[HISTORY: Adopted by the Rochester City Council 4-24-1951. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Enforcement procedures — See Ch. 52.
When used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following respective meanings:
COLD FIREBOX
A locomotive firebox from which the fire, coal and ashes have been completely withdrawn or extinguished.
COMBUSTION EQUIPMENT
Any furnace, incinerator, refuse-burning equipment, boiler, apparatus, device, mechanism, stack or structure (except a railroad locomotive) or fuel-burning equipment used in the process of burning fuel or combustible material.
COMMISSIONER
The Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development of the City of Rochester or his or her legally designated representative.
[Amended 1-23-1968 by Ord. No. 68-18; 2-10-1981 by Ord. No. 81-45; 2-24-1981 by Ord. No. 81-55; 2-14-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22; 6-16-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-179]
DENSE SMOKE
Smoke which has a density of No. 2 or greater as established by the Ringelmann Chart.
DUST, CINDERS and FLY ASH
Gasborne and airborne particles larger than one micron in mean diameter.
DUST-SEPARATING EQUIPMENT
Any device for separating dust from the gas medium in which it is carried.
FUMES, GASES and NOXIOUS VAPORS
Gases or vapors that are of such character as to create an unclean, destructive, offensive or unhealthful condition.
LOCOMOTIVE
A vehicle operating on rails by self-contained motive power.
LOW VOLATILE SOLID FUEL
A solid fuel, the volatile content of which is 23% or less on a moisture-free basis.
OPEN FIRE
Any bonfire, open incinerator basket or any fire wherein the products of combustion are emitted directly into the open air and not directed through a stack or chimney.
PERSON, FIRM or CORPORATION
Person or persons, firm, corporation, institution, partnership, copartnership, organization, association, companies, syndicates or any other group or groups of organized or unorganized individuals and shall include masculine, feminine, singular and plural in any circumstances.
PORTABLE EQUIPMENT
A boiler used separately or in connection with a power shovel, road roller, hoist, derrick or a pile driver; also tar kettles, asphalt kettles and other portable equipment capable of emitting smoke.
RINGELMANN CHART
That chart as now used and published by the United States Bureau of Mines to determine the density of smoke.
SMOKE
All gaseous products of combustion, together with carbon, soot, fly ash and all other particulate solids in combustion gases.
SOOT
Agglomerated particles consisting essentially of carbonaceous materials.
UMBRASCOPE
An instrument for determining the density of smoke by comparison with smoke glass of definite light-absorbing power.
For the purpose of grading the density of smoke, the Ringelmann Chart, as now published and used by the United States Bureau of Mines, which is hereby made a part of this chapter, shall be the standard. However, the umbrascope readings of smoke densities may be used when correlated with the Ringelmann Chart.
Dense smoke is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and the emission or escape thereof from any locomotive, tug, boat, stack, chimney or flue of any premises, building, fuel-burning equipment, roundhouse, portable equipment or other similar contrivance or from any open fire shall be unlawful; provided, however, that the following exceptions to the provisions of this section shall be permitted.
A. 
Exception No. 1.
[Amended 1-23-1968 by Ord. No. 68-18; 6-27-1985 by Ord. No. 85-263]
(1) 
In the operation of stationary or portable combustion equipment, allowance shall be made for periods of dense smoke emission as follows:
(a) 
Twenty minutes in each 24 hours for starting or lighting each wholly fresh fuel bed.
(b) 
Ten minutes in each eight hours for cleaning accumulated ashes from grates of each fuel bed.
(c) 
Ten minutes in each eight hours for removing soot or dust from flue gas passages of each fuel bed.
(2) 
In the event of an emergency affecting the procurement of satisfactory fuels or suitable combustion equipment or unavoidable failure or breakdown of combustion equipment which tends to produce unlawful emission of smoke, the person directly in responsible charge of such equipment shall immediately notify the Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development of such emergency, failure or breakdown, together with all pertinent facts pertaining thereto, and shall also report when such emergency or defect has been removed. Immunity from prosecution under such circumstances shall be at the discretion of the Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development, but in no event shall such immunity from prosecution be granted more often than three times in any twelve-month period for any particular combustion equipment.
[Amended 6-16-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-179]
B. 
