§ 3-5-262. Definitions.

(a)

Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this article, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:

Act or the act: The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended (33 USC 1251), et. seq.

Approval authority: The term "approval authority" shall refer to the State of Georgia's Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division.

Authority (the corporate entity): The term "authority" shall mean the Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority, which is the governmental body having jurisdiction over the construction, maintenance and operation of the water and sanitary sewer system within Henry County, Georgia, and adjacent areas.

Authority members: Members of the authority shall mean the persons duly appointed to serve as members of the Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority.

Authorized representative of user:

(1)

If the user is a corporation:

a.

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

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 governmental facility: A director or highest official or his or her designee, appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility.

(4)

The individuals described in subsections (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 overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the authority.

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under EPA approved laboratory procedure, after five (5) days and at twenty (20) degrees centigrade, expressed in terms of concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/L)).

Board: Board shall mean the governing body of the Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority unless otherwise indicated as the Board of Commissioners of Henry County, Georgia.

Board of commissioners: The Board of Commissioners of Henry County (also referred to as county) shall mean the Board of Commissioners of Henry County, Georgia, the county governing body, and its members, agents, or representatives pertaining to matters of this article.

Building drain: That part of the horizontal piping of a building drainage system which received the discharge of all soil, waste, and other drainage from inside the walls of any building and that conveys the same to the building service sewer five (5) feet outside the foundation wall of such building.

Building sewer: The extension from the building drain to public sewer or other place of disposal.

Categorical standards: Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA (as hereinafter defined) in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the act (33 U.S.C. § 1317) which apply to a specific category of users and which appear in 40 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471.

Cesspool: A covered soak pit constructed in the soil for the disposal of domestic waste.

Combined sewer: A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.

Commercial user or contributor: A premises that discharges commercial wastes similar in characteristics discharged by households but distinct from industrial wastes.

Commercial wastes: Wastes which are discharged from an office, store, restaurant, or other commercial establishment that are similar to domestic waste in terms of characteristics.

Composite sample: A sample which is composed of several individual grab samples collected at regular intervals and mixed together. The time period over which the composite sample is collected shall be stated. Either an eight-hour or a twenty-four-hour sample composited every two (2) hours, collected by an automatic sampler, will be acceptable.

Control authority: The term "control authority" shall refer to the Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority.

Cooling water: The water discharged from any use, such as air conditioning, cooling, or refrigeration, to which the only pollutant added is heat.

Developer: Developer shall mean any person, corporation, partnership, joint venture, public body, or legal entity that is selling, offering for sale, dividing, subdividing, or developing property for residential, commercial, or industrial use.

Direct discharge: Any discharge directly to the waters of the state.

Domestic waste: Any liquid wastes from the noncommercial preparation, cooking, and handling of food and/or containing only human excrement and similar matter from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions.

Easement: A right afforded a person to make limited use of another's real property.

Effluent: The discharge flow of a pretreatment facility.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): A governmental agency of the United States of America having jurisdiction over certain matters stated herein.

Environmental Protection Division, Department of Natural Resources, State of Georgia (EPD): A governmental division of the State of Georgia Department of Natural Resources having jurisdiction over certain matters stated herein.

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.

Flammable: Flammable shall mean any material which is easily ignited and burns with unusual rapidity.

Floatable oil: Floatable oil is oil, fat, or grease in a physical state such that it will separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with the collection and/or treatment system.

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

Garbage: Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparing, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.

General manager: The term general manager shall mean the General Manager of the Henry County Water and Sewerage Authority or his or her authorized deputy, agent, or representative, appointed by the authority, and authorized by the authority to fulfill the requirements of these rules and to be responsible for the operations of the water and sewer system.

Grab sample: A sample which is taken on a one-time basis with no regard to the flow and without consideration of time.

Henry County: The public entity located in the State of Georgia, governed by the Board of Commissioners of Henry County.

Holding tank waste: Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and vacuum-pump tank trucks.

Indirect discharge: The term indirect discharge refers to any discharge into the public sewer system maintained by the authority.

