Title
An Ordinance to Amend Sections 2:41.2a Through 2:41.2f, 2:43.1, 2:43.4, 2:44.2, 2:44.4, 2:45.2, 2:45.5, 2:47.2, 2:49.3, 2:49.5 Through 2:49.8, and 2:50.2 of Chapter 28 (Sanitary Sewer) of Title II of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor (Ordinance No. ORD-18-26)
Memorandum
Your approval is requested to amend sections 2:41.2a through 2:41.2f, 2:43.1, 2:43.4, 2:44.2, 2:44.4, 2:45.2, 2:45.5, 2:47.2, 2:49.3, 2:49.5 through 2:49.8, and 2:50.2 of Chapter 28 (Sanitary Sewer) of Title II of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) staff and a consultant who specializes in local-limit studies and Industrial Pretreatment Program (IPP) requirements have been working on updating the City’s Sewer Use Ordinance (SUO). Some of the resulting changes are a result of a headworks/local-limit study, which was required as part of the WWTP’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit, specifically the portion that requires the City to have an IPP. The other changes are designed to: (1) improve the IPP’s efficiency, (2) give WWTP staff the ability to work with industrial dischargers to continue meeting NPDES permit limits, (3) protect the watershed, and (4) help prevent Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO’s) caused by those who repeatedly discharge grease above the limit in the SUO. The attached document shows the proposed changes to the SUO, Chapter 28 of the City Code.
The proposed changes are highlighted and in red text. They start with definitional updates and additions and continue with changes that deal with surcharge levels and discharge limits. The new values come from the headworks/local limits study. The next changes deal with Special Allocation Limits and allow WWTP staff to allocate the industrial loading based on an industry’s need instead of a one size fits all discharge model.
The final proposed changes deal with grease discharges and would enable the City to issue permits to food service establishments that cause continual grease issues in the sanitary sewer. These repeated grease discharges cause excess maintenance and increase the possibility of SSO’s.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has approved these changes (as required by the City’s NPDES permit). The City Attorney has also reviewed the attached document and the MDEQ, as part of their approval process, has published a 30-day notice of the proposed changes that allows for comments and requests for a public hearing. At the end of the 30-day period, absent comments or a request for a public hearing that would change its course, the MDEQ will be mailing written approval of the changes.
Staff
Prepared by: Keith Sanders, Assistant Manager WWTSU
Reviewed by: Craig Hupy, Public Services Area Administrator
Approved by: Howard S. Lazarus, City Administrator
Body
(See attached ordinance)