Athens City Code

In order to comply with federal industrial pretreatment rules 40 CFR 403 and state pretreatment rules Tenn. Comp. Rules and Regs. 1200-4-14 and to fulfill the purpose and policy of this chapter, the following regulations are adopted:

1. (1) User discharge restrictions. All system users must follow the general and specific discharge regulations specified in ACC 18-36.
2. (2) Users required to meet industrial/commercial wastewater regulations. Users wishing to discharge pollutants at higher concentrations than plant protection criteria contained in Athens Utilities Board's (AUB's) established policies and procedures, or those dischargers who are classified as significant industrial users, will be required to meet the requirements of this chapter. Users who discharge waste which falls under the criteria specified in this chapter and who fail to or refuse to follow the provisions shall face termination of service and/or enforcement action specified in the AUB's approved enforcement response plan.
3. (3) Discharge regulation. Discharges to the sewer system shall be regulated through use of a permitting system. The permitting system may include any or all of the following activities: completion of survey/application forms, issuance of permits, oversight of users monitoring and permit compliance, use of compliance schedules, inspections of industrial processes, wastewater processing, and chemical storage, public notice of permit system changes and public notice of users found in significant noncompliance.
4. (4) Local limits. Discharge permits shall limit concentrations of discharge pollutants to those levels that are established as local limits or other applicable state and federal pretreatment rules which may be in effect or take effect after the passage of the ordinance from which this chapter is derived. Local limits are listed in the AUB's established policies and procedures.
5. (5) Surcharge limits and maximum concentrations. Dischargers of high strength waste may be subject to surcharges, which are outlined in the AUB's established policies and procedures and/or schedule of rates and fees and/or the user's applicable discharge permit. Maximum concentrations may also be established for some users.
6. (6) Protection of treatment plant influent. The pretreatment coordinator shall monitor the treatment works influent for each parameter in the plant protection criteria, which are listed in the AUB's established policies and procedures. In the event that the influent at the WWF reaches or exceeds the levels established by plant protection criteria or subsequent criteria calculated as a result of changes in pass-through limits issued by the state department of environment and conservation, the pretreatment coordinator shall initiate technical studies to determine the cause of the influent violation and shall recommend to the superintendent the necessary remedial measures, including, but not limited to, recommending the establishment of new or revised local limits, best management practices, or other criteria used to protect the WWF. The pretreatment coordinator shall also recommend changes to any of these criteria in the event that the WWF effluent standards are changed, there are changes in any applicable law or regulation affecting same, or changes are needed for more effective operation of the WWF.
7. (7) User inventory. The superintendent will maintain an up-to-date inventory of users whose waste does or may fall into the requirements of this chapter and will notify the users of their status.
8. (8) Right to establish more restrictive criteria. No statement in this chapter is intended or may be construed to prohibit the pretreatment coordinator from establishing specific wastewater discharge criteria which are more restrictive when wastes are determined to be harmful or destructive to the facilities of the WWF or to create a public nuisance, or to cause the discharge of the WWF to violate effluent or stream quality standards, or to interfere with the use or handling of sludge, or to pass through the WWF resulting in a violation of the NPDES permit, or to exceed industrial pretreatment standards for discharge to municipal wastewater treatment systems as imposed or as may be imposed by the state department of environment and conservation and/or the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(Code 1995, § 18-301; Ord. No. 972, 11-18-2008)