1.1. Purpose and policy. This Ordinance sets forth uniform requirements for direct and indirect contributors into the wastewater collection and treatment system for the City of Frederick and enables the City to comply with all applicable State and Federal laws required by the Clean Water Act of 1977 and the General Pretreatment Regulations (40 CFR, Part 403). The objectives of this Ordinance are:

(1) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the City of Frederick wastewater system which will interfere with the operation of the system or contaminate the resulting sludge;

(2) To prevent the introduction of pollutants into the City of Frederick system which will pass through the system, inadequately treated, into receiving waters or the atmosphere or otherwise be incompatible with the system;

(3) To improve the opportunity to recycle and reclaim wastewaters and sludges from the system; and

(4) To provide for equitable distribution of the cost of operating and maintaining the City of Frederick wastewater system.

This Ordinance provides for the regulation of direct and indirect contributors to the City of Frederick wastewater system through the issuance of permits to certain non-domestic users through enforcement of general requirements for the other users, authorizes monitoring and enforcement activities, requires user reporting, assumes that existing customer’s capacity will not be preempted, and provides for the setting of fees for the equitable distribution of costs resulting from the program established herein. The regulations shall apply to direct and indirect contributors whether or not discharge was initiated prior to adoption of this Ordinance.

This Ordinance shall apply to the City of Frederick and to persons outside the City of Frederick who are users of the City’s Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW).

WHEREAS, the City of Frederick has determined that it is necessary, in order to benefit and preserve the public and general welfare of the citizens of the service area, that the City shall improve the wastewater treatment facilities; and

WHEREAS, the City will operate these treatment facilities; and

WHEREAS, the City is obligated to fix sewer rents and other charges in amounts sufficient to pay the expenses of operating and maintaining such facilities, to pay the fixed rent due and to provide a margin for reserve; and

WHEREAS, while improving said treatment facilities, the City has received Federal financial assistance under the terms and conditions of Public Law 92-500; and

WHEREAS, the terms and conditions of Public Law 92-500 stipulate that all recipients of Federal financial assistance must enact an equitable sewer user charge system which fairly distributes costs of operating the treatment works to users of such works, must recover from industrial users of the treatment works all costs associated with the Industrial Waste Management Program, and must develop a sewer use Ordinance to govern the operation of these treatment works;

NOW THEREFORE, the City of Frederick, Frederick County, Maryland, hereby resolves and enacts that:

1.2. Definitions. Except as discussed below, the general definitions, abbreviations, and methods of analysis set forth in 40 CFR Part 401 shall apply to this Ordinance.

(1) “Act” or “the Act” The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

(2) “Authorized representative” shall mean:

(1) If the user is a corporation:

(A) 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

(B) The manager of one or more manufacturing, production, or operation facilities employing more than 250 persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding 325 million, if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

(2) By a general partner or proprietor if the industrial user is a partnership or sole proprietorship respectively.

(3) By a duly authorized representative of the individual designated in paragraph (1) or (2) above if:

(i) the authorization is made in writing by the individual described in paragraph (l) or (2);

(ii) the authorization specifies either an individual or a position having responsibility for the overall operation of the facility from which the industrial discharge originates, such as the position of plant manager, operator of a well, or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company; and

(iii) the written authorization is submitted to the City.

(3) “Biochemical Oxygen Demand or BOD” Shall mean the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five (5) days at 20° centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l).

(4) “Bypass” shall mean the intentional diversion of wastewater from any portion of an Industrial User’s treatment facility.

(5) “Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Categorical Standard” shall mean any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with section 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1347), which applies to Industrial Users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5.

(6) “City” shall mean the City of Frederick or, in appropriate cases, the City of Frederick acting by and through its authorized representatives.

(7) “Existing Source” shall mean any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by the EPA of proposed Categorical Pretreatment Standards, which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307 of the Act.

(8) “Garbage” shall mean solid waste resulting from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and handling, storage and sale of produce.

(9) “Grease” shall mean a material either liquid or solid, composed primarily of fat, oil, and grease from animal or vegetable sources. The terms “Fats, Oil and Grease (FOG),” “oil and grease” or “oil and grease substances” shall all be included within this definition.

(10) “Ground Water” shall mean water which is standing in or passing through ground.

(11) “Interference” shall mean a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both; inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or 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 of 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): Section 405 of the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (including Title II, more 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) the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.

(12) “mg/1” shall mean milligrams per liter and is equivalent to parts per million (ppm) by weight.

(13) “Manhole” shall mean a shaft or chamber leading from the surface of the ground to a sewer; large enough to enable a man to gain access to the latter.

(14) “Multiple Dwelling” shall mean any improved property in which shall be located more than one dwelling unit.

(15) “May” is permissive; “Shall” is mandatory.

(16) “National Pretreatment Standard, Pretreatment Standard or Standard” shall mean Prohibited Discharge Standards, Categorical Pretreatment Standards, and Local limits.