Industrial user or contributor: An industry which discharges process wastewaters having the characteristics of industrial wastes, as distinct from commercial wastes or domestic wastes.

Industrial waste: Any liquid, solid, or gaseous waste, including suspended solids resulting from the processes employed in industrial or commercial establishments.

Interceptor line: Interceptor line, trunk line, or outfall line shall mean the sewer line leading from owner's/developer's property to the authority's existing sewer line, treatment plant, or treatment plant site. Said line normally collects sewage or could collect sewage from more than one (1) property owner and transport the sewage to the sewage treatment plant.

Interference: A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both:

(1)

Inhibits or disrupts the publicly owned treatment works (POTW), its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use, or disposal; and

(2)

Therefore is a cause of a violation of any requirement 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 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.

National Categorical Pretreatment Standard or pretreatment standard: Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the act (33 USC 1347) which applies to a specific category of industrial users.

National pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES): A permit administered by the Environmental Protection Division, State of Georgia.

Natural outlet: Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other body of surface water or groundwater.

New source:

(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 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 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.

(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 subsection (1)b or (1)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 on-site 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.

Nitrification: Nitrification shall mean the conversion of nitrogenous matter into nitrates.

Pass through: 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.

Penalty: Any amount of monies set forth by the authority to be levied against an industrial, commercial, or residential user of the waste system who does not comply with any article set forth in this article.

Person: Any individual, firm, company, partnership, corporation, association, group, or society, and includes the State of Georgia, and agencies, districts, commissions, and political subdivisions created by or pursuant to state law.

pH: The negative logarithm (to base 10) of the concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in grams per liter of solution.

Phosphorus: Phosphorous shall mean the chemical element phosphorous and its several compounds. "Phosphorous removal" shall mean the removal of phosphorous and phosphorous compounds by biological or chemical treatment or combination of both.

Polluted water or waste: Any water, liquid, or gaseous waste containing any of the following: Soluble or insoluble substances of organic or inorganic nature which may deplete the dissolved oxygen content of the receiving stream; settleable solids that may form sludge deposits; grease and oils; floating solids which may cause unsightly appearance; color; phenols and other substances to an extent which would impact any taste or odor to the receiving stream; and toxic or poisonous substances in suspension, colloidal state, solution, or gases.

Pretreatment or treatment: The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes or process changes and other means, except as prohibited by 40 CFR 403.6(d).

Private sewage disposal system: Any on-site facility approved for the disposal of domestic sewage and commercial wastewater. Such a facility shall only serve buildings affixed to the lot of record on which the facility is located. Sewer systems that are not controlled by the authority and that serve more than one parcel or tract of land shall not be permitted under any circumstance.

Privy: A separate enclosed shelter or building containing a floor slab and seat riser constructed over an excavation in the earth and having no water connections, used as a toilet.

Privy vault: Excavation in the earth below a privy to receive human waste.

Properly shredded garbage: The waste from the preparation of cooking and dispensing of food that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in public sewers with no particle greater than one-half inch in any dimension.

Public sewer: A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights and which is controlled by public authority.

Publicly owned treatment works (POTW): A treatment works as defined by section 212 of the act (33 USC 1292), which is owned, operated, or managed in this instance by the authority. This definition includes any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW but does not include pipes, sewers, or other conveyances not connected to a facility providing treatment. For purposes of this article, POTW shall also include any sewers that convey wastewaters to the POTW from persons outside the county who are, by contract or agreement with the authority, users of the county's POTW.

Receiving waters: Those waters into which wastes are discharged.

Residential domestic user or contributor: A premises or person that discharges domestic wastewaters and occupying a single-family residential unit or a multifamily residential unit or an apartment unit or any other type of residence.

Sanitary sewer: A sewer intended to receive domestic sewage and admissible industrial waste but to which stormwater, surface water, and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.

Scavenger waste: Putrid or offensive matter in the contents of all privies, septic tanks and cesspools.

Septic tank: A water-tight tank designed or used to receive the discharge of sewage from a building sewer.

