15.14.012 Definitions.
Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:
“Accessible,” when applied to required pretreatment monitoring or treatment equipment, means direct access without the necessity of removing any panel, door, vehicle, equipment, materials, or other similar obstruction.
“Accredited lab” means a laboratory certified by the Department of Ecology (or recognized by the Department of Ecology) in accordance with Chapter 173-50 WAC to perform the specific test or measurement.
“Act, the” means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 USC 1251 et seq.
“Administrative fine” means a punitive monetary charge unrelated to treatment cost, which is assessed by the director rather than a court.
“AKART” means all known, available, and reasonable methods of prevention, control, and treatment. AKART shall represent the most current methodology that may reasonably be required for preventing, controlling, or abating the pollutants associated with a discharge. The concept of AKART applies to both point and nonpoint sources of pollution. The term “best management practices” is considered a subset of the AKART requirement.
“Authorized representative of the user” means:
1. If the user is a corporation:
a. 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
b. The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided the manager: (i) is authorized to make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility, including having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendation; (ii) is authorized to initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (iii) can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for individual wastewater discharge permit or general permit requirements; and (iv) is authorized to sign documents on behalf of the corporation, in accordance with corporate procedures; or
2. If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively; or
3. If the user is a federal, state, or local governmental facility:
a. An administrator or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or his/her authorized designee.
4. The individuals described in subsections (1) through (3) of this definition 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 written authorization is submitted to the director.
“Average daily flow” means the arithmetical mean of the total daily (24-hour) process wastewater flow over a one-year period. This mean shall be calculated based on days when a discharge occurs.
“Batch discharge” means an extraordinary release or discharge, either accidental or intentional, occurring in one or more discrete discharge episodes where a tank, vessel, reservoir, or other similar container is drained or partially drained at a rapid rate over a short time period. A batch discharge may, or may not, result in a slug load.
“Best management practices (BMPs)” means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution to waters of the United States. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage. BMPs are a subset of AKART.
“Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)” means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, current edition; under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20 degrees Celsius, expressed as a concentration in milligrams per liter (mg/L).
“Biosolids” means sewage sludge solids separated from the bulk wastewater at the POTW.
“Boiler blowdown water” means a periodic or continuous discharge of small volume used for the purpose of scale and/or biological growth control used in some heating boiler units.
“Business day” means Monday through Friday, excluding official holidays observed by the city of Bellingham through the closure of City Hall.
“Bypass” means the intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of the pretreatment or treatment process.
“Categorical pretreatment standard” means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 USC 1317) that applies to a specific category of users and that appears in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405 through 471.
“Categorical user” means a user covered by any categorical pretreatment standard.
“City” means the city of Bellingham, Washington.
“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.
“Composite sample” means the sample resulting from the combination of individual wastewater samples taken at selected intervals based on an increment of either flow or time representative of the period of regulated activity. These individual samples are combined into a single sample for analysis.
“Cooling blowdown water” means a periodic or continuous discharge of small volume used for the purpose of scale and/or biological growth control used in some cooling units.
“Daily maximum” means highest allowable discharge of a pollutant over a calendar day or equivalent 24-hour period. Where daily limits are expressed in units of mass, compliance is the product of the daily concentration and the flow over the same period. A limit may also be expressed as a minimum (e.g., a minimum pH level).
“Dangerous waste” means those solid wastes designated in WAC 173-303-070 through 173-303-100 as dangerous, extremely hazardous, or mixed waste.
“Day” means a calendar day.
“Director” means the city’s public works director or his or her designee.
“Discharge monitoring report (DMR)” means a report submitted by a permittee (usually monthly or quarterly), which gives the results of the monitoring tests performed.
“Domestic user” means any person who contributes, causes, or allows the contribution of wastewater into the POTW that is of a similar volume and/or chemical makeup as that of a residential dwelling unit. Discharges from a residential dwelling unit typically include up to 100 gallons per capita per day at 235 mg/L of BOD and 270 mg/L of TSS.
“Domestic wastewater” means the liquid and waterborne wastes derived from ordinary living processes, free from industrial wastes, and of such character to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the POTW.
“Engineering report” means a document that examines the technical and administrative aspects of an industrial wastewater process or facility. The report shall contain the applicable information as detailed in WAC 173-240-130.
“Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)” means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Management Division Director, or other duly authorized official of said agency.
“Existing source” means any user that discharges wastewater to the POTW from a facility, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication of proposed categorical pretreatment standards that will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.
