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ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE PLAN
(A) Federal and state pretreatment regulations, as well as Part III (B)(6) of the city of Goldsboro's NPDES permit requires the city to take timely and effective enforcement actions against significant industrial users (SIUs) for failure to comply with pretreatment standards and requirements. Federal and state regulations also require each POTW, with an approved pretreatment program, to develop and implement an enforcement response plan (ERP). By regulation, this plan must:
(1) Describe how the POTW will investigate instances of noncompliance;
(2) Describe the types of escalating enforcement responses the POTW will take in response to all anticipated types of SIU violations and the time periods within which responses will take place;
(3) Identify the official(s) responsible for each type of response; and
(4) Adequately reflect the POTW's primary responsibility to enforce all applicable pretreatment requirements and standards.
(B) The purpose of the city of Goldsboro's enforcement response plan is two-fold. First, to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations. Second, to ensure that, if and when it is necessary for the city to enforce pretreatment standards and requirements, all industries are treated in a fair and equitable manner.
(Ord. 1994-79, passed 11-21-94)
(A) Sections 51.100 through 51.104 gives the Public Utilities Director the authority to take a wide variety of enforcement actions. Each of these actions can be viewed as having a certain degree of punitiveness. The city's enforcement response plan will utilize all of the enforcement tools available to the Director in the system which outlines escalating enforcement actions dependent on the nature of the violation and the cooperativeness, or recalcitrance, of the violator. The following is a list of remedies authorized by the sewer use ordinance and ordinance citation. It is presented in order of punitiveness, least punitive first and most punitive last.
(1) Notice of Violation § 51.100(A)
(2) Consent Order § 51.100(B)
(3) Administrative Order § 51.100(C)
(4) Show Cause Order/Hearing § 51.100(D)
(5) Emergency Suspensions (temporary) § 51.100(E)
(6) Termination of Permit (permanent) § 51.100(F)
(7) Civil Penalties § 51.101(A) and (B)
(8) Judicial Remedies § 51.102(A) and (B)
(B) In addition to the tools listed above, § 51.100 through 51.104 authorizes the Director to assess civil penalties of up to $1,000.00 per day per violation. Civil penalties are normally used in conjunction with one of the other eight activities listed above and the punitiveness of the penalty depends on the dollar amount.
(Ord. 1994-79, passed 11-21-94)
The staff will generally investigate SIU compliance three ways: on site inspections of the SIU, review of SIU self-monitoring data, and review of compliance data collected by the city. Using the this chapter, as well as guidance which has been provided by EPA and the Division of Environmental Management, the city staff has identified four categories of permit noncompliance. Below is a discussion of the types of violations within each category and the city staff member responsibility for the initial compliance determination for each violation type.
(A) Unpermitted discharges.
(1) Unpermitted discharges can result from several activities. An SIU might fail to obtain a permit prior to discharging to the wastewater treatment plant. An SIU might discharge to a point in the collection system which is not identified in the SIU's permit. An SIU might begin to discharge a pollutant which was previously identified as absent by the industry. Also, an SIU might continue to discharge when its permit has expired.
(2) Unpermitted discharges will normally be discovered during the inspection of an industry. The inspector will be responsible for determining the severity of the violation during his inspection. The severity will normally depend on whether the unpermitted discharge poses an immediate threat to the POTW or the environment and whether the industry was unaware of the requirements or was seeking to avoid the regulations.
(B) Permit noncompliance. Noncompliance with an SIU's pretreatment permit falls into four areas: limits violations, monitoring violations, reporting violations, and violations of permit conditions.
(1) Permit limit noncompliance. Permit limit violations are fairly straight forward and the severity depends on whether the violation is considered reportable noncompliance (RNC). RNC is defined in North Carolina's general pretreatment regulations [15A NCAC 2H.0903(b)(10)]. It is the Pretreatment Coordinator's responsibility to evaluate compliance with pretreatment limitations each time data is received and at the end of each semiannual reporting period.
(2) Self-monitoring noncompliance.
(a) Noncompliance with monitoring occurs when an SIU fails to conduct all of the self-monitoring required by its pretreatment permit. The severity of the violations depends on how much self-monitoring was actually completed. If the SIU conducted less than 80% of the sampling and analyses required in a six-month period, the violation is considered significant or RNC.
(b) Each time a self-monitoring report is received from an SIU, it is the responsibility of the Pretreatment Coordinator to compare the report to the permit requirement sand evaluate compliance with monitoring requirements.
(3) Reporting violations.
