Mesa City Code § 8-4-1 DEFINITIONS
8-4-1: - DEFINITIONS
ACT OR THE ACT: Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.
APPROVAL AUTHORITY: The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality or Administrator for Region IX of the EPA.
APPROVED LABORATORY PROCEDURES: The measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of water and sewage in accordance with analytical procedures as established in Title 40, CFR, Part 136, as revised, that are performed by an environmental laboratory licensee by the state pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 36-495, et seq. Alternative procedures may be approved by the Water Resources Director or designee in accordance with applicable federal regulations.
AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF AN INDUSTRIAL USER: means:
(A) If the user is a corporation:
1. The president, secretary, treasurer, or 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
2. The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided 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, and initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term compliance with environmental laws and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for wastewater discharge permit requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.
(B) If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.
(C) 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 his/her designee.
(D) The individuals described in subsections (A) through (C) above may designate another authorized representative if the authorization is made in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or a position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company or facility, and the written authorization is submitted to the City.
AVAILABLE: A public sewer line is located within six hundred sixty (660) feet of a property's boundary line, has sufficient capacity for the requested connection, an extension of the line can be engineered to meet the city's standards, and the physical circumstances of the right-of-way and the surrounding property will reasonably permit the extension. What is "reasonable" shall be determined in the sole judgment of the City.
AMALGAM SEPARATOR: A device that employs filtration, settlement, centrifugation, or ion exchange to remove dental amalgam and its metal constituents from a dental office vacuum system before it discharges to the sanitary sewer; has been certified under the International Organization for Standardization's standards for amalgam separators is capable of removing a minimum of ninety-five (95) percent of the dental amalgam at flow rates comparable to the flow rate of the actual vacuum suction system in operation; and does not have any automatic flow bypass.
AMALGAM WASTE: Means and includes non-contact dental amalgam (dental amalgam scrap that has not been in contact with the patient): contact dental amalgam (including, but not limited to, extracted teeth containing amalgam); dental amalgam sludge captured by side chair side traps, vacuum pump filters, screens, and other dental amalgam.
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES (BMPs): Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in Section 8-4-15 and 40 CFR § 403.5(a)(1) and (b). BMPs are pretreatment requirements and include, but are not limited to, operating procedures and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage. BMPs also include alternative means (i.e., management plans) of complying with, or in place of, certain established categorical pretreatment standards and effluent limits.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD): The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory conditions for five (5) days at a temperature of twenty degrees centigrade (20°C), expressed as a concentration (e.g. milligrams per liter (mg/L)).
BRANCH SEWER: A sewer which receives wastewater from lateral sewers from a relatively small area.
BUILDING CONNECTION: The connection to the public sewer and the extension therefrom of the sewer to the property line in an alley or street or to the easement line in an easement, whichever is applicable, depending on the location of the public sewer.
BUILDING SEWER: A private conveyance for transporting wastewater from a person's premises to a private sewer or the POTW. The building sewer includes the tap.
BYPASS: The intentional diversion of wastewater from any portion of a pretreatment process.
CATEGORICAL STANDARDS: National/federal categorical pretreatment standards promulgated by the EPA under the authority of CWA § 307(b) and (c) which apply to a specific category of industry and which are published in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N (Parts 401 et seq.) issued in accordance with § 307 of the CWA.
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD): A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds, both organic and inorganic in water, expressed in terms of weight and concentration (mg/l).
CITY: City of Mesa, Arizona.
CITY MANAGER: The City Manager pursuant to Section 1-20-2 of the Mesa City Code or authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS (CFR): Compilation of federal regulations promulgated under the CWA and incorporated herein by reference.
COOLING WATER: Any discharge from any heat transfer system such as condensation, air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration into the sewer system.
COMPOSITE SAMPLE: A combination of individual samples obtained at regular intervals over a specified time period, with the volume of each individual sample either proportional to the flow rate during the sample period (flow composite) or constant and collected at equal time intervals during the composite period (time composite) as defined in the Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit.
CLEAN WATER ACT (CWA): Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., incorporated herein by reference.
DAILY MAXIMUM LIMIT: The maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant during a calendar day. Where daily maximum limits are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of the day. Where daily maximum limits are expressed in terms of concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that calendar day.
