§ 13.12.010. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter and unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them by this section:

"Act" means the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, also known as the Clean Water Act, as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.

"Approval authority" means Environmental Protection Agency and State of New Mexico.

"Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)" means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure, five (5) days at twenty (20) degrees Centigrade expressed in terms of mass and concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/l)).

"Categorical pretreatment standard" or "categorical standard" means any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the U.S. EPA.

"Chemical oxygen demand (COD)" means a measure of the oxygen consuming capacity of organic and inorganic matter in wastewater expressed in terms of mass and concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/l)).

"City" means the City of Hobbs, New Mexico.

"Color" means the optical density at the visual wavelength of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One hundred (100) percent transmittance is equivalent to zero optical density.

"Environmental Protection Agency" or "EPA" means the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the term may also be used as a designation for other duly authorized official of said agency.

"Hauled liquid waste" means any sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers and septic tanks.

"Indirect discharge (discharge)" means the introduction of pollutants into the POTW from any nondomestic source regulated by the UPDES program and/or the U.S. Water Quality Act 307 B, C and D.

"Industrial user (user)" means any non-municipal user who is a source or potential source of discharge or indirect discharge.

"Instantaneous maximum allowable discharge limit" means the maximum concentration (or loading) of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any grab or composite sample collected.

"Interference" means a discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources both: (1) inhibits or disrupts the POTW; and (2) causes a violation of all applicable permit(s) or noncompliance with any local, State or Federal regulations.

"Medical waste" means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood byproducts, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, fomites, etiologic agents, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes and dialysis wastes.

"Noncontact cooling water" means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product.

"Pass through" means a discharge which exits the POTW 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 discharge permit(s). Included is that which causes an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation.

"Person" means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents or assigns. This definition includes all Federal, State or local government entities.

"pH" means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units (SU).

"Pollutant" means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, industrial wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, agricultural and industrial wastes, and the characteristics of the wastewater (i.e., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, COD, toxicity, odor).

"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 introducing such pollutants into the POTW.

"Pretreatment requirements" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment imposed on an industrial user, other than a national pretreatment standard.

"Pretreatment standards" or "standards" means categorical pretreatment standards and local limits established by the City.

"Prohibited discharge standards" or "prohibited discharges" means absolute prohibitions against the discharge of certain substances or certain wastewater characteristics.

"Publicly owned treatment works (POTW)" means those treatment works and systems which are owned by the City. This definition includes any devices or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of municipal/domestic sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature discharged into the sanitary sewer system. Also included are any conveyances, such as pipelines, conduits or channels which convey wastewater to the treatment plant(s).

"Sewage" means human excrement and gray water (household showers, dish washing operations, etc.).

"Significant industrial user" means and applies to industrial users subject to categorical pretreatment standards and any other industrial user that: discharges an average of twenty-five thousand (25,000) gallons per day (gpd) or more of process wastewater (excludes sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blow-down wastewater); contributes a process waste stream which makes up five (5) percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the treatment plant; or is designated as significant by the City of Hobbs 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.

"Slug load/discharge" means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the prohibited discharge standards of this chapter or any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including, but not limited to, an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge.

"Storm water" means any flow which occur during or following any form of natural precipitation, and results from such an event, including snow melt.

"Total suspended solids (TSS)" means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.

"Toxic pollutant" means one (1) of one hundred twenty-six (126) pollutants, or combination of those pollutants, listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by the EPA.

"Treatment plant effluent" means any discharge from the POTW.

"Utilities Director" means the person designated by the City of Hobbs to supervise the operation of the POTW, and who is charged with certain duties and responsibilities by this chapter or his or her duly authorized representative.

"Wastewater" means liquid and water-carried industrial wastes, and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.

"Wastewater treatment plant" or "treatment plant" or "wastewater reclamation facility" means that portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage and industrial waste.

( Ord. No. 1079 , 11-3-2014)