§ 25-146. Definitions.

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Approval authority means the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Municipal Permitting Program.

Authorized person means a regular employee of the county authorized to enforce the provisions of this article. Authorized representative of the user:

(1)

If the user is a corporation:

a.

The president, vice-president, secretary, or treasurer 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 (1) or more manufacturing, production or operation facilities employing more than two hundred fifty (250) persons or having gross annual sales or expenditures exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000.00) (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

(2)

If the user is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

(3)

If the user is a federal, state or local government 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.

(4)

The individuals described in paragraphs (1) through (3), above, may designate another authorized, 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 is submitted to the department.

BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five (5) days at two hundred (200) centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l).

Building drain means that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge of wastes from the drainage pipes within the walls of a building and conveys this discharge to the building sewer beginning ten (10) feet outside the inner face of the building.

Building sewer means the extension from the building drain to the public sanitary sewer system or other place of disposal.

Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Categorical Standard means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits, promulgated by the federal EPA in accordance with Sections 307(b) and (c) of the Federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405—471.

Categorical user means any significant industrial user that is subject to categorical pretreatment standards.

COD (chemical oxygen demand) means the amount of oxygen equivalent that the organic matter in a sample utilizes in the presence of a strong chemical oxidant (expressed in milligrams per liter).

Combined sewer means a sewer intentionally receiving groundwaters, surface waters, and stormwaters together with sewage.

Constituents means the combination of particles or pollutants which exist in wastes.

Control manhole means a manhole on or near a user's property used for sampling purposes through which the user's discharge to the sanitary sewer passes.

Department means the public works department.

Designated area means any tract of land, parcel of land, subdivision or section of the county which, by virtue of its topography or existing sanitary sewer facilities, can be treated as a unit. The director shall be the sole judge as to the boundaries, limits,, and extent of these areas, whether or not these areas abut present public roads.

Director means the public works director or any of that person's authorized representatives.

Environmental Protection Agency or Federal EPA means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the Regional Water Management Division director, or other duly authorized official of said agency.

Existing source means any source of discharge, the construction or operation of which commenced prior to the publication by the Federal 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 Federal Clean Water Act.

Federal Clean Water Act or Clean Water Act shall mean the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, presently codified at 33 U.S.C § 1250 et seq., and all regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

Flammable means any material which is easily ignited and burns with unusual rapidity as defined by the National Fire Protection Association.

Flush toilet means the common sanitary flush commode in general use for the disposal of human excrement.

Garbage means putrescible animal and vegetable wastes resulting from the domestic and commercial preparation, cooking and disposing of food, and from the handling, storage and sale of produce, tin cans, glass containers and newspapers.

Georgia EPD or EPD means the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Grab sample means a sample which is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes.

Indirect discharge or discharge means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated under Section 307(b), (c), or (d) of the Federal Clean Water Act.

Industrial wastes means the liquid wastes and solid and gaseous materials contained therein, of whatever nature, arising out of any manufacturing, processing, fabricating, treating, renovating or any other commercial operation.

Inspection fee means the amount of money charged to the contractor or plumber for each inspection.

Instantaneous maximum allowable discharge limit means the maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate of the duration of the sampling event.

Interference means 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 violation of the county's NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or thereunder, stringent regulations: permits issued or any more state or local Section 405 of the Federal Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act, including Title II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any state regulations contained in 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.

Lot of land means the smallest unit, owned by the same party or parties, into which any tract or parcel of land has been divided either by deed, plat or any other means of subdivision.

Medical waste means 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.

New source means:

(1)

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 Federal Clean Water Act which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, provided that:

a.

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

b.

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

c.

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 engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source should be considered.

(2)

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.

(3)

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

a.

Begun, or caused to begin, as part of a continuous onsite construction program

1.

Any placement, assembly or installation of facilities or equipment; or

2.

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

b.

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.

Noncontact cooling water means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product.

Objectionable means unacceptable, unsatisfactory or displeasing to the physical senses.

Outlet means point of discharge into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, stream or other body of surface water or groundwater.

Pass through means a discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the county's NPDES permit, including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

Person means any individual, partnership, copartnership, 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 all federal, state and local governmental entities.

pH means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, expressed in standard units.

Plumbing fee means that fee paid to the county for the issuance of a plumbing permit.

Pollutant means 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, COD, toxicity or odor).

Premises means building, house, store, plant or any other place where people live, work or congregate.

Pretreatment means 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, 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.

Pretreatment requirements means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment on a user other than a pretreatment standard.

Pretreatment standard or standards means prohibited discharge standards, categorical pretreatment standards and local limits.

Priority pollutant means any contaminant in water which is identified as being toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic or is chemically similar to compounds identified as such, by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency. The list includes one hundred twenty-nine (129) compounds and such other compounds as may be added from time to time, less any compound which may be deleted by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Prohibited discharge standards or prohibited discharges means the absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances.

Properly shredded garbage means the wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of foods, which have been cut in such a way that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sanitary sewers, with no particle larger than one-half (½) inch in any dimension.

Publicly owned treatment works or POTW means a "treatment works", as defined by Section 212 of the Federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1292) which is owned by the county. 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.

Public sewer means a common sanitary sewer directly controlled by the county and approved by the county for use as a sanitary sewer.

Sanitary sewer means a pipe which carries sewage and by design excludes groundwaters, surface waters and stormwaters.

Septic tank means a subsurface impervious tank designed to temporarily retain sewage or similar waterborne wastes together with the following:

(1)

A sewer line constructed with unperforated pipe, with sealed joints, connecting the impervious tank with a plumbing stub-out.

(2)

A subsurface drainage field system consisting of piping and other materials producing drainage of the clarified discharge from the tank while distributing it underground to be filtered or absorbed.

Sewage means the water-carried wastes, including human excrement and grey water (household showers, dishwashing operations, etc.) from residences, business buildings and institutions.

Sewer means an artificial, usually subterranean, conduit to carry off sewage.

Sewer system and sewerage means all facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, transporting and disposing of sewage.

Sewer tap fee or tap fee means the service charge for making a connection to the sewer system.

Significant industrial user means:

(1)

A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

(2)

A user that:

a.

Discharges an average of one hundred thousand (100,000) gallons per work month or twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);

b.

Contributes a process wastestream which makes up five (5) percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant; or

c.

Is designated as such by the county on the basis that it has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement.

(3)

Upon finding that a user meeting the criteria in subsection (2) has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the county 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.

Slug load or slug means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards of this ordinance; or, any discharge in which the concentration of any given constituent exceeds, for any period longer than fifteen (15) minutes, five (5) times the average twenty-four-hour concentration of that constituent during normal operations.

Storm drain or storm sewer means a sewer which carries stormwaters and surface waters and drainage, excluding sewage and industrial wastes.

Stormwater means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting from such precipitation, including snowmelt.

Subdivision means any tract of land divided, planned or developed as a subdevelopment with two (2) or more residences, buildings or building sites.

Suspended solids means solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory filtering.

Tap fee or sewer tap fee means the service charge for making a connection to the sewer system.

Unsanitary means unclean, unhealthy or harmful to the public health.

User or industrial user means a source of indirect discharge.

Wastewater means the 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.

Wastewater discharge permit means a permit in the form prescribed by the county, which establishes the wastewater characteristics which a significant industrial user may contribute or cause to be contributed to the sewer system.

Wastewater treatment plant or treatment plant means that portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.

Watercourse means a channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

(Code 1976, § 6-2002; Ord. No. 97-05, § 1, 3-11-97)

Cross reference

Definitions and rules of construction generally, § 1-2.