1. Right to Refuse. The City reserves the right to refuse to accept wastewater, or combinations of wastewater, which are discharged in violation of the terms or conditions of the industrial pretreatment program or any written directions issued by the City pursuant to the conditions of the industrial pretreatment program. The City may take such steps as it deems necessary, as outlined in this Part, to compel discontinuance of use of the sewer system or pretreatment of industrial wastes in order to comply with the provisions of the industrial pretreatment program.
2. Individual Wastewater Discharge Permit Revocation.
A. The City may revoke an individual wastewater discharge permit for good cause, including, but not limited to, the following reasons:
(1) Failure to notify the City of significant changes to the wastewater or the operations prior to the changed discharge.
(2) Misrepresentation or failure to fully disclose all relevant facts in the wastewater discharge permit application.
(3) Falsifying self-monitoring reports and certification statements.
(4) Tampering with monitoring equipment.
(5) Refusing to allow the City timely access to the facility premises and records.
(6) Failure to meet effluent limitations.
(7) Failure to pay fines.
(8) Failure to pay sewer charges.
(9) Failure to meet compliance schedules.
(10) Failure to complete a wastewater survey or the wastewater discharge permit application.
(11) Failure to provide advance notice of the transfer of business ownership of a permitted facility.
(12) Violation of any pretreatment standard or requirement, or any terms of the wastewater discharge permit or this Part.
B. Discharge of any industrial waste to the sewer system by a significant industrial user without a wastewater discharge permit is an unauthorized discharge, as provided in, and is subject to the penalties provided herein.
C. Any industrial user notified of a revocation of its wastewater discharge permit shall immediately stop or eliminate the discharge. In the event of a failure of the industrial user to comply voluntarily with the notice of revocation, the discharge shall be considered an unauthorized discharge and the City shall take such steps as deemed necessary, which may include immediate severance of the connection between the building sewer and the sewage collection system, to prevent or minimize damage to the sewer system or endangerment to the environment or any property or person.
D. Individual wastewater discharge permits shall be voidable upon cessation of operations or transfer of business ownership. All individual wastewater discharge permits issued to a user are void upon the issuance of a new individual wastewater discharge permit that user.
3. Suspension of Permit.
A. The City may suspend the wastewater discharge permit when such suspension is necessary, in the opinion of the City, in order to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons, to the environment, causes interference or pass through or causes the City to violate any condition of its NPDES permit or any other national or State law, rule, regulation or permit condition.
B. Any industrial user notified of a suspension of its wastewater discharge permit shall immediately stop or eliminate the discharge. In the event of a failure of the industrial user to comply voluntarily with the notice of suspension, the discharge shall be considered an unauthorized discharge and the City shall take such steps as deemed necessary, including immediate severance of the connection between the building sewer and the sewage collection system, to prevent or minimize damage to the sewer system or endangerment to the environment or any property or person.
C. If a permit has been suspended as a result of an unauthorized discharge, which discharge resulted in or contributed to damages to the sewer system or to any person or property, the permit shall not be reinstated until such time as all such damages have been satisfied.
D. The City shall reinstate the wastewater discharge permit upon submission of proof by the industrial user of the elimination of the unauthorized discharge. A detailed written statement submitted by the industrial user describing the causes of the unauthorized discharge and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence shall be submitted to the City within 15 days of the date of occurrence.
4. Notice of Violation. Whenever the City finds that any industrial user has violated or is violating this Part, its wastewater discharge permit or any prohibition, limitation or requirements contained herein, the City may serve upon such industrial user a written notice stating the nature of the violation and requiring a response within a specified time. Within 5 days of the receipt of such notice, an explanation of the violation and a plan for the satisfactory correction and prevention thereof, to include specific required actions, shall be submitted by the user to the City. Responses required of industrial users may include, but are not limited to, actions, plans, compliance schedules or written explanations. Submission of such a plan in no way relieves the user of liability for any violations occurring before or after receipt of the notice of violation. Nothing in this Section shall limit the authority of the Superintendent to take any action, including emergency actions or any other enforcement action, without first issuing a notice of violation.
