§ 67.1-1-3. Definitions.  


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  • Unless specifically indicated otherwise, the following terms and phrases have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section:

    Act: The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq.

    Approval Authority: The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

    Authorized or Duly Authorized Representative (of the Industrial User):

    (a)

    If the Industrial User is a corporation:

    (1)

    The president, secretary, treasurer, or a 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 which 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 environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for control mechanism requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

    (b)

    If the Industrial User is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or the proprietor.

    (c)

    If the Industrial User is a federal, state or local government: a director or the highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility or other public agency.

    (d)

    The individuals described in paragraphs (a)-(c) above may designate another representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization has been submitted to and approved by the County.

    Best Management Practices (BMP): Schedules of activities, prohibition of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in § 403.5 (a) (1) and (b) of the Code of Federal Regulations. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage

    Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, for five days at 20º centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/L).

    Building Sewer: A sewer system which conveys wastewater from the premises of a User to a POTW.

    Bypass: The intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of an Industrial User's pretreatment facility.

    Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Categorical Standard: 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. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of Industrial Users and which are technology based for the purpose of limiting the discharge of pollutants, especially priority pollutants, and which appear in 40 C.F.R. Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405—471.

    Categorical Industrial User: An Industrial User subject to national categorical pretreatment standards

    Color: The optical density at the visual wave length of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One hundred percent transmittance is equal to zero optical density.

    Compatible Pollutant: Biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, phosphorus, pH, fecal coliform bacteria and additional pollutants as identified in the County's Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permit, if the individual POTW was designed to treat such pollutants, and if, in fact, such POTW does remove such pollutants to a substantial degree.

    Composite Sample: The sample resulting from the combination of two or more discrete wastewater samples taken at selected intervals, based on either an increment of flow or time. The composite sample represents the average wastewater quality covering the sampling period.

    County: The County of Fairfax, Virginia, or the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, Virginia.

    Daily Maximum Limit or Daily Maximum: The maximum allowable discharge of pollutant during a calendar day. Where daily maximum limitations are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of the day. Where daily maximum limitations are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that day

    Director: The Director of the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services and such other persons he may designate to administer and enforce standards relating to sewer use.

    Domestic-Natured Wastes: Human excrement and gray water (from showers, washing machines, dishwashers and the like).

    Environmental Protection Agency or EPA: The United States Environmental Protection Agency or the Regional Water Management Division Director or other duly authorized official of that agency.

    Existing Source: Any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by 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 (33 U.S.C. § 1317).

    Facilities of the County: Any POTW, treatment works, or portion thereof, which is owned or operated by the County and which is located within Fairfax County.

    Flashpoint: The minimum temperature at which vapor combustion will spread away from its source of ignition. Below this temperature, combustion of the vapor immediately above the liquid will either not occur or will occur only at the point of ignition.

    Grab Sample: A sample which is taken from a waste stream without regard to the flow of the waste stream and over a period of time not to exceed 15 minutes.

    Indirect Discharge or Discharge: The introduction of pollutants into a POTW from any non domestic source regulated under §307 (b), (c) or (d) of the Act

    Industrial User: Any source of indirect discharge of industrial wastes into a POTW.

    Industrial Wastes: Pollutants, exclusive of Domestic-Natured Wastes, which result from any industrial, manufacturing, business, trade, institutional, service or similar process, including cooling water and process wastewater.

    Instantaneous Maximum Allowable Discharge Limit: The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composite 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 or discharges from other sources, 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 County's VPDES permit or an NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued there under, or any more stringent State or local regulations: Section 405 of the Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act [including RCRA]; any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.

    Medical Wastes or Infectious Wastes: Pollutants defined by the Virginia Department of Waste Management's Infectious Waste Management Regulations, 9 VAC 20-120-10 et seq ., including but not limited to, isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood byproducts, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, fomites, etiologic agents, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes and dialysis wastes.

    Monthly Average Limit or Monthly Average: The arithmetic mean of the effluent samples collected during a calendar month or specified 30-day period.

    New Source:

    (a)

    Any building, structure, facility or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, the construction or operation of which commenced after the publication of proposed Categorical Pretreatment Standards under Section 307(c) [33 U.S.C. § 1317(c)] of the Act which will be applicable to such source if the standard is thereafter promulgated in accordance with Section 307(c), provided that:

    (1)

    The building, structure, facility or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or

    (2)

    The building structure, facility or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an Existing Source; or

    (3)

    The production or new 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.

