Article I - General Provisions

This Ordinance is adopted pursuant to provisions of the N.C.G.S. Chapter 153A, Article 15. This shall apply to all persons who are users of the Cane Creek Water and Sewer District (CCWSD) sewer system and any other sanitary sewer system owned, operated and/or controlled by Henderson County, North Carolina or CCWSD.

The following abbreviations shall have the designated meanings:

• BOD - Biochemical oxygen demand.
• CCWSD - Cane Creek Water and Sewer District.
• CFR - Code of Federal Regulations.
• COD - Chemical oxygen demand.
• DEM - The North Carolina Department of Environmental, Health and Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Management.
• EPA - The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
• l - Liter.
• mg - Milligrams(s).
• mg/l - Milligram(s) per liter.
• MSD - Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County.
• NPDES - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
• OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• P.L. - Public Law.
• POTW - Publicly owned treatment works.
• SWDA - The Solid Waste Disposal Act.
• SIU - Significant industrial user.
• SS - Suspended solids.
• USC - United States Code.

The following terms are defined for purposes of this Chapter:

1. Accidental Discharge - Any release of wastewater which, for any unforeseen reason, fails to comply with any prohibition or limitation in this Ordinance.
2. Act or The Act - The Federal Water Pollution Control Act (P.L. 92-500), as amended by the Clean Water Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-217), the Clean Water Act of 1987, and as further amended (33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.).
3. Approval Authority - The Director of North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Management (DEM).
4. Authorized Representative of User
   
