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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 17075-07-2006ORDINANCE NO 17075-07 2006 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ARTICLE VI `INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER SECTION 12.5=603 `FEES OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH (1986), AS AMENDED, ADOPTING A FEE SCHEDULE FOR THE WASTEWATER PRETREATMENT PROGRAM, PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE IS CUMULATIVE, PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE PROVIDING A PENALTY CLAUSE AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, the Pretreatment Division of the Fort Worth Water Department operates a pretreatment program designed to prevent the mtroduchon of pollutants into the City's wastewater system that will interfere with its operation, WHEREAS the purposes of the pretreatment program include protecting the health and safety of Crty personnel and the general public, promoting the reuse and recycling of industrial wastewater and sludge, and enabling the City to comply with federal and state regulations, WHEREAS pursuant to Section 12 5-b31 of the City Code, significant industrial users (Group I), wastewater haulers (Group IV) and ground water remediation dischargers (Group V) are prohibited from discharging wastewater into the Crty s wastewater system without a wastewater discharge permit; WHEREAS the Water Director may require any commercial facility and small industrial user (Group II) or classed high strength users such as restaurants (Group III) to obtain a wastewater discharge permit as a condition of discharging into the City's wastewater system, WHEREAS restaurants and other food service establishments are a mayor source of grease m the City's wastewater system, which can increase system maintenance costs and cause sanitary sewer overflows, WHEREAS, the Water Director has determined that is advisable to require food service establishments to obtain a wastewater discharge permit to be known as a grease trapJinterceptor discharge permit" and to pay an annual permit fee of $136 m order to enable the City to identify and regulate potential sources of grease m the City's wastewater system and to provide funding for the City's grease abatement program, WHEREAS Section 12.5-603 of the City Code permits the Crty Council to adopt a schedule of reasonable fees for reimbursement of costs of setting up and operating the City's pretreatment program, NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH F Schedule Ordinance CRL 06.23 06v1 SECTION 1 Section 12.5-603 `Fees of the Code of the City of Fort Worth (1986), as amended, is further amended to read as follows (a) The City Council shall adopt a schedule of fees for reimbursement of costs of setting up and operating the City's pretreatment program which may include (1) Fees for wastewater discharge permits, (2) Fees for momtonng, inspection and surveillance procedures including the cost of collecting and analyzing a user's discharge and reviewing monrtonng reports submitted by users, (3) Fees for reviewing and responding to accidental discharge procedures and construction, (4) Fees for filing appeals, and (5) Other fees as the Director may deem necessary to carry out the requirements contained within this Article. (b) Such fees shall relate solely to the matters covered by this Article VI and are separate from and in addition to all other fees, fines and penalties assessable by the City (c) The fee schedule may be amended from time-to-time as the City Council deems reasonably necessary SECTION 2 This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are m direct conflict with the provision of such ordinances and such Code, m which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. Fee Schedule Ordinance CRL 06.23 06v1 SECTION 3 It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and, if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent ~unsdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the mcorporahon m this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 4 Any person, firm or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be fined not more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000 00) for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. SECTION 5 All nghts and remedies of the City of Fort Worth, Texas are expressly saved as to any and all violations of the provisions of the ordinances amended and repealed m Section 1 which have accrued at the time of the effective date of this ordinance and, as to such accrued violations and ail pending litigation, both civil and criminal, whether pending m court or not, under such ordinances, same shall not be affected by this ordinance but may be prosecuted until final disposition by the courts. Fee Schedule Ordinance CRL 06.23 06v1 SECTION 6 The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, is hereby directed to publish the caption and Section 5 of this ordinance for two (2) days m the official newspaper of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, as authorized by Section 2, Chapter XXV of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth, Texas and by Section 52 013 Texas Local Government Code SECTION 7 This ordinance will take effect on July 25 2006 APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY Assistant ty Attorney Adopted. July 25, 2006 Effective ~ ~ F Schedule Ordinance CRL 06.23 06v1 Exhibit A Pretreatment Program Fee Schedule Wastewater Discharge Permit