This section applies to all facilities that have stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity, including construction activity.
(A) The city shall be permitted to enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this subchapter as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this subchapter. If a discharger has security measures in force that require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the discharger shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to representatives of the city.
(B) Facility operators shall allow the city ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, examination and copying of records that must be kept under the conditions of an NPDES permit to discharge stormwater, and the performance of any additional duties as defined by state and federal law.
(C) The city shall have the right to install on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the authorized enforcement agency to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility’s discharge.
(D) The city shall the right to require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary. The facility’s sampling and monitoring equipment shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition by the discharger at its own expense. All devices used to measure flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
(E) Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be promptly removed by the operator at the written or oral request of the city and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(F) Any interference with allowing the city access to a permitted facility is a violation of a storm water discharge permit and of this subchapter. A person who is the operator of a facility with a NPDES permit to discharge stormwater associated with industrial activity commits an offense if the person denies the city reasonable access to the permitted facility for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized or required by this subchapter.
(G) If the city has been refused access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged and is able to demonstrate probably cause to believe that there may be a violation of this subchapter, or that there is a need to inspect and/or sample as part of a routine inspection and sampling program designed to verify compliance with this subchapter, or any order issued hereunder to protect the overall public health, safety and welfare of the community, the city may seek all appropriate remedies from any court of competent jurisdiction, including the issuance of a search warrant.
(Ord. 2727, passed 12-13-2010)