   1. A principal executive officer of at least the level of vice president if the user is a corporation.
   2. A general partner or proprietor if the user is a partnership or proprietorship, respectively.
   3. A representative of the user who is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the discharge originates.
   4. Any other duly authorized representative of the user.
5. Biochemical Oxygen Demand(BOD) - The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures in 5 days at 20° C. (68° F.) expressed in terms of weight and volume (milligrams per liter).
6. Board - The Board of County Commissioners of Henderson County which serves as the Board of Trustees of CCWSD.
7. Building Sewer or House Connection - The connecting pipe from a building, beginning 5 feet outside the inner face of the building wall, to a sanitary sewer service lateral.
8. Cane Creek Water And Sewer District (CCWSD) - A municipal corporation and body politic and corporate established under N.C.G.S. Chapter 162A, Article 6, to provide public water supply and sanitary sewer service within a geographic area whose boundaries have been established in accordance with said N.C.G.S. Chapter 162A, Article 6. As used in this Ordinance, CCWSD is used to refer to both the District and/or its geographic boundaries.
9. Categorical Standard - National Categorical Pretreatment Standard or pretreatment standard as defined below.
10. City - A municipality and/or its elected officials.
11. Color - Considered to be the true color of the light transmitted by a waste solution after removing suspended material, including pseudo colloidal particles.
12. Combined Sewer - A sewer receiving both surface storm water runoff and wastewater.
13. Constituents - The specific compounds and components which comprise the wastewater.
14. Control Authority - The Board of County Commissioners of Henderson County.
15. Cooling Water - The water discharged from any use, such as air conditioning, cooling or refrigeration, to which the only pollutant added is heat.
16. County - Henderson County and/or CCWSD.
17. County Engineer - A professional engineer registered in the State of North Carolina retained or employed by the County to advise on matters concerning the construction, operation and/or maintenance of its County sewerage system or any other person designated by the County.
18. County Sewerage System - Any sewerage system owned, operated and/or controlled by the County.
19. Developer Service Provider - A developer that owns a sewerage system (that serves or is intended to serve properties owned by separate parties) which discharges into a sewerage system owned or controlled by Henderson County, CCWSD or any other sewer district created and owned by the County.
20. Developer User - Any user who is either a developer service provider or a sewerage customer of a developer service provider.
21. Direct Discharge - The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the waters of the State of North Carolina.
22. Domestic Waste - All liquid and waterborne pollutants, as defined below, exclusive of unpolluted wastewater as defined below or wastewater as defined below or wastes from processes or operations of industrial users as defined below.
23. Environmental Protection Agency or EPA - The United States Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, the term may also be used as a designation for the Administrator or other duly authorized official of said Agency.
24. Flammable - As defined in §94-17A of this Ordinance.
25. Grab Sample - A sample which is taken from a waste stream on a 1 time basis with no regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.
26. Holding Tank Waste - Any waste from holding tanks, such as vessels, chemical toilets, trailers, septic tanks, vacuum pump tank trucks and septic tank haulers.
27. Indirect Discharge - The discharge or the introduction of nondomestic pollutants from any source regulated under the Act into the County sewerage system, including holding tank waste discharged into the sewerage system.
28. Industrial User - A user who discharges industrial waste, as that term is defined, into the County sewerage system.
29. Industrial Waste - The liquid and waterborne pollutants resulting from the processes or operations employed in industrial establishments.
30. Infiltration - The water entering sanitary sewers and building sewers from the soil through defective joints, broken or cracked pipe, improper connections, manhole walls or other defects in the County sewerage system as that term is defined above. Infiltration does not include and is distinguished from inflow.
31. Inflow - The water discharged into sanitary sewers and building sewers from such sources as roof leaders, cellar and yard area drains, foundation drains, commercial and industrial discharges of unpolluted wastewater as defined below and drains from springs and swampy areas. It does not include and is distinguished from infiltration.
32. Interference - The inhibition or disruptions of the wastewater treatment process (or operations or acts or discharges) which may cause damage to any portion of the County sewerage system or which contribute to a violation of any requirement of any permit regulating the operation of the County sewerage system, including a NPDES permit. The term includes interference with sewage sludge use or disposal in accordance with state or federal criteria, guidelines or regulations or any state or federal criteria, guidelines or regulation or any state or federal sludge management plan applicable to the method of disposal or use employed by the County sewerage system.
33. Master Sewer Permit - A permit issued to municipal service providers, public utilities, developer service providers, or a property owners' association service provider to allow a common sewer connection authorized by §94-8B of this Ordinance to connect into the County sewerage system. The master sewer permit may only be issued to municipal service providers, public utilities, developer service providers, or property owners' association service providers who own, operate, and maintain the sewage collection system serving the separate properties in question. Payment of all applicable fees shall be required prior to issuance of the master sewer permit. Individualized sewer permits for all customers served by the common connection shall be required pursuant to §94-40B
34. Municipal Service Provider - An incorporated town, municipality or village or a sewerage district established under N.C.G.S, Chapter 162A, which owns or controls a sewerage system (that serves or is intended to serve properties owned by separate parties) which discharges directly or indirectly into a sewerage system owned or controlled by Henderson County, CCWSD or any other sewer district created by the County.
35. Municipal User - Any user who is either a municipal service provider or a sewerage customer of a municipal service provider.
36. National Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Pretreatment Standard - Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA.
37. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit or NPDES Permit - A permit issued by the State of North Carolina regulating the discharge of wastewater into the surface waters of the state.
38. New Source - Any source, the construction of which is commenced after the adoption of this Ordinance.
39. Normal Domestic Waste - A waste having average concentrations of 300 mg/ l of BOD or less and 300 mg/l of suspended solids or less as determined by samples taken before entering the County sewerage system.
40. Person - Any individual, firm, company, association, corporation, governmental agency, board, commission or Municipal Corporation other than the County.
41. pH - The logarithm of the reciprocal of the concentration of hydrogen ions in moles per liter of solution. Stabilized pH is that determined after a sample of waste has been subjected to natural aeration.
42. Pollutant - Any solid waste, chemical waste, biological material, radioactive material, thermal waste or industrial, municipal or agricultural waste discharged into water.
43. Pollution - The man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological or radiological integrity of water.
44. POTW Treatment Plant - That portion of the POTW designed to provide treatment to wastewater.
45. Pretreatment - The lawful reduction of the amounts of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, the alteration of the nature of pollutants or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the County sewerage system.
46. Pretreatment Requirement - Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment other than a National Categorical Pretreatment Standard imposed on an industrial user.
47. Private Wastewater Disposal System - Any facilities for wastewater treatment and disposal not owned by a governmental entity
48. Properly Shredded Garbage - The organic wastes resulting from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of foods that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under flow conditions normally prevailing in sanitary sewers, with no particle being greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension.
49. Property Owners' Association Service Provider - A property owners' association that owns a sewerage system (that serves or is intended to serve properties owned by separate parties) which discharges into a sewerage system owned or controlled by Henderson County, CCWSD or any other sewer district created and owned by the County.
50. Property Owners' Association User - Any user who is either a property owners' association service provider or a sewerage customer of a property owners’ association service provider.
51. Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW - All facilities owned by the County, MSD or any of the governmental units within the County for collecting, pumping, treating or disposing of wastewater. This definition includes the POTW treatment plants and any sewers that convey wastewater to the POTW treatment plants (sewerage system).
52. Public Sewer - County sewerage system or any sewerage system owned or controlled by any governmental entity.
53. Public Utility- A public utility, which is regulated by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, that owns a sewage collection system (that serves or is intended to serve properties owned by separate parties) which legally discharges the sewage therefrom into the County sewerage system.
54. Public Utility User - Any user who is either a public utility or a sewerage customer of a public utility.
55. Public Water System - A government-owned water system.
56. Receiving Stream - That body of water, stream or watercourse receiving the discharge from a wastewater treatment plant or that body of water, stream or watercourse formed by the effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.
57. Sanitary Sewage - Sewage excluding process wastes from industrial users.
58. Sanitary Sewer - A public sewer that carries liquid and waterborne wastes from residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants and institutions, together with minor quantities of ground- and surface waters that are not intentionally admitted.
59. Sanitary Sewer Service Lateral - The sewer pipe which is connected on one end to the sanitary sewer and on the other end to the building sewer.
60. Sewage - A combination of water-carried wastes from residences and industrial users (wastewater).
61. Sewer - A pipe or conduit for carrying wastewater.
62. Sewerage System - All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of wastewater (POTW).
63. Significant Industrial User or SIU- Any industrial user of the POTW who:
    