Fees Group I. Significant industrial users The fee for each facility is determined annually based on the time, effort and resources utilized to administer the pretreatment program for such facility for the previous year Costs are based on three phases of the program. sampling, analytical and administration. Sampling costs are determined by the fees for samples collected for the facility according to the fee schedule for the Water Department Centralized Water and Wastewater Laboratory approved by the City Council (M&C G-14518) Analytical costs are determined by the fees for analyses performed for samples collected at the facility according to the fee schedule for the Water Department Centralized Water and Wastewater Laboratory approved by the City Council, x the number of analyses performed. Administrative costs are determined by dividing the cost of operating the pretreatment program by the number of administrative units assigned to each facility Administrative amts are assigned to each facility based on compliance record, number of outfalls, number of inspections performed, type of permit and amount of time required for quality control of data and files based on the number of sampling events during the previous year Group III. Food establishments only $136 per year Group N Wastewater haulers $300 per vehicle per year Group V Ground water remediation dischargers $5 000 for two-year contract $500 for one-time discharge contract Group I Significant Industrial Users. Fees for monitoring, inspection and surveillance procedures including the cost of collecting and analyzing a user's discharge and reviewing monitoring reports submitted by users, Fees for reviewing and responding to accidental discharge procedures and construction, Fees for filing appeals, and Other fees as the city may deem necessary to carry out the requirements contained herein. F Schedule Ordinance CRL 06.23 06v1 City of Fort Worth, Texas Mayor and Council Communication COUNCIL ACTION Approved on 7/25/2006 Ordinance No 17075-07 2006 DATE Tuesday July 25 2006 LOG NAME 60PERMIT FEE REFERENCE NO G 15327 SUBJECT Adopt Ordinance Amending Section 12 5-603 of the City Code and Adopt Fee Schedule Consolidating Current Fees for Wastewater Discharge Permits and to Establish Grease Trapllnterceptor Discharge Permit Fee for Food Service Establishments ~~ RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance amending Section 12 5-603 of the City Code to consolidate current fees for wastewater discharge permits and to establish an annual fee for grease trap/interceptor discharge permits for food service establishments. DISCUSSION Certain types of commercial and industrial users must obtain a wastewater discharge permit from the Pretreatment Division of the Water Department in order to discharge wastewater into the City's collection and treatment system Section 12 5-631 of the City Code divides alf non-domestic users that discharge into the public wastewater system into Groups I II III IV and V Significant industrial users (Group I) wastewater haulers (Group IV) and ground water remediation dischargers (Group V) are prohibited from discharging wastewater into the City's system without obtaining a permit and paying an annual fee The Water Director may require any Group II (commercial facilities and small industrial users) and Group III (restaurants or other businesses that can be classed according to any average or abnormal strength of their wastewater) to obtain a wastewater discharge permit. `Strength is a relative measure of the concentration of organic matter contained in wastewater The higher the strength the higher the treatment cost. The Water Director has determined that it is appropriate to require food service establishments to obtain a wastewater discharge permit, which will be known as a grease trap/interceptor discharge permit" Food service establishments are a major source of grease in the City's wastewater system which can increase system maintenance costs, flooding and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) SSOs are an enforcement priority for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Since 1998 the EPA has levied $14 million in penalties and secured judgments requiring billions of dollars of corrective action Requiring food service establishments to obtain a grease trap/interceptor discharge permit will enable the Water Department to identify and regulate potential sources of grease in the City's wastewater system and to provide funding for the City's grease abatement program The Retail Rate Advisory Committee has endorsed the permit requirement for food service establishments. Section 12 5-603 authorizes the City Council to adopt a schedule of reasonable fees for wastewater discharge permit applications. Approval of this M&C will consolidate all fees currently charged for wastewater discharge permit fees into a schedule incorporated in the City Code and will establish a $136 annual permit fee for food service establishments. Logname 60PERIVIIT FEE Page 1 of 2 FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION The Finance Director certifies that the Water Department Customer Service Division will be responsible for collection of fees due to the City as a result of this action TO Fund/Account/Centers FROM Fund/Account/Centers PE45 493062 0701000 0.00 Submitted for City Manager's Office b~ Marc Ott (6122) Originating Department Head. S Frank Crumb (8207) Additional Information Contact: S Frank Crumb (8207) Logname 60PERMIT FEE Page 2 of 2