“Existing user” means any noncategorical user that is discharging wastewater to the POTW prior to the effective date of this chapter.
“Fats, oils and grease (FOG)” means those components of wastewater amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, current edition. The term “fats, oils and grease” shall include polar and nonpolar fats, oils, and grease and other components extracted from wastewater by these methods.
“Grab sample” means an individual sample that is taken from a wastewater stream over a period of time not exceeding 15 minutes on a one-time basis without regard to the flow volume in the wastewater stream. Grab sampling should be used for pollutants that have a short holding time such as phenol or pH.
“Grease interceptor (GI)” means a device designed to capture and retain fats, oils, grease and solids, and includes gravity grease interceptors, hydromechanical grease interceptors, and grease removal devices.
“Hazardous waste” means those solid wastes designated by 40 CFR Part 261 as hazardous waste.
“High-strength waste” means any waters or wastewater having a concentration of BOD or TSS in excess of that of domestic users, or having a concentration of fats, oils and grease in excess of 100 mg/L.
“Indirect discharge or discharge” means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Act. The discharge into the POTW is normally by means of pipes, conduits, pumping stations, force mains, and appliances appurtenant thereto.
“Industrial waste” means any and all liquid or waterborne waste from industrial or commercial processes, except domestic sewage.
“Interceptor” means a device designed and installed so as to separate and retain deleterious or undesirable matter from normal wastes and permit normal liquid wastes to discharge by gravity.
“Interference” means a discharge that alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources either: (1) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations; (2) inhibits or disrupts its biosolids (sludge) processes, use or disposal; or (3) is a cause of a violation of the city’s NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage biosolids use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder: Section 405 of the Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), including Title II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any state regulations contained in 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.
“Liquid waste” means the discharge from any fixture, appliance, or appurtenance in connection with a plumbing system that does not receive fecal matter.
“Local limits” means effluent limitations developed for users by the director to specifically protect the POTW from the potential of pass through, interference, vapor toxicity, explosions, sewer corrosion, and intended biosolids uses. Such limits shall be based on the POTW’s site-specific flow and loading capacities, receiving water and/or receiving land considerations, and reasonable treatment expectations for nondomestic wastewater. See BMC 15.14.023 for a full list of local limits.
“Lower explosive limit (LEL)” means the minimum concentration of a combustible gas or vapor in air which will ignite if an ignition source is present.
“Maximum allowable discharge limit” means the maximum concentration (or loading) of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time.
“Medical wastes” means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical fluids/wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, unneutralized sterilants and dialysis wastes.
“Monthly average” means the arithmetic mean of the monitoring sample results collected during a calendar month or specified 30-day period.
“NAICS Code – North American Industry Classification System Code” means a classification pursuant to the North American Industry Classification System Manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget, current edition.
“National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)” means the national program under Section 402 of the Act for regulation of discharges of pollutants from a point source to waters of the United States. Discharges are illegal unless authorized by an NPDES permit. The authority for issuing these permits has been delegated to the state. NPDES permits issued by state permit writers are NPDES/state permits issued under both federal and state law.
“New source” means:
1. Any facility from which there is (or may be) a discharge of wastewater to the POTW, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed categorical pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Act that will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section; provided, that:
a. The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or
b. The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or
c. The production or wastewater generating processes of the facility are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether the production or wastewater generating processes of the facility are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site, 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.
2. Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source, if the construction does not create a new facility meeting the criteria contained in subsection (1)(b) or (c) of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.
3. Construction of a new source has “commenced” for purposes of this section if the owner or operator has:
a. Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program:
i. Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or
ii. Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities that is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or
b. Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment that is intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts that can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies, do not constitute a contractual obligation under this subsection.
4. Users must provide documentation sufficient to conclusively substantiate their claimed status as an “existing source” with their initial wastewater discharge approval application. If categorized by the director as a “new source,” users may not assert “existing source” status in subsequent permit renewals.
“New user” means a noncategorical user that plans to discharge a new source of wastewater into the POTW after the effective date of this chapter. This “new source of wastewater” may be from either a new facility or an existing facility. Any person that buys or leases an existing facility that is discharging nondomestic wastewater will be considered an “existing user” if no significant changes in facility operation are made and wastewater characteristics are not expected to change.
“Noncategorical user” means a user not covered by any categorical pretreatment standard.
“Noncontact cooling water” means water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product. Noncontact cooling water may be generated from any use, such as air conditioning, heat exchangers, cooling or refrigeration, to which the only pollutant added is heat and minor amounts of scale, corrosion, or biological growth inhibitors that do not interfere with POTW operation. Noncontact cooling water is subject to pretreatment standards and requirements.