DEVELOPER: Shall include within its meaning the owner/builder and shall be deemed to be the individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association, syndication, trust or other legal entity which is responsible for creating a demand on the city water or sewer facilities.
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: The Development Services Director pursuant to Section 3-4-2 of the Mesa City Code or authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT: The Department of Development Services of the City of Mesa created by Section 3-4-1 of the Mesa City Code.
DEPARTMENT: The Water Resources Department of the City of Mesa and its Director or designee.
DILUTION: The addition of some quantity of liquid (e.g. water) that results in a decrease in the original concentration.
DISCHARGE: The disposal of wastewater into the POTW.
DOMESTIC WASTEWATER OR SANITARY WASTEWATER: Liquid wastes containing sewage and similar matter from the sanitary facilities of residences, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities.
EFFLUENT: Wastewater that has been treated in a POTW.
EFFLUENT LIMITATION: A limitation imposed on discharges to the POTW.
ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE PLAN (ERP): Procedures identifying responses to instances of industrial noncompliance or a plan developed by the City to enforce the pretreatment regulations contained in the Mesa City Code.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA): The United States Environmental Protection Agency or a duly authorized official of said agency.
EXISTING SOURCE: An industrial user which: 1) is in operation at the time of promulgation of categorical pretreatment standards; or 2) any source of discharge that is not a new source.
FACILITY: Any land, building, installation, structure, equipment, device, conveyance, area, or source from which there is or, with reasonable probability, may be a discharge.
FATS, OILS, AND GREASE (FOG): Any hydrocarbons, fatty acids, soaps, fats, waxes, oils, and any other material that is extracted by hexane solvent, as specified in 40 CFR Part 136.
FOOD SERVICE ESTABLISHMENT: Any business activity where articles of food, drink, or condiment are customarily prepared or served to patrons for consumption on or off the premises. This also includes restaurants, bars, cocktail lounges, the dining room of hotels, and all caterers.
FRONTAGE: The entire length of that portion of a parcel of property that abuts a street, easement, or public right-of-way.
GRAB SAMPLE: An individual sample of effluent collected in less than fifteen (15) minutes.
GREASE INTERCEPTOR OR TRAP: A device used to separate oil, grease, and sand or any flammable wastes from industrial or commercial discharges.
HAZARDOUS WASTE: Any discarded material listed as hazardous pursuant to 40 CFR Part 261 or having such characteristics.
INDIRECT DISCHARGE OR DISCHARGE: The introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source.
INDUSTRIAL: Means of or pertaining to industry, manufacturing, commerce, trade, or business, as distinguished from domestic or residential.
INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGE: Any introduction into the POTW of wastewater other than domestic wastewater which either:
(A) Is produced by a source which would be subject to any categorical standards or pretreatment requirements if such source were to be discharged to the POTW, or
(B) Contains any substance or pollutant for which a discharge limitation or prohibition has been established by any categorical standard or pretreatment requirements.
INDUSTRIAL USER: Any one (1) or more of the following:
(A) A source of indirect discharge of pollutants into a POTW from a person other than a POTW user who discharges only domestic wastewater regulated under CWA § 307(b), (c), and (d);
(B) Any nonresidential POTW user of the sewer system which discharges more than the equivalent strength of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day of domestic wastewater;
(C) Has control over the disposal of a waste as described in subsections (A) and (B) above; or
(D) Has the right of possession and control over any property which produces wastewater as described in subsections (A), (B), or (C) above.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE: The liquid waste from an industrial manufacturing process, trade, or business as distinguished from domestic wastewater.
INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER DISCHARGE PERMIT: A written authorization issued by the City Manager or Water Resources Department categorized as either Class I or Class II allowing a Class I or Class II industrial user to discharge wastewater into a sanitary sewer owned or operated by the City.
INFLOW: Water other than sewage that enters the POTW (including sewer service connections) from sources such as roof leaders, cellar drains, foundation drains, swimming pools, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross-connections between storm sewers and sanitary sewers, catch basins, cooling towers, stormwaters, surface runoff, street wash waters, or drainage.
INSTANTANEOUS LIMIT: The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time and determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.
INTERFERENCE: A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge from other sources, both:
(A) Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use, or disposal; and
(B) Violates any requirement of any environmentally related permit issued by a governmental entity (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or prevents sludge use or disposal in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): CWA § 405, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (Including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; and including 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.