(a) Reporting violations occur when an SIU fails to provide information which is required by the permit within the time period stated in the permit or when the information is incomplete or false. Reports required by the permit can include self- monitoring reports, spill prevention plans, baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, and sludge handling plans. In the case of late or incomplete reports, the severity of the violation depends on the length of time the report is late. If a complete report is not submitted within 30 days of the due date, the violation is considered RNC. Knowingly submitting false information is always considered a significant violation.
(b) It is the Pretreatment Coordinator's responsibility to track the report due dates included in the pretreatment permits and to evaluate compliance in terms of the tardiness and completeness of the submission.
(4) Violations of other permit conditions. The pretreatment permits issued by the city contain about 20 conditions which do not fall into the category of limits, monitoring, or reporting requirements. For example, the pretreatment permit prohibits slug loads and requires the SIU to properly operate its pretreatment facility. Violations of these conditions would normally be discovered as part of an inspection or in conjunction with another enforcement action. The Pretreatment Coordinator is responsible for evaluating compliance with these requirements and the severity of the violation is determined by the Director.
(C) Violations of enforcement orders.
(1) Violations of enforcement orders are actually very similar to pretreatment permit noncompliance in that they can be broken down into limits violations (interim limits), monitoring violations (increased monitoring required by the order), and reporting violations. In addition, violations of enforcement orders would include missing milestone dates and noncompliance with final limits once the order has expired. However, all violations of enforcement orders, with the exception of interim limits violations, are considered RNC. Interim limit violations would not be considered significant if they did not meet the criteria listed in 15A NCAC 2H.0903(b)(10)(A) and if the SIU paid the stipulated penalty assessed.
(2) Once an SIU has been put on an enforcement order, the city's initial response to violations becomes simply a matter of notifying the SIU of the violation and collecting the stipulated penalty outlined in the order. It is the Pretreatment Coordinator's responsibility to track compliance with the order and notify the Director when penalties should be assessed. Once the Director is informed of noncompliance with an order, he will determine whether the violations are so severe as to warrant escalated enforcement. For example, an escalated enforcement actions would be needed if it was clear that the SIU could no longer meet the remaining milestone dates in the existing order.
(Ord. 1994-79, passed 11-21-94)
(A) In order to ensure that the city is taking timely and effective enforcement actions, two tools will be employed - an enforcement response guide in subsection (C) and an enforcement flowchart. The purpose of the enforcement response guide (ERG) is to identify initial responses and time frames for each of the types of violations discussed in § 51.132. Once the enforcement action is taken, the flow chart is used to identify the more punitive action which would be taken if the SIU failed to return to compliance as a result of the previous or initial action.
(B) As an example of how the ERG and flowchart can be used to determine appropriate enforcement responses, consider an SIU which submits a self-monitoring report which shows a violation. The ERG tells the Pretreatment Coordinator to issue a notice of noncompliance within 14 days. The notice will require the SIU to collect additional data to confirm compliance or noncompliance. The next step is to determine if the SIU is in reportable noncompliance (RNC) at the end of the six month reporting period. As indicated by the flow chart, if the data does not show RNC, no action is required. If the data does show RNC, a notice of violation (NOV) is issued. The ERG tells the Pretreatment Coordinator that, in response to RNC with permit limits, an NOV assessing a fine of $100 should be sent within 30 days of receiving all of the data. The NOV requires the SIU to respond by indicating the cause and time needed to correct the violation. If the time needed to correct the violation was greater than 90 days, a consent order would be drafted. Hopefully the SIU would comply with the consent order and the violation would be resolved. However, if the SIU failed to meet the compliance date of the consent order, the flow chart indicates that a notice to comply should be issued and the ERG gives the Pretreatment Coordinator information on time frames, penalties, and responses which should be included in the notice to comply. By using the flowchart and ERG, a worst case scenario can be followed in a similar manner through the issuance and violation of an administrative order, through a show cause meeting and, eventually, to termination of service.
(C) Action chart. Chart begins on the following page.
Enforcement Response Plan Action Chart
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Type of Violation
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POTW Action
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Timeframe
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Responsible Official
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Expected Action from User
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Escalated Action if Needed
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Enforcement Response Plan Action Chart
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Type of Violation
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POTW Action
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Timeframe
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Responsible Official
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Expected Action from User
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Escalated Action if Needed
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Unpermitted Discharges | |||||
Unpermitted discharge; unaware of requirement | Notice of violation | Within 14 days of discovery of discharge | Pretreatment Coordinator | File Permit Application | Suspend service until permit is issued |
Unpermitted discharge; aware of requirement | Notice of violation with penalty assessed | Within 30 days of discovery of discharge | Director | File permit application | Suspend service until permit is issued |
Unpermitted discharge results in NRDES violation | Order to cease process causing violation; Notice of violation with recommended minimum of $1,000 and up to $25,000 per day per violation penalty | Order to cease immediately; Notice of violation within 7 days | Director | File permit application; Steps taken to avoid violation | Suspend service until permit is issued |
Unpermitted discharge results in endangerment | Suspend service; Notice of violation with recommended minimum of $1,000 and up to $25,000 per day per violation penalty | Suspend service immediately; Notice of violation within 7 days | Director | File permit application; Steps taken to avoid future endangerment | Permit Limits Violations |
Permit limits violation; Single event; Minor | Notice of non-compliance or notice of violation with $0 to $25,000 penalty | Within 14 days of receiving data (once in each 6-month period) | Pretreatment Coordinator | Conduct additional monitoring and return to compliance | Notice of violation with penalty |
Permit limits violation; Technical review criteria (TRC) | Notice of violation with $0 to $25,000 penalty | Within 14 days of receiving data (once in each 6-month period) | Pretreatment Coordinator | Conduct additional monitoring and return to compliance | Second notice of violation with increased penalty |
Permit limits violation; significant non-compliance | Notice of violation with $0 to $25,000 penalty | Within 30 days of receiving all the data | Pretreatment Coordinator | Report cause non-compliance and steps taken to prevent violation | Suspend service until resolved; Enforceable schedule (AO) if not resolved by the end of 2nd 6-month period |
Permit limits violation causes NPDES violation | Order to cease process causing violation; Notice of violation with recommended minimum $1,000 and up to $25,000 per day per violation penalty | Order to cease immediately; Notice of violation within 7 days of discovering violation (once in each 6-month period) | Director | Report cause of non-compliance and steps taken to prevent violation | Suspend service until resolved; Enforceable schedule (AO) if not resolved by the end of 2nd 6-month period |
Permit limits; violation causes endangerment | Suspend service; notice of violation with a recommended minimum of $1,000 and up to $25,000 per day per violation penalty | Suspend service immediately; Notice of violation within 7 days | Director | File for reissuance of permit | Other Violations |
Self-monitoring violations | Notice of violation with recommended minimum penalty equal or greater than cost of missing testing | Within 14 days of discovering (once in each 6-month period) | Pretreatment Coordinator | Conduct missed sampling | Second notice of violation with penalty equal to twice the cost of missed testing |
Reporting violation; late report | Notice of non-compliance | Within 14 days of the report due date (once in each 6-month period) | Pretreatment Coordinator | Submit report | Notice of violation; penalty assessed possible SNC if over 30 days |
Reporting violations; Incomplete or inaccurate reports | Notice of non-compliance | Within 30 days of report submission (once in each 6-month period) | Pretreatment Coordinator | Submit revised report | Notice of violation; Penalty assessed |
Reporting violations; Intentional falsification | Referred to district attorney | As, soon as suspected | Director | ||
Violation of permit conditions | Notice of violation with penalty up to $25,000 per day per violation | Within 30 days of discovery (once in each 6-month period) | Pretreatment Coordinator or Director | Varies | Second notice of violation with increased penalty |
Violation of permit conditions (endangerment) | Suspend service; notice of violation with up to $25,000 per day per violation penalty | Suspend service immediately; Notice of violation within 7 days | Director | Steps taken to avoid reoccurrence | Violations of enforcement order; Conditions or limitsNotice of violation assess stipulated penalty and actions listed for same violation type in ERPWithin time frame listed in enforcement order or for the same type of violation in ERPPretreatment Coordinator or DirectorAdditional monitoring and steps taken to avoid recurrenceSame as escalated action for same type of violation possible revocation of order |
Failure to meet a milestone date in enforcement order (does not affect other dates) | Notice of violation and assess penalty stipulated in order | Within 14 days of discovery | Pretreatment Coordinator | Submit a schedule to complete the requirement | Show cause hearing |
Failure to meet a milestone date in an enforcement order (affects other dates) | Show cause hearing and assess stipulated penalties | Within 30 days of discovery | Director | Negotiate new order and abide by new conditions | Possible termination of service |
Failure to meet final compliance date | Notice of violation and assess stipulated penalties | Within 14 days of discovery | Director | Document compliance | Possible termination of service |
(Ord. 1994-79, passed 11-21-94; Ord. 2007-45, passed 6-4-07; Agenda Memorandum, passed 7-18-11)