(a) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into the storm drainage system of Lincoln Park, or any rivers or creeks in the city, any materials, except those permitted under the City's certificate of coverage, including but not limited to pollutants or waters containing any pollutants other than storm water.
(b) The construction, use, maintenance, commencement, or continuance of any illegal discharge into the storm drainage system is prohibited except as described as follows:
(1) The following discharges are exempt from discharge prohibitions established by this section; water line flushing or other potable water sources, landscape irrigation or lawn watering, diverted stream flows, rising ground water, ground water infiltration to storm drainage systems, uncontaminated pumped ground water, foundation or footing drains, crawl space pumps, sump pumps, air conditioning condensation, springs, noncommercial washing of vehicles, natural riparian habitat or wetland flows, swimming pools, dye testing, discharge from flooded basements and/or crawl spaces, fire fighting activities, sprinkler systems, and any other water source generