1. Suspension. The City or Township may suspend the wastewater treatment service and/or an IWDP without prior notice when such suspension is necessary in order to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons, to the environment, causes interference to the POTW or collection system or causes the City to violate any condition of its NPDES Permit. In the event of a failure of the person to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the City or Township shall take steps as deemed necessary including immediate termination of water service and/or immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the POTW system or endangerment to any individuals. The service and/or IWDP shall be restored within 5 working days after, in the opinion of the City or Township, whichever suspends service, the actual or threatened cause for the suspension has been removed. The above actions shall be taken only as ordered by the Director of Water and Sewer Resources.
2. Notice of Suspension. In the event that the City or Township decides it is necessary to suspend its wastewater treatment service for reasons other than as described above, the user shall be given a 15-day notice of such suspension. Any person notified of a suspension of the wastewater treatment service and/or IWDP shall stop or eliminate the contribution as required in the suspension notice. Between the time of the notice of suspension of services and the date services are terminated, the user shall have the right to have a show cause hearing with the Hearing Board regarding the cause of the suspension.
The City or Township, whichever suspended service, shall reinstate the IWDP and/or wastewater treatment service within 5 working days upon proof of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge or in compliance with instruction of the Hearing Board. A detailed written statement submitted by the user describing the cause of the harmful contributions and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence shall be submitted to the City or Township, whichever suspended service, within 5 days of the date of occurrence. In the event of a failure of the user to comply with the suspension notice, the City or Township may take such steps as deemed necessary to terminate the service.
3. Revocation of Permit. Any user who violates the conditions of this Part 7(B), or applicable State and Federal regulations, is subject to having the user’s permit revoked as described in § 18-714(11) of the Part.
4. Notification of Violation. Whenever the City or Township finds that any user has violated or is violating this Part 7(B), industrial waste discharge permit, or any prohibition, limitation of requirements contained herein the City or Township may serve upon such person a written notice of violation stating the nature of the violation. Within 30 days of the date of the notice, a plan for the satisfactory correction thereof shall be submitted to the City or Township by the user.
5. Hearing Board.
A. A Hearing Board, appointed by the Mayor of the City of Bethlehem for the purpose of hearing and deciding appeals between the City and users on matters concerning interpretation and execution of the provisions of Article 923 of the City’s codified ordinances, shall be the Hearing Board with respect to the interpretation and execution of the provisions of this Part 7(B). Cost of appeals shall be borne by the user requesting an appeal.
B. The chairperson of the Board shall be a member of City’s Public Works Committee; one member shall be a professional engineer skilled in practice of sanitary engineering; one member shall be a representative of industry or manufacturing enterprise; one member shall be a representative of a local environmental organization; and one member shall be selected at large for that member’s interest in accomplishing the objectives of this Part 7(B).
C. Terms on the Board shall be for a period of 5 years. The Mayor of the City of Bethlehem shall appoint representatives to fill vacancies on the Board to complete unexpired terms. Interim appointments may be permitted to serve an additional full term on the Board. Hearing Boards may be appointed as standing panels, or on a case-by-case basis, as determined from time to time, in the sole discretion of the Mayor of the City of Bethlehem.
6. Show Cause Hearing.
A. The City or Township may order any user who causes or allows an unauthorized discharge to enter the POTW to show cause before the Hearing Board 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 Hearing Board 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 Hearing Board 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 10 days before the hearing. Service may be made on any agent or officer of a corporation.
B. The Hearing Board may itself conduct the hearing and take the evidence, or may designate any one or more of its members, or any officer or employee of the assigned department to:
(1) Issue in the name of the Hearing Board notices of hearings request ing the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter involved in such hearings.
(2) Receive evidence.
(3) Transmit a report of the evidence and hearing, including transcripts and other evidence, together with recommendations to the Hearing Board for action thereon.
C. At any hearing pursuant to this Part 7(B), 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.
D. After the Hearing Board 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 be discontinued unless adequate treatment facilities, devices or other related appurtenances shall have been installed on existing treatment facilities, devices or other related appurtenances are properly operated. Further and/or other orders and directives as are necessary and appropriate may be issued.
7. Consent Orders. The City may enter into consent orders, assurances of voluntary compliance, or other similar documents establishing an agreement with any user responsible for noncompliance. Such documents will include specific action to be taken by the user to correct the noncompliance within a time period specified by the document.