LATERAL SEWER: A sewer which discharges into a branch or other sewer and has no common sewer tributary to it.
LOCAL LIMIT: A specific discharge limitation developed and enforced by the city upon users to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR § 403.5(a)(1) and (b). Local limits are pretreatment standards.
MAIN SEWER: A sewer which receives wastewater from one (1) or more branch sewers as tributaries.
MAINTENANCE: Keeping the POTW in a state of repair, including expenditures necessary to maintain the capacity for which such works were designed and constructed.
MEDICAL WASTE: Any solid waste as defined in A.R.S. § 49-701, including 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.
MONTHLY AVERAGE: The sum of all daily discharges measured during a calendar month divided by the number of daily discharges measured during that month.
MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL: More than one (1) dwelling unit is serviced by a single sewer tap and is connected to the sewer system.
NATURAL OUTLET: Any outlet into a watercourse, ditch, or other body of surface or ground water.
NEW SOURCE: Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under CWA § 307(c), which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, and as further set forth in 40 CFR § 403.3(m).
NON-COMPLIANT: Failing to satisfy the requirements of this chapter.
NONHAZARDOUS LIQUID WASTE (NHLW): Waste hauled from residential septic systems, restaurant grease traps/interceptor or chemical toilets.
NON-SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER: Any person or entity which does not meet the definition of a significant industrial user, but is otherwise required by the City through permit, order, or notice to comply with specific provisions of this Code.
NPDES PERMIT: A National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit issued to the City by the EPA or an Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (AZPDES), issued to the City by the State of Arizona, which imposes standards governing the quality of the treated effluent discharged from the POTW into a navigable water of the United States.
OIL AND GREASE: A measure of the total oil and grease content of a sample as determined by approved EPA methods or any other equivalent method as approved by the Water Resources Director or designee.
OIL AND GREASE (TPH): A measure of the petroleum and mineral oil in total petroleum hydrocarbons of a sample as determined by approved EPA methods or other equivalent test method as approved by the Water Resources Director or designee.
PARAMETER: A fundamental characteristic of wastewater around which treatment is designed, such as flow, BOD, SS, and phosphorus.
PASS-THROUGH: A discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES Permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or which causes or contributes to a violation of an applicable numeric or narrative water quality standard.
PENALTY POLICY: The policy established by the Water Resources Department to determine and calculate penalties for violations of the pretreatment requirements established in this Code and the Enforcement Response Plan.
PERMITTEE: Any person who owns, operates, processes, or controls an establishment or plant being operated under a valid Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit to discharge wastewater into the POTW.
PERSON: Any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, state, municipality, Indian tribe, political subdivision of the state, federal governmental agency, or any other legal entity, including their legal representatives, agents, or assigns.
PH: A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution expressed in standard units.
POLLUTANT: Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, backwash, garbage, explosives, toxic substance, wastewater sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, untreatable waste and industrial, municipal, and agricultural wastes. This includes any substance for which an effluent limitation is identified in this Code.
POTW USER: Any person, lot, parcel of land, building, or premises that discharges or causes or permits the discharge of wastewater into the POTW.
PRETREATMENT: 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 discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes, process changes, or other means, except that dilution shall not constitute treatment or pretreatment unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard.
PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENT: Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard imposed on an industrial user and shall include BMPs related to pretreatment imposed on a user as may have been established pursuant to the laws or regulations of the United States, the State of Arizona, or the City, and conditions of a wastewater discharge permit.
PRETREATMENT STANDARD: The prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards, and local limits established pursuant to the laws or regulations of the United States, the State of Arizona, or the City.
PRIVATE SEPTIC TANK SYSTEM: A septic tank or other system that is maintained by the property owner.
PRIVATE SEWER: Any wastewater collection system other than a POTW.
PROCESS WASTEWATER: 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.
PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS: Absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances as set forth in section 8-4-15.
PUBLIC SEWER: A lateral, branch, main, or trunk sewer controlled and maintained by the City.
PUBLICLY OWNED TREATMENT WORKS (POTW): A treatment works as defined by Section 212 of the Act which is owned by the City or another municipality and includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey wastewater to a treatment plant.
