§ 6-13.108. Definitions.

Whenever in this chapter the following terms are used, they shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in this chapter unless another meaning for the word is apparent from the context. The definitions in this chapter are included for reference purposes and are not intended to narrow the scope of the definitions set forth in federal, state, or local laws or regulations.

(a)

"Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act of 1977, as amended 33 USC 1251 et seq.

(b)

"Approval authority" means the EPA, the California State Water Resources Control Board, or the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

(c)

"Authorized representative of the user" means:

(1)

If the user is a corporation:

(i)

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

(ii)

The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided:

A.

The manager 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 recommendations;

B.

The manager must be authorized to initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term compliance with environmental laws and regulations;

C.

The manager can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for permit requirements; and

D.

The manager has been assigned or delegated authority to sign documents in accordance with corporate procedures.

(2)

If the user is a partnership, a general partner.

(3)

If the user is a sole proprietorship, the proprietor.

(4)

If the user is a federal, state, or local governmental facility, a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.

(5)

The individuals described above may designate an 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 has overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the Director.

(d)

"Available sewer" means an existing public sewer line within 200 feet of a property line, which has been determined by the Director to have the capacity to accept the proposed discharge.

(e)

"Biohazardous waste" means waste as defined in California Health and Safety Code 117635.

(f)

"Bleedoff" means the circulating water in the cooling tower that is discharged to help keep the dissolved solids concentration of the water below a maximum allowable limit.

(g)

"Blowdown" means the discharge of water with high concentrations of accumulated solids from boilers or condensate.

(h)

"BMPs" means best management practices, which are defined as schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in this chapter. BMPs include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.

(i)

"BOD" means biochemical oxygen demand, which is defined as the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees Celsius.

(j)

"Bypass" means the intentional diversion of a waste stream from any portion of a user's pretreatment facility.

(k)

"Categorical pretreatment standard" means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with 33 USC 1317 Sections 307(b) and (c) that apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR 405-471.

(l)

"CCR" means the California Code of Regulations that is defined as a publication of the State of California government containing finalized State regulations.

(m)

"Cesspool" means any device for the treatment of sanitary sewage, which discharges treated or untreated sanitary sewage into the surrounding ground.

(n)

"CFR" means Code of Federal Regulations, which is defined as a publication of the United States government that contains finalized federal regulations.

(o)

"Chemical toilet" means a portable, self-contained toilet containing a chemical solution to deodorize the waste.

(p)

"Chronic violation" means a violation of the wastewater discharge limits in which sixty-six (66%) percent or more of all of the wastewater measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed, by any magnitude, a numeric pretreatment standard, pretreatment requirement, or instantaneous limits.

(q)

"City" means the City of Simi Valley.

(r)

"City Manager" means the City Manager of the City of Simi Valley or designee.

(s)

"COD" means chemical oxygen demand, which is defined as a measure of the oxygen required to oxidize compounds, both organic and inorganic, in water.

(t)

"Compliance schedule" means the time period allowed by the City for the user to comply with permit conditions or discharge requirements.

(u)

"Composite samples" means a combination of individual samples of wastewater taken at selected intervals, in time or volume, to minimize the variability of the individual sample.

(v)

"Contamination" means an alteration of the quality of the water by pollutants to a degree that creates a hazard to the public health or environment.

(w)

"Control authority" means the City.

(x)

"Council" means the City Council of the City of Simi Valley.

(y)

"County" means the County of Ventura, State of California.

(z)

"Deputy Director/Environmental Compliance" means the manager of the Environmental Compliance Division of the City, or designee.

(aa)

"Director" means the Director of Public Works of the City, or designee.

(bb)

"Discharge" means the introduction of wastewater into a POTW from any non-domestic source.

(cc)

"Discharger" means any person or entity that discharges or causes a discharge of wastewater to the sewerage system of the City.

(dd)

"Domestic" means wastewater that is comprised of sanitary sewage from a residential source.

(ee)

"Effluent" means the wastewater or other liquid, untreated, partially treated, or completely treated, flowing to a reservoir, basin, treatment process, collection system, treatment plant, or receiving stream.

(ff)

"EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(gg)

"Equivalent dwelling unit" means the unit of measure, which is based on the flow characteristics of an average single-family residence in terms of sanitary sewage quantity and pollutant quality.

(hh)

"Existing source" means any source of discharge that is not a "new source."

(ii)

"Grab sample" means a single sample taken from a waste stream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes.

(jj)

"Gravity separation interceptor" means a tank or basin in which wastewater is held for a period of time during which the heavier solids settle to the bottom and the lighter materials will float to the water surface. Gravity separation interceptor shall also mean a settling tank or sedimentation basin that is designed to treat the pollutant(s) of concern.

