(A) Applicability. This section applies to all facilities that have stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity, including construction activity.
(B) Access to facilities.
(1) The county 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 which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the discharger shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to the county.
(2) Facility operators shall allow the county 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.
(3) The county shall have the right to set up on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the county, or its designee, to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility's stormwater discharge.
(4) The county has 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 stormwater flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
(5) 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 county and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(6) Unreasonable delays in allowing the county access to a permitted facility are a violation of a stormwater discharge permit and of this subchapter. A person who is the operator of a facility with an NPDES permit to discharge stormwater associated with industrial activity commits an offense if the person denies the county reasonable access to the permitted facility for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized or required by this subchapter.
(7) If the county has been refused access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged, and is able to demonstrate probable 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, or to protect the overall public health, safety, and welfare of the community, then the county may seek issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.
(Ord. 2007-06, passed 4-17-07)