Exception No. 2. In the operation of solid-fuel-fired steam locomotives, allowance shall be made for periods of dense smoke emission as follows:
(1) 
One and only one allowance, not to exceed a continuous period of 10 minutes, shall be made for cleaning, withdrawing or extinguishing the fire in any particular locomotive at a roundhouse, terminal or firecleaning station in any 24 hours.
(2) 
One and only allowance, not to exceed a continuous period of 10 minutes, shall be made for building a wholly fresh fire in any particular locomotive having a "cold firebox" in any 24 hours.
(3) 
In operating service, whether moving or standing, allowance shall be made for any period of dense smoke emission of not more than two minutes per hour in the aggregate.
A. 
No person shall cause, suffer or allow to be emitted into the open air from any fuel-burning equipment or premises, or to pass a convenient measuring point nearest to the stack outlet, dust in the gases to exceed 0.85 pounds per 1,000 pounds of gases, adjusted to 50% excess air for products of combustion, excepting that for fuel-burning equipment or premises constructed subsequent to the effective date of this chapter, a minimum dust-collecting efficiency of at least 85% shall be required for special dust-separating equipment, and that for fuel-burning equipment or premises constructed prior to the effective date of this chapter, a minimum dust-collecting efficiency of at least 75% shall be required for special dust-separating equipment. The limitations given shall be waived during periods when breakdown of equipment occurs such as to make it evident that the emission was not reasonably preventable. The amount of solids in the gases shall be determined according to the Test Code for Dust-Separating Apparatus of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, revised and amended to date, which is hereby made a part of this chapter by reference.
B. 
Acid or other fumes, noxious gases, strong odors, dust, dirt, soot, cinders and fly ash, emitted or allowed to escape in such quantity or volume as to be detrimental to the public or to endanger the health and safety of the public or to cause the injury or damage to the property or business of any person, are hereby declared a nuisance, and the emission or escape thereof from any locomotive, tug or boat, stack, chimney or flue of any premises, building, combustion equipment, roundhouse, portable equipment or other similar contrivance or from any open fire shall be unlawful.
A. 
All persons or corporations owning, operating or controlling steam railroads or locomotives, when operating in the City of Rochester, shall use a low-volatility solid fuel or mechanical fuel-burning equipment or locomotives equipped with a device or devices which prevent the emission of smoke of an unlawful density; provided, however, that all yard and regularly assigned transfer steam locomotives shall, when operating within the City limits, be equipped with a device or devices which prevent the emission of dense smoke.
B. 
On and after December 31, 1952, it shall be unlawful to operate, for transfer, yard or switching operations within the City of Rochester, steam locomotives using solid fuel.
C. 
On and after December 31, 1952, it shall be unlawful to repair, service or clean steam locomotives or withdraw or extinguish fires or start wholly fresh fires in steam locomotives in the open air within the limits of the City of Rochester. All buildings in which steam locomotives are repaired, serviced, cleaned or housed and in which fires are withdrawn, extinguished or started shall be equipped with a "direct steaming" or "fuelless" system or a collector and gas-washing system to prevent the visible products of combustion, either from solid or liquid fuel, from being expelled into the atmosphere.
[Amended 9-28-1965; 1-23-1968 by Ord. No. 68-18; 6-27-1985 by Ord. No. 85-263; 2-14-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-22; 6-16-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-179]
No person shall in any manner hinder, obstruct, delay, resist, prevent or in any way interfere or attempt to interfere with the Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development or his or her duly authorized representatives in the performance of any duty herein enjoined, nor refuse to permit them to perform their duties by refusing them, or any of them, entrance to any premises at reasonable hours, or refuse to permit the inspection or examination of such building, establishment, premises, enclosure, combustion equipment or locomotive for the purpose of the enforcement of this chapter.
[Amended 9-28-1965; 7-22-1969 by Ord. No. 69-329]
Any person, firm or corporation, violating any of the provisions of this chapter, shall be punished upon conviction by a fine not exceeding $150 or by imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, or by a penalty not less than $25 nor more than $500 to be recovered by the City of Rochester in a civil action. Each day's violations shall be considered a separate offense.
Should any section, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase in this chapter be declared unconstitutional or invalid for any reason, the remainder of the chapter shall not be affected thereby and shall remain in full force and effect, and to that end, the provisions of this chapter are declared to be severable.