“Nonsignificant categorical industrial user” means a user determined by the director to discharge no more than 100 gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling water and boiler blowdown water, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:
1. The user, prior to city’s determination, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;
2. The user annually submits the certification statement required in BMC 15.14.059.3 (and 40 CFR 403.12(q)), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and
3. The user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.
“Oil/water separator” means a device that separates oil and settleable solids from water.
“Pass through” means a discharge that exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, are 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).
“Permittee” means a person or user issued a wastewater discharge permit or discharge approval.
“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.
“pH” means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units.
“Pharmaceutical hazardous waste” means prescribed or over-the-counter substances used for medical purposes that meet a listing or exhibit a characteristic described in 40 CFR 261 and 266. In addition, waste pharmaceuticals may also be hazardous because they exhibit one or more of the four characteristics of hazardous waste: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity and toxicity.
“Pollutant” means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage biosolids, munitions, medical wastes, pharmaceutical hazardous waste, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, dirt, agricultural and industrial wastes, and the characteristics of the wastewater (i.e., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, toxicity, or odor).
“Pretreatment” means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to (or in lieu of) introducing such pollutants into the POTW. 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).
“Pretreatment requirements” means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.
“Pretreatment standards” means the prohibited discharge standards described in BMC 15.14.020, the federal categorical pretreatment standards described in BMC 15.14.021, the Washington State pretreatment standards described in BMC 15.14.022, and the local limits described in BMC 15.14.023.
“Process wastewater” means industrial waste minus cooling water/noncontact cooling water.
“Prohibited discharge standards” means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in BMC 15.14.020.
“Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)” means a “treatment works” as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 USC 1292) that is owned by the city. This definition includes all devices, facilities, and systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances that convey wastewater to a treatment plant.
“Septic tank waste” means any domestic and/or residential sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.
“Sewage” means human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, food preparation, etc.).
“Sewer” (or “collection system”) means any pipe, conduit, ditch, or other device used to collect and transport wastewater from the generating source.
“Shall” or “may” means the following:
1. “Shall” is mandatory.
2. “May” is permissive.
“Significant industrial user (SIU)” means:
1. Any user that is subject to categorical pretreatment standards (unless exempted under subsection (3) of this definition); or
2. Any user that meets any one of the following three criteria (unless exempted under subsection (4) of this definition):
a. Discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day (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 five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or
c. Is designated as such by the director on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
3. The city may determine that a user who is subject to categorical pretreatment standards is nevertheless not a significant industrial user, upon finding that such user never discharges more than 100 gallons per day of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:
a. The user, prior to the city’s finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;
b. The user annually submits the certification statement required in BMC 15.14.059.3 (and 40 CFR 403.12(q)), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and
c. The user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.
4. The director may determine that a user meeting the criteria in subsection (2) of this definition is nevertheless not a significant industrial user upon finding that such user has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW’s operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
“Slug load” means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration that could cause a violation of pretreatment standards or any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge, or any discharge greater than or equal to five times the amount or concentration allowed by permit or this chapter.
“State” means the state of Washington.
“Storm water” means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.
“Total suspended solids (TSS)” means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and that is removable by laboratory filtering and is amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, current edition.
“Total toxic organics” means the sum of specific organic compounds found above a specified concentration in the process wastewater discharged from selected categorical dischargers.
“Toxic pollutant” means one of the pollutants, or a combination of those pollutants, listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by EPA under Section 307 (33 USC 1317) of the Act, or other pollutants as may be promulgated.
“Toxicity test” means a chronic and/or acute whole effluent testing performed in accordance with and as a requirement of NPDES Permit No. WA0023744.
“Treatment plant” means that portion of the POTW that is designed to provide treatment of wastewater.
“Treatment plant effluent” means the discharge from the POTW into waters of the United States.
“User” or “industrial user” means any nondomestic source of wastewater discharged to the POTW. This excludes “domestic users” as defined herein.
“Wastewater” means liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, that are contributed to the POTW.
“Wastewater discharge approval” means an authorization or equivalent control document issued by the director to users discharging wastewater to the POTW. The approval may contain appropriate pretreatment standards and requirements as set forth in this chapter. The term includes wastewater discharge permits and conditional discharge authorization letters.
“Zero discharge” means a categorical user that operates its processes so that no industrial waste is discharged to the POTW. [Ord. 2020-07-016 § 1; Ord. 2019-11-032 § 1].