REPLACEMENT: Those expenditures made for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories, and/or appurtenances during the useful life of the POTW which are necessary to maintain the capacity and performance of the POTW for which they were designed and constructed.
REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE: A composite sample obtained by flow proportional sampling techniques. If the Water Resources Department determines that flow proportional sampling is not feasible, the sampling by time proportional composite or composites of grab samples will be allowed according to EPA requirements.
REVENUE: In general, additions to cash or other current assets that do not increase any liability of reserve, nor represent the recovery of an expenditure.
RIGHT-OF-WAY: Land which by deed, conveyance, agreement, easement, dedication, usage or process of law is reserved for or dedicated to the general public for street, highway, alley, public utility, or pedestrian walkway purposes.
SANITARY SEWER: A sewer which carries wastewater and to which storm water, surface water, and groundwater are not intentionally admitted.
SEWER: A pipe or conduit for carrying wastewater.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USER (SIU):
(A) All users subject to categorical pretreatment standards.
(B) All users that:
1. Discharge an average of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling, and boiler blowdown wastewater); or
2. Contribute a process wastestream which makes up five (5) percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW; or
3. Are designated as such by the department on the basis that they have a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(C) The City may determine that an industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment standards is a nonsignificant industrial user rather than a significant industrial user on a finding that the industrial user never discharges more than one hundred (100) gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:
1. The industrial user, prior to the city's finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and requirements;
2. The industrial user annually submits the certification requirement required in 40 CFR § 403.12(q), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and
3. The industrial user never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.
(D) Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in subsection (B) of this section 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, and in accordance with procedures in 40 CFR § 403.8(f)(6), determine that such user should not be considered a significant industrial user.
SIGNIFICANT NON-COMPLIANCE (SNC): A significant industrial user in violation of one or more of the following criteria or any other industrial user in violation of subparagraphs (C), (D), or (H):
(A) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six percent or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR § 403.3(l);
(B) Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirty-three percent or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR § 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(C) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by 40 CFR § 403.3(l) (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the POTW determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);
(D) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare, or the environment or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(E) Failure to meet, within ninety (90) days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a permit, local control mechanism, or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(F) Failure to provide, within forty-five (45) days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
(G) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;
(H) Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of BMPs, which the division determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.
SLUG LOAD: Slug load or slug discharge means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could become a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in this chapter. A slug discharge is any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through, or in any other way violate this Chapter, local limits, or POTW's permit conditions.
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (SIC): A classification pursuant to the "Standard Industrial Classification Manual" issued by the Executive Office of the President-Office of Management and Budget, as it may be revised from time to time.
STORM SEWER: A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage but does not include wastewater containing pollutants.
STORMWATER: Stormwater runoff, snow melt runoff, and surface runoff and drainage.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS (SS): Solids measured in milligrams per liter that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in wastewater or other liquids and which are largely removable by a laboratory filtration device as defined in the most current edition of "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater" published by the American Health Association or the most current edition of "Manual of Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes" published by the EPA.
TOTAL SUSPENDED SOLIDS (TSS): The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of or is suspended in water, wastewater, or other liquid and that is removable by filtration.
TRUNK SEWER: A sewer which receives wastewater from many tributary main sewers and serves as an outlet for a large territory.
UPSET: An exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with a technology-based permit effluent limitation because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the permittee, excluding such factors as operational error, improperly designed or inadequate treatment facilities, or improper operation and maintenance or lack thereof.
USER CHARGE: A portion of the sewer fee levied by the City which shall be sufficient to fund the estimated annual operation and maintenance (including replacement) cost of the POTW.
USER CLASS: Any grouping as determined by the City Manager or Water Resources Director of POTW users, including Class I, II, and III industrial users.
WASTEWATER: Treated or untreated liquid or water-carried non-domestic industrial wastes and/or sewage from residential dwellings or commercial, industrial or manufacturing facilities.
WASTEWATER RECLAMATION TREATMENT PLANT OR TREATMENT WORKS: That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of sewage and wastewater.
WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT: The Water Resources Department of the City of Mesa, created by Section 3-3-1 of the Mesa City Code.
WATER RESOURCES DIRECTOR: The Water Resources Director pursuant to Section 3-3-2 of the Mesa City Code or authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
WATERCOURSE: A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.
(Ord. No. 5959, § 2, 8-25-25)