Does every Gilbert business have to file a wastewater discharge questionnaire?

The quote above is subsection (a). Three parts follow from the section.

What you file. The questionnaire asks for the business name, location, mailing address, the owner or person authorized to act for the user, a telephone number, the exact nature of activities with either the standard industrial classification code or the North American Industrial Classification System code, the type of industrial or hazardous waste discharged, if any, and the signature and title of the applicant certifying the statements are true and correct.

When you file. The questionnaire goes in "with the application for a business license pursuant to chapter 14." Subsection (b) makes it yearly: with the license application or renewal, or, for a nonresidential user exempt from a business license, on July 1 each year. A license-exempt user also files immediately upon connection to the sewer system.

What the town can add. Subsection (c) lets the development services manager collect additional information reasonably necessary to implement the section and to perform continued waste monitoring.

• Nonresidential user, home occupation: 66-171 does not define either term. Our reading is that "nonresidential user" is any business or institution that is not a household, and the section names home occupations separately so they are not left out.
• Standard industrial classification code: a coded classification of industries by economic activity. The code accepts either that code or the NAICS code.
• Industrial or hazardous waste discharged, if any: the form asks. The list in 66-177 does not say what follow-up an answer leads to.
• Development services manager: not defined in 66-171.

Every nonresidential user, every home occupation and every nonresidential user exempt from a business license, as long as it is connected to the town's sewer system. That covers a tenant who opens next month and a long-time owner.

This does not apply to a property that is not connected to the town's sewer, such as one on a septic system, because the section reaches only users connected to the sewer system. The Town's licensing page says every commercial and home-based business located in Gilbert is required to have a business license, so our reading is that most users meet the questionnaire through the license application.

A new tenant opens a salon. The owner applies for the business license through the One Stop Shop portal. Because the salon is connected to the town sewer, the questionnaire goes in with that application, and the owner signs that the answers are true.

A home-based consultant. The Town's licensing page says every commercial and home-based business located in Gilbert is required to have a business license, and 66-177 names home occupations. The consultant files the questionnaire with the license and renews it each year.

The edge case: a nonresidential user with no license to renew. The yearly trigger is not a renewal for this user. The code sets the date: July 1 each year, filed with the development services manager, plus a first filing on the day the connection is made.

1. 1Check whether you are connected to the town sewer. If you are, the section applies.
2. 2For a new business, apply for the business license at OneStopShop.gilbertaz.gov and choose the Apply option. Business Licensing is at Development Services, 90 E. Civic Center Dr., phone 480-503-6700, onestopshop@gilbertaz.gov.
3. 3Gather the answers before you start: the nature of your activities, your SIC or NAICS code, and whether any industrial or hazardous waste leaves the building.
4. 4Ask Development Services at 480-503-6700 how the questionnaire is submitted with your license application. The Town pages we read do not show the form.
5. 5At each renewal, pay the renewal invoice and file the new questionnaire with it. If you are license-exempt, put July 1 on your calendar.
6. 6If your answers change because you add a process that produces industrial wastewater, read the Class A and Class B permit rules before you start the process.

• Only factories file this. The section's first words are all nonresidential users, and it names home occupations.
• Filing once is enough. Subsection (b) says yearly.
• No license means no questionnaire. The license-exempt user files immediately on connecting and every July 1.
• The questionnaire is a permit. It collects information. A permit, where one applies, is a separate step under sections like 66-232.

Gilbert's own text governs; this page explains it.