New York Codes, Rules and Regulations
Title 21 - Miscellaneous
Chapter XXX - Niagara Falls Water Board
Part 1960 - Wastewater Regulations
Section 1960.6 - Significant industrial users

Universal Citation: 21 NY Comp Codes Rules and Regs ยง 1960.6

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024

(a) Required control manhole and/or monitoring station.

(1) Each SIU shall install either a suitable control manhole or monitoring station, in each industrial plant connection to the water board POTW or any other connections deemed necessary by the director. Control manholes shall be suitable for inspection, observation, sampling, testing and measurement of plant discharges. Monitoring stations shall provide safe adequate space and equipment for continuous flow rate measurement and recording, and for the taking of 24-hour composite samples proportional to rate of flow, with refrigeration of samples. Such equipment shall include an event marker to indicate the time and frequency of sample collection.

(2) Each such control manhole and/or monitoring station shall be readily accessible and shall be located and constructed in accordance with plans approved by the director. The control manhole and/or monitoring station with equipment shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times to designated water board personnel. If continuous and immediate access to the monitoring station is not available, a control manhole to which there is such access shall be provided by the SIU in addition to the monitoring station. There shall be no more than two monitoring stations for any industrial plant unless specifically authorized by the director.

(3) Any SIU may be required to provide, install and maintain monitoring and other equipment as deemed necessary and appropriate upon determination by the director.

(b) Determination of wastewater characteristics.

(1) Samples shall be collected on a continuous basis unless otherwise specified by the director. Composite samples shall be collected by automatic sample collection equipment over a 24-hour period. In the event of an equipment malfunction a manual composite sample, consisting of a minimum of eight discrete grab samples, shall be collected at equal time intervals over the 24- hour compositing period. The grab samples shall be composited proportional to the flow rate over the 24-hour compositing period. More than the minimum number of discrete samples may be required in instances where pollutant loading and/or flow rate is highly variable.

(2) Samples shall be collected and preserved in accordance with 40 CFR part 403.12 including, but not limited to, cooling samples to 4° C during the compositing period.

(3) Unless waived by the director, all SIUs are required to collect samples seven days per week. The director may waive weekend sampling if past performance and process characteristics indicate such action is warranted. When a weekend composite sample is required, it shall be a flow-proportioned composite of each discrete daily composite sample. The 72-hour composite sample shall include Friday a.m. through Monday a.m. Records of daily integrator numbers and the percent of flow each day's sample represents shall be recorded and made available upon request.

(4) Each SIU, unless waived by the director, is required to retain a minimum of three samples on rotation at all times. The first sample shall be the current sample undergoing compositing. The second sample is the completed composite sample which represents the discharge from the preceding 24 hours. The third sample is a completed composite sample from the next preceding 24 hours. These samples shall not be split or otherwise altered without prior authorization from the director.

(5) A log shall be maintained in each monitoring station and shall contain the date, time and flow integrator number at the time each daily sample is removed, the gallons conversion factor, and daily flow in million gallons per day. Comments detailing unusual events, equipment malfunctions, etc. shall also be recorded.

(6) Upon demonstration by a person that the characteristics of the wastewater discharged by that person are consistent, the director may reduce the frequency of monitoring except as may be required by authority other than this Part, except in no case shall the frequency of monitoring be less than semi-annually for the determination of compliance with pretreatment or local standards.

(7) All required periodic compliance reports shall be signed by an authorized representative of the industrial user.

(8) Laboratory and field measurements, tests, and analyses of the characteristics of wastewater required by this Part shall be performed in accordance with 40 CFR part 403.12. Any report submitted pursuant to this Part shall specify the standard practices used.

(9) The department must be notified by telephone within 24 hours when the monitoring or sampling equipment is inoperative for more than one working day.

(c) Slug discharges.

(1) Each SIU shall provide protection from a slug discharge of prohibited materials or substances regulated by this Part. Facilities to prevent slug discharge(s) of prohibited materials shall be provided for and maintained at the owner's or user's own expense, as determined by the director.

(2) Each existing SIU shall be evaluated at least once every two years as to whether or not the SIU needs a plan to control slug discharge(s). In addition, any new SIU shall be reviewed for the need of a plan at the time of application for an SIU permit. The director may require any user to develop, submit for approval, and implement such a plan. Alternatively, the director may develop such a plan for any user. In the event a plan is required, the user shall submit this plan to the department for review and approval within 90 calendar days of notification.

(3) Review and approval of such plans and operating procedures shall not relieve the user from the responsibility to modify the user's facility as necessary to meet the requirements of this Part. In the case of a slug discharge, it is the responsibility of the user to immediately upon becoming aware of the violation, telephone and notify the water board POTW of the incident. The notification shall include location of discharge, type of waste, concentration and volume, and corrective actions.

