October 20, 2026, Item #7
DATE:
TO:
FROM:
CONTACT:
SUBJECT:
Summary:
AGENDA RE PO RT City of Poway
October 20, 2026
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City~~
Eric Heidemann, Director of Public Works /\
Carlos Cortes, Utilities Administrator llfiG
(858) 668-4703 or [email protected] L,
CITY COUNCIL
Ordinance to Amend the Poway Municipal Code Regarding the Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment Program to Delegate Authority to the City of San Diego Effective July 1, 2026, the Second Amended and Restated Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement (SARA) transferred administrative control of the regional Industrial Wastewater Control Program (IWCP) to the City of San Diego (San Diego). To comply with the SARA, staff recommends updating Poway Municipal Code (PMC) Chapter 13.05 "Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment Program" to delegate industrial user (IU) permitting, inspection, and enforcement authority to San Diego. Approval of the attached Ordinance will codify these administrative changes and modernize local discharge definitions.
Recommended Action:
It is recommended the City Council introduce the Ordinance for first reading by title only, waive further reading, and schedule the adoption of the Ordinance for the November 17, 2026 Regular City Council meeting.
Discussion:
The City of Poway (City) owns and operates a wastewater collection system that serves residents in the City's service area. The City does not own a wastewater treatment plant, so sewage flows are conveyed via sewer lift stations, large-diameter pipelines, and gravity to San Diego's regional Metropolitan Sewerage System (Metro System). The Metro System spans throughout a large portion of San Diego County (County) and includes collection lines, sewer lift stations, and treatment plants.
Sewage flows from the participating agencies (PAs) converge in the Metro System where some flows are treated at San Diego's North City Water Reclamation Plant (NCWRP) where they are reclaimed for beneficial use or conveyed for further discharge, and some flows are treated at the Point Loma 1 of 19
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Wastewater Treatment Plant (PLWTP) where they are discharged as secondary effluent into the Pacific Ocean.
The City has been a member of the Metro System since the City's incorporation in 1980. Prior to the City's incorporation in 1980, local wastewater services were managed by the Pomerado County Water District (PCWD). PCWD held contracted flow capacity rights in the Metro System, which were formally transferred to the City upon its founding. In 2001, the City of Poway and other municipalities and special districts flowing to the Metro System founded the Metropolitan Joint Powers Authority (Metro JPA) as a governing body to jointly represent the agencies. The Metro JPA currently accounts for approximately 35% of the sewage flow and costs of the Metro System and has negotiated the terms of the 1998, 2021, and 2026 regional wastewater disposal agreements with San Diego.
The newly effective 2026 SARA and the accompanying Administrative Agreement were approved by City Council on December 2, 2025, and became effective on July 1, 2026. These amendments revised the governance policies of the Metro System and consolidated administrative control of the regional IWCP under the authority of San Diego for unified management.
Under this new administrative agreement, the City has approved San Diego's authority to directly issue permits to industrial users (IU}, inspect and monitor !Us, and collect fees and fines from IUs discharging to the Metro System on behalf of the PAs.
The purpose of the attached Ordinance is to reflect those approved administrative updates in the PMC Chapter 13.05 as necessary to align with the new division of responsibilities and to codify the authority of San Diego's IWCP program staff to administer the IWCP. Additionally, while staff reviewed PMC Chapter 13.05 for necessary changes, minor revisions were also made to modernize various items such as state agencies, prohibition parameters, and job titles; the attached Ordinance reflects these modernizing updates as well.
If this Ordinance is approved, San Diego will be authorized by the PMC to administer the City's IWCP as previously approved by City Council and as required by the SARA.
Environmental Review:
None.
Fiscal Impact:
These administrative IWCP updates transfer annual invoicing-which was previously charged to the City and cost-allocated to permitted !Us via wastewater rates-to direct billing of IUs within the City's service area by San Diego. Under previous agreements, San Diego's invoiced expenditure was budgeted annually in the Sewer Pumping/Disposal Division, Special Studies account 403070-17200 and included in sales revenue projections. Due to this transition, staff will no longer budget for this cost starting in Fiscal Year 2027-28.
Because this expenditure was directly offset by revenues collected through industrial user billing rates, removing the budget line-item results in no net financial impact to the Wastewater Enterprise Fund 5200. While local administrative oversight may decrease, overall operational expenses are 2 of 19
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expected to remain revenue-neutral, as program administration costs will likely be reflected in Metro System billings.
Public Notification:
None.
