Chapter 13.10
INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER
Sections:
13.10.010 Industrial wastewater discharge – Permit required.
13.10.020 Permit application.
13.10.030 Industrial wastewater discharge permits – Issuance standards.
13.10.040 Industrial wastewater discharge permits – Approval – Contents – Display.
13.10.050 Duration of industrial wastewater discharge permits.
13.10.060 Amended permits – Fee.
13.10.070 Transfer of an industrial wastewater discharge permit or changed use.
13.10.080 Revocation of industrial wastewater discharge permit.
13.10.090 Mass discharge limits.
13.10.100 Permit conditions, supplemental reports.
13.10.110 Supplemental sampling and monitoring requirements.
13.10.120 Industrial wastewater discharge permit compliance costs.
13.10.130 Pretreatment – General.
13.10.140 Pretreatment – Industrial wastewater facilities – Approval of plans and issuance of permits.
13.10.150 Pretreatment – Grease – Food establishments.
13.10.160 Maintenance reports – Food establishments.
13.10.170 Protection from accidental discharge.
13.10.180 Limitations on the use of garbage grinders.
13.10.190 Facilities.
13.10.200 Records retention.
13.10.010 Industrial wastewater discharge – Permit required.
No person shall discharge industrial wastewater into the wastewater system or facilities without a permit (“permit for industrial wastewater discharge”) issued therefor by the director. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.020 Permit application.
A. Persons seeking an industrial wastewater discharge permit shall complete and file with the director an application in the form prescribed by the director and accompanied by the applicable fees, as set forth in the master fee schedule as modified from time to time by resolution of the city council. The technical data submitted shall be projected or actual, dependent upon applicable circumstances. The applicant may be required to submit, in units and terms appropriate for evaluation, the following information:
1. Name, address and standard industrial classification number of applicant;
2. Volume of wastewater to be discharged;
3. Wastewater constituents and characteristics including, but not necessarily limited to, those mentioned in CVMC 13.12.010, entitled “Prohibited discharges,” all as determined by a laboratory approved by the city;
4. Time and duration of discharge;
5. Average and 30-minute peak wastewater flow rates, including daily, monthly and seasonal variation, if any;
6. Description of activities, facilities and plant processes on the premises including all materials which are or could be discharged;
7. Plans or diagrams depicting location of on-site sewer lines, pumping stations, and any reclamation or pretreatment facilities;
8. Time of food preparation operations (only required for food establishments);
9. Description of food preparation, type, number of meals served, cleanup procedures, dining room capacity, number of employees and number of fixtures (only required for food establishments);
10. Any other information as may be deemed by the director to be necessary to evaluate the permit application.
B. The director will review the data furnished by the applicant and may require submission of additional information, and may require approval by other concerned city departments. After review and acceptance of the data furnished, an on-site inspection of the site and/or the industrial wastewater discharge system or other systems or processes relating to the industrial wastewater discharge may be required. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.030 Industrial wastewater discharge permits – Issuance standards.
An industrial wastewater discharge permit shall be issued only if the director concludes from the information provided in the application, any additional required information, and/or site inspection that the permitted discharge will not:
A. Be in violation of CVMC 13.12.010;
B. Damage the wastewater system or facilities;
C. Impose unreasonable collection, treatment or disposal costs on the city;
D. Interfere with wastewater treatment or reclamation processes;
E. Be in violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Federal Clean Water Act and California regulatory agencies requirements;
F. Be in violation of the requirements of applicable interagency agreements to which the city is signatory;
G. Detrimentally affect the local environment. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.040 Industrial wastewater discharge permits – Approval – Contents – Display.
A. The director shall approve issuance of an industrial wastewater discharge permit when the application therefor is in full conformity with CVMC 13.10.020 and 13.10.030.
B. The director may conditionally approve the permit. The industrial wastewater discharge permit may include quantity or quality restrictions, submission of periodic reports, pretreatment of industrial wastewaters before discharge, restriction of peak flow discharges, discharge of certain wastewaters only to specified sewers of the city, relocation of point of discharge, prohibition of discharge of certain wastewater components, installation of monitoring and/or metering facilities, restriction of discharge to certain hours of the day, payment of additional charges to defray increased costs of the city created by the wastewater discharge, repayment of costs incurred by the city (relative to compliance tests, violations of the terms of the permit, nonroutine inspections and administrative activities), and such other conditions as may be required to effectuate the purpose of this title.
