40 C.F.R. § 403.3

Current through September 30, 2024

Section 403.3 - Definitions

For the purposes of this part:

(a) Except as discussed below, the general definitions, abbreviations, and methods of analysis set forth in 40 CFR part 401 shall apply to this regulation.

(b) The term Act means Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 , et seq.

(c) The term Approval Authority means the Director in an NPDES State with an approved State pretreatment program and the appropriate Regional Administrator in a non-NPDES State or NPDES State without an approved State pretreatment program.

(d) The term Approved POTW Pretreatment Program or Program or POTW Pretreatment Program means a program administered by a POTW that meets the criteria established in this regulation (§§ 403.8 and 403.9 ) and which has been approved by a Regional Administrator or State Director in accordance with § 403.11 of this regulation.

(e) The term Best Management Practices or BMPs means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in § 403.5(a)(1) and (b) . 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.

(f) The term Control Authority refers to:

(1) The POTW if the POTW's Pretreatment Program Submission has been approved in accordance with the requirements of § 403.11 ; or

(2) The Approval Authority if the Submission has not been approved.

(g) The term Director means the chief administrative officer of a State or Interstate water pollution control agency with an NPDES permit program approved pursuant to section 402(b) of the Act and an approved State pretreatment program.

(h) The term Water Management Division Director means one of the Directors of the Water Management Divisions within the Regional offices of the Environmental Protection Agency or this person's delegated representative.

(i) The term Indirect Discharge or Discharge means the introduction of pollutants into a POTW from any non-domestic source regulated under section 307(b), (c) or (d) of the Act.

(j) The term Industrial User or User means a source of Indirect Discharge.

(k) The term Interference means a Discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both:

(1) Inhibits or disrupts the 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 including 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.

(l) The term National Pretreatment Standard, Pretreatment Standard, or Standard means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with section 307 (b) and (c) of the Act, which applies to Industrial Users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to § 403.5 .

(m)

(1) The term New Source means 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:

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

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

(iii) 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 paragraphs (m)(1)(ii) or (m)(1)(iii) of this section, 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:

(i) Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous onsite 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

(ii) 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.

(n) The terms NPDES Permit or Permit means a permit issued to a POTW pursuant to section 402 of the Act.

(o) The term NPDES State means a State (as defined in 40 CFR 122.2 ) or Interstate water pollution control agency with an NPDES permit program approved pursuant to section 402(b) of the Act.

(p) The term 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 POTW's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

(q) The term Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW means a treatment works as defined by section 212 of the Act, which is owned by a State or municipality (as defined by section 502(4) of the Act). This definition includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes sewers, pipes and other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW Treatment Plant. The term also means the municipality as defined in section 502(4) of the Act, which has jurisdiction over the Indirect Discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works.

(r) The term POTW Treatment Plant means that portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment (including recycling and reclamation) of municipal sewage and industrial waste.

(s) The term 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 POTW. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or by other means, except as prohibited by § 403.6(d) . Appropriate pretreatment technology includes control equipment, such as equalization tanks or facilities, for protection against surges or slug loadings that might interfere with or otherwise be incompatible with the POTW. 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 § 403.6(e) .

(t) The term Pretreatment requirements means any substantive or procedural requirement related to Pretreatment, other than a National Pretreatment Standard, imposed on an Industrial User.

(u) The term Regional Administrator means the appropriate EPA Regional Administrator.

(v)Significant Industrial User.

(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (v)(2) and (v)(3) of this section, the term Significant Industrial User means:

(i) All Industrial Users subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards under 40 CFR 403.6 and 40 CFR chapter I, subchapter N; and

(ii) Any other Industrial User that: discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater); contributes a process wastestream which makes up 5 percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW 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 POTW's operation or for violating any Pretreatment Standard or requirement (in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6) ).

(2) The Control Authority may determine that an Industrial User subject to categorical Pretreatment Standards under § 403.6 and 40 CFR chapter I, subchapter N 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:

(i) The Industrial User, prior to the Control Authority's finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical Pretreatment Standards and Requirements;

(ii) The Industrial User annually submits the certification statement required in § 403.12(q) together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

(iii) The Industrial User never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

(3) Upon a finding that an Industrial User meeting the criteria in paragraph (v)(1)(ii) of this section has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating any Pretreatment Standards or requirement, the Control Authority may at any time, on its own initiative or in response to a petition received from an Industrial User or POTW, and in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(6) , determine that such Industrial User is not a Significant Industrial User.

(w) The term Submission means:

(1) A request by a POTW for approval of a Pretreatment Program to the EPA or a Director;

(2) A request by a POTW to the EPA or a Director for authority to revise the discharge limits in categorical Pretreatment Standards to reflect POTW pollutant removals; or

(3) A request to the EPA by an NPDES State for approval of its State pretreatment program.

40 C.F.R. §403.3

46 FR 9439, Jan. 28, 1981, as amended at 49 FR 5132, Feb. 10, 1984; 49 FR 28059, July 10, 1984; 51 FR 20430, June 4, 1986; 51 FR 23760, July 1, 1986; 52 FR 1600, Jan. 14, 1987; 53 FR 40610, Oct. 17, 1988; 55 FR 30129, July 24, 1990; 70 FR 60191, Oct. 14, 2005