Sewer: A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

Sewer surcharge: A charge for sewer service and treatment service for wastes having characteristics different from sanitary wastes and for which additional charges must be assessed in order for the waste to be processed properly and to compensate the authority for additional expenses incurred.

Shall is mandatory. May is permissive.

Significant industrial user:

(1)

A user subject to categorical pretreatment standards; or

(2)

A user that:

a.

Discharges an average of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day (GPD) or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling, and boiler blow-down wastewater);

b.

Contributes a process waste stream 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 authority 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 a 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 authority 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.

Significant noncompliance: Violations which meet one (1) or more of the following criteria are defined as significant noncompliance (SNC):

(1)

Chronic violations—Sixty-six (66) percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit for the same pollutant parameter in a six-month period (any magnitude of exceedance constitutes a chronic violation).

(2)

Technical review criteria (TRC) violations—Thirty-three (33) percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit for the same pollutant parameter or the same average limit by more than the TRC in a six-month period (exceeding the pretreatment limit by a factor of 1.4 for BOD, total suspended solids (TSS), fats, and oil and grease (O&G) and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH constitutes a TRC).

(3)

Any other violation(s) of effluent limit (average or daily maximum) that the authority believes has caused alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through or endangered the health of plant personnel or the public.

(4)

Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health and welfare or to the environment and has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge.

(5)

Violations of compliance schedule milestones contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, and attaining final compliance by ninety (90) days or more after the schedule date.

(6)

Failure to provide reports for compliance schedules, self-monitoring data, or categorical standards (baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports, and periodic reports) within thirty (30) days from the due date.

(7)

Failure to accurately report noncompliance.

(8)

Any other violation(s) that the authority considers to be significant.

Slug load: A slug discharge is any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge.

Standard industrial classification (SIC): The classification pursuant to the Standard Industrial Classification Manual issued by the Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, 1972, or the most recent such manual.

Standard methods: The examination and analytical procedures set forth in the most recent edition of the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater published jointly by American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and the Water Environment Federation.

Storm drain (sometimes termed storm sewer): A sewer or drain which carries stormwater, surface water, and drainage but excludes sewage and industrial wastes other than unpolluted cooling water.

Street: Construed to embrace streets, avenues, drives, boulevards, roads, alleys, and lanes, and via ducts, and all other public highways in the sewer system area.

Suspended solids (SS): Solids that either float on the surface of or are in suspension in water, sewage, or other liquids which are removable by laboratory filtering.

Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN): The total of organic and ammonia nitrogen as defined in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

Total suspended solids (TSS): The sum of suspended matter and settleable matter, both volatile and nonvolatile.

Toxic pollutant: Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the provision of CWA section 307 (a) or other acts.

Trunk line: Interceptor line, trunk line, or outfall line shall mean the sewer line leading from owner's/developer's property to the authority's existing sewer line, treatment plant, or treatment plant site. Said line normally collects sewage or could collect sewage from more than one (1) property owner and transport the sewage to the sewage treatment plant.

Unpolluted water: Water not containing any pollutants limited or prohibited by the effluent standards in effect, or water whose discharge will not cause any violation of receiving water quality standards.

Unsanitary: Unsanitary shall mean unclean, unhealthy, or harmful to public health.

User: Any person who contributes, causes, or permits the contribution of wastewater into the county's POTW.

Wastewater contribution permit: As set forth in sections 3-5-276 through 3-5-299 of this article.

Wastewater or sewage: The liquid- and water-carrying industrial or domestic wastes from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions, which is contributed to or allowed to enter the wastewater treatment plant.

Wastewater system: Any part of the authority-operated system from the sewer collector lines, transportation on through and including the treatment plant.

Wastewater treatment plant: The treatment facilities owned or operated by the authority.

Watercourse: A channel in which flow of water occurs, either continuously or intermittently.

Waters of the state: All streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, reservoirs, aquifers, irrigation systems, and drainage systems and all other bodies or accumulations of water, surface or underground, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through, or border upon the state or any portion thereof.

(Ord. No. 01-09, Art. I, § 1.2, 12-03-01; Ord. No. 06-07, § I, 7-18-06)