Attachments:
A. Ordinance Amending the Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment Program 3 of 19
Reviewed By:
Alan Fenstermacher
City Attorney
App~
Chris Hazeltine
City Manager
ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
POWAY, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHAPTER 13.05
(INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER PRETREATMENT PROGRAM) OF
THE POWAY MUNICIPAL CODE REGARDING THE TRANSFER
OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROGRAM CONTROL TO THE CITY OF
SAN DIEGO AS REQUIRED BY THE 2026 SECOND AMENDED
AND RESTATED REGIONAL WASTEWATER DISPOSAL
AGREEMENT
WHEREAS, the City of Poway owns and operates a public sewer system to provide municipal and industrial wastewater collection and conveyance services but, due to its geographic location, does not own or operate wastewater treatment or effluent discharge systems; WHEREAS, City of San Diego owns and operates a regional Metropolitan Sewerage System to provide shared conveyance, treatment, and effluent discharge or reuse for 12 participating wastewater agencies which share in the system capacity and costs; WHEREAS, the City of Poway is a member of the Metropolitan Joint Powers Authority and a participating agency of the Metropolitan Sewerage System and thereby holds contracted wastewater treatment and discharge capacity;
WHEREAS, the operation and administration of the shared Metropolitan Sewerage System is governed by a series of cons ecutive agreements including the 1998 Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement, the 2021 Amended and Restated Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement (ARA), and currently the 2026 Second Amended and Restated Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement (SARA) which wa s approved by the City Council of the City of Poway on December 2, 2025 and which took effect July 1, 2026; WHEREAS, the 1995 Poway Municipal Code (PMC) Chapter 13.05 establishes the City of Poway’s industrial wastewater pretreatment program which defines the regulation, permitting, monitoring, and enforcement of special industrial wastewater dischargers for the maximum beneficial public use of the sewer system;
WHEREAS, the City of Poway and City of San Diego jointly administer the permitting and oversight of special industrial dischargers within the City of Poway’s service area; WHEREAS, the SARA includes Administrative Agreement No. 1 which establishes the basis for the Unified Management of Industrial Waste Discharge Pretreatment and Enhanced Source Control Programs as a responsibility of the City of San Diego which requires participating agencies of the Metropolitan Sewerage System to transfer administrative control of their industrial wastewater control programs to the City of San Diego in an effort to centralize and streamline program efforts; and
WHEREAS, the City of Poway public works staff have reviewed PMC chapter 13.05 for obligatory changes needed in order to comply with the requirements of the 2026 SARA and have made the necessary revisions along with minor updates to modernized discharge prohibitions.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POWAY DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
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ATTACHMENT A
Ordinance No.
SECTION 1: The above recitations are true and correct.
SECTION 2: The City Council find
s that the requirements of the 2026 SARA along with
minor industry changes since 1995 necessitate substantive revisions to PMC chapter 13.05 as set forth herein.
SECTION 3: The City Council hereby approves this ordinance and amends certain sections of the PMC as specified below. Removals are indicated with strikethroughs and additions are indicated with underline.
SECTION 4: Chapter 13.05 of the PMC shall be amended as follows:
Chapter 13.05
INDUSTRIA
L WASTEWATER PRETREATMENT PROGRAM
Sections:
13.05.010 Title. This chapter shall be known as the “City of Poway Industrial Wastewater Pretreatment Ordinance.”
13.05.020 Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to provide for the maximum beneficial public use of the City’s wastewater system public sewer, as defined in PMC section
13.05.050, through adequate regulation of sewer construction, sewer use, and industrial wastewater discharge, to provide for equitable distribution of the City’s costs, and to provide procedures for complying with wastewater discharge requirements placed upon the City by other regulatory bodies.
13.05.030 Scope. This chapter shall be interpreted in accordance with the definitions set forth herein and the provisions of this chapter shall apply to the direct or indirect discharge of all waste into the City’s wastewater system public sewer.
This chapter provides
for the regulation of sewer construction in areas within the City’s boundaries, the quantity and quality of discharged wastes, the degree of waste pretreatment required, the setting of waste discharge fees to provide for equitable distribution of costs, the issuance of permits for industrial wastewater discharge and of other miscellaneous permits, and the establishment of penalties for violation of the ordinance codified in this chapter.
This chapter shall conform with the City's wastewater treatment and disposal agreement known as the Second Amended and Rested Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement Between the City of San Diego and the Participating Agencies in the Metropolitan Sewerage System (SARA) approved by Council in 2025 and shall conform with the City of San Diego’s municipal codes governing the shared Metropolitan Sewerage System to the extent required by the SARA and any subsequent agreement amendments and administrative agreements as defined in SARA. In the case of a discrepancy, between definitions and policies of this chapter and the City of San Diego’s municipal code governing the shared Metropolitan Se werage System, the City’s municipal code shall conform with and remain at least as stringent as the City of San Diego’s municipal code only as required by the SARA and any subsequent agreement amendments with all other sections remaining unaltered.
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13.05.040 Liquid waste disposal policy. The City builds and operates public sewers and wastewater facilities servin g
homes, industries, and commercial establishments. The
following policies apply to wastewater discharges within the City’s boundaries and to other discharges that are tributary to the City’s wastewater facilities.
Generally, wastewater originating within the City’s boundaries will be removed by the City’s wastewater system public sewer provided the wastewater will not (1) damage structures, (2) create nuisances such as odors, (3) menace public health, (4) impose unreasonable collection, treatment, or disposal costs on the City, (5) interfere with wastewater treatment processes, (6) exceed quality requirements set by regulatory government agencies, or (7) detrimentally affect the local environment.
