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Division 9. Enforcement
(A) The city, through the superintendent or his designee, to insure compliance with this chapter, and as permitted through 40 CFR Subchapter N, and 401 KAR 5:055, may take the following enforcement steps against users in non-compliance with the chapter. The remedies available to the POTW include injunctive relief, civil and criminal penalties, immediate discontinuance of discharges and/or water service and the publishing of the list of significant violators annually. The enforcement authority shall be vested in the superintendent or their designee.
(B) The superintendent may suspend the wastewater treatment service and/or an industrial user permit when such suspension is necessary, in the opinion of the city, in order to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons, to the environment, causes interference to the POTW or causes the city to violate any condition of its NPDES/KPDES Permit.
(C) Any user notified of a suspension of the wastewater treatment service and/or the industrial user permit shall immediately stop or eliminate the contribution. In the event of a failure of the person to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the city shall take such steps as deemed necessary including immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the POTW system or endangerment to any individuals. The city shall reinstate the industrial user permit and/or the wastewater treatment service upon proof of the elimination of the non-complying discharge. A detailed written statement submitted by the user describing the causes of the harmful contribution and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence shall be submitted to the city within fifteen (15) days of the date of occurrence.
(D) The remedies provided for in this chapter are not exclusive. The Operations Manager may take any, all, or combination of these actions against a noncompliant user. Enforcement of pretreatment violations will generally be in accordance with the city's enforcement response plan. However, the Operations Manager may take other action against any user when the circumstances warrant. Further the Operations Manager is empowered to take more than one enforcement action against any noncompliant user.
(Ord. No. 17-91, 6-25-91; Am. Ord. No. 01-13, § 12, 2-5-13)
(A) Notice of violation.
(1) Any user found to be violating any provisions of this chapter, wastewater permit, or any order issued hereunder, shall be served by the city with the written notice stating the nature of the violation(s). Within ten (10) days of the receipt date of this notice, an explanation of the violation and a plan for the satisfactory correction and prevention thereof, to include specific required actions, shall be submitted to the superintendent. Submission of this plan in no way relieves the user of potential liability for any violation occurring before or after receipt of the notice of violation.
(2) If the violations persist or the explanation and/or plan are not adequate, the city's response shall be more formal and commitments (or schedules as appropriate) for compliance will be established in an enforceable document. The enforcement response selected will be related to the seriousness of the violation. Enforcement responses will be escalated if compliance is not achieved expeditiously after the initial action. A significant non-compliance as defined in § 31.374, will require a formal enforcement action.
(3) The full scale of enforcement actions will be as detailed in the enforcement response plan.
(B) Administrative orders. Any user who after receiving a notice of violation shall continue to discharge in violation of this chapter or other pretreatment standards or requirements or is determined to be a chronic or persistent violator or who is determined to be a significant violator, shall be ordered to appear before the city. At the appearance, a compliance schedule will be given to the non-conforming user and an administrative fine assessed. The fine shall be determined on a case-by-case basis which shall consider the type and severity of violation, duration of violation, number of violation, severity of impact on the POTW, impact on human health, users economic benefit from violation, history of violations, good faith of the user, and shall be a non-arbitrary but appropriate amount. The administrative order may take any of the following three forms.
(1) Consent orders. The superintendent or their designee is hereby empowered to enter into consent orders, assurances of voluntary compliance, or other similar documents establishing an agreement with the industrial user responsible for the noncompliance. The orders will include specific action to be taken by the industrial user to correct the noncompliance within a time period also specified by the order. Consent orders shall have the same force and effect as orders issued pursuant to subsection (B)(3).
(2) Compliance orders. When the superintendent or their designee finds that an industrial user has violated or continues to violate the chapter or a permit or order issued thereunder, he may issue an order to the industrial user responsible for the discharge directing that, following a specified time period, sewer service shall be discontinued unless adequate treatment facilities, device, or other related appurtenances have been installed and are properly operated. Orders may also contain such other requirements as might be reasonably necessary and appropriate to address the noncompliance, including the installation of pretreatment technology, additional self-monitoring, and management practices.
(3) Cease and desist orders. When the superintendent finds that an industrial user has violated or continues to violate this chapter or any permit or order issued hereunder, the superintendent may issue an order to cease and desist all such violations and direct those persons in non-compliance to comply forthwith, or take such appropriate remedial or preventive action as may be needed to properly address a continuing or threatened violation, including halting operations and terminating the discharge.
(C) Show cause hearing.
