Domestic Wastewater
Pretreatment Program Definitions
The following definitions are taken from
Chapter 62-625, F.A.C.
(125K), and are primarily applicable to Florida's
pretreatment program.
62-625.200 Definitions. Terms used in this
chapter shall have the following meaning specified below. The meaning of any term not
defined below shall be taken from definitions in other rules of the Department, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) "Approval Authority" means the Department of
Environmental Protection or its successor agencies.
(2) "Bypass"
means the intentional diversion of wastewater streams from any portion of an industrial
user's treatment facility.
(3) "Consistent
Removal" means the average of the lowest 50 percent of the removal
measured in accordance with Rule 62-625.420(2), F.A.C.
(4) "Control
Authority" means any public utility that administers a pretreatment
program that has been approved by the approval authority in accordance with the
requirements of Rule 62-625.510, F.A.C. In cases where categorical or significant
noncategorical industrial users discharge to domestic WWFs that are not included in an
approved pretreatment program, the Department shall function as the control authority
until an approved pretreatment program has been established by the public utility.
(5) "Discharge"
means the introduction of pollutants into a WWF from any nondomestic source regulated
under Chapter 403, F.S.
(6) "Industrial User"
means a source of discharge.
(7) "Interference" means a discharge which, alone or in
conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both:
(a) Inhibits or disrupts the WWF, its treatment processes
or operations, or its domestic wastewater residuals processes, use or disposal;
(b) Is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the
WWF's permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or
prevents use or disposal of domestic wastewater residuals in compliance with local
regulations or rules of the Department and Chapter 403, F.S.
(8) "Measurement"
refers to the ability of the analytical method or protocol to quantify, as well as
identify, the presence of the substance in question.
(9) "New Source"
means:
(a) Any building, structure, facility or installation from
which there is or may be a discharge, the construction of which commenced after the
publication of proposed pretreatment standards under section 307(c) of the CWA which will
be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance
with that section, provided that
1. The building, structure, facility or installation is
constructed at a site at which no other source is located,
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 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 shall 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 (a)2.
or (a)3. above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production
equipment; or
(c) Construction of a new source, as defined in this
chapter, 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.
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 Chapter 62-625, F.A.C.
(10) "Pass Through" means a discharge which exits
the WWF into waters of the State or 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 WWF's permit (including an increase in the
magnitude or duration of a violation).
(11) "Permit"
means a permit, including a No Discharge (ND) permit, issued to a WWF in accordance with
Chapter 62-620, F.A.C.
(12) "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
discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a WWF. The reduction or
alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes
or by other means, except as prohibited by Rule 62-625.410(5), F.A.C. Appropriate
pretreatment technology includes control equipment, such as equalization tanks or
facilities for protection against surges or slug discharges that might interfere with or
otherwise be incompatible with the WWF. However, where wastewater from a regulated process
is mixed in an equalization facility with unregulated wastewater or with wastewater from
another regulated process, the effluent from the equalization facility must meet an
adjusted pretreatment limit calculated in accordance with Rule 62-625.410(6), F.A.C.
(13) "Pretreatment Program" means a
program administered by a public utility that meets the criteria established in Rule
62-625.500, F.A.C.
(14) "Pretreatment
Requirement" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to
pretreatment, other than a pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.
(15) "Pretreatment
Standard" means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits
promulgated by the Department under Chapter 403, F.S., which applies to industrial users.
This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established in Rule 62-625.400, F.A.C.
(16) "Public Utility" means any state, county or
municipality owning, managing, controlling or operating a domestic
WWF, or proposing to
construct a domestic WWF that provides or proposes to provide wastewater service.
(17) "Removal"
means a reduction in the amount of a pollutant in the WWF's effluent or alteration of the
nature of a pollutant during treatment at the WWF. The reduction or alteration can be
obtained by physical, chemical or biological means and may be the result of specifically
designed WWF capabilities or may be incidental to the operation of the treatment system.
Removal as used in this chapter shall not mean dilution of a pollutant in the WWF.
(18) "Responsible
Corporate Officer" means:
(a) A president, secretary, treasurer, 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 $25 million (in second-quarter 1980 dollars), if authority to sign
documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate
procedures.
(19) "Severe
Property Damage" means substantial physical damage to property, damage
to an industrial user's 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.
(20) "Significant Industrial
User" means, except as provided in (c) below, the following:
(a) All industrial users subject to categorical
pretreatment standards under Rule 62-625.410, F.A.C., and 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N
which has been adopted by reference in Chapter 62-660, F.A.C.; and
(b) Any other industrial user that discharges an average of
25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the WWF (excluding domestic
wastewater, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater); contributes a process
waste stream which makes up 5 percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or
organic capacity of the treatment plant; or is designated as such by the control authority
on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting
the WWF's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement in
accordance with Rule 62-625.500(2)(e), F.A.C.
(c) Upon a finding that an industrial user meeting the
criteria in (b) above has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the WWF's
operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement, the control authority
may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from an
industrial user, and in accordance with Rule 62-625.500(2)(e), F.A.C., determine that such
industrial user is not a significant industrial user.
(21) "Slug Discharge"
means any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature.
(22) "Treatment
Plant" means that portion of a WWF which is designed to provide
treatment (including recycling and reclamation) of domestic and industrial wastewater.
(23) "Upset"
means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance
with categorical pretreatment standards because of factors beyond the reasonable control
of the industrial user.
(24) "Wastewater
Facility" or "WWF" means any or all of the
following: the collection/transmission system, the treatment plant, and the reuse or
disposal system.
(25) "Water
Management Division Director" means one of the Directors of the Water
Management Divisions within the Regional offices of the EPA or this person's delegated
representative.
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