1. (1) establish the qualifications necessary for certification of wastewater treatment plant operators in New York State; and

2. (2) require that wastewater treatment plants be under the responsible supervision of an appropriately certified operator.

   (b) Applicability.

   The provisions of this Part apply to wastewater treatment plants as defined in section 650.2 of this Part, and to operators of wastewater treatment plants.

   (c) Exemptions.

   Wastewater treatment plants consisting solely of the following treatment schemes are exempt from the requirement of having a certified chief operator or assistant/shift operator:

3. (1) septic tanks followed by subsurface leaching facilities with eventual discharge to the ground waters, regardless of design capacity;
4. (2) septic tanks followed by open or covered intermittent sand filters, with a designated capacity of less than 50,000 gallons per day; and
5. (3) wastewater treatment plants which treat industrial wastes exclusively.

(a) Purpose.

The purposes of this Part are to: