(a) Emergency Suspension of Service and Discharge Permits. The City may for good cause suspend the wastewater treatment service to a Discharger when it appears to the City that an actual or threatened discharge presents or threatens an imminent or substantial danger to the environment, interferes with the operation of the POTW, or violates any pretreatment limits imposed by this chapter. Any Discharger notified ofthe suspension of the City's wastewater treatment service shall within a reasonable period oftime, as determined by the City, cease all discharges. In the event of failure of the Discharger to comply voluntarily with the suspension order within the specified time, the City shall commence judicial proceedings immediately thereafter to compel the Discharger's compliance with such order. The City shall reinstate the wastewater treatment service and terminate judicial proceedings pending proof by the Discharger of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge or conditions creating the threat of imminent or substantial danger as set forth above.
(b) Revocation of Treatment Services. The City may seek to terminate the wastewater treatment services to any Discharger which fails to:
(1) Factually report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of its discharge;
(2) Report significant changes in wastewater constituents or characteristics;
(3) Refuses reasonable access to the Discharger's premises by representatives of the City for the purpose of inspection or monitoring; and
(4) Violates the conditions of this chapter, or any final judicial order entered with respect thereto.
(c) Notification of Violation; Administrative Adjustment. Whenever the City finds that any Discharger has engaged in conduct which justifies termination of a wastewater treatment service, pursuant to subsection (b) hereof, the City shall serve or cause to be served upon such Discharger, a written notice either personally or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, stating the nature of the alleged violation. Within seven days of the date of receipt of the notice, the Discharger shall respond personally or in writing to the City, advising of its position with respect to the allegations. Thereafter, the parties shall meet to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and where necessary, establish a plan for the satisfactory correction thereof.
(d) Show Cause Hearing. Where the violation of subsection (c) hereof is not corrected by timely compliance by means of administration adjustment, the City may order any Discharger which causes or allows conduct prohibited by subsection (b) hereof, to show cause before the City or its duly authorized representative, why the proposed service termination action should not be taken. A written notice shall be served on the Discharger by personal service, certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, specifying the time and place of hearing to be held by the City or its designee regarding the violation, the reasons why the enforcement action is to be taken, the proposed enforcement action, and directing the Discharger to show cause before the City or its designee why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. The notice of the hearing shall be served no less than ten days before the hearing. Service may be made on any agent, officer, or authorized representative of a Discharger. The proceedings at the hearing shall be considered by the City which shall then enter appropriate orders with respect to the alleged improper activities of the Discharger. Appeal of such orders may be taken by the Discharger in accordance with applicable local or State law.
(e) Judicial Proceedings. Following the entry of any order by the City with respect to the conduct of a Discharger contrary to the provisions of subsection (b) hereof, the attorney for the City may, following the authorization of such action by the City, commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the appropriate local court.
(f) Enforcement Actions; Annual Publication. At least annually, the Director shall publish a list of all industrial users which at any time during the previous twelve months were in significant noncompliance with applicable pretreatment requirements. For the purposes of this provision, an industrial user is in significant noncompliance if its violations meet one or more of the following criteria:
(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six percent (66%) or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit or the average limit for the same pollutant parameter;
(2) Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirty-three percent (33%) or more of all ofthe 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 the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or longer term average, instantaneous and/or narrative standards) that the Director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);
(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment of human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5) Failure to meet, within ninety days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(6) Failure to provide, within thirty days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety days compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules.
(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;
(8) Any other violation or group of violations which the Director determines will or or or has adversely affected the operation or implementation of the City's pretreatment program.
Chronic and Technical Review Criteria only apply to Significant Industrial Users.
However, other SNC criteria can be grounds for finding a Non-Significant Industrial User in SNC.
(g) Right of Appeal. Any Discharger or any interested party shall have the right to request in writing an interpretation of ruling by the City on any matter covered by this chapter and shall be entitled to a prompt written reply. In the event that such inquiry is by a Discharger and deals with matters of performance or compliance with this chapter for which enforcement activity relating to an alleged violation is the subject, receipt of a Discharger's request, shall stay all enforcement proceedings pending receipt of the aforesaid written reply. Appeal of any final judicial order entered pursuant to this chapter may be taken in accordance with local and State law.
