Definitions. Unless the context specifically indicates
otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter,
shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
ACT
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the
"Clean Water Act," as amended, 33 USC § 1251 et seq., and
the regulations promulgated thereunder, as amended from time to time.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY
The Regional Administrator of the EPA, unless and until New
York State receives EPA approval of a state pretreatment program.
Once New York State receives such approval, then the approval authority
will be the Commissioner of the DEC.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE
An authorized representative of an industrial user shall
be: (1) a responsible corporate officer, if the user is a corporation,
provided that the responsible corporate officer is: (a) a president,
vice-president, secretary, or treasurer of the corporation in charge
of a principal business function, (b) any other person who performs
similar policy- or decision-making functions for the corporation,
or (c) the manager of a facility or facilities employing more than
250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding
$25 million (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), provided that the manager
has received the authority to sign documents in accordance with corporate
procedures; (2) a general partner or proprietor, if the user is a
partnership or sole proprietorship, respectively; (3) a member of
the governing board or executive office of a governmental entity,
if the user is a governmental facility, or (4) a duly authorized representative
of the individual designated above if such representative is responsible
for the overall operation of the facility from which the industrial
discharge originates, or has overall responsibility for environmental
matters for the company; provided, however, that the authorization
is made in writing by the individual described above, and the written
authorization is submitted to the Chief Operator.
BOD5 (FIVE-DAY BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure for five days
at 20° centigrade, expressed in terms of weight and concentration
[(milligrams per liter (mg/l)].
BYPASS
The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion
of an industrial user's treatment facility.
CATEGORICAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD
A national pretreatment standard which applies to a specific
industrial subcategory and is published at 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter
N.
CFR
Code of Federal Regulations.
CHIEF OPERATOR
The person appointed by the City of Ithaca to supervise the
operation of the POTW, or his or her duly authorized representative,
including the pretreatment coordinator. The Chief Operator and his
or her representatives shall be the Special Joint Committee's and
municipalities' authorized agents and representatives in the administration
and enforcement of this chapter.
COOLING WATER
The water discharged from any use, such as air conditioning,
cooling, or refrigeration, to which the only pollutant added is heat.
DEC
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
DIRECT DISCHARGE
The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly
into the waters of the State of New York or of the United States.
DOMESTIC SOURCE
Any residence, building, structure, facility, or installation
from which there is or may be discharged to the POTW only sanitary
sewage.
EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
GARBAGE
The solid waste from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing
of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE
The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any source,
other than a domestic source, regulated under Section 307(b), (c),
or (d) of the Act.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE
Any liquid, gaseous, or solid waste substance, or a combination
thereof, resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade,
or business, from any process related to services or activities performed
by any public or private institution or facility, or from the development
or recovery of any natural resources.
INTERFERENCE
A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge
or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its
treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or
disposal and which 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), or of the prevention of sewage sludge use
or disposal by the POTW in accordance with applicable federal, state,
or local statutes and regulations or permits issued thereunder, as
set forth in 40 CFR 403.3(i).
MUNICIPALITIES
The City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, and Town of Dryden, collectively,
as well as any other municipalities which may in the future become
owners of the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility. "Municipality"
used in the singular form shall mean any one of the municipalities.
NATIONAL PRETREATMENT STANDARD, PRETREATMENT STANDARD or STANDARD
Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated
by the EPA in accordance with Section 307(b) and (c) of the Act which
applies to industrial users, including prohibitive discharge limits
established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5, and categorical pretreatment
standards.
NEW SOURCE
Any building, structure, facility, or installation, as described
in 40 CFR 403.3(k), 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 will
be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated
in accordance with that section.
PASS-THROUGH
A discharge which exits the POTW into waters of New York
State or the United States in quantities or concentrations which,
alone or in conjunction with a discharge or 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).
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, firm, company, public or private
corporation or authority, association, joint-stock company, trust,
estate, governmental entity, agency or political subdivision of a
municipality, of the State of New York, or of the United States, or
any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents, or
assigns. The masculine gender shall include the feminine, and the
singular shall include the plural where indicated by the context.
pH
The logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration
of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.