8. Compliance Orders. When the Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 7(B), an IWDP or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the City may issue an order to the user responsible for the discharge directing that the user come into compliance within a specified time. If the user does not come into compliance within the time provided, wastewater service may be discontinued unless adequate treatment facilities, devices, or other related appurtenances are installed and properly operated. Compliance orders also may contain other requirements to address the noncompliance, including additional self-monitoring and management practices designed to minimize the amount of pollutants discharged to the POTW. A compliance schedule contained in any compliance order shall not be construed as an extension of the deadline for compliance established for any pretreatment standard or requirement, nor does a compliance order relieve the user of liability for any violation, including any continuing violation.
9. Cease and Desist Orders. When the Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 7(B), an IWDP or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, or that the user’s past violations are likely to recur, the City may issue an order to the user directing it to cease and desist all such violations and directing the user to:
A. Immediately comply with all requirements.
B. Take such appropriate remedial or preventive action as may be needed to properly address a continuing or threatened violation, including halting operations, terminating the discharge or hauling noncompliant discharges off-site for proper disposal.
10. Administrative Fines.
A. When the Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 7(B), an IWDP or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the City may fine such user in an amount not to exceed the amount set forth in the § 18-716 of this Part 7(B) for each violation regardless of jurisdictional boundaries. Such fines shall be assessed in accordance with the terms set forth in this Part 7(B) and/or the City’s Enforcement Response Plan. In the case of weekly, monthly or other long- term average discharge limits, fines shall be assessed for each day during the period of violation.
B. A lien against the user’s property will be sought and other enforcement collection action may be taken for unpaid fines.
C. Users desiring to dispute such fines shall file a written request for the City to reconsider the fine along with the full payment of the fine amount within 30 days of being notified of the fine. The Hearing Board may convene to deliberate on the matter. In the event the appeal is successful, the payment, together with any interest accruing thereto, shall be returned to the user. The City may add the costs of preparing administrative enforce ment actions, such as notices and orders to the fine when the fine and/or a portion of same, is substantiated.
D. Issuance of an administrative fine shall not be a bar against, or a prerequi site for, taking any other action against the user.
11. Legal Action. The City or Township shall be able to seek injunctive relief for noncompliance by users with pretreatment standards or requirements. Injunctive relief is available for violations of any requirement stated in this Part 7(B) or industrial waste discharge permits, including, but not limited to, wastewater discharge violations, failure to allow access by the City or Township to a user’s facility, failure to submit reports by a specified deadline or any violation of any order of the City or Township. The City or Township Solicitors may commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the local Court of Common Pleas.
12. Remedies Nonexclusive. The remedies provided for in this Part 7(B) are not exclusive. The City or Township may take any, all, or any combination of these actions against a noncompliant user. Enforcement of industrial pretreatment program violations will be in accordance with this Part 7(B) and/or the City’s Enforcement Response Plan. However, the City or Township may take other action against any user when the circumstances warrant. Further, the City or Township is empowered to take more than one enforcement action against any noncompliant user. Where the Enforcement Response Plan does not provide guidelines on enforcement action for a specific instance of noncompliance, the City or Township may impose other appropriate enforcement action to address the noncompliance.
13. Appeals. A user, may appeal the terms of an IWDP, administrative fine or any administrative action within 30 days of notice of its issuance. The written appeal request shall provide the name, address and telephone number of the appellant as well the date that the City or Township took the action which is the subject matter of the appeal. In its petition, the appealing party shall also indicate the provisions objected to, the reasons for this objection, and the alternative condition, if any.
A. Failure to submit a timely appeal for review shall be deemed to be a waiver of the administrative appeal.
B. The conditions of the current IWDP shall remain in effect pending the appeal of the new IWDP.
C. The City shall respond with its position within 60 days of filing of an appeal.
D. The user must file its appeal with the Hearing Board, described in § 18-715(e), to conduct a hearing and decide an appeal on the matter.
E. Aggrieved parties seeking judicial review of the final administrative decision must do so by filing a complaint with the local Court of Common Pleas, within 30 days of the decision of the Hearing Board.
14. Conference Option. At the time an appeal is requested, the user may also request a conference with the City or Township prior to the scheduling of a Hearing Board hearing. Said conference will include appropriate members of the City or Township staff and its agents. Violations and penalties will be explained and discussed. Electing this option does not foreclose and/or affect the user’s right to a hearing provided that the written request for the hearing was filed within 30 days of service as noted above. The purpose of this option is to provide the user with an informal forum within which to discuss the alleged violations and expedite conclusion and/or resolution of outstanding enforcement actions. If resolution is not reached within 90 days of the scheduled conference, the City or Township shall schedule the matter for Hearing Board hearing. In any event, either party may request a Hearing Board hearing at any point during the conference proceedings.
15. Township Authority. The enforcement authority of the Township under this Section shall be limited to matters related to the collection system.
(Ord. 495, 6/17/2009)