N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 21 § 1960.5

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 50, December 11, 2024

Section 1960.5 - Conditions to the use of the water board's POTW and MS4

(a) Prohibited wastewater discharges and certain notifications to water board.

(1) No person shall discharge, allow to be discharged, or otherwise allow to enter any of the following proscribed waters or wastes to the water board POTW or MS4, any sanitary sewer, combined sewer, or to the diversion sewer:

(i) Any pollutant which creates a fire or explosion hazard, including but not limited to, waste streams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than 140° F (60° C) as determined by using the test methods specified in 40 CFR part 262.21.

(ii) Any waters or wastes containing solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, acting either singly or by interaction with other properly shredded wastes, which may create damage, cause pass through or interference, be a hazard to the water board personnel, create a public nuisance, create a hazard to life, or after treatment cause a violation of the water board's SPDES discharge permit.

(iii) Any water or wastes which will cause corrosive structural damage, but in no case those discharged with the following properties:

(a) having a pH less than 5.0;

(b) having a pH greater than 12.0 for any period exceeding 30 minutes;

(c) having a pH greater than 10.0 for more than five hours daily or 70 hours monthly;

(d) having by itself or by interaction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, properties which would cause the pH of the effluent of the water board POTW or MS4 to be outside the range of 6.0-9.0 for greater than 60 minutes;

(e) having by itself or by interaction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, any other aggressive property in a quantity or quality capable of causing damage or hazard to any structure or equipment;

(iv) any solid or viscous substance, including but not limited to fats, waxes, greases, petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oils, or products of mineral oil origin, of such quantity or size discharged, or by interaction with other substances, which cause obstruction of flow in the POTW, interference of the POTW, or pass through;

(v) any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150° F (65° C) at the discharge to the water board POTW or MS4. In addition, any liquid or vapor which causes, either singly or in combination with other wastewater discharges, the combined influent to the water board POTW to exceed 104° F (40° C) is also prohibited;

(vi) any materials containing radioactivity of such half-life, concentration or other property as may exceed limits established by applicable State or Federal laws, regulations, guidelines or limitations, or that may cause the water board POTW's or MS4's effluent or sludge to exceed such laws, regulations, guidelines or limitations, or to be classified as a hazardous substance under the Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act;

(vii) slug or batch discharges which, in the opinion of the director, could cause or substantially contribute to an upset of the POTW treatment process, or result in a violation of the water board's SPDES discharge permit;

(viii) any waters or wastes containing substances which, either singly or in combination with other properly shredded wastes, are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the wastewater treatment processes employed, or are amenable to treatment only at excessive cost or amenable to treatment only to such degree that the water board's POTW effluent cannot meet the requirements of the water board's SPDES discharge permit;

(ix) any waters or wastes from a motor vehicle, tank truck or any other mobile conveyance without prior written authorization by the director, specifying the nature, volume, manner, time and place of discharge except for such mobile conveyance discharges from within an SIU facility to sewers carrying water through a monitoring station;

(x) any substance which may cause the water board's POTW or MS4 effluent or any other product of the water board POTW or MS4 such as residues, sludge, furnace solids, or scum, to be unsuitable for discharge, disposal, reclamation or reuse. In no case shall a substance discharged to the water board's POTW or MS4 cause the water board POTW or MS4 to be in non-compliance with sludge use or disposal criteria, air emissions permit, guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act (including title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act), the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substance Control Act, the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act or State criteria applicable to the sludge management method being used;

(xi) any pollutant, including oxygen demanding pollutants, released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which will cause interference with the water board's POTW;

(xii) any discharge of pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or fumes within the water board POTW or MS4 in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems.

(2) The occurrence of discharge of wastewater under emergency conditions and the spillage of wastewaters in quantity or quality not in accord with the provisions of this section shall be reported by telephone to the water board POTW treatment plant duty operator immediately. Such occurrence or spillage shall be confirmed by letter to the director within five working days when requested by the director at the time of the telephone report or later by written request (SIUs must report according to section 1960.6 of this Part). Persons responsible for the discharge shall take all available means to reduce the volume and rate of discharge and shall cooperate with water board personnel to reduce potential damaging effects.

(b) Prohibited activities.

(1) No person shall engage in any activities that cause or contribute to a violation of the water board's SPDES stormwater discharge permit or the water board being subject to special conditions.

(2) Upon notification to a person that he or she is engaged in activities that cause or contribute to violations of the water board's SPDES stormwater discharge permit authorization, that person shall take all reasonable actions to correct such activities such that he or she no longer causes or contributes to violations of the water board's SPDES stormwater discharge permit authorization.

(c) Local limits for the water board POTW.

(1) In accordance with the provisions in 40 CFR 403, specific local limits shall be developed, adopted and enforced. A user may not introduce into the POTW any pollutant(s) which can cause pass through or interference. These general prohibitions and the specific prohibitions listed in this section apply to each user introducing pollutants into the water board POTW whether or not the user is subject to other national pretreatment standards or any other national, State, or local pretreatment requirements.

(2) No user shall discharge, allow to be discharged, or otherwise allow to enter the water board POTW any substances, materials, waters, or wastes in quantities greater than those listed in Wastewater Facilities Administrative Procedure No. 6. "Determination and Use of Local Limits," unless the user has been granted permission via a valid discharge permit. In no circumstances, can less stringent limitations violate any applicable pretreatment standard or requirement. These limitations are deemed pretreatment standards for the purposes of section 307(d) of the Clean Water Act.

(3) The water board shall continue to develop these limits as necessary and effectively enforce these limits.

(d) Required notice of change in volume or character of wastes.

(1) All users must obtain prior approval from the director to discharge new or significantly increased wasteloads.

(2) Any user discharging to the water board POTW who plans to change the volume or character of said discharge significantly, shall notify the director no less than 15 working days prior to the commencement of any alteration or construction that will result in a significant change in the volume or character of its discharge.

(3) All users must notify the director of his or her designee no less than 15 working days prior to initiating maintenance work, tank cleaning or demolition, internal sewer plumbing cleaning or repair or any other activity which will temporarily change the volume or character of the wastewater discharge to the water board POTW.

(e) Measuring, recording and sampling devices.

(1) The water board is authorized, pursuant to 40 CFR section 403.8(f)(1) of the pretreatment standards, to require any user to install monitoring equipment in a suitable location so that the water board POTW can monitor the user's discharge, and require the user to conduct self monitoring and reporting.

(2) All meters and all other measuring and sampling devices installed or required to be used under the provisions of this Part shall be readily accessible to the director. The owner of the property upon which any such measuring, recording or sampling device is installed shall pay for and shall remain responsible for its maintenance and accuracy. All repairs and calibrations thereto shall be made at the owner's cost, whether such repairs are made necessary by ordinary wear and tear or by other causes. These repairs shall be made within such time period as prescribed by the director. After proper notification, the water board can undertake such repairs, and the costs for said repairs shall be due and payable at that time, shall be collected in the same manner and shall be subject to the same penalties as are the costs for repairs of water meters. Energy for continuous operation, as required, shall be provided and paid for by the property owner. Flow record charts shall be changed by the user as required, shall be marked to show time and totalizer register reading at time of change, and shall be available to the director upon request.

(3) All industrial users shall keep records on file for a minimum of three years of all records, flow charts, laboratory calculations or any other pertinent data on their discharge to the water board POTW. This retention period may be extended during litigation or notice from the water board.

(f) Information requirements.

(1) All users of the POTW or MS4 shall file, with the water board, wastewater information deemed necessary by the director for determination of compliance with this Part, the water board's SPDES discharge permit conditions, and State and Federal law. Such information shall be provided by completion of a questionnaire supplied by the director and by supplements thereto as may be necessary. Information requested in the questionnaire and designated by the discharger as confidential is subject to the conditions of confidentiality as set out in this subdivision.

(2) Where a person owns, operates or occupies properties at more than one location, separate information submittals shall be made for each location as required by the director.

(3) Information and data obtained through the water board's pretreatment program from reports, questionnaires, permit applications, permits, monitoring programs and from inspections shall be available to the public without restriction unless the user specifically requests and is able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the water board that the release of such information would divulge information, processes or methods of production entitled to protection as trade secrets of the user. The water board shall implement measures to insure the confidentiality of information provided by a user pursuant to this Part. In no event shall any claimed confidential information be disclosed to the public without prior notice in writing to the user, and without providing the user with the opportunity to seek judicial relief.

(4) In accordance with section 308 of the Clean Water Act, all information as described in this subdivision shall be immediately available to the USEPA administrator or authorized representative(s) of the USEPA administrator without limitation.

(5) In no case shall effluent data be considered proprietary or restricted data. Any and all such effluent data shall be made available to the public on request through Freedom of Information Law provisions.

(6) Any industrial user now or in the future discharging to the diversion sewer, upon and after the effective date of this Part shall provide a copy of the applicable State SPDES application and any subsequent permit to the director for such discharge or continuation of such discharge.

(g) Water board's right of revision. The water board reserves the right to establish more or less stringent limitations or requirements on discharges to the water board POTW or MS4 to be consistent with the objectives presented in section 1960.2 of this Part. However, in no circumstance can less stringent limitations violate any applicable pretreatment standard or requirement.

(h) Right of entry, inspection and collateral activities.

(1) Personnel as designated by the director shall be permitted at any time to enter upon all properties served by the water board POTW or MS4 for the purpose of, and to carry out, inspection of premises, observation, measurement, sampling and testing, in accordance with the provisions of this Part to determine compliance or non-compliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements and stormwater permit requirements. Personnel shall also be permitted to inspect and copy any and all documentation pertaining to discharge monitoring and analysis.

(2) To the extent allowed under their respective laws and regulations, designated representatives of USEPA, NYSDEC and Niagara County Health Department shall be permitted at any time to enter upon all properties served by the water board POTW or MS4 for the purpose of, and to carry out, inspection of premises, observation, measurement, sampling and testing, in accordance with the provisions of this Part to determine compliance or non-compliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements.

(i) Notification of spills. Notwithstanding other requirements of law, as soon as any person responsible for a facility or operation, or responsible for emergency response for a facility or operation has information of any known or suspected release of materials which are resulting or may result in illegal discharges or pollutants discharging into the MS4, that person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment and cleanup of such release. In the event of such a release of hazardous materials, emergency response agencies of the occurrence via emergency dispatch services should be notified immediately. In the event of a release of non-hazardous materials, the board should be notified in person or by telephone or facsimile no later than the next business day. Notifications in person or by telephone shall be confirmed by written notice addressed and mailed to the municipality within three business days of the telephone notice. If the discharge of prohibited materials emanates from a commercial or industrial establishment, the owner or operator of such establishment shall also retain an on-site written record of the discharge and the actions taken to prevent its recurrence. Such records shall be retained for at least three years.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 21 § 1960.5