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)