The City is committed to a policy of wastewater renovation and reuse in order to provide an alternate source of water supply and to reduce overall costs of wastewater treatment and disposal. The renovation of wastewater through secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment processes may necessitate more stringent quality requirements on industrial wastewater dischargers than those required by other regulatory agencies.
To comply with stated policies of the Federal government and to permit the City to meet increasingly higher standards, provisions are made in this chapter for the regulation of industrial wastewater discharges. This chapter establishes quantity and quality limitations on industrial wastewater discharges. Methods of cost recovery from industrial wastewater dischargers where the discharges impose inequitable collection, treatment, or disposal costs on the City will be established by a resolution of the City Council of Poway or by the City of San Diego.
Recovery and reuse procedures established by industrial wastewater dischargers themselves to meet the limitations set on their discharges will be preferred by the City over those procedures designed solely to meet wastewater discharge limitations. Methods providing for beneficial reuse of otherwise wasted resources shall be the approved method of industrial wastewater treatment wherever feasible.
Optimum use of the City’s wastewater facilities may require that certain industrial wastewaters be discharged during periods of low flow in the City’s wastewater system public sewer.
13.05.050 Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter, the terms relating to water and wastewater shall be conform with the relevant sections of th e City of San Diego’s municipal code
pertaining to City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program as required by the 2026 SARA and subsequent amendments. Except as required by the SARA and subsequent amendments, definitions will remain as adopted in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation Water Environment Federation.
The meaning of other various terms as used in this chapter shall be as follows:
A. “Applicant” means a person, or group of persons, who applies for sewer service.
B. “Director of Public Services” means the department head of the Public Services Department of the City of Poway also known as the Director of Public Works or his/her designee. 6 of 19
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C. “Discharger” means any person or entity that discharges or causes a discharge of wastewater directly or indirectly to a public sewer.
D. “Domestic wastewater” means the liquid and waterborne wastes derived from the ordinary living processes in a dwelling unit, said wastes being of such character as to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into a public sewer or by means of a private disposal system.
E. “Industrial User Permit” OR “Permit for Industrial Wastewater Discharge” means the permit issued by staff of the City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program which authorizes industrial users to discharge wastewater of specified quality and quantity as defined within the permit and further prohibited by section 13.05.270 of this chapter.
E.F. “Industrial wastewater” means all wastewater, excluding domestic wastewater, and shall include all wastewater from any producing, manufacturing, processing, institutional, commercial, service, agricultural, or other operation. These may also include wastes of human origin similar to domestic wastewater.
F.G. “Mass emission rate” means the weight of material discharged to a public sewer during a given time interval.
H. “Metropolitan Sewerage System” means the entirety of the shared regional wastewater conveyance, treatment, and disposal system owned and operated by City of San Diego in which City maintains capacity rights.
G.I. “Person” means any individual, partnership, entit y, firm, association, corporation, or public agency including the State of California and the United States of America.
J. “Program Administrators” means Director of Public Works or the authorized representatives with delegated authority and responsibility. Under the terms of SARA, Program Administrator includes staff of the City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program.
K. “Program Inspectors” means any qualified person(s) retained, assigned and/or tasked by Program Administrators to conduct monitoring, sa mpling, or similar oversight activities on the permittee’s premises or via review of the permittee’s records. Program Inspectors identify themselves as representatives of the Program Administrators upon contact.
H.L. “Public sewer” means a sewer owned and operated by the City of Poway or sewers receiving
flows from the City into shared Metropolitan Sewerage System.
M. “Second Amended and Restated Regional Wastewater Disposal Agreement Between the City of San Diego and the Participating Agencies in the Metropolitan Sewerage System” or “SARA” means the interagency agreement by which City is obligated to certain terms including the general delegation of administration and enforcement of the industrial wastewater pretreatment program to City of San Diego on behalf of the Director of Public Works (or Director of Public Services). The SARA includes a framework for executing administrative agreements to serve as side agreements to the SARA without needing to amend the SARA.
I.N. “Standard methods” means procedures described in the current edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, as published jointly by the American Public Health 7 of 19
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Association, the American Water Works Association, and the Water Pollution Control Federation Water Environment Federation.
J.O. “Suspended solids” means any
insoluble material contained as a component of wastewater and capable of separation from the liquid portion of said wastewater by laboratory filtration as determined by the appropriate testing procedure and standard methods.
K.P. “Treatment facilities” means treatment works actually used in the treatment of wastewater or for the reclamation of wastewater.
L.Q. “Waste” means wastewater and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive, associated with human habitati on, of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing, or processing operation of whatever nature, including such wastes placed within containers of whatever nature, prior to and for the purpose of disposal.
M.R. “Wastewater” means waste and water, whether treated or untreated, discharged into or permitted to enter a public sewer.
N.S. “Wastewater constituents and characteristics” means the individual chemical, physical, bacteriological, or radiological parameters, including volume, flow rate, and such other parameters that define, classify, or measure the quality and quantity of wastewater.
O.T. “Wastewater system” or OR “fFacilities” means any and all facilities used for collecting, conveying, pumping, treating, and disposing of wastewater within the public sewer.
