§ 47-336. Private interim wastewater treatment plants.  


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  • In the event a reservation application is or would be denied because existing wastewater facilities are not adequate to serve the proposed development or because the proposed development requires utility service at a level in excess of the level available under existing service area restrictions, the property owner may, subject to the provisions of this section, construct and operate a private interim wastewater treatment plant to serve the proposed development and receive a wastewater capacity reservation conditioned upon the construction and operation of the private interim treatment plant, participation in the next accelerated project in the same service area and payment of the applicable capital recovery charges at the time of subscribing to the accelerated project or, where there is no accelerated project, at the time adequate system wastewater facilities become available. In order to construct and operate a private interim wastewater treatment plant, the property owner must:

    (a)

    Make written application to the director.

    (b)

    Apply for and obtain waste discharge permits required by state and federal law and provide copies of the permit applications to the director and the Houston Health Department on the date of filing or, where the date of filing was prior to the effective date, within 30 days after such effective date.

    (c)

    Provide for a three hundred-foot buffer zone between the treatment plant and adjoining land uses or provide for complete enclosure of the treatment plant within a building with odor control facilities for the exhaust air from the building.

    (d)

    Provide for the discharge from the treatment plant directly into, or conveyed through a private conduit into, an open natural river, bayou or creek or open constructed storm drainage facilities.

    (e)

    Secure a franchise from the city permitting the operation of a private utility line within designated public rights-of-way if any such lines are necessary to the operation of the treatment plant.

    (f)

    If the use of public utility easements is necessary in order to provide service to the proposed development, enter into a waste treatment service contract with the city in which contract the director, in consultation with the Houston Health Department, may specify operating criteria.

    (g)

    Obtain approvals for the treatment plant design from the Texas Department of State Health Servives and the director.

    (h)

    Agree that, in the event that an accelerated project is proposed for the construction or expansion of the system's wastewater facilities which, when completed or expanded, would be adequate to serve the proposed development, the property owner will subscribe to that accelerated project in an amount adequate to acquire sufficient wastewater capacity in the system to serve the proposed development.

    (i)

    Agree that, within six months of the date upon which adequate system wastewater facilities become available, the property owner, or his successors or assigns, will make proper application to the city for connection to the system and will discontinue operation of the treatment plant.

    (j)

    Agree to provide to the Houston Health Department a copy of any and all reports on construction or operation of the treatment plant, including specifically all reports submitted to state or federal authorities, to provide any special reports reasonably required in writing by the director of the city health department and to maintain the treatment plant open to inspection by health department officials at all times.

    (k)

    If the plant is not to be operated pursuant to a waste treatment service contract with the city, post with the director a "private sewage treatment plant operator's bond," in the form prescribed by the director, in a penal sum equal to 150 percent of the estimated annual cost of operating the plant (including rental costs or an amount equivalent to the fair market rental value of the plant site and of any equipment or necessary facilities owned by the property owner) and executed by the property owner and a corporate surety company licensed to do business in the state and shown on the most recent edition of the United States Treasury Circular 570 as having an "underwriting limitation" of at least the penal sum of the bond.

    (l)

    Agree to provide for off-site disposal of all sludge produced by the treatment plant in the manner provided by applicable regulations, statutes and ordinances.

    (m)

    Agree to have the treatment plant checked by a licensed sewage treatment plant operator at least once a day to insure that the plant is operating properly.

(Code 1968, § 49-736; Ord. No. 83-650, § 1, 5-3-83; Ord. No. 2015-820, §§ 34, 36, 8-26-2015)