C. The industrial wastewater discharge permit shall specify what discharges are permitted, any conditions imposed, and that it is issued subject to all provisions of this title and all other regulations, user charges and fees established from time to time by ordinance or resolution of the city council, as well as reimbursement of enforcement costs incurred by the city.
D. The permittee shall promptly post and continuously display the permit, or accurate and complete copies thereof, at such bulletin board or other prominent place or places as to assure its availability to persons associated with the industrial wastewater discharge system or other systems or processes relating to the permitted industrial wastewater discharge. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.050 Duration of industrial wastewater discharge permits.
A. Permits shall be issued for a specified time period, not to exceed five years. A permit may be issued for a period less than a year or may be stated to expire on a specific date.
B. Multiyear permits for all years other than the first year shall be subject to submission of a renewal request and payment of an annual permit fee 30 days prior to the annual anniversary date of permit issuance. Single-year and the last year of multiyear permits expire on the date specified and therefore require submission of a new application for an industrial wastewater discharge permit and payment of the appropriate permit fee at least 30 days prior to the permit expiration date if the permit holder desires to continue operations.
C. Any permit for which appropriate application or renewal forms and annual permit fees (for multiyear permits) have not been received by the expiration or anniversary date, as appropriate, shall be considered expired or abandoned, and the director shall take appropriate enforcement action. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.060 Amended permits – Fee.
In addition to amended permits issued upon application of the permit holder, any industrial wastewater discharge permit shall be subject to amendment by the director at any time during the life of the permit for any of the following reasons:
A. Existence of flows, concentrations or facilities not in conformance with the permit.
B. Changes in state or federal regulations.
C. Imposition of mass discharge limits.
D. Modifications to the list of prohibited discharges as shown in CVMC 13.12.010.
The director shall issue an amended permit with such conditions as appropriate. No fee shall be charged for issuance of an amended permit pursuant to subsections (B), (C) and (D) of this section. The fee for an amended permit initiated by a permittee, or by the director, necessitated by conditions described in subsection (A) of this section, shall be in the amount set forth in the master fee schedule and paid by the holder of the permit. Any changes or new conditions in a permit shall include a specified reasonable time schedule for compliance. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.070 Transfer of an industrial wastewater discharge permit or changed use.
Each industrial wastewater discharge permit shall be issued to a specific permittee for a specific location, specific use and specific operation. Any sale, lease, transfer or assignment of the premises or operation for which the permit was issued shall require notice to the city and city approval, which shall not be unreasonably withheld. If the current operator or, upon sale, lease, transfer or assignment, the new operator changes any condition of operation, an amended permit shall first be applied for and obtained. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.080 Revocation of industrial wastewater discharge permit.
A. The director may revoke the permit of any permittee who is found to be in violation of this chapter, or any applicable local, state or federal law or regulation, or who:
1. Fails to factually report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of its discharge;
2. Fails to report significant changes in operations or wastewater constituents and characteristics;
3. Refuses reasonable access to the permittee’s premises for the purpose of inspection or monitoring;
4. Fails to pay, for other than the first year of a multiyear permit, appropriate charges, fees and reimbursements within 30 days prior to the annual anniversary date of permit issuance;
5. Fails to pay compliance costs within 30 days following billing;
6. Causes or threatens to cause a condition of contamination, pollution, or nuisance;
7. Fails to install grease pretreatment devices as required by the permit (regarding food establishments);
8. Fails to fulfill reporting requirements or pretreatment maintenance as required by the permit (regarding food establishments);
9. Violates any condition of the permit; or
10. Transmits false information relative to its operations or discharge.
B. The director shall give the permittee written notice of intention to revoke the permit in accordance with the procedure set forth in CVMC 13.06.110. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.090 Mass discharge limits.
The director shall have the right to impose mass discharge limits in lieu of, or in conjunction with, concentration discharge limits. Any such modifications shall be in writing and shall be incorporated into amended industrial wastewater discharge permits. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.100 Permit conditions, supplemental reports.
The director may at any time, with reasonable notice, require submission of data and/or information in addition to that required in the permit application or upon the permit. Such supplemental report may include, but not be limited to, changes in nature of process, volume, hourly rates of flow, mass emission rate, production quantities, hours of operation or other information which relates to the generation of waste, including specified constituents and characteristics of the wastewater discharge. Such report may also include the chemical constituents and quantity of liquid or gaseous materials stored on site, even though they may not normally be discharged. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.110 Supplemental sampling and monitoring requirements.
A. The director may at any time, with reasonable notice, require permittees to provide results of periodic measurements of its discharge which include chemical analyses and/or flow. The director may require a sampling and/or a monitoring facility to be furnished and operated at permittee’s expense.
B. All permittees required to provide a monitoring facility shall furnish and install at an appropriate location a calibrated flume, weir, flow meter or similar device approved by the director suitable to measure flow rate and total volume. In lieu of wastewater flow measurement and when deemed appropriate, the director may accept records of periodic water meter readings and adjust the flow volume by suitable factors to determine peak and average flow rates for the specific industrial wastewater discharge.
C. The sampling and/or monitoring facility should normally be situated on the permittee’s premises, but the director may, when such a location would be impractical or cause undue hardship on the user, by encroachment permit separately applied for, allow the facility to be constructed in the public street or sidewalk area and located so that it will not be obstructed by landscaping or parked vehicles.
D. Whether constructed on public or private property, the sampling and monitoring facilities shall be provided in accordance with the director’s requirements and shall be completed within 90 days following written notification by the director, unless a time extension is granted by the director.
E. Those permittees required by the director to make periodic measurements of industrial wastewater flows and constituents shall annually make the number of such periodic measurements as required in the permit.
F. When required by the director, permittees shall install and maintain in proper order automatic flow-proportional sampling equipment and/or automatic analysis and recording equipment.
G. Permittees shall allow the city or its representatives ready access at all reasonable times to all parts of the premises for purposes of sampling or in the performance of any of their duties. The director shall have the right to set up on the permittee’s property such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling or metering operations. Where a permittee has security measures in force, the permittee shall make the necessary arrangements with their security guards so that, upon presentation of suitable identification, personnel of the city shall be permitted to enter without delay.
H. All sampling, analysis and flow measurement procedures, equipment, results and records shall be subject at any time to inspection by the director. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.120 Industrial wastewater discharge permit compliance costs.
A. Persons discharging industrial wastewater to a public sewer without a permit for industrial wastewater discharge and persons whose discharge is not in conformity with the conditions of such a permit shall pay for all actual costs incurred by the city in order to bring them into compliance with this chapter and/or conditions of the permit.
Payment of compliance costs, if required, is in addition to the annual industrial wastewater discharge permit fee. Compliance costs shall be paid within 30 days following billing. Nonpayment of total charges within the specified period will constitute grounds for revocation of a permit and termination of sewer service in accordance with CVMC 13.06.100 and 13.10.080.
B. Costs will include, but not be limited to, those for the following:
1. Site inspection/investigation;
2. Monitoring and sampling;
3. Laboratory analyses;
4. Hearings and other compliance meetings;
5. Equipment and transportation;
6. Management and overhead;
7. Issuance of notices of violations and other pertinent correspondence. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.130 Pretreatment – General.
A. Permittees shall make wastewater acceptable under the limitations established herein before discharging to any public sewer. Any facilities required to pretreat wastewater to a level acceptable to the director shall be provided and maintained at the permittee’s sole expense. Detailed plans, compliance schedules and operating procedures shall be submitted to the director for review and shall be approved by the director before construction of the facility. The review of such plans and operating procedures will in no way relieve the permittee from the responsibility of modifying the facility as necessary to produce an effluent acceptable under the provisions of this title and the industrial wastewater discharge permit. Any subsequent changes in the pretreatment facilities or method of operation shall be reported to and be approved by the director. No permittee shall increase the use of process water or, in any way, attempt to dilute a discharge (except as allowed by federal pretreatment standards) as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with any local, state or federal discharge standard.
B. The director shall have the authority, in negotiation with any industrial permittee, to impose compliance schedules relating to installation of specific pretreatment equipment, filing of reports and achievement of specific discharge conditions including target parameter concentrations.
C. Pretreated wastewater shall conform to categorical pretreatment standards promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the authority of the Clean Water Act, Sections 307(b) and (c). (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.140 Pretreatment – Industrial wastewater facilities – Approval of plans and issuance of permits.
A. The applicant shall submit to the director and to the director of building and housing for approval such construction plans and specifications and other details as required to fully describe the proposed industrial wastewater pretreatment facility. The plans shall have been prepared under the supervision of, and shall be signed by, an engineer of suitable training registered in the state of California.
B. The director will approve plans for industrial wastewater facilities construction and issue a permit for industrial wastewater discharge or any other permit under this code only if it appears to the director that the proposed industrial wastewater facilities and the industrial wastewater discharge conform to the requirements of this title. The director of building and housing will approve plans for industrial wastewater facilities construction and issue a building or any other permit under this code only if it appears to the director of building and housing that the proposed construction conforms to the appropriate construction codes adopted by the city.