5. Show Cause Hearing.
A. Any industrial user who causes or allows an unauthorized discharge to enter the sewer system, or who violates any condition or requirement of the industrial pretreatment program or its wastewater discharge permit, may request to show cause before the City Manager why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. A written notice shall be served on the industrial user specifying the time and place of a hearing to be held by the City Manager regarding the violation, the reasons why the action is to be taken, the proposed enforcement action and directing the industrial user to show cause before the City Manager why the proposed enforcement action should 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 if the industrial user is a corporation.
B. The City Council may designate any of its members or any representative to:
(1) Issue in the name of the City notices of hearings requesting the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter involved in such hearing.
(2) Conduct the hearing.
(3) Take the evidence.
(4) Transmit a report of the evidence and hearing, including transcripts and other evidence, together with recommendations for action thereon.
C. At any hearing held pursuant to this Part, 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 City Manager has reviewed the evidence, he shall, in writing, direct the industrial user to take certain actions to correct the unauthorized discharge or to achieve compliance. The actions which may be directed include, but are not limited to:
(1) Installation of pretreatment facilities or equipment.
(2) Modification or additions to existing pretreatment facilities or equipment.
(3) Initiation of management practices which are required to alter the nature of the industrial waste being discharged.
(4) Development or implementation of SPCC plans or other measures.
(5) Other measures found to be necessary to correct the unauthorized discharge or other noncompliance.
(6) The direction may be in form of a schedule for compliance, setting dates by which certain actions shall be taken.
E. Failure of an industrial user to comply with written directions issued pursuant to a hearing constitutes a violation of this Part.
6. Administrative Orders. The City shall issue written directions as described in subsection .5.D, above, without a show cause hearing if the City determines that such directions are necessary to correct or remedy continuing violations of this Part or any wastewater discharge permit or other requirements of the industrial pretreatment program, the City or Federal or State regulations.
7. Compliance Orders. When the City finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part, an individual wastewater discharge permit, 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, sewer 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 sewer. A compliance order may not extend the deadline for compliance established for a pretreatment standard or requirement, nor does a compliance order relieve the user of liability for any violation, including any continuing violation. Issuance of a compliance order shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
8. Cease and Desist Orders. When the City finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part, an individual wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, or that the user's past violations are likely to recur, the City shall 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 and/ or terminating the discharge. Issuance of a cease and desist order shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
9. Consent Orders. The City may enter into consent orders, assurances of compliance, or other similar documents establishing an agreement with any user responsible for noncompliance. Such documents shall include specific action to be taken by the user to correct the noncompliance within a time period specified by the document. Such documents shall have the same force and effect as the administrative orders issued pursuant to subsections .7 and .8 of this Section and shall be judicially enforceable.
10. Right of Appeal.
A. An industrial user may appeal the enforcement actions enumerated above in subsections .2, .3, .5., and .6 of this Section; or wastewater discharge permit conditions, in whole or in part. An appeal is subject to the following requirements:
(1) The appeal must be made in writing to City Council.
(2) The appeal must be made within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the wastewater discharge permit, written directions or notice of denial, suspension, modification or revocation of a wastewater discharge permit being appealed by the industrial user.
(3) The appeal must state the specific provision(s) of a wastewater discharge permit or the specific directions of the City which are being contested.
(4) The appeal must state the reason for the appeal of each provision.
(5) The appeal may suggest alternate or revised provisions to replace those appealed.
B. Provisions mandated by Federal or State regulations (e.g., compliance with categorical standards) shall not be appealed.
C. The appeal shall be reviewed by the City Manager.
D. Within 30 days of receipt, the City Manager shall report, in writing, to City Council the results of the review. The report shall contain, at a minimum:
(1) A summary of each item appealed the appellant's reasons for appeal and the appellant's proposed remedies, if any.