(h) Operating Upsets. Any Discharger which experiences an upset in operations which places the Discharger in a temporary state of noncompliance with this chapter shall inform the City thereof immediately after becoming aware of the commencement of the upset. Where such information is given orally, a written follow-up report thereof shall be filed by the Discharger with the City within five days. The report shall specify:
(1) Description of the upset, the cause thereof and the upset's impact on a Discharger's compliance status.
(2) Duration of noncompliance, including exact dates and times of noncompliance, and if the noncompliance continues, the time by which compliance is reasonably expected to occur.
(3) All steps taken or to be taken to reduce, eliminate and prevent recurrence of or has adversely affected the operation or implementation of the City's pretreatment program.
Chronic and Technical Review Criteria only apply to Significant Industrial Users. However, other SNC criteria can be grounds for finding a Non-Significant Industrial User in SNC.
(i) Enforcement Actions; Compliance Schedule. When in the opinion of the Director, it becomes necessary for Industrial Users to install technology or provide additional operation and maintenance (0 and M) to meet any condition of this chapter or applicable administrative order, the Director shall require the development of the shortest schedule by which the Industrial User will provide this additional technology or 0 and M.
(1) The schedule shall contain increments of progress in the form of dates for the commencement and completion of major events. Under no circumstances shall any increment exceed nine months.
(2) Not later than fourteen days following each date in the schedule and the final date for compliance, the Industrial User shall submit a progress report to the Director including, at a minimum, whether or not it complied with the increment of progress to be met on such date and, if not, the date on which it expects to comply with this increment of progress, the reason for delay, and the steps being taken to return to the schedule established.
(3) No later than fourteen days following each date in the schedule and the final date for compliance, the user shall submit a progress report to the Director including, as a minimum, whether or not it complied with the increment of progress to be met on such date and, if not, the date on which it expects to comply with this increment of progress, the reason for delay, and the steps being taken by the user to return the construction to the schedule established. In no event shall more than nine months elapse between such progress reports to the Director.
(j) Definition of Significant Noncompliance (SNC). Any violation of pretreatment requirements (limits, sampling, analysis, reporting and meeting compliance schedules, and regulatory deadlines) is an instance of noncompliance for which the industrial user is liable for enforcement, including penalties. However, there is a need to identify violations or patterns of violations by industrial users that are instances of Significant Noncompliance. This classification allows the MIPP contractor and City to establish priorities for formal enforcement actions. Instances of SNC are industrial user violations which meet one or more of the following criteria:
(1) Violations of wastewater discharge limits.
A. Chronic violations. Sixty-six percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit in a 6 month period (any magnitude of exceedence).
B. Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations. Thirty-three percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit by more than the TRC in a 6 month period. There are two groups of TRC criteria:
Group I (conventional pollutants BOD, TSS, oil & grease) TRC = 1.4
Group II (all other pollutants) TRC = 1.2
C. Any other violation(s) of an effluent limit (average, daily maximum or instantaneous and/or narrative standards that the Control Authority believes has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference (i.e. slug loads) or pass-through; or endangered the health of the sewage treatment personnel or the public.
D. Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused endangerment to human health/welfare or to the environment and has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge.
(2) Violations of compliance milestones, contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order, for starting construction, completing construction and attaining final compliance by 90 days or more after the schedule date.
(3) Failure to provide reports for compliance schedules, self-monitoring data or categorical standards (baseline monitoring reports, 90 day compliance reports and periodic reports) within 45 days from the due date.
(4) Failure to accurately report noncompliance.
(5) Any other violation or group ofviolations (includes violations of BMPs) that the City considers to be significant or has adversely affected the operation or implementation of the pretreatment program.
Chronic and Technical Review Criteria only apply to Significant Industrial Users. However, other SNC criteria can be grounds for finding a Non-Significant Industrial User in SNC.
(Ord. 13-1. Passed 2-26-13.)