Baltimore City Code, Article 25, § 1-1 Definitions.
§ 1-1. Definitions.
(a) In general.
Whenever the following words or phrases appear in this article, they shall have the following meanings.
(b) Biochemical oxygen demand; BOD.
“Biochemical oxygen demand” or “BOD” means the quantity of oxygen, expressed in mg/l or ppm, utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter during incubation at 20° C. for a period of 5 days. The test shall be made in accordance with "Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants", 40 CFR Part 136.
(c) Bypass.
“Bypass” means the intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of an industrial user’s treatment facility.
(d) City.
“City” means the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore acting as the legal entity known as the City of Baltimore.
(e) Combined sewer.
“Combined sewer” means a pipe or sewer the purpose of which is to carry both:
(1) sanitary wastewater or mixtures of sanitary and industrial wastewaters; and
(2) storm and surface waters, ground drainage, and street washings.
(f) Director.
“Director” or “Director of Public Works” means the Director of Public Works of the City of Baltimore or his delegated representative.
(g) Environmental Protection Agency.
“Environmental Protection Agency” (“EPA”) means:
(1) the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or its successor agency; or
(2) where appropriate, the administrator or other duly authorized official of that agency.
(h) Industrial wastewater.
“Industrial wastewater” means all water-carried solid, liquid, or gaseous wastes or a combination thereof, resulting from any process of industry, manufacturing, trade, or business or from the development or recovery of any natural resource.
(i) Interference.
“Interference” means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both:
(1) inhibits or disrupts the publicly owned treatment works, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use, or disposal; and
(2) therefore is a cause of:
(i) a violation of any requirement of the POTW’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation); or
(ii) the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations):
(A) § 405 of the Clean Water Act;
(B) the Solid Waste Disposal Act (“SWDA”) (including Title II, commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), and including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA);
(C) the Clean Air Act;
(D) the Toxic Substances Control Act; and
(E) the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.
(j) mg/l.
“mg/l” means milligrams per liter, sometimes referred to as parts per million (“ppm”).
(k) Pass-through.
“Pass-through” means a discharge which exits the treatment plant 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 treatment plant’s NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).
(l) Person, etc.
(1) In general.
“Person”, “establishment”, “user”, “industrial user” (“IU”), “commercial user”, “discharger”, or “owner” means any “person”, as defined in § 1-107 of the City Code’s General Provisions Article, that discharges wastewaters to the municipal sanitary sewerage system.
(2) Inclusions.
When used in any clause imposing a penalty, the term “person”:
(i) as applied to a partnership or association, includes the partners or members thereof; and
(ii) as applied to a corporation, includes the officers thereof.
(m) Pretreatment.
(1) “Pretreatment” means the reduction of the amount of pollutant, the elimination of pollutants, or the attenuation of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing these pollutants into the system.
(2) The reduction or alteration can be obtained by any means except as prohibited by federal, state, or local law.
(n) Private sewer; private drain.
“Private sewer” or “private drain” means a sewer or drain, either on public or private property, not owned by the City.
(o) Public sewer; public drain.
“Public sewer” or “public drain” means a sewer or drain owned and controlled by the City.
(p) Publicly owned treatment works or POTW; wastewater treatment plant.
“Publicly owned treatment works” (“POTW”) or “wastewater treatment plant” means any arrangement of structures and devices for:
(1) treating wastewaters or industrial wastewater; and
(2) handling the sludge resulting from such treatment.
(q) Sanitary sewer.
“Sanitary sewer” means a sewer or drain the specific purpose of which is to carry sanitary wastewater or mixtures of sanitary and industrial wastewaters, as herein defined.
(r) Sanitary wastewater.
“Sanitary wastewater” means a combination of water-carried wastes:
(1) discharged from the sanitary conveniences of:
(i) dwellings, including apartment houses and hotels;
(ii) business buildings;
(iii) institutions; and
(iv) industrial establishments; and
(2) free from stormwater, surface water, and industrial wastewater.
(s) Sewer system.
(1) “Sewer system” means the combination of the City’s sewers, pumping stations, force mains, and appurtenant structures or devices used for collecting wastewater.
(2) “Sewer system” includes the wastewater treatment plant.
(t) Significant industrial user.
(1) “Significant industrial user” (“SIU”) shall mean:
(i) any industrial user who, except as provided by paragraph (2) of this subsection:
(A) is subject to federal categorical pretreatment standards;
(B) discharges an average of 25,000 gallons or more per average work day of process wastewater (excluding non-contact cooling water, boiler blowdown, and sanitary wastestreams); or
(C) has a flow greater than 5% of the average dry weather flow or organic capacity of the POTW; or
(ii) any user who is found by the Director of Public Works, the State, or EPA to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries to the POTW, the quality of the sludge, the treatment plant’s effluent quality, or air emissions generated by the system.
(2) Upon finding that any non-categorical industrial user meeting the criteria in paragraph (1) of this subsection 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 an industrial user or POTW, and in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that such industrial user is not a significant industrial user.
(u) Storm sewer; storm drain.
(1) “Storm sewer” or “storm drain” means a pipe or sewer the purpose of which is to carry storm and surface waters, ground drainage, and street washings.
(2) It may, however, carry cooling waters, water condensates, unpolluted waters from any source, or wastewater permitted under the national pollutant discharge elimination system.
(v) Stormwater.
“Stormwater” means the excess water running off from the surface of a drainage area during and immediately following rain or as a result of other precipitation.
(w) Suspended solids; SS.
“Suspended solids” or “SS” means the laboratory determination of the dry weight, expressed in mg/l, of solids that either float on the surface or are in suspension and which can be removed from the wastewater in accordance with procedures given in 40 CFR 136, “Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants”.
(x) Total phosphorus; TP.
“Total phosphorus” (“TP”) means the sum of the concentrations of various forms of phosphorus classified as orthophosphates, condensed phosphates, and organophosphates, expressed in mg/l, as determined by laboratory tests performed in accordance with 40 CFR Part 136, “Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants”.
(y) Toxic substance.
“Toxic substance” means any substance, gaseous, liquid, or solid, which when discharged to a sewer or drain, may tend to:
(1) interfere with any waste treatment process;
(2) constitute a hazard to human beings or animals;
(3) inhibit aquatic life; or
(4) create a hazard to recreation,
in the receiving water of the effluent from the wastewater treatment plant or from the storm sewer into which wastes are discharged.
(z) Upset.
(1) “Upset” means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards or local limits because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the industrial user.
(2) “Upset” does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.
(aa) Wastewater.
“Wastewater” means any combination of sanitary and industrial wastewaters and such ground water and surface water as may be present.
(Ord. 22-125; Ord. 99-526; Ord. 91-775; Ord. 75-914.)