13.05.060 Responsibility for administration. As
required under the terms of the SARA
and subsequently ratified administrative agreements, the City and Tthe Director of Public Services shall have delegated to the City of San Diego the authority and responsibility to administer, implement, and enforce the provisions of this chapter. and relevant sections of City of San Diego’s municipal code pertaining to the industrial wastewat er control program. It is the intent of this delegation that the City of San Diego shall carry out the stated functional duties of this chapter.
The Director of Public Services may continue to jointly or independently administer, implement, and enforce provisions of this chapter which are not less stringent than those required by City of San Diego’s municipal code. Any powers granted to or duties imposed upon the Director of Public Services may be delegated by the Director of Public Services to persons in the employ of the City of Poway or any other duly authorized representative, agent, or agency. The staff and agencies authorized to administer the City’s industrial wastewater pretreatment program on behalf of the City are the Program Administrators.
The Director of Public Services or, pursuant to the requirements of the SARA, the City of San Diego shall make and enforce regulations necessary to the administration of this chapter and to relevant sections of City of San Diego’s municipal code. The Director may amend such regulations from time to time as conditions require but regulations must conform with the requirements of the SARA. These regulations shall be consistent with the general policy established herein by the City Council and shall conform with the policies of the SARA and City of San Diego’s relevant industrial wastewater control program codes.
13.05.070 Penalty for violation
s. Administration of penalties in accordance with the
provisions in this chapter and those required by City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program code is primarily conducted by City of San Diego to the extent required by the SARA. 8 of 19
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City may enforce additional penalties beyond those issued by City of San Diego in a manner that does not apply duplicative violation penalties on the violating party.
A. Public Nuisance. Discharge of wastewater in any manner in violation of this chapter or of any order issued by the Director of Public Services, as authorized by this chapter, is hereby declared a public nuisance and shall be corrected or abated as directed by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators. Any person creating such a public nuisance is guilty of a misdemeanor.
B. Injunction. Whenever a discharge of wastewater is in violation of the provisions of this chapter or otherwise causes or threatens to cause a condition of contamination, pollution, or nuisance, the Director of Public Services Program Administrators may cause the City to seek a petition to the Superior Court for the issuance of a preliminary or permanent injunction or both, as may be appropriate in restraining the continuance of such discharge.
C. Costs of Damage. Any person violating any of the provisions of this chapter or who has a discharge which causes a deposit, obstruction, damage, or any other impairment to the City’s facilities shall become liable to the City for all expense, loss, or damage occasioned the City by reason of such violation or discharge.
D. Falsifying of Information. Any person who knowingly makes any false statements, representation, record, report, plan, or other document filed with the Director of Public Services Program Administrators or who falsifies, tampers with, or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
E. Termination of Service. The City Program Administrators may revoke any industrial wastewater discharge permit issued pursuant to PMC 13.05.160 or terminate or cause to be terminated any wastewater service to any premises if a violation of any provision of this chapter is found to exist or if a discharge of wastewater causes or threatens to cause a condition of contamination, pollution, or nuisance. This provision is in addition to other statutes or rules authorizing termination of service for delinquency in payment.
When deemed necessary by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators, for the continuing preservation of public health or safety or for the protection of public or private property, the Director Program Administrators may suspend sewer service to any person or persons using the wastewater system in a manner or way to endanger the public health or safety of public or private property. In suspending service, the Director Program Administrators may sever all pertinent connections to the public sewer. If such endangerment shall be imminent, then the Director of Public Services may act immediately to suspend sewer service without notice or warning to said person or persons.
F. Civil Penalties. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or permit condition, or who discharges wastewater which causes pollution, or who violates any cease and desist order, prohibition, effluent limitation or national pretreatment standard, shall be liable civilly for a penalty not to exceed $300.00 for each day in which such violation occurs.
G. Criminal Penalties. Any person who intentionally violates any provision of this chapter or permit condition or who discharges wastewater which causes pollution or who violates any cease and desist order, prohibition, effluent limitation or national pretreatment standard shall be liable, upon conviction, for a sum not to exceed $10,000 for each day in which such violation occurs, or for imprisonment for not more than one year or both.
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13.05.080 Notice and appeal procedures. Unless otherwise provided herein or as determined by City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program code, any notice required to be given by the Director of Public Services under this chapter may be given by Program Administrators and shall be in writing and served in person or by registered or certified mail. If served by mail, the notice shall be sent to the last address known to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators. Where the address is unknown, service may be made upon the owner of record of the property involved.
Notice shall be deemed to have been given at the time of deposit, postage prepaid, in a facility regularly serviced by the United States Postal Service.
Any person found to be violating any provision of the chapter shall be served by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators with written notice stating the nature of the violation.
Within 30 days after the date of the notice, unless a shorter time is necessary due to the nature of the violation, a plan for the satisfactory correction thereof shall be submitted to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators. If the violation is not corrected by timely compliance, or a satisfactory correction plan submitted within the specified time, the Director of Public Services Program Administrators may order any person to show cause before the Director of Public Services Program Administrators why enforcement action should not be taken. A written notice shall be served on the person specifying the time and place of a hearing, the reason why the action is to be taken, and the proposed enforcement action. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators may propose any enforcement action reasonably necessary to abate the violation. Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, the Director of Public Services Program Administrators shall determine the appropriate enforcement action which should be taken, if any.
