N.J. Admin. Code § 7:14A-6.12 - Operation, maintenance, and emergency conditions
(a) A permittee
shall, at all times, maintain in good working order and operate the treatment
works and facilities which are installed or used by the permittee to achieve
compliance with the terms and conditions of the discharge permit. Proper
operation and maintenance, includes, at a minimum:
1. Effective performance based upon treatment
levels for which the treatment works was designed;
2. Adequate funding;
3. Effective management;
4. Adequate operator staffing and
training;
5. Regularly scheduled
inspection and maintenance programs; and
6. Adequate laboratory and process controls
including appropriate quality assurance procedures as described in 40 CFR Part
136 and applicable State laws and rules.
(b) Any permittee who operates a treatment
works shall satisfy the licensing requirements of the "Water Supply and
Wastewater Operators Licensing Act,"
58:11-64 et seq., and promulgated
pursuant thereto. This subsection requires the operation of back-up or
auxiliary facilities or similar systems when necessary to achieve compliance
with the conditions of the NJPDES permit or where required by applicable law or
regulation.
(c) All permittees
shall submit written verification to the Department that an operation and
maintenance manual for the treatment works, including related appurtenances and
collection system, has been or will be completed by the effective date or a
compliance date included in a new or renewed NJPDES permit issued subsequent to
May 5, 1997. A permittee does not need to submit the operation and maintenance
manual to the Department, unless specifically directed to do so. When the
Department directs a permittee to submit the operation and maintenance manual,
the Department shall state the reasons for requiring the submittal in a letter
requesting the submittal. In the case of a NJPDES permit for stormwater
discharges or separate storm sewers which expressly exempts permittees from
this provision, the exemption shall apply only to the discharge authorized by
the permit. Any affected permittee shall comply with the following operation
and maintenance manual requirements:
1. The
operation and maintenance manual shall be made available for inspection upon
request by an authorized representative of the Department.
2. The operation and maintenance manual shall
be amended within 30 days after a change in the treatment works design,
construction, operations or maintenance which substantially changes the
treatment works operations and maintenance procedures.
3. An operation and maintenance manual shall
describe, at a minimum, the following:
i.
Operator and staff responsibilities;
ii. Staff guidance for emergency
situations;
iii. Identification of
NJPDES permit requirements and the obligation to meet these
requirements;
iv. Operating
procedures including a detailed description of each major treatment
unit/process with relationship to related units, safe operating procedure for
normal operation, including common operating problems, safe operating
procedures for operating during emergency conditions, and any fail-safe
features;
v. A program of regularly
scheduled inspection and maintenance;
vi. An emergency plan in accordance with (d)
below;
vii. A plan for monitoring
system process controls;
viii. A
list of names and telephone numbers of facility personnel to be contacted in
the event of emergency;
ix. A
sampling and/or water quality monitoring plan, if applicable to the
facility;
x. A schedule of meter
readings, tests, and chemical use, if applicable to the facility; and
xi. An inventory of equipment and supplies
necessary to operate and maintain the system.
(d) An emergency plan shall be included as
part of the operation and maintenance manual, except for those operations
issued permits under N.J.A.C. 7:14A-20.
1.
When a person has prepared an emergency plan required by regulations other than
this chapter, such plans or plan and any amendments necessary to meet the
requirements of this section will satisfy the requirements of this section
provided the plan is labeled to identify the requirements listed in this
section.
2. An emergency plan shall
be amended whenever:
i. There is a
modification, including expansion, of the treatment works; or
ii. Any other conditions related to the plan
have changed.
3. The
emergency plan shall be designed to ensure effective operation of the treatment
works under emergency conditions, and shall consist, at a minimum, of the
following elements:
i. A vulnerability
analysis which shall estimate the degree to which the treatment works would be
adversely affected by each type of emergency situation which could reasonably
be expected to occur, including but not limited to those emergencies caused by
natural disaster, civil disorder, strike, sabotage, faulty maintenance,
negligent operation or accident;
(1) The
vulnerability analysis shall include, but is not limited to, an estimate of the
effects of such an emergency upon the following:
(A) Power supply;
(B) Communication;
(C) Equipment;
(D) Supplies;
(E) Personnel;
(F) Security; and
(G) Emergency procedures to be
followed.
ii.
An evaluation of the possible adverse effects on public health and the
environment due to such an emergency; and
iii. An emergency operation plan for
ensuring, to the maximum extent possible, uninterrupted treatment works
operation and a manual of procedures for the implementation of such plan,
including procedures for the notification of any appropriate regulatory agency,
affected water supply purveyors, and any other municipal authority or agency.
The plan and manual shall address each of the emergency situations described in
the vulnerability analysis.
4. The Department shall not individually
review and approve an emergency plan as part of the permit issuance process.
The Department's decision not to review and approve an emergency plan shall not
exempt a person from liability for violations arising from an emergency
situation. A person shall take all necessary actions to mitigate the damage to
the waters of the State arising from an emergency situation. Such actions shall
not be limited by the emergency operating plan and the operation and
maintenance manual.
5. Failure to
have on file any part of the operation and maintenance manual in compliance
with (c) above and failure to implement the emergency plan pursuant to this
subsection shall each constitute a violation of this chapter.
6. In emergency situations, a permittee shall
implement the requirements of the emergency plan to the fullest extent
possible. In addition, any conditions of the emergency plan that the permittee
can implement prior to an emergency situation to reduce the potential for an
emergency situation, shall be implemented.
(e) A municipality or sewerage authority who
is not a permittee (for example, does not have a direct surface or groundwater
discharge) but who owns and operates a treatment works used only for the
collection or transportation of domestic sewage is not required to prepare an
operations and maintenance manual. However, the municipality or sewerage
authority shall be responsible for the proper operation and maintenance of that
treatment works. The criteria for proper operations and maintenance and an
emergency plan pursuant to (a) and (d) above, may be used as a guideline and
implemented as applicable.
Notes
See: 40 N.J.R. 3785(a), 40 N.J.R. 6961(a).
In (c)2, substituted "within 30 days after" for "whenever there is"; in (c)3v, deleted "and" from the end; in (c)3vi, substituted a semicolon for a period at the end; and added (c)3vii through (c)3xi.
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