The Superintendent acting for the City may issue orders to any industrial user to require compliance with any requirements under this chapter, including applicable categorical pretreatment standards, other discharge limits and report requirements.
(a) Emergency Suspension of Service and Discharge Permits. The Authority may for good cause shown suspend the wastewater treatment service to a discharger when it appears to the Authority that an actual or threatened discharge presents or threatens an imminent or substantial danger to the health or welfare of persons, substantial danger to the environment, interfere with the operation of the POTW or violate any pretreatment limits imposed by this chapter. The Authority provides the POTW to immediately and effectively halt or prevent any
discharge of pollutants to the POTW which reasonably appear to present an imminent endangerment to the health or welfare of persons. Any discharger notified of the suspension of the Authority's wastewater treatment service shall within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Authority, cease all discharges. In the event of failure of the discharger to comply voluntarily with the suspension order within the specified time, the Authority shall commence judicial proceedings immediately thereafter to compel the discharger's compliance with such order.
(b) Revocation of Treatment Services. The Authority 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 representative of the Authority for the purpose of inspection or monitoring; or
(4) Violates the conditions of this chapter, or any final judicial order entered with respect thereto.
(c) Notification of Violation; Administrative Adjustment. Whenever the Authority finds that any discharger has engaged in conduct which justifies termination of wastewater treatment services, pursuant to subsection (b) hereof, the Authority 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 thirty days of the date of the receipt of the notice, the discharger shall respond personally or in writing to the Authority, 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 (b) hereof is not corrected by timely compliance by means of administrative adjustment, the Authority may order any discharger which causes or allows conduct prohibited by subsection (b) hereof, to show cause before the Authority 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 a hearing to be held by the Authority 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 Authority 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 Authority 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 Authority with respect to the conduct of a discharger contrary to the provisions of subsection (b) hereof, the attorney for the Authority may, following the authorization of such action by the Authority, 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 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 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 violations of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or longer term average) 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 has adversely affected the operation or implementation of the City's pretreatment program.
(g) Right of Appeal. Any discharger or any interested party shall have the right to request in writing an interpretation or ruling by the Authority 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 Authority thereof within twenty-four hours of first awareness 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 Authority within five days. The report shall specify:
(1) The description of the upset, the cause thereof and the upset's impact on a discharger's compliance status.
(2) The 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 such an upset or other conditions of noncompliance.
A documented and verified bona fide operating upset shall be an affirmative defense to any enforcement action brought by the Authority against a discharger for any noncompliance with the chapter, which arises out of violations alleged to have occurred during the period of the upset.
(Ord. 66, 1991. Passed 10-21-91.)