N.J. Admin. Code § 7:14A-22.17

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 24, December 18, 2024

Section 7:14A-22.17 - Sewer ban imposition

(a) A sewer connection ban shall be imposed in accordance with this subchapter, when any one of the following events occurs:

1. The downstream sewerage facilities do not have adequate conveyance capacity as defined in N.J.A.C. 7:14A-1.2;

i. If the cause of inadequate conveyance capacity is a one-time overflow occurrence which has been determined to be the result of extreme and unusual precipitation, or equipment malfunction which has been repaired, the owner/operator may notify the Department, Division of Water Quality, in writing within 20 days of the occurrence and request relief from the imposition of the sewer ban.

ii. The Department may require any local agency requesting relief pursuant to this provision to provide additional detailed justification, including, but not limited to, a sewer system capacity analysis and evaluation;

2. For a three month consecutive period, a treatment works has discharged effluent to a surface water which violates the limitations for any of the conventional pollutants, as defined in (b) below, of its NJPDES or NPDES permit, as determined by the arithmetic average of the permit parameters for the period;

3. For a three month consecutive period, a treatment works has discharged effluent to the surface water which violates any non-conventional pollutant of its NJPDES or NPDES permit, as determined by the arithmetic average of the permit parameters for the period, and the sewerage authority or municipality does not meet one of the following requirements for relief from the sewer connection ban imposition:

i. The treatment plant owner has entered into an administrative/judicial consent order with the Department that contains a schedule for the completion of improvements necessary to enable the treatment facility to comply with all the conditions and limitations of its NJPDES permit; or

ii. A treatment works approval permit for the improvements necessary to enable the treatment facility to comply with all conditions and limitations of its NJPDES permit has been issued and a contract for the construction has been awarded; or

4. For a three month consecutive period a treatment works has discharged effluent to ground water which violates any effluent or flow limitations of its NJPDES or NPDES permit, as determined by the arithmetic average of the permit parameters for the period.

(b) For the purpose of the sewer ban imposition and rescission criteria, "conventional pollutant" shall mean NJPDES discharge permit limitations established for oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD, CBOD, NBOD and TBOD), total suspended solids (TSS), pH and bacterial quality indicators (fecal coliform, total coliform, enterococci).

(c) For surface water dischargers, violations of NJPDES effluent requirements for flow, percent removal, or toxicity shall not require the imposition of a sewer connection ban. In the case of a treatment facility at or above 95 percent of its permitted flow, the facility shall be subject to the provisions of the Capacity Assurance Program specified at N.J.A.C. 7:14A-22.16.

(d) For the purposes of ban imposition and rescission criteria only, if a valid NJPDES permit contains more than one means of measuring an oxygen demanding pollutant (example: CBOD or NBOD or TBOD), then consistent compliance with only one measurement is required.

(e) In the event that the sewerage authority and/or municipality does not impose the required sewer connection ban, the Department may cease issuing treatment works approval permits, direct the imposition of a sewer connection ban and take other enforcement actions that it deems necessary.

(f) Sewer connection bans in effect and imposed pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14A-22.18 shall remain in full force and effect unless specifically allowed to be rescinded by the Department in writing, and in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:14A-22.18(f).

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:14A-22.17

Amended by 49 N.J.R. 1191(a), effective 5/15/2017