(17) “New Source” shall mean:

(a) 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 section 307(c) of the General Pretreatment Regulations, 40 CFR, Part 403, which 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.

(b) 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 paragraphs (a)(i) or (a)(ii) of this section but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(c) Construction of a new source as defined under this paragraph has commenced if the owner or operator has:

(i) Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on site 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 a new source facilities or equipment; or

(ii) Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which 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.

(18) “Noncontact Cooling Water” shall mean water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.

(19) “Owner” shall mean any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial, of any property located in the City of Frederick service area.

(20) “Pass-through” shall mean a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the State in quantities or concentration which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a violation of any requirement of the POTW’s NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

(21) “Person” shall mean any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes all Federal, State, and Local Governmental entities.

(22) “pH” shall mean a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

(23) “Pollutant” shall mean dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, 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 (e.g., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, toxicity, or odor).

(24) “Pretreatment” shall mean the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutants 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.

(25) “Pretreatment Requirements” shall mean any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on a user, other than a pretreatment standard.

(26) “Prohibited Discharge Standards or Prohibited Discharges” shall mean the absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances; these prohibitions appear in Section 2 of this ordinance.

(27) “Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW” shall mean a “treatment works” as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. 1292) which is owned by the City. This definition 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.

(28) “Receiving Stream” shall mean the Monocacy River.

(29) “Severe property damage” shall mean substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass. Severe property damage does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.

(30) “Sewage” shall mean human excrement and gray water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.).

(31) “Significant Industrial User” shall mean any industrial user who:

(i) discharges an average of 5,000 gallons per day (gpd) or

(ii) is subject to national categorical standards, or

(iii) contributes a process wastestream that makes up five percent (5%) or more of the hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW, or

(iv) is founded by the City, State, or the EPA to have significant impact either singly or in combination with other contributing industries to the POTW, the quality of the sludge, the POTW’s effluent quality, or air emissions generated by the system.

The City, upon finding that an industrial user meeting the criteria in (30)(i)(iii)(iv) above 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 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6), determine that such industrial user is not a significant industrial user.

(32) “Slug Load or Slug” shall mean any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards in Section 2 of this ordinance.

(33) “Storm Water” shall mean any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

(34) “Surface Water” shall mean that portion of the precipitation which runs off over the surface of the ground.

(35) “Suspended Solids” shall mean the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.

(36) “User” shall mean any person who contributes, causes or permits the contribution of wastewater into the City’s POTW.

(37) “Wastewater” shall mean liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.

(38) “Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) or Treatment Plant” shall mean that portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.

1.3. Federal categorical pretreatment standards. The National Categorical Pretreatment Standards contained in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471 are hereby incorporated herein.

(A) Where a categorical pretreatment standard is expressed only in terms of either the mass or the concentration of a pollutant in wastewater, the City may impose equivalent concentration or mass limits in accordance with 40 CFR 403.6(c).

(B) When wastewater subject to a Categorical Pretreatment Standard is mixed with wastewater not regulated by the same standard, the City shall impose an alternate limit using the combined wastestream formula in 40 CFR 403.6(e).

(C) A User may obtain a variance from Categorical Pretreatment Standards if the User can prove, pursuant to the procedural and substantive provisions in 40 CFR 403.13, that factors relating to its discharge are fundamentally different from the factors considered by EPA when developing the Categorical Pretreatment Standard.

(D) A user may obtain a net gross adjustment to a Categorical Standard in accordance with 40 CFR 403.15.

1.4. State requirements. The State of Maryland pretreatment requirements and standards located at COMAR, 26.08.08 are hereby incorporated herein.

1.5. Bypass regulations.

(1) An Industrial User may allow any bypass to occur which does not cause Pretreatment Standards or Requirements to be violated, but only if it also is for essential maintenance to assure efficient operation. These bypasses are not subject to the provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3) of this section.

(2) Notice.

(a) If an Industrial User knows in advance of the need for a bypass, it shall submit prior notice to the City if possible at least ten days before the date of the bypass.

(b) An Industrial User shall submit oral notice of an unanticipated bypass that exceeds applicable Pretreatment Standards to the City within 24 hours from the time the Industrial User becomes aware of the bypass. A written submission shall contain a description of the bypass and its cause; the duration of the bypass, including exact dates and times, and, if anticipated time it is expected to continue; and steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent reoccurrence of the bypass. The City may waive the written report on a case-by-case basis if the oral report has been received within 24 hours.

(3) Prohibition of bypass.

(a) Bypass is prohibited, and the City may take enforcement action against an Industrial User for a bypass, unless:

(i) Bypass was unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;

(ii) There were no feasible alternatives to the bypass such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime. This condition is not satisfied if adequate backup equipment should have been installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgement to prevent a bypass which occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventative maintenance; and

(iii) The Industrial User submitted notices as required under paragraph (2) of this section.

(b) The City may approve an anticipated bypass, after considering its adverse effects, if the City determines that it will meet the three conditions listed in paragraph (3)(a) of this section.