(1) The superintendent or his designee may issue to any user who causes or contributes to violations of this chapter, wastewater permit or order issued hereunder, an order to appear and show cause why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. A notice shall be served on the user specifying the time and place of a hearing to be held by the superintendent regarding the violation, the reasons why the action is to be taken, the proposed enforcement action, and directing the user to show cause, before the superintendent, why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. The notice of the hearing shall be served personally or by registered or certified mail (return receipt requested) at least ten (10) days before the hearing. Service may be made on any agent or officer of the industrial user or its representative appears, immediate enforcement action may be pursued.
(2) The city may, itself, conduct the hearing and take the evidence, or designate a representative to:
(a) Issue, in the name of the city, notices of hearings requesting the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter involved in such hearing;
(b) Take the evidence;
(c) Transmit a report of the evidence and hearing, including transcripts and other evidence, together with recommendations to the city for action thereon.
(3) At any hearing held pursuant to this chapter, testimony taken must be under oath and recorded stenographically. The transcript, so recorded, will be made available to any member of the public or any party to the hearing upon payment of the usual charges thereof.
(4) After the city has reviewed the evidence, it may issue an order to the user responsible for the discharge directing that, following a specified time period, the sewer service will be discontinued unless adequate treatment facilities, devices, or other related appurtenances are properly operated. Further orders and directives as are necessary and appropriate may be issued.
(D) Additional enforcement remedies.
(1) Performance bonds. The superintendent may decline to reissue a permit to any industrial user which has failed to comply with the provisions of this chapter or any order or previous permit issued hereunder unless such user first files with it a satisfactory bond, payable to the POTW, in a sum not to exceed a value determined by the superintendent to be necessary to achieve consistent compliance.
(2) Liability insurance. The superintendent may decline to reissue a permit to any industrial user which has failed to comply with the provisions of this chapter or any order or previous permit issued hereunder, unless the industrial user first submits proof that it has obtained financial assurances sufficient to restore or repair POTW damage caused by its discharge.
(Ord. No. 17-91, 6-25-91)
(A) Written notice. Any user found to be violating any provision of this chapter or a wastewater permit or order issued hereunder, shall be served by the superintendent or his designee with written notice stating the nature of the violation. The offender shall permanently remedy all violations upon receipt of this notice. As contained in §§ 31.395-31.396 the notice may be of several forms and penalties of various forms may be levied against users for violations of this chapter. The penalties, if levied, shall range from publication of violators in the local newspaper to administrative fines of up to one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars per day per violation.
(B) Revocation of permit.
(1) Any user violating any of the provisions of this chapter or a wastewater permit order issued hereunder, may be subject to termination of its authority to discharge sewage into the municipal sewer system. such termination may be immediate if necessary for the protection of the POTW. The user may also have water service terminated.
(2) Any user who violates the following conditions of this chapter, or applicable state and federal regulations, is subject to having his permit revoked in accordance with the procedures of this chapter:
(a) Failure of a user to factually report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of his discharge;
(b) Failure of the user to report significant changes in operations, or wastewater constituents and characteristics;
(c) Refusal of reasonable access to the user's premises for the purpose of inspection or monitoring; or,
(d) Violation of conditions of the permit.
(C) Destruction of POTW. No person(s) shall maliciously, willfully, or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is part of the POTW. Any person(s) violating this provision shall be subject to immediate arrest under charge of disorderly conduct. It shall be noted that the Clean Water Act does not require proof of specific intent to obtain conviction.
(D) Legal Action. If any person discharges sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes into the city's wastewater disposal system contrary to the provisions of this chapter, federal or state pretreatment requirements or any order of the city, the city may commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the appropriate court of this jurisdiction.
(E) Injunctive Relief. Whenever an industrial user has violated or continues to violate the provisions of this chapter or permit or order issued hereunder, the superintendent, through counsel may petition the court for the issuance of a preliminary or permanent injunction or both (as may be appropriate) which restrains or compels the activities on the part of the industrial user.
(F) Civil Penalties.
(1) Any industrial user who has significantly violated or continues to violate this chapter or any order or permit issued hereunder, shall be liable to the superintendent for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand ($5,000.00) dollars per day plus actual damages incurred by the POTW per violation per day for as long as the violation continues. Each day in which the violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense. In addition to the above described penalty and damages, the superintendent may recover reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, court reporter's fees, and other expenses associated with the enforcement activities, including sampling and monitoring expenses.
(2) The superintendent may petition the court to impose, assess and recover these sums. In determining the amount of liability, the court shall take into account all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm caused by the violation, the magnitude and duration, any economic benefit gained through the industrial user's violation, corrective actions by the industrial user, the compliance history of the user, and any other factor as justice requires.
(G) Criminal Penalties. Any industrial user who willfully or negligently violates any provision of this chapter or any orders or permits issued hereunder shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed five hundred ($500.00) dollars per violation per day or imprisonment for not more than one (1) year or both.
(Ord. No. 17-91, 6-25-91)