(a) Compliance. The Director shall require a user to take action for compliance through issuance of an order, notice, assessment of a penalty, or entry into a consent order or agreement whenever the Director in accordance with this subtitle finds that a user has failed to monitor, report, or accurately report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of its discharge; failed to report changes in wastewater constituents and characteristics; refused reasonable access to its premises by representatives of the County for the purpose of inspection or monitoring; or violated any other provision of this subtitle. An order or agreement authorized under this subsection shall not be effective until the user has had the opportunity to confer with authorized representatives of the Department.
(b) Suspension of service. The Director may order the immediate suspension of water or wastewater treatment service to a user when the user fails to pay a civil penalty, expenses, loss, or damage assessed after final adjudication when the Director determines that an actual or potential discharge presents or threatens an imminent or substantial danger to the health or welfare of persons or substantial danger to environment; threatens to interfere with the operation of the County system; or threatens to violate any pretreatment limits imposed by this subtitle, the State, or the EPA. A user notified of the suspension order shall immediately cease all discharges. The County shall reinstate the water or wastewater treatment service upon the submission of sufficient proof by the user that the user has eliminated the noncomplying discharge or conditions creating the noncompliance.
(c) Service and contents of order, notice, or penalty. An order, notice, or penalty issued under this section shall be served on the user or an agent of the user and state with reasonable specificity the nature of the violation and the time for compliance.
(d) Notice to public. A list of users that meet one or more of the following criteria for noncompliance with applicable pretreatment requirements during a 12-month period shall be published annually by the Director in a newspaper of general circulation in the County:
(1) chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined as those in which 66% or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period exceed the daily maximum limit or the average limit for the same pollutant parameter;
(2) technical review criteria violations in which 33% or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limit or the average limit multiplied by 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, or 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH;
(3) any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit that the Director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through;
(4) any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare, or the environment or has resulted in the Director's exercise of emergency authority under 40 CFR 403.8(F)(1)(vi)(b) to halt or prevent a discharge;
(5) failure to meet within 90 days after the scheduled date a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(6) failure to provide within 30 days after the due date required reports, such as baseline monitoring reportings, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on meeting compliance schedules;
(7) failure to accurately report noncompliance; or
(8) any other violation or group of violations that the Director determines adversely affect the operation or implementation of this subtitle.
(e) Enforcement response plan. The Director shall develop and implement an enforcement response plan that:
(1) details how the Director will investigate and respond to instances of industrial noncompliance;
(2) describes how the Director will investigate instances of noncompliance;
(3) describes the types of escalating enforcement responses the Director may take in response to anticipated industrial user violations and the time periods within which responses will take place;
(4) identifies by title the officials responsible for implementing each type of enforcement response; and
(5) adequately reflects the Director's primary responsibility to enforce all applicable pretreatment requirements and standards, as provided in 40 CFR 403.8(F)(1) and (F)(2).
(f) Compliance schedules. The Director may require:
(1) the development of compliance schedules if additional pretreatment or operation and maintenance will be required for an industrial user to comply with this subtitle or a State or federal pretreatment standard or requirement; and
(2) the industrial user to submit for approval a schedule specifying the shortest time frame for the user to achieve compliance including increments of progress in the form of dates for the commencement and completion of major events leading to construction and operation of the additional pretreatment to bring the industrial user into compliance.
(g) Compliance agreements. The Director may enter into an agreement with an industrial user to ensure compliance with pretreatment standards and requirements.
(1985 Code, Art. 25, § 25-5-520) (Bill No. 40-85; Bill No. 66-85; Bill No. 94-92; Bill No. 63-04)