Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0400-40-14-.03

Current through June 26, 2024

Section 0400-40-14-.03 - DEFINITIONS

(1) In addition to the meanings provided in the Water Quality Control Act of 1977, T.C.A. § 69-3-103, for the purposes of this chapter:

"Administrator" means the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Approval Authority" means the Division of Water Resources Director or the Director's representative(s).

"Approved WWF Pretreatment Program" or "Program" or "WWF Pretreatment Program" means a program administered by a WWF that meets the criteria established in this chapter and has been approved by the Division.

"Best Management Practices" or "BMPs" means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in subparagraph (1)(a) and paragraph (2) of Rule 0400-40-14-.05. BMPs also includes treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.

"Blowdown" means the minimum discharge of recirculating water for the purpose of discharging materials contained in the water, the further buildup of which would cause concentration in amounts exceeding limits established by best engineering practices.

"Bypass" means the intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of an Industrial User's treatment facility.

"Control Authority" means the WWF with an approved pretreatment program or the Approval Authority if the WWF does not have an approved pretreatment program.

"Control mechanism" means a permit, order, or similar means of establishing enforceable requirements.

"Director" means the director of the Division.

"Discharge" means either a direct addition of pollutants to waters from a source or an indirect discharge depending on the context in which it is used.

"Division" means the Tennessee Division of Water Resources, or the Division's successor.

"Effluent limitation" means any restriction established by the board or the Commissioner, on quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological and other constituents that are discharged into waters or adjacent to waters.

"Effluent limitations guidelines" means any effluent limitations guidelines issued by the Administrator pursuant to section 304(b) of the Federal Clean Water Act.

"Environmental Protection Agency" or "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

"EPA Water Management Division Director" means the Director of the Water Management Division within the appropriate Regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency or the director's delegated representative.

"Federal Clean Water Act" means the federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act) as amended, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq.

"General control mechanism" means a control mechanism that authorizes activity by more than one entity.

"Indirect Discharge" means the introduction of pollutants into a WWF from any non-domestic source.

"Industrial User" or "User" means a source of indirect discharge.

"Interference" means a discharge that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, inhibits or disrupts the WWF, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal, or exceeds the design capacity of the treatment works or the collection system.

"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 federal Clean Water Act, that applies to Industrial Users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to Rule 0400-40-14-.05.

"New source" means

(a) 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 federal Clean Water Act that will be applicable to such source if such Standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section, provided that:

1. The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or

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

3. 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 the production or wastewater generating processes 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 are considered.

(b) 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 part (a)2. or 3. of this definition but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(c) Construction of a new source as defined under this paragraph has commenced if the owner or operator has:

1. Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous onsite construction program:

(i) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment; or

(ii) Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities that is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or

2. Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts that 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.

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

"NPDES Permit" or "Permit" means a permit issued to a WWF pursuant to section 402 of the federal Clean Water Act and T.C.A. § 69-3-108.

"Pass Through" means a discharge that exits the WWF into waters of the state in quantities or concentrations that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the WWF's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

"Person" means any and all persons, including individuals, firms, partnerships, associations, public or private institutions, state and federal agencies, municipalities or political subdivisions, or officers thereof, departments, agencies, or instrumentalities, or public or private corporations or officers thereof, organized or existing under the laws of this or any state or country.

"Point source" means any discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged.

"Pollutant" means sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes.

"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 WWF. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or by other means, except as prohibited by paragraph (4) of Rule 0400-40-14-.06. 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 WWF. 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 paragraph (5) of Rule 0400-40-14-.06.

"Pretreatment requirements" means any substantive or procedural requirement related to Pretreatment, other than a National Pretreatment Standard, imposed on an Industrial User.

"Process wastewater" means any water that, during manufacturing or processing, comes into direct contact with or results from the production or use of any raw material, intermediate product, finished product, by-product, or waste product.

"Process wastewater pollutants" means pollutants present in process wastewater.

"Regional Administrator" means the regional administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency whose region includes Tennessee, or any person succeeding to the duties of this official.

"Severe property damage" means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities that causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources that can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass. Severe property damage does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.

Significant Industrial User

(a) "Significant Industrial User" means, except as provided in subparagraphs (b) and (c) of this definition:

1. All industrial users subject to Categorical Pretreatment Standards under 40 C.F.R. § 403.6 and 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter N; and

2. Any other industrial user that: discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the WWF (excluding sanitary, noncontact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater); contributes a process wastestream which makes up five percent or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the WWF 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 WWF's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or requirement (in accordance with subparagraph (6)(f) of Rule 0400-40-14-.08).

(b) The Control Authority may determine that an Industrial User subject to categorical Pretreatment Standards under Rule 0400-40-14-.06 and 40 C.F.R. 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:

1. The Industrial User, prior to Control Authority's finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical Pretreatment Standards and Requirements;

2. The Industrial User annually submits the certification statement required in paragraph (17) of Rule 0400-40-14-.12 together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

3. The Industrial User never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

(c) Upon a finding that an Industrial User meeting the criteria in part (a)2. of this definition has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting the WWF's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard 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 WWF, and in accordance with subparagraph (6)(f) of Rule 0400-40-14-.08, determine that such Industrial User is not a Significant Industrial User.

"Source" means any activity, operation, construction, building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be the discharge of pollutants.

"Standard of performance" means any restriction established by the Administrator pursuant to section 306 of the Federal Clean Water Act on quantities, rates, and concentrations of chemical, physical, biological, and other constituents which are or may be discharged from new sources into waters.

"Submission" means:

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

(b) A request by a WWF to the Director for authority to revise the discharge limits in categorical Pretreatment Standards to reflect WWF pollutant removals.

"Upset" means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical Pretreatment Standards because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the Industrial User. An Upset does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.

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

"Waters" means any and all water, public or private, on or beneath the surface of the ground, that are contained within, flow through, or border upon Tennessee or any portion thereof, except those bodies of water confined to and retained within the limits of private property in single ownership that do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface or underground waters.

"Wastewater Facility" or "WWF" means any or all of the following: the collection/transmission system, treatment plant, and the reuse or disposal system, that is owned by any person. 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 WWF Treatment Plant. The term also means the municipality as defined in section 502(4) of the Federal Clean Water Act, that has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works.

(2) For the purposes of this chapter, the following abbreviations shall have the following meanings:

BOD5 means five-day biochemical oxygen demand;

COD means chemical oxygen demand;

TOC means total organic carbon;

TDS means total dissolved solids;

TSS means total suspended nonfilterable solids;

kw means kilowatt(s);

kwh means kilowatt hour(s);

Mw means megawatt(s);

Mwh means megawatt hour(s);

hp means horsepower;

mm means millimeter(s);

cm means centimeter;

m means meter(s);

in means inch;

ft means foot (feet);

l means liter(s);

cu m means cubic meter(s);

k cu m means 1000 cubic meter(s);

gal means gallon(s);

cu ft means cubic foot (feet);

mg means milligrams(s);

g means gram(s);

kg means kilograms(s);

kkg means 1000 kilogram(s);

lb means pound(s);

sq m means square meter(s);

ha means hectare(s);

sq ft means square foot (feet); and

ac means acre(s)

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0400-40-14-.03

Original rule filed September 17, 2013; effective December 16, 2013. Rule renumbered from 1200-04-14. Amendments filed January 25, 2023; effective 4/25/2023.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-201, et seq., and 69-3-101, et seq.