(kk)

"Grease interceptor" means a plumbing device designed to separate and retain most fats, oils, greases, and solids, excluding sanitary wastes, before entering the sewerage system. Smaller versions of grease interceptors are commonly known as grease traps.

(ll)

"Hazardous waste" means a waste that meets any of the criteria for the identification of a hazardous waste adopted by any federal or state agency, whichever criteria is most stringent.

(mm)

"HM" means hazardous materials.

(nn)

"Industrial waste(s)" means any solid, radioactive or gaseous waste substance discharged or permitted to escape from any producing, manufacturing, processing, institutional, commercial, agricultural, or other operation, or from the development, recovery, or processing of any material resource which will enter into the public sewers.

(oo)

"Industrial wastewater" means any liquid waste substance discharged, flowing or permitted to escape from any producing, manufacturing, processing, institutional, commercial, agricultural, or other operation, or from the development, recovery, or processing of any material resource which will enter into the public sewers. Industrial wastewater shall include process wastewater.

(pp)

"INOV" means initial notice of violation.

(qq)

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

(rr)

"Interference" means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes, operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal, and therefore, is a cause of a violation of the POTW's NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation, or the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any more stringent State or local regulations as further defined in 40 CFR 403.3(k).

(ss)

"Liquid waste(s)" means the same as industrial waste(s).

(tt)

"Local limit(s)" means specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the City upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b).

(uu)

"Lower Explosive Limit" means the point where the concentration of a gas in air is sufficient to result in an explosion if an ignition source is present.

(vv)

"May" is permissive.

(ww)

"Medical waste" means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.

(xx)

"MM" means minimally monitored.

(yy)

"Must" is mandatory.

(zz)

"NAICS" means North American Industry Classification System, which is the standard classification system used by federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments.

(aaa)

"New source" means:

(1)

Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be the discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed 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:

(i)

The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or

(ii)

The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or

(iii)

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.

(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 building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria of subsection (1)(ii) or (iii) above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(3)

Construction of a new source as defined under this subsection has commenced if the owner or operator has:

(i)

Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction program:

A.

Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or

B.

Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or

(ii)

Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment that are 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 paragraph.

(bbb)

"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.

(ccc)

"NOV" means notice of violation.

(ddd)

"NPDES Permit" means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit, which is the regulatory document issued by the State of California as authorized by the EPA.

(eee)

"Owner" means any part owner, joint owner, tenant, tenant in common, or joint tenant of the whole or a part of a building or property.

(fff)

"Pass through" means a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of 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 City's NPDES Permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

(ggg)

"Permit" means any classification of permit issued for the discharge of wastewater into the City's POTW.

(hhh)

"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, and local governmental entities.

(iii)

"pH" means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

(jjj) "Pollutant" means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sanitary sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, and certain characteristics of wastewater.

(kkk) "POTW" means publicly owned treatment works, which is defined as a treatment works, as defined by 33 USC 1292 Section 212. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sanitary sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances, which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.

(lll) "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.

(mmm) "Pretreatment facility" means any industrial wastewater treatment system consisting of one or more treatment devices designed to remove sufficient pollutants from waste streams to allow a user to comply with effluent limits.

(nnn) "Pretreatment requirement" means any substantial or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard, imposed on a user.

(ooo) "Pretreatment standard" means prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits.

(ppp) "Process wastewater" means any water, which during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, by-product, or waste product from any industrial, commercial, institutional, or agricultural source.

(qqq) "Prohibited discharge standards" means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances, as specified in this chapter.

(rrr) "Publicly owned treatment plant" means that portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sanitary sewage and industrial wastewater.

(sss) "Public sewer" means any sewer dedicated to and accepted for public use and is directly controlled by a public authority.

(ttt) "RCRA" means Resource Conservation and Recovery Act which is defined in 42 USC 6901 et seq.

(uuu) "Receiving water" means a stream, lake, river, ocean, stormdrain, or other surface or groundwater into which treated or untreated wastewater is discharged.

(vvv) "Sampling well" means an approved device attached to a privately owned sewer for the purpose of sampling and flow measurement.

(www) "Sand and oil interceptor" means a device used to separate petroleum based waste, sand, and inert solids from wastewater, also known as a sand and oil separator.

(xxx) "Sanitary sewage" means human biological waste and gray water from residential showers, sinks, and laundry operations.

(yyy) "Secondary containment" means a second barrier or an outer wall of a double enclosure, which is designed to contain any leak or spill from a storage container.

(zzz) "Seepage pit" means any pit used for the leaching of treated or untreated sanitary sewage into the surrounding ground.

(aaaa) "Septic tank" means a small scale sewage treatment system, common in areas with no connection to main sewage pipes, which is constructed so as to separate solids from the liquid, digest organic matter through a period of detention, and allow the liquid to discharge into the soil outside the tank, cesspool, or seepage pit.

