Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 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.