(2) The finding of merit for each point and the reason(s) for finding.
(3) For each point found to be with merit, a proposed remedy and a finding that the remedy is allowable under this Part and all applicable Federal, State and local rules, regulations and laws.
E. City Council shall review the report and, at one or more regular or special public meetings, take any additional testimony offered by the appellant, reviewer, pretreatment program coordinator or other interested party. City Council shall, within 45 days of the conclusion of testimony, decide to:
(1) Grant the appeal or portions of the appeal, applying such remedies as it deems proper.
(2) Deny the appeal.
Such decision of City Council constitutes final administrative action.
11. Publication of Users in Significant Noncompliance. The City shall publish annually, in a newspaper of general circulation that provides meaningful public notice within the jurisdictions served by the POTW, a list of the users which, at any time during the previous 12 months, were in significant noncompliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements. The term significant noncompliance shall be applicable to all significant industrial users (or any other industrial user that violates paragraphs .C and .D of this Section) and shall mean:
A. Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66 percent or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter taken during a 6-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits as defined in § 3.2.
B. Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33 percent or more of wastewater measurements taken for each pollutant parameter during a 6-month period equals or exceeds the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by § 3.2 multiplied by the applicable criteria (1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH).
C. Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by § 3.2 (daily maximum, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the Superintendent 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.
D. Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to the public or to the environment, or has resulted in the Superintendent's exercise of his emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge.
E. Failure to meet, within 90 days of the scheduled date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in an individual wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance.
F. Failure to provide within 45 days after the due date, any required reports, including baseline monitoring reports, reports on compliance with categorical pretreatment standard deadlines, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules.
G. Failure to accurately report noncompliance.
12. Records. The City shall maintain records of all enforcement actions taken, the reasons for those actions and the results of those actions. These records shall be made available to the public during normal City business hours.
13. Civil Actions. If any person violates the provisions of the industrial pretreatment program, including local, national or State pretreatment requirements, categorical standards or any wastewater discharge permit or written directions issued by the City, the City may commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the Court of Common Pleas of Clinton County or any other appropriate forum.
A. When the City finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part, an individual wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the City may fine such user in an amount not to exceed $1,000 and costs. Such fines shall be assessed on a per violation, per-day basis. In the case of monthly or other long-term average discharge limits, fines shall be assessed for each day during the period of violation. In default of payment of said fines and costs, user will be subject to a term of imprisonment not to exceed 30 days.
B. In addition to the penalties provided herein, the City may recover reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, court reporters fees and other expenses of litigation by appropriate suit at law against the person found to have violated this Part or the rules, regulations and permits issued hereunder.
C. Users desiring to dispute such fines must file a written request for the City to reconsider the fine along with full payment of the fine amount within 30 days of being notified of the fine. Where a request has merit, the City may convene a hearing on the matter. In the event the user's appeal is successful, the payment shall be returned to the user. The City may add the costs of preparing administrative enforcement actions, such as notices and orders, to the fine.
D. Issuance of an administrative fine shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
14. Injunctive Relief. When the City finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part, an individual wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the City may petition the Clinton County Court of Common Pleas through the City's attorney for the issuance of a temporary or permanent injunction, as appropriate, which restrains or compels the specific performance of the individual wastewater discharge permit, or other requirement imposed by this Part on activities of the user. The City may also seek such other action as is appropriate for legal and/or equitable relief, including a requirement for the user to conduct environmental remediation. A petition for injunctive relief shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against a user.
15. Remedies Nonexclusive. The remedies provided for in this Part are not exclusive. The City may take any, all, or any combination of these actions against a noncompliant user. Enforcement of pretreatment violations will generally be in accordance with the City's enforcement response plan. However, the City may take other action against any user when the circumstances warrant. Further, the City is empowered to take more than one enforcement action against any noncompliant user.
(Ord. 7-6-2010, 7/6/2010, § 3.8)