C. All required fees and charges shall be paid before approval of plans or issuance of any permit required under this title.
D. The approval of plans or the issuance of a permit shall not relieve the discharger of any duty imposed upon such permittee by this title. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.150 Pretreatment – Grease – Food establishments.
A. All food establishments shall install a grease pretreatment device in the waste line leading from the food preparation area, or from sinks, drains, appliances and other fixtures or equipment used in food preparation or cleanup, to where grease may be introduced into the sewerage system. Such grease pretreatment devices shall be installed to remove grease from wastewater and shall be maintained in efficient operating condition by periodic removal of the accumulated grease. No such collected grease shall be introduced into any drainage piping or public sewer.
B. All food establishments shall also provide a collection drum or container for the purpose of physically segregating oils, greases and greasy solids. Food establishments shall establish procedures for personnel to practice maximum segregation of oils, greases and greasy solids to the collection drum or container prior to washing and other cleaning which goes into sewer. Food establishments shall properly remove and appropriately dispose of the material captured from grease pretreatment devices on wastewater lines and the collection drums for segregating oils, greases and greasy solids. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.160 Maintenance reports – Food establishments.
Food establishments shall keep records of grease pretreatment device cleaning, maintenance and grease removal and report on such maintenance to the director at the times and in the manner specified in their permits. The director may also require the permittee to provide periodic measurements of its discharge, including chemical analysis of oil and grease content. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.170 Protection from accidental discharge.
A. Each permittee shall provide protection from accidental discharges of materials prohibited by CVMC 13.12.010. Permittees shall provide and maintain facilities to prevent accidental prohibited discharge at the permittee’s own cost and expense. Plans and specifications for such facilities shall be subject to review and approved by the director.
B. In the case of an accidental prohibited discharge, the permittee shall:
1. Immediately notify both the director and the city of San Diego water utilities department industrial waste program (“San Diego”) of the incident. The notification shall include location of discharge, type of waste, concentration and volume, and corrective actions.
2. Within five days following an accidental discharge, submit to the director and to San Diego a detailed written report describing the cause of the discharge and the measures to be taken by the permittee to prevent similar future occurrences. Such notification shall not relieve the permittee of any expense, loss, damages or other liability which may be incurred as a result of damage to any wastewater systems, fish kills or any other damage to persons or property; nor shall such notification relieve the permittee of any fines, civil penalties or other liability which may be imposed by this title or other applicable law.
3. Cause a notice to be permanently posted on the permittee’s bulletin board or other prominent place prominently displaying for employees the names and telephone numbers to call in the event of an accidental prohibited discharge. Permittees shall ensure that all employees who may cause, allow or observe such an accidental discharge to occur are properly trained regarding compliance with the emergency notification procedures. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.180 Limitations on the use of garbage grinders.
Matter from domestic, commercial, or industrial garbage grinders shall not be discharged into the wastewater system or facilities. However, matter generated by garbage grinders in the preparation of food normally consumed on the premises is excepted from this prohibition. Additionally, if the permittee has obtained a permit for that specific use from the director and agrees to undertake whatever self-monitoring is required to enable the director to equitably determine the sewer service charges based on the waste constituents and characteristics, such matter is also excepted. Such grinders must shred the waste to a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow condition normally prevailing in the public sewer. It is unlawful to use a garbage grinder for grinding plastic, paper products, inert materials or garden refuse. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.190 Facilities.
If wastewater facilities capacity is not available, the director may require the industrial wastewater discharger permittee to restrict discharge until sufficient capacity can be made available. When requested, the director will advise persons who desire to locate new facilities as to which areas within the wastewater system where industrial wastewater of the requestor’s proposed quantity and quality are expected to have sufficient capacity. The director may refuse sewer service to persons locating facilities in areas where their proposed quantity or quality of industrial wastewater is unacceptable for the available wastewater system or facility. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).
13.10.200 Records retention.
All permittees subject to this chapter of this title shall retain and preserve, for not less than three years, any records, books, documents, memoranda, reports, correspondence and any and all summaries thereof relating to monitoring, sampling and chemical analysis made by or on behalf of a permittee in connection with its discharge. All records which pertain to matters which are the subject of administrative action or any other enforcement or litigation activities brought by the city shall be retained and preserved by the permittee until all enforcement activities have concluded and all periods of limitation with respect to any and all appeals have expired. (Ord. 2466 § 7, 1991).