13.05.090 Time limits. Any time limit provided in any written notice or in any provision of this chapter may be extended only by a written directive of the Director of Public Services Program Administrators.
13.05.100 Inspection and sampling. Adequate identification shall be provided by the Director of Public Services Program Admini strators for all inspectors and other authorized personnel and those persons shall identify themselves when entering any property for inspection purposes or when inspecting the work of any contractor.
Inspection and sampling of every facility that is involved directly or indirectly with the discharge of wastewater to the City’s wastewater public sewer system may be made by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators as he deems nec essary. These facilities shall include but not be limited to sewers, wastewater pumping stations, pollution control plants, all industrial processes, food establishment facilities or other facilities which discharge grease and oil at levels which cause blockages to the sewer, industrial wastewater generation, conveyance and pretreatment facilities, and all similar wastewater facilities. Inspections may be made to determine that such facilities are maintained and operated properly and are adequate to meet the provisions of this chapter.
Access to all of the above facilities or to other facilities directly or indirectly connected to the City’s wastewater public sewer system shall be given to authorized personnel of the City Program Administrators at all reasonable times including those occasioned by emergency conditions. Any permanent or temporary obstruction to easy access to the wastewater facility to be inspected shall 10 of 19
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promptly be removed by the facility user or owner at the written or verbal request of the Director of Public Services Program Administrators and shall not be replaced.
No person shall interfer
e with, delay, resist, or refuse entrance to an authorized City program inspector attempting to inspect any wastewater generation, conveyance, or treatment facility connected directly or indirectly to the City’s wastewater public sewer system.
The City Program Administrators, through its assigned repr esentatives or inspectors, shall have
the right to inspect and copy pertinent records relating to a permittee’s wastewater discharge or pretreatment operations including inventories, chemical usage, materials sources, hazardous materials manifests and disposal records, treatment and operations log books and materials invoices.
13.05.110 Recording of fees and charges. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators shall keep a permanent and accurate account of all fees and charges received under this chapter, giving the names and addresses of the persons on whose account the fees and charges were paid, the date and amount thereof, and the purpose for which charges were paid.
13.05.120 Estimated quantities and values. Unless otherwise provided herein, whenever the fees and charges required by this chapter are based on estimated values or estimated quantities, the Director of Public Services Program Administrators shall make such determinations in accordance with established estimating practices.
13.05.130 Approval of plans and issuance of permits. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators will approve plans for wastewater facilities construction, approve issuance of a permit for industrial wastewater discharge or any other permit under the ordinance codified in this chapter only if it appears to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators that the wastewater facilities construction, sewer connection, industrial wastewater discharge, or other procedure conforms to the requirements of this chapter.
All required fees and charges shall be paid before approval of plans or issuance of a permit.
The approval of plans or the issuance of a permit shall not relieve the discharger of any duty imposed upon him pursuant to this chapter.
13.05.140 Malicious damage to City’s facilities. Any unauthorized entering, breaking, damaging, destroying, uncovering, defacing or tampering with any structure, equipment, or appurtenance which is a part of the City’s wastewater public sewer system shall be a violation of this chapter.
13.05.150 Waste disposal – Permit required. Any person, municipality, sanitation district, or governmental agency desiring to discharge industrial waste into a public sewer shall obtain a permit to discharge said wastes into said system from the Director of Public Services Program Administrators known as a permit for industrial wastewater discharge or by the City of San Diego an industrial user permit.
13.05.160 Permit for
industrial wastewater discharge. The permit for industrial wastewater discharge may require pretreatment of industrial wastewaters before discharge, restriction of peak flow discharges, discharge of certain wastewaters only to specified sewers of 11 of 19
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the City, relocation of point of discharge, prohibition of discharge of certain wastewater components, restriction of discharge to certain hours of the day, payment of additional charges to defray increased costs of the City of Poway created by the wastewater discharge, and such other conditions as may be required to effectuate the purpose of this chapter.
No person shall discharge industrial wastewaters in excess of the quantity or quality limitations set by the permit for industrial wastewater discharge industrial user permit. Any person desiring to discharge wastewaters or use facilities which are not in conformance with the industrial wastewater permit should apply to the City of Po way Public Services Department City of San Diego for an amended permit.
13.05.170 Discharge reports. The City Program Administrators may require that any person discharging or proposing to discharge wastewater into a public sewer file a periodic discharge report. The discharge report may include, but not be limited to, nature of process, volume, rates of flow, mass emission rate, production quantities, hours of operation, or other information which relates to the generation of waste, including wastewater constituents and characteristics in the wastewater discharge. Such reports may also include the chemical constituents and quantity of liquid or gaseous materials stored on site even though they may not normally be discharged.
In addition to discharge reports, the City Program Administrators may require information in the form of industrial wastewater discharge permit applications and self-monitoring reports.