(4) In the event of a violation of any applicable pretreatment limit, the user must resample and submit the analytical results of this resampling to the POTW within 30 days.

(5) Within five business days following a slug discharge, the user shall submit to the director a detailed written report describing the cause of the discharge and the corrective action to be taken by the user to prevent similar future occurrences. Such report shall not relieve the user of any expense, loss, damage, or other liability which may be incurred as a result of damage to the water board POTW, fish kills, or any other damage to person or property. Such report shall be considered in imposing any fines, civil penalties, or other liability which may be imposed by this Part.

(6) A notice shall be permanently posted on the user's bulletin board or other prominent place advising the user's employees whom to notify in the event of a slug discharge. Users and/ or employers shall ensure that all employees who may cause or suffer such a discharge to occur are advised of the emergency notification procedure.

(7) A slug discharge control plan shall address, at a minimum, the following:
(i) description of discharge practices, including non-routine discharges;

(ii) description of stored chemicals;

(iii) procedures to immediately notify the water board POTW of any slug discharge, as required by section 1960.5 of this Part; and

(iv) procedures to prevent adverse impact from any slug discharge. Such procedures include, but are not limited to, inspection and maintenance of storage areas, handling and transfer of materials, loading areas, control of plant site runoff, worker training, building of containment structures or equipment, measures for containing toxic organic pollutants (including solvents) and/or measures and equipment for emergency response.

(d) Permit application, approval, fee.

(1) All proposed new industrial users shall complete and submit to the director application for approval to discharge at least 30 calendar days prior to connecting to, or contributing to, the water board's POTW. Upon receipt of all required information, the application will be processed and the determination of user status shall be made. In the event the industrial user is classified as an SIU, a discharge permit will be issued. The fee for such permit and each subsequent renewal shall be $250 which is payable in advance to the water board.

(2) A user wastewater discharge permit shall include at a minimum:
(i) a statement of duration;

(ii) a statement of non-transferability;

(iii) applicable Federal, State and local effluent limits;

(iv) self-monitoring, sampling, reporting, notification and recordkeeping requirements; and

(v) a statement of applicable civil penalties.

(3) In the event that the application noted in paragraph (1) of this subdivision results in the industrial user not being classified as an SIU, but does indicate pollutants, which in the opinion of the director are in sufficient quantity or quality to warrant monitoring, the industrial user will be issued an ICU wastewater discharge permit. The maximum duration of such permit will not exceed five years. The fee for such permit, and each renewal thereafter, shall be $100 which is payable to the water board.

(4) Any existing SIU must have a valid current SIU permit from the water board in order to lawfully discharge to the water board POTW.

(5) The director shall not issue an SIU permit for any connection to the water board's POTW unless there is sufficient capacity, not committed to other users, in the wastewater sewers and treatment facilities to convey and adequately treat the quantity of wastewater which the requested connection will add to the system.

(e) Permit modifications.

(1) User permits shall be revised and issued as soon as possible (e.g., within 90 days) subsequent to a change of or promulgation of a categorical pretreatment standard to require compliance with such standard within the time frame prescribed by such standard. Where an SIU, subject to a categorical pretreatment standard, has not previously submitted an application for an SIU permit as required by subdivision (d) of this section, the user shall apply for an SIU permit within 180 calendar days after the promulgation of the applicable categorical pretreatment standard. In addition, the user with an existing SIU permit shall submit application for permit modification to the director within 180 calendar days after the promulgation of an applicable categorical pretreatment standard.

(2) An SIU shall notify the director in writing not less than 60 calendar days prior to initiating the discharge of industrial wastes from a new plant, or from a plant which has been out of operation or purchased from another user.

(3) SIUs must obtain prior approval from the director to discharge new or significantly increased wasteloads. The approval may require modification to the SIU permit.

(4) Any request for modification to a current SIU wastewater discharge permit shall be made in writing to the water board. Such request shall contain a description of the change including but not limited to the changes in pollutant character, if any. The fee for such application for modification shall be $250 payable at the time of request to the water board.

(f) Permit duration. Permits shall be issued for a specified time period, not to exceed five years. A permit may be issued for a period less than a year, or may be stated to expire on a specific date. The user shall apply for permit reissuance a minimum of 90 calendar days prior to the expiration of the user's existing permit. The terms and conditions of the permit may be subject to modification by the water board, during the term of the permit, as limitations or requirements are modified or other just cause exists. Any changes or new conditions in the permit shall include a reasonable time schedule for compliance.

(g) Permit transfer. Permits are issued to a specific user. A permit shall not be reassigned or transferred without the approval of the director. Any succeeding owner or user to which a permit has been transferred shall also comply with all terms and conditions of the existing permit.

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