(bbbb) "Settleable solids" means solids that will settle out of a liquid in a specific time interval as determined by appropriate procedures set forth in 40 CFR 136.

(cccc) "Severe property damage" means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the pretreatment facilities that causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources.

(dddd) "Sewer" means a pipe or conduit together with appurtenances for carrying wastewater.

(eeee) "Sewerage" means any system of sewers and appurtenances for the collection, treatment, pumping, and disposing of wastewater.

(ffff) "Sewerage system" means all facilities used for the collection, pumping, transportation, treatment and final disposal of wastewater.

(gggg) "Shall" is mandatory.

(hhhh) "Sharps" means hypodermic needles, hypodermic syringes, blades, slides, root canal files, orthodontic wires, acupuncture needles, broken glass, and any devices, instruments, or other objects that have acute rigid corners, edges, or protuberances.

(iiii) "SIC" means Standard Industrial Classification, which is the system of classifying industries as identified in the SIC Manual, 1972, Office of Management and Budget and as may be amended.

(jjjj) "SIU" means significant industrial user. An SIU is any user who:

(1)

Has a waste discharge subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

(2)

Has an average discharge flow of 25,000 gallons or more per day of process wastewater to the POTW, excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater; or

(3)

Contributes a process wastestream that makes up five (5%) percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the publicly owned treatment plant; or

(4)

Is designated by the City on the basis that the user:

(i)

Has a reasonable potential, either individually or in combination with other contributing industries, for adversely affecting the POTW operation or the quality of effluent from the treatment works; or

(ii)

May cause or threaten to cause the City to violate its NPDES Permit; or

(iii)

Has a reasonable potential to violate any pretreatment standard; or

(iv)

Has in its waste discharge a toxic pollutant.

(kkkk) "Slug" means any discharge of water, wastewater or industrial waste released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration that has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through or cause a violation of the POTW's regulations, local limits, or the prohibited discharge standards in the General Pretreatment Regulations.

(llll)

"Slug Discharge Control Plan" means a plan designed to prevent the uncontrolled discharge of raw pollutants into the POTW.

(mmmm) "Storm drain system" means a conveyance structure or system of conveyances including streets, gutters, channels, natural or artificial drains, lined diversion structures, wash areas, inlets, outlets or other facilities, which are part of a tributary to a watercourse or drains directly to an ocean, which is operated, maintained, or controlled by a City, and used for the purpose of collecting, storing, conveying, or disposing of stormwater to waters of the United States.

(nnnn) "Stormwater" means any surface flow, runoff, or drainage associated with rainstorm events or snowmelt.

(oooo) "TDS" means total dissolved solids, which is defined as the solid matter in solution in wastewater and shall be determined by evaporation of a wastewater sample from which all suspended matter has been removed by filtration as determined by the appropriate procedures set forth in 40 CFR 136.

(pppp) "Toxic pollutant" means those pollutants, or combination of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through the food chain, will, on the basis of information available to the Administrator of the EPA, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions, or malfunctions in reproduction or physical deformations in such organisms or their offspring. Such pollutants that have been identified as toxic are listed in 40 CFR 122, Appendix D.

(qqqq) "TRC" means technical review criteria which is defined as a violation in which thirty-three (33%) percent or more of all of the wastewater measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or pretreatment requirement including instantaneous limits, multiplied by the applicable criteria. TRC=1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH.

(rrrr) "Trunk sewer" means a sewer maintained and operated by the City that conveys wastewater to the City treatment facilities.

(ssss) "TSS" means total suspended solids which is defined as the solid matter suspended in wastewater as determined by appropriate procedures set forth in 40 CFR 136.

(tttt) "Uncontaminated water" means any water not contaminated or polluted and which is suitable for discharge to the stormwater drainage system.

(uuuu) "Uncontrolled discharge" means Slug.

(vvvv) "Upset" means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with discharge limitations as specified in the user's permit or this chapter because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the user.

(wwww) "USC" means United States Code, which is defined as the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.

(xxxx) "User" means any person or business that introduces pollutants into the POTW.

(yyyy) "Waste" means any material or substance, including wastewater and any other liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive materials or substances, associated with human habitation, of human or animal origin, or from any business, commercial, or industrial operation.

(zzzz) "Waste hauler" means a person or business that cleans out septic tanks, chemical toilets, cesspools, and sewage seepage pits and transports that waste to a disposal facility.

(aaaaa) "Wastewater" means liquid and water-carried wastes and sanitary sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.

(bbbbb) "Waters of the United States" means bodies of water as defined in 40 CFR 230.3(s).

(§ 1, Ord. 1170, eff. April 21, 2011)