In addition to the foregoing, the City Program Administrators may also require permittees to provide baseline monitoring reports, compliance schedule reports and final compliance reports.
13.05.180 Permit application.
A. Persons seeking an industrial wastewater discharge permit shall notify the City complete and file with the Director of Public Services Program Administrators, an application in the form prescribed by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators, and accompanied by the applicable fees. The applicant may be required to submit, in units and terms appropriate for evaluation, the following information:
1. Name, address and standard industrial classification number of applicant;
2. Volume of wastewater to be discharged;
3. Wastewater constituents and characteristics including but not necessarily limited to those mentioned in PMC 13.06.270 as determined by a laboratory approved by the City Program Administrators;
4. Time and duration of discharge;
5. Average and 30-minute peak wastewater flow rates, including daily, monthly, and seasonal variations if any;
6. Description of activities, facilities, and plant process on the premises including all materials, processes, and types of materials which are or could be discharged; and
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7. Any other information as may be deemed by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators to be necessary to evaluate the permit application.
B. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators will evaluate the data furnished by the applicant and may require additional information. After evaluation and acceptance of the data furnished, an on-site inspection of the waste discharge system, treatment systems, or other systems relating to the waste discharge may be required. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators may then issue an industrial wastewater discharge permit subject to terms and conditions provided herein.
13.05.190 Permit conditions. Industrial user permits, previously referred in this chapter as Iindustrial wastewater discharge permits shall be subject to all provisions of this chapter and all other regulations, user charges, and fees established from time to time by resolution of the City Council or by the City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program codes. The conditions of industrial wastewater discharge permits shall be uniformly enforced by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators in accordance with this chapter, City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program codes, and applicable local, State, and Federal regulations.
13.05.200 Duration of industrial wastewater discharge permits. 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. If the permittee is not notified by the Director of Public Services 30 days prior to the expiration of the permit, the permit shall be extended one additional year. The terms and conditions of the permit may be subject to modification and change by the City of Poway Program Administrators during the life of the permit as limitations or requirements as identified in PMC 13.05.270 or by City of San Diego’s industrial wastewater control program codes are modified and changed. The permittee shall be informed of any proposed changes in his permit at least 30 days prior to the effective date of change. Any changes or new conditions in the permit shall include a reasonable time schedule for compliance.
13.05.210 Transfer of an industrial wastewater discharge permit or changed use.
Industrial wastewater discharge user permits are non-transferrable and shall be issued only for specific use for a specific operation. Any sale, lease transfer or assignment of the premises or operation for which the permit was issued shall require a new permit to be issued. Any new or changed conditions of operation shall require a new permit to be issued.
13.05.220 Revocation of industrial wastewater discharge permit. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators may revoke the permit of any permittee who is found to be in violation of this chapter or applicable local, State, or Federal regulations or who:
A. Fails to factually report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of its discharge;
B. Fails to report significant changes in operations, or wastewater constituents and characteristics;
C. Refuses reasonable access to the permittee’s premises for the purpose of inspection or monitoring; or
D. Violates conditions of the permit.
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13.05.230 Industrial wastewater discharge permit fee. Program Administrators will collect An industrial wastewater discharge user permit fees will be collected annually from all permittees.
The permit fee will be established periodically by a resolution of the City Council Program Administrators in accordance with governing body approval policies; provided, however, that prior to considering any change in said permit fee by resolution as aforesaid, a notice of the proposed change shall be posted publicly by the City Clerk Program Administrators or delegated staff of the authorizing agency at least 10 days prior to consideration of such a resolution by the authorizing City Council governing body.
13.05.235 Collection of
monitoring fees. Where monitoring services are provided by either the City of Poway Program Administrators or an outside agency on the City’s Program Administrators’ behalf, the City of Poway Program Administrators shall assess the individual discharge permit holder of the industrial user permit the actual costs incurred by the City of Poway Program Administrators in conjunction with the monitoring and the administrative overhead for the management of the pretreatment program.
13.05.240 Sampling, self-monitoring, and flows. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators shall require the permittee to provide results of periodic measurements of its discharge which is to include chemical analyses and flow. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators may require a monitoring facility to be furnished and operated at permittee’s expense. All permittees making periodic measurements shall furnish and install at an appropriate location, a calibrated flume, weir, flow meter, or similar device suitable to measure flow rate and total volume approved by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators.
In lieu of wastewater flow measurement, the Director of Public Services Program Administrators may accept records of water usage and adjust the flow volume by suitable factors to determine peak and average flow rates for the specific industrial wastewater discharge. The monitoring facility should normally be situated on the permittee’s premises, but the Director of Public Services Program Administrators may, when such a location would be impractical or cause undue hardship on the user, allow the facility to be constructed in the public street or sidewalk area and located so that it will not be obstructed by landscaping or parked vehicles. Whether constructed on public or private property, the sampling and monitoring facilities shall be provided in accordance with the Director of Public Services Program Administrators requirements and shall be completed within 90 days following written notification by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators, unless a time extension is granted by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators. Those permittees required by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators to make periodic measurements of industrial wastewater flows and constituents shall annually make the minimum number of such measurements as required in the permit. When required by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators, permittees shall install and maintain in proper order automatic flow-proportional sampling equipment and/or automatic analysis and recording equipment. Permittees shall allow the City or its representative ready access at all reasonable times to all parts of the premises for purposes of sampling or in the performance of any of their duties. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators shall have the right to set up on the permittee’s property such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling or metering operation. Where a permittee has security measures in force, the permittee shall make the necessary arrangements with their security guards so that upon presentation of suitable identification, personnel of the City Program Administrators shall be permitted to enter without delay.