POLLUTANT
Any element or property of sewage, agricultural, industrial,
commercial or municipal waste, leachate, heated effluent, dredged
spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, garbage, chemical wastes,
biological materials, radioactive materials, rock, sand, and cellar
dirt which is discharged into the POTW.
POTW TREATMENT PLANT
That portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment (including
recycling and reclamation) of municipal sewage and industrial waste.
PRETREATMENT
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, process changes, or other means, except as prohibited by
40 CFR 403.6(d).
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENT
Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment,
other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial
user.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS or POTW
The treatment works, as defined by Section 212 of the Act,
owned by the municipalities and known as the "Ithaca Area Wastewater
Treatment Facility." This definition includes any devices and systems
used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal
sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes those
sewers, pipes, and other conveyances which convey wastewater to the
POTW's treatment plant. For the purposes of this chapter, POTW shall
also include any sewers and other facilities that convey wastewater
to the POTW treatment plant from persons who are, by permit, resolution,
contract, or agreement with the municipalities, Special Joint Committee,
or POTW, users of the POTW.
SANITARY SEWAGE
Liquid and water-carried human and domestic wastes from residences,
commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, exclusive
of ground-, storm- and surface water and exclusive of industrial wastes.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions
together with minor quantities of ground-, storm-, and surface waters
that are not admitted intentionally.
SEPTAGE
Human and domestic wastes, including both liquids and solids,
in and removed from septic tanks, holding tanks, cesspools, or chemical
toilets, including but not limited to those serving private residences,
commercial establishments, industries, and institutions. Septage shall
contain only sanitary sewage.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater.
SEWERAGE SYSTEM
Any device, equipment, or works used in the transportation,
pumping, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of wastewater.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER
All industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment
standards, and any other industrial user that discharges an average
of 25,000 gallons per day or more of processed wastewater to the POTW
(excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);
contributes a processed waste stream which makes up 5% or more of
the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW
treatment plant; or is designated as such by the Chief Operator on
the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for
adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment
standard or requirement. Upon a finding that an industrial user meeting
the foregoing criteria has no reasonable potential for violating any
pretreatment standard or requirement or for adversely affecting the
POTW's operation, the Chief Operator may at any time, upon his or
her own initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial
user, and in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that such
industrial user is not a significant industrial user. Such a determination
may not be made, however, if the industrial user is subject to a categorical
pretreatment standard.
SLUDGE
Waste containing varying amounts of solid contaminants removed
from water, sanitary sewage, wastewater or industrial wastes by physical,
chemical, or biological treatment.
SLUG
Any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including,
but not limited to, an accidental spill or noncustomary batch discharge.
SPDES PERMIT
A State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued
pursuant to Section 402 of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1342, and
Article 17 of the New York Environmental Conservation Law.
SPECIAL JOINT COMMITTEE
A committee established by the municipalities and charged
with oversight of the POTW, as provided for by agreement among the
City of Ithaca and Towns of Ithaca and Dryden. This Committee currently
consists of representatives from the City of Ithaca and Towns of Ithaca
and Dryden, and may in the future include representatives from other
municipalities which become joint owners of the POTW.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of,
or is suspended in, water, wastewater or other liquids, and which
is removable by laboratory filtering in accordance with the current
Standard Methods.
TOXIC POLLUTANT
Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic
in regulations promulgated by EPA under Section 307(a) of the Act,
or other acts, or in regulations promulgated under New York State
law.
USER
Any domestic source or industrial user which discharges wastewater
to the POTW.
WASTEWATER
The liquid and water-carried industrial, nondomestic or domestic
wastes, including sewage, industrial waste, other wastes, or any combination
thereof, from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities,
and institutions, together with any groundwater, surface water, and
stormwater that may be present, whether treated or untreated, which
is discharged into the POTW.
WATERS OF THE STATE
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
underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained
within, flow through, border upon, or are within the jurisdiction
of the state.