Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Unless exempted
pursuant to (c) below, every owner of a system shall employ a licensed operator
holding the license prescribed by the Department for that classification of system
as follows:
1. S licenses are licenses to operate a
public wastewater treatment system.
2. C
licenses are licenses to operate a public wastewater collection system.
3. T licenses are licenses to operate a public
water treatment system. A T licensed operator may operate any VSWS.
4. W licenses are licenses to operate a public
water distribution system. A W licensed operator may operate any VSWS.
5. N licenses are licenses to operate an
industrial wastewater treatment plant.
6. NS licenses are licenses to operate an
industrial wastewater treatment system consisting only of an oil water separator or
a sedimentation unit.
7. CN licenses are
licenses to operate only the public wastewater collection system which a person was
operating on July 2, 1984. A CN license is restricted to a particular system,
permits the operator to continue operating only that system, and shall not be used
to meet the licensed operator requirements for any other system.
8. NN licenses are licenses to operate an
industrial wastewater treatment system which a person was operating with a valid
S-In license on July 2, 1984. However, the NN license shall not be used to meet the
licensed operator requirements for any other system.
i. S-In licenses were licenses to operate
industrial wastewater treatment systems. These licenses were discontinued effective
July 2, 1984.
9. VSWS
licenses are licenses to operate:
i. A public
community water system, which serves 100 or fewer dwellings or properties, and which
does not have treatment; or
ii. A public
nontransient noncommunity water system which has no treatment or treatment in the
form of disinfection, home style ion exchange units or any other treatment which
does not require chemical addition, process adjustment, backwashing, media
regeneration (for example, calcium carbonate filters, granular activated carbon,
cartridge filters).
(b) The licensed operator shall be in charge of
the operation of the system.
1. If a system is
reclassified by the Department, the licensed operator of the reclassified system may
continue as the licensed operator of that system, regardless of the new
classification of that system, except that a VSWS licensed operator shall not
operate a system reclassified so that it requires a T or W licensed
operator.
(c) A licensed
operator is not required for the following systems:
1. Industrial wastewater treatment systems and
public wastewater treatment systems which do not require an individual NJPDES permit
or a NJPDES general permit authorization to discharge pursuant to N.J.A.C.
7:14A;
2. Industrial wastewater
treatment systems for which an authorization to discharge has been issued under a
NJPDES general permit pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A, for stormwater runoff only, unless
specifically required in the NJPDES general permit;
3. Industrial wastewater treatment systems which
consist of American Petroleum Institute (API) approved or equivalent gravity
oil/water separators and/or sedimentation units used to treat discharges consisting
solely of stormwater runoff not commingled with other wastewater;
4. Industrial wastewater treatment systems which
are designed to treat a monthly average of less than 4,000 gallons daily of process
wastewater prior to indirect discharge to a Public Wastewater Treatment System for
which an individual NJPDES significant indirect user permit has been issued pursuant
to N.J.A.C. 7:14A solely on the basis that the permittee is subject to Federal
categorical pretreatment standards;
5.
Industrial wastewater treatment systems and public wastewater treatment systems for
which a general permit authorization to discharge has been issued pursuant to
N.J.A.C. 7:14A that specifically exempts any related treatment systems from the
licensed operator requirements;
6.
Industrial wastewater treatment systems and public wastewater treatment systems for
which an individual NJPDES permit or a NJPDES general permit authorization to
discharge has been issued pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A for a Class V Injection Well
which relies solely upon gravitational means or an automatic siphon to convey a
discharge;
7. Public wastewater
treatment systems for which a NJPDES/DGW permit has been issued pursuant to N.J.A.C.
7:14A that perform discharge monitoring for the parameter of flow only, and which
are designed and constructed in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:9A and with the oversight
of the local administrative authority; and
8. Public wastewater collection systems determined
by the Department to consist of one establishment or building complex pursuant to
N.J.A.C. 7:14A-23 and which has no more than one gravity lateral
connection.
(d) A holder of a
CN license shall serve as the licensed operator only at the system for which the CN
license was issued.
(e) A holder of an
NN license shall serve as the licensed operator only at the system for which the NN
license was issued.
(f) Any time the
licensed operator is unavailable to cover the system for which he or she is the
licensed operator, the owner shall obtain the services of a licensee holding a
license not more than one class lower than the classification required for the
operation of the system to cover the system during the unavailability of the
licensed operator.
(g) Unless exempted
pursuant to (g)1 through 3 below, class 3 treatment systems and class 4 treatment
systems shall have the appropriate full-time licensed operator. In addition, class 4
treatment systems should have a licensee possessing any valid treatment license
within the appropriate system classification, physically present at the treatment
system during that portion of each 24-hour period when the licensed operator is not
present.
1. The Department shall exempt class 3 and
class 4 automated systems from the full-time operator requirement upon submission by
the owner or permittee, of a written request.
2. A written request for an exemption pursuant to
this subsection shall be submitted to the Division of Water Supply, P.O. Box 426,
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0426 for T systems and to the Division of Water Quality,
P.O. Box 029, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0029 for S and N systems, and shall include
the following:
i. The name and address of
facility;
ii. A description of facility
including classification;
iii. The
identification number of facility;
iv.
The name, address and telephone number of owner of facility;
v. The name and telephone number of contact person
onsite; and
vi. The basis upon which an
exemption is claimed.
3. An
exemption from the full time operator requirement shall specify the special
conditions of the exemption and the minimum number of hours the licensed operator is
required to be in attendance at the treatment system.
(h) The Department reserves the right to limit the
number of systems a licensed operator may operate and to specify the number of hours
the licensed operator is required to be in attendance at each system.
1. Any licensee who desires to serve as the
licensed operator for more than 10 VSWSs shall demonstrate to the Department that he
or she is able to comply with this chapter for each VSWS. The written demonstration
shall include:
i. The name, address, and telephone
number of the licensee;
ii. The name and
Public Water System Identification Number (PWSID) of each VSWS that the licensee
currently operates;
iii. The name and
PWSID of each VSWS the licensee proposes to operate;
iv. The number of hours needed to operate each
VSWS that the licensee currently operates and proposes to operate;
v. The approximate distance (in miles) of each
system above from the licensee's primary residence; and
vi. A proposed monthly schedule, including the
time spent at each VSWS and the estimated commute time to and from each
VSWS.
2. A licensee serving
as the licensed operator for more than 10 VSWS on January 1, 2009 shall submit the
demonstration required under (h)1 above to the Department no later than March 31,
2009.
3. The Department will consider
the compliance history for each of the operator's VSWS in determining whether the
demonstration required under (h)1 above is sufficient.
(i) Licensed operators shall notify the
Examination and Licensing Unit at least two weeks prior to changing their positions
or employment.
(j) The owner of a system
employing a new licensed operator shall notify, in writing, the Examination and
Licensing Unit of the name of the new licensed operator within two weeks after the
licensed operator begins his or her employment.
(k) No person shall operate a system in violation
of the provisions of the Act, this chapter or any other operating
requirements.