All sampling, analysis and flow measurement procedures, equipment, results, and records shall be subject at any time to inspection by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators. 14 of 19
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13.05.250 Pretreatment. Permittees shall make wastewater acceptable under the limitations established herein before discharging to any public sewer. Any facilities required to pretreat wastewater to a level acceptable to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators shall be provided and maintained at the permittee’s sole expense.
Detailed plans, compliance schedules, and operating procedures shall be submitted to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators for review and shall be approved by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators before construction of the facility. The review of such plans and operating procedures will in no way relieve the permittee from the responsibility of modifying the facility as necessary to produce an effluent acceptable to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators under the prov isions of this chapter. Any subsequent changes in the pretreatment facilities or method of operation shall be reported to and be approved by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators. No permittee shall increase the use of processed water or, in any way, attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with any local, State, or Federal discharge standard.
The Director of Public Services Program Administrators shall have the authority in negotiation with any industrial permittee, to impose compliance schedules relating to installation of specific pretreatment equipment, filing of reports, and achievement of specific discharge conditions including target parameter concentrations.
13.05.260 Protection from accidental discharge.
A. Each permittee shall provide protection from accidental discharge of prohibited materials or from other substances regulated by this chapter. Facilities to prevent accidental discharge of prohibited materials shall be provided and maintained at the permittee’s own cost and expense.
B. In the case of an accidental discharge, it is the responsibility of the permittee to immediately notify both the Director of Public Services of the City of Poway and the City Manager of the City of San Diego Program Administrators of the incident. The notification shall include location of discharge, type of waste, concentration and volume, and corrective actions. Within five days following an accidental discharge, the permittee shall submit to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators a detailed written report describing the cause of the discharge and the measures to be taken by the permittee to prevent similar future occurrences. Such notification shall not relieve the permittee of any expense, loss, damages, or other liability which may be incurred as a result of damage to the wastewater public sewer systems, fish kills, or any other damage to persons or property; nor shall such notification relieve the permittee of any fines, civil penalties, or other liability which may be imposed by this chapter or other applicable law. A notice shall be permanently posted on the permittee’s bulletin board or other prominent place advising employees who to call in the event of an accidental discharge. Permittees shall ensure that all employees who may cause, allow, or observe such an accidental discharge to occur are advised of the emergency notification procedures.
13.05.270 Prohibited discharges. In most cases, the concentration or amount of any particular constituent which will be judged to be excessive or unreasonable cannot be foreseen but will depend on the results of technical determinations and the actions of regulatory agencies.
The list of constituents which may be regulated provides specific limits only where they are not reasonably well established. The other constituents in the list are presented with the objective of enumerating the types of wastes which will be regulated from time to time. No person shall 15 of 19
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discharge or cause to be discharged to a public sewer, which directly or indirectly connects to the City’s wastewater system, the following any constituents prohibited by City of San Diego or listed in the following items:
A. Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, solvent, fuel oil, or any liquid, solid or gas that would cause or tend to cause flammable or explosive conditions to result in the wastewater public sewer system;
B. Any matter containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in such quantities that, alone or in combination with other substances, may create a health hazard for humans, animals, or the local environment, interfere detrimentally with wastewater treatment processes, cause a public nuisance, or cause any hazardous condition to occur in the wastewater public sewer system;
C. Any matter having a pH lower than 5.0 or having any corrosive or detrimental characteristic that may cause injury to wastewater treatment or maintenance personnel or may cause damage to structures, equipment, or other physical facilities of the wastewater public sewer system;
D. Any solids or viscous substances or other matter of such quality, size, or quantity that they may cause obstruction to flow in the sewer or be detrimental to proper wastewater treatment plant operations. These objectionable substances include, but are not limited to, asphalt, dead animals, offal, ashes, sand, mud, straw, industrial process shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, wood, whole blood, manure, bones, hair and fleshings, entrails, fatty acids, grease and oil, paper dishes, paper cups, milk containers, or other similar paper products, either whole or ground;
E. Any rainwater, stormwater, groundwater, street drainage, subsurface drainage, roof drainage, yard drainage, water from yard fountains, ponds, or lawn sprays, or any other uncontaminated water;
F. Any matter having a temperature higher than 150 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius) or at a temperature which causes the influent to the waste treatment plant to exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius);
G. Any matter containing more than 500 250 mg/l of oil or grease;
H. Any strongly odorous matter or matter tending to create odors;
I. Any matter containing over 1.0 mg/l of dissolved sulfides;
J. Any matter with a pH high enough to cause alkaline incrustations on sewer walls;
K. Any matter promoting or causing the promotion of toxic gases;
L. Any matter requiring an excessive quantity of chlorine or other chemical compound used for disinfection purposes;
M. Any excessive amounts of deionized water, steam condensate, distilled water, or single-pass cooling water;
N. Any radioactive matter, except:
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1. When the person is authorized to use radioactive materials by the State California Department of Public Health or other governmental agency empowered to regulate the use of radioactive materials, and
2. When the
matter is discharged in strict
conformity with current California Radiation Control
Regulations (California Administrative Code of Regulations, Title 17), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations and recommendations for safe disposal, and
3. When the person is in compliance with all rules and regulations of all other applicable regulatory agencies;
O. Any matter producing excessive discoloration of the wastewater treatment plant effluent; P. Any toxic materials including, but not limited to,
all heavy metals, cyanide, phenols, chlorinated
hydrocarbon
s, and other organic compounds unless limited to that concentration which complies with all local, State, and Federal discharge limitations, and which does not interfere with the operation of the wastewater facilities.