    (4)

    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 Section (1)(b) or (c) above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

    (b)

    For purposes of this definition, construction or operation has commenced if the owner or operator has:

    (1)

    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 New Source facilities or equipment; or

    (2)

    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 definition.

    Non-Contact Cooling Water: Water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any chemical addition, raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product.

    Non-Industrial User: Any source of the indirect discharge of solely domestic-natured waste.

    Non-Significant Categorical Industrial User: The Director may determine that an Industrial User subject to categorical pretreatment standards is a Non-Significant Categorical Industrial User rather than a Significant Industrial User on a finding that the Industrial User never discharges more than 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:

    (a)

    the Industrial User, prior to County's finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical Pretreatment Standards and Requirements;

    (b)

    the Industrial User annually submits the certification statement required in Section 67.1-4-8 [see 40 CFR 403.12(q)], together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

    (c)

    the Industrial User never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater. Upon a finding that a user meeting the criteria in of this part has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the Director may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from a 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.

    Ordinance: Unless otherwise indicated, "this ordinance" refers to Chapter 67.1 of the Fairfax County Code.

    Pass Through: A discharge which exits the POTW treatment plant into receiving waters in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with discharge(s) from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the VPDES or NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

    Person: Any individual, partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes, without limitation, all federal, state or local governments entities.

    pH: A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units; logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in moles per liter of solution.

    Pollutant: Any substance, except water that is less than or equal to 150ºF (65.5ºC), which either alone or in conjunction with water, is permitted to enter a POTW. "Pollutant" includes, but is not necessarily limited to dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, filter backwash, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes.

    Premises Having Access to the Facilities of the County: Any premises which abuts a highway, street, alley, public space or private property on which the Facilities of the County are located and which is not more than 300 feet from the Facilities of the County and which can be served by the Facilities of the County.

    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 the POTW. This reduction, elimination 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.

    Pretreatment Requirement: Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment that is imposed on an Industrial User.

    Pretreatment Standards: Prohibited discharge standards, Categorical Pretreatment Standards and local limits, includes any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with § 307(b) and (c) of the Act, and 40 CFR § 403.5.

    Priority Pollutants: The 65 classes of pollutants listed in 40 C.F.R. § 401.15 pursuant to Section 307(a)(1) of the Act, and subsequently defined by the EPA as 126 specific compounds.

    Prohibited Discharge: A pollutant that shall not be introduced into a POTW, as set forth in National Pretreatment Standards: Prohibited Discharges, 40 C.F.R. § 403.5 and Section 67.1-2-1.

    Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW): Any "treatment works," as defined by Section 212 of the Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by a County or other municipality. 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.

    Sewerage Facilities: Any plumbing system, piping system, fixture or other appurtenance which is designed to carry wastewater.

    Significant Industrial User: The term "Significant Industrial User" shall mean:

    (a)

    Industrial Users subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards; or

    (b)

    Any other Industrial User that:

    (1)

    Discharges an average of 25,000 gpd or more of process wastewater, excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater; or

    (2)

    Contributes a process wastestream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or

    (3)

    Is designated as significant by the County on the basis that the Industrial User has a reasonable potential for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.

    Slug Discharge: A slug discharge is any discharge of 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 the POTW's regulations, Local Limits or Permit conditions

    Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code: A classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the United States Office of Management and Budget.

    Storm Water: Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

    Suspended Solids: 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.

    Toxic Substance: One of the pollutants or any combination of those pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA under the provision of Section 307 (33 U.S.C. § 1317) of the Act and any other substance deemed toxic by the Director.

    Upset: An exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with pretreatment standards and requirements because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the Industrial User. Noncompliance caused by operational error, improperly designed pretreatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation does not constitute an upset.

    User: Any person who contributes, causes or permits any discharge into the POTW and the owner and tenant of any premises which contributes any discharge into the POTW.

    Wastewater or Sewage: Liquid and water-carried pollutants from any source which enters the POTW.

    Wastewater Constituents and Characteristics: The individual chemical, physical, bacteriological and radiological components, including volume and flow rate and other such parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the contents, quality, quantity and strength of wastewater; parameters include any pollutant expected to be present which is listed under 40 C.F.R., Part 122, Appendix D, Tables II-V.

    (44-09-67.1; 31-10-67.1.)

(44-09-67.1; 31-10-67.1.)