS

Prohibited discharge standards, national categorical pretreatment standards and local limits established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5.

PRIORITY POLLUTANTS

The most recently revised or updated list, developed by the EPA (after weighing the importance of toxicity, persistence, degradability and effect on organisms), in accordance with § 307(a)(1) of the Act.

PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE

Garbage that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under flow conditions normally prevailing in the wastewater sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.

PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW)

A treatment works, as defined by § 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292), which is owned in this instance by the City. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plant, but does not include pipes, sewers or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. For the purposes of this Part 2, "POTW" shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the POTW from persons outside the City who are, by contract or agreement with the City, users of the City's POTW.

RESIDENTIAL USER (CLASS I)

All premises used only for human residency and which is connected to the POTW.

RESTAURANTS

Retail establishments selling prepared foods and drinks, caterers and industrial and institutional food service establishments, and shall include but not be limited to all establishments with a Standard Industrial Classification Manual Group No. 58.

SANITARY WASTEWATER

Wastewater discharged from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings, office buildings, industrial plants or institutions, essentially free of industrial wastes or toxic materials.

SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU)

A user subject to national categorical pretreatment standards; or

A user that:

(a)

Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);

(b)

Contributes a process waste stream which makes up 5% or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plants; or

(c)

Is designated as such by the City on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.

SIGNIFICANT NONCOMPLIANCE (SNC)

Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in Subsection (2) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the City may, at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a user and in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR 403.8(0(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.

A user shall be deemed to be in significant noncompliance if any violation meets one or more of the following criteria:

[Amended 2-27-2012 by L.L. No. 1-2012]

Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits;

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