    1. Has a discharge flow of 25,000 gallons or more per average workday;
    2. Has a discharge which is greater than 5% of the hydraulic flow or organic design capacity of the POTW;
    3. Has a discharge which contains toxic pollutants or priority pollutants as defined in the Act or federal or North Carolina law, statutes, rules or regulations;
    4. Is found by the County, the approval authority, or the EPA to have significant impact, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the County sewerage system, the quality of sludge, the system's effluent quality or air emissions generated by the County sewerage system.
64. Sludge - Any discharge of water or wastewater for any duration during which the rate of flow or concentration of any constituent increases to such magnitude so as to adversely affect the operation of the County sewerage system or the ability of the wastewater treatment plants to meet applicable water quality objectives.
65. Standard Industrial Classification or SIC - A classification of an industry based on its product or service.
66. Standard Methods - The analytical procedures set forth in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, or EPA Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes.
67. State - The State of North Carolina.
68. Storm Sewer or Storm Drain - A sewer which carries storm waters and surface waters and drainage, but which excludes sanitary sewage and polluted industrial wastewater.
69. Stormwater - Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
70. Strength Of Waste - The concentration of pollutants or substances contained in a liquid waste.
71. Subdivision - A development of 2 or more single-family residences intended for owner occupancy with individual residences located on individual lots.
72. Suspended Solids - The total solid matter that either floats on the surface of or is suspended in water or liquid waste and which is removable by laboratory filtration.
73. Toxic Pollutant - Any pollutant or combination of pollutants listed as toxic in federal or state law or regulations promulgated by the EPA.
74. 24 Hour Flow Proportional Composite Sample or Composite Sample- A sample consisting of at least 8 portions collected during a 24 hour period or the total period of waste flow if less than 24 hours in which the sample portions are collected proportionate to the flow and proportionately combined into a single sample. Alternate sampling requirements may be established in a user's permit to discharge industrial wastes and/or by the approved authority.
75. Unpolluted Wastewater:
    
    1. Any wastewater which is substantially free of pollutants and is discharged from the following:
       
       1. Rain downspouts and drains.
       2. Footing drains.
       3. Storm- and surface water drains.
       4. Cooling water systems.
    2. Unpolluted wastewater shall contain, by definition, none of the following:
       
       1. BOD in excess of 10 mg/l.
       2. Suspended solids in excess of 10 mg/l.
       3. Free or emulsified greases or oils.
       4. Acids or alkalis.
       5. Phenols or other substances imparting taste or odor to receiving waters.
       6. Toxic or poisonous substances.
       7. Noxious or odorous gases.
       8. Temperature which exceeds 60° C. (or 140° F.) at its introduction into a storm sewer or which exceeds 40° C. (104° F.) at its introduction into a receiving stream.
    3. "Unpolluted wastewater" shall also mean any wastewaters judged by the DEM to be admissible to streams and watercourses under the jurisdiction of the DEM and in accordance with the standards of water quality established by the DEM for the particular stream or watercourse into which such unpolluted wastewater is to be discharged.
76. User - Any person, who directly or indirectly discharges, causes or permits the discharge of wastewater into the County sewerage system, including, but not limited to, municipal users and public utility users.
77. Wastewater - Sewage.