13.05.280 Limitations on the use of garbage grinders. Matter from garbage grinders shall not be discharged into a public sewer except matter generated in preparation of food normally consumed on the premises, or where the permittee has obtained a permit for that specific use from the Director of Public Services Program Administrators, and agrees to undertake whatever self-monitoring is required to enable the Director of Public Services Program Administrators to equitably determine the sewer service charges based on the waste constituents and characteristics. Such grinders must shred the waste to a degree that all particles will be carried freely under normal flow conditions prevailing in the public sewer. Garbage grinders shall not be used for grinding plastic, paper products, inert materials, or garden refuse.
13.05.300 Limitations on point of discharge. No person shall discharge any substances directly into a manhole or other opening in a public sewer other than through an approved sewer connection unless upon written application and payment of the applicable charges and fees and the Director of Public Services Program Administrators approves the issuance of a permit for such direct discharges.
13.05.310 Availability of the City’s wastewater facilities. If wastewater facilities capacity is not available, the Director of Public Services Program Administrators may require the industrial waste discharger to restrict his discharge until sufficient capacity can be made available.
When requested, the Director of Public Services Program Administrators will advise persons desiring to locate new facilities as to the areas where industrial wastewater of their proposed quantity and quality can be received by available wastewater facilities. The Director of Public Services Program Administrators may refuse service to persons locating facilities in areas where their proposed quantity or quality of industrial wastewater is unacceptable in the available treatment facility.
13.05.320 Discrepancies between actual and reported industrial wastewater discharge user permit quantities. Should measurements or other investigations reveal that the permittee is discharging a flow rate or a quantity of flow, chemical oxygen demand, or suspended solids significantly in excess of that stated on the permit or in excess of the quantities reported to the Director of Public Services Program Administrators by the permittee and upon which the sewer service charge is based, the permittee shall apply for an amended permit and shall be 17 of 19
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assessed for all delinquent charges together with penalty and interest. Before these charges shall be assessed at least two additional 24-hour samples and flow measure ments shall be obtained
by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators with all costs of sampling and analyses to be paid by the permittee.
For the purpose of establishing the correct sewer service charge, the data obtained in these samplings along with any other relevant information obtained by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators or presented by the permittee shall be used by the Director of Public Services Program Administrators in determini ng the quantity parameters for use in determining the sewer service charge. A permittee who violates this section shall, in the absence of other evidence, be presumed to have been discharging at the determined parameter values over the preceding three years or since the Director of Public Services Program Administrators’ previous verification of quantity parameters, whichever period is shorter.
13.05.330 Records retention. All permittees subject to this chapter shall retain and preserve for not less than three years, any records, books, documents, memoranda, reports, correspondence, and any and all summaries thereof relating to monitoring, sampling, and chemical analyses made by or on behalf of a permittee in connection with its discharge. All records which pertain to matters which are the subject of administrative action or any other enforcement or litigation activities brought by the City Program Administrators shall be retained and preserved by the permittee until all enforcement activities have concluded and all periods of limitation with respect to any and all appeals have expired.
13.05.340 Validity. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remaining portions of the chapter and the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances are to be considered valid.
SECTION 5: This Ordinance shall be codified.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This Ordinance shall t
ake effect and be in force thirty (30) days after
its adoption.
CERTIFICATION/PUBLICATION: The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of this Ordinance and cause it or a summary of it, to be published with the names of the City Council members voting for and against the same in the Poway News Chieftain, a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Poway within fifteen (15) days after its adoption and shall post a certified copy of this Ordinance in the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with Government Code § 36933.
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INTRODUCED AND FIRST READ at a Regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Poway, California, held the 20th day of October, 2026, and thereafter.
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a Regular m
eeting of said City Council held the 17th day of
November, 2026, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAINED:
ABSENT:
DISQUALIFIED:
________________________________
Steve Vaus, Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________________________
Carrie Gallagher, CMC, City Clerk
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