Sec. 33-221. - Authority of city to establish permissible limits, approve waste discharges, impose charges.
(a) The City shall have the authority to regulate the volume and flow rate of discharge to the sewage works, and to establish permissible limits of concentration for various specific substances, materials, waters or wastes that can be accepted into the sewage works, and to specify those substances, materials, waters or wastes that are prohibited from entering the sewage works.
(b) The admission into the public sewers of any waters or wastes having:
(1) A five-day biochemical oxygen demand greater than three hundred (300) milligrams per liter by weight; or
(2) Containing more than three hundred fifty (350) milligrams per liter by weight of suspended solids; or
(3) Containing any quantity of substances having the characteristics described in Section 33-220; or
(4) Having an average daily flow of greater than twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons, shall be subject to the review and approval of the City.
(c) The City shall impose charges on any user of the City's sewage works who discharges wastes having characteristics that differ from normal sewage or containing non-permissible quantities or prohibited substances into the public sewer system. The charges so imposed shall be based on the extra costs incurred by the City in surveillance, sampling and testing of the discharges, for additional operating and maintenance expenses, or for any other action required to identify, handle, process or supplement normal activities due to the unauthorized discharge of excessive strength or unusual character wastes, plus overhead charges. Failure by a user to pay the charges and to provide any corrective measures as the City may require to prevent further unauthorized discharges, after due notice by the City and being given a reasonable time to comply, shall be sufficient cause to discontinue sewer service to the service address.
(d) The City shall ensure POTW user compliance with the requirements of this Article. In carrying out this responsibility the City has authority to:
(1) Issue or amend (as applicable) class A and class B wastewater discharge permits. Once issued, a permit:
a. Will be for a period of time not to exceed five (5) years. A permit may be terminated by revocation by the City or upon voluntary surrender of the permit by the permittee at an earlier date;
b. Is non-transferable by the permittee;
c. Will specifically identify all applicable discharge prohibitions and limitations which the City will enforce;
d. May be amended as deemed appropriate by the City;
e. May contain monitoring requirements;
f. May contain reporting requirements;
g. May contain requirements for installation and maintenance of inspection and sampling facilities;
h. May contain required notifications;
i. May contain requirements for a plan to control slug discharges and spills. The plan shall contain at a minimum:
1. A description of discharge practices, including non-routine batch discharges; and
2. A description of stored chemicals; and
3. Procedures to prevent adverse impact from accidental spills, including inspection and maintenance of storage areas, handling and transfer of materials, loading and unloading operations, control of plant site run-off, worker training, building of containment structures or equipment, measures for containing toxic organic pollutants (including solvents), and/or measures and equipment for emergency response;
j. May require implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPS) to reduce or eliminate the amount of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants discharged to the POTW;
k. May contain requirements to control or reduce the concentrations of any of the substances identified in Sections 33-220 and 33- 232(3) through the use of best management practices;
l. May contain standard permit conditions;
m. May contain other conditions and requirements as deemed reasonably necessary by the City to prevent pass through or interference, protect the quality of the water body receiving the treatment plant's effluent, protect worker health and safety, facilitate sludge management and disposal, protect against damage to the POTW and to ensure user compliance with this chapter, and state and federal laws, rules and regulations.
(2) A permit may be revoked by the City for good cause, including, but not limited to:
a. Failure to notify the City of significant changes to the wastewater prior to the changed discharge;
b. Failure to provide prior notification to the City of changed conditions pursuant to Section 33-231;
c. Misrepresentation or failure to fully disclose all relevant facts in the waste-water discharge permit application;
d. Falsifying self-monitoring reports;
e. Tampering with monitoring equipment;
f. Refusing to allow the City timely access to the facility premises and records;
g. Failure to meet effluent limitations;
h. Failure to pay fines and penalties;
i. Failure to pay sewer charges;
j. Failure to meet compliance schedules;
k. Failure to complete a wastewater survey or the permit application;
l. Failure to provide advance notice of the transfer of business ownership of a permitted facility; or
m. Violation of any pretreatment standard or requirement, or any terms of the permit or requirement of this chapter.
(3) Receive and analyze all self-monitoring reports and notices submitted by industrial users.
(4) Randomly sample and analyze effluent from POTW users and conduct those surveillance and inspection activities needed to identify, independently of any information supplied by such users, occasional or continuing noncompliance with any categorical standard or pretreatment requirement.
(5) Investigate instances of noncompliance with any categorical standard or pretreatment requirement when notice of any actual or probable noncompliance has been received by the City or any representative of the City.
(6) Notify POTW users of noncompliance with categorical standards or pretreatment requirements discovered by the City. Such notice shall also contain a demand for any appropriate corrective action, which may be necessary to meet the applicable requirements of this Article. Any POTW user will be allowed opportunity to respond to an order of the City before any enforcement action against such user is initiated, unless the discharge is a threat to the public health, safety and welfare or the environment, in which case the City may initiate enforcement action without giving notice.
(7) Comply with the public participation requirements of 40 CFR and A.R.S. § 49-391 in connection with the City's enforcement of any pretreatment standards and requirements.
(8) Impose appropriate penalties for noncompliance with any of the requirements of this Article. Such penalties may include any or all of the following:
a. Suspension or revocation of any industrial user permit for the failure of an industrial user to comply with the pertinent requirements of such permit.
b. Termination of POTW services.
c. Restricting or otherwise limiting allowable discharges.
d. Requesting that the City commence criminal and/or civil action against any user violating any requirement of this chapter.
(9) Annually publish, in the largest daily newspaper published in the City, public notice of all industrial users who at least once during the prior calendar year were in significant noncompliance (SNC). SNC is determined at any time of the year, except that for chronic and technical review criteria (TRC) violations, SNC is determined at the beginning of each quarter using the prior six (6) months. Chronic and TRC SNC is determined four (4) times during the year and the total evaluation period covers fifteen (15) months. The notification shall also summarize any enforcement actions taken against such users during the calendar year.
(10) Notify industrial users of applicable pretreatment standards and any applicable requirements under Section 204(b) and 405 of the Clean Water Act and subtitles C and D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
In addition, the City shall:
a. Determine which actual or threatened discharge to the POTW will cause interference with the POTW or will present (or may present), an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of any person and/or to the environment;
b. Abate any actual or threatened discharge which would violate any categorical standard or pretreatment requirement imposed by this ordinance. In the minimum, the City will be able to promptly plug or disconnect any sewer service connection to the POTW;
c. Correct or mitigate any injury to the environment, the POTW or to any other property as a result of any discharge in violation of a categorical standard or pretreatment requirement imposed by this Article.
The City shall file with the City clerk three (3) copies of all federal statutes and regulations cited by this Article in order to allow regulated users adequate opportunity to be informed of the applicable federal requirements herein incorporated by reference.
(Ord. No. 3003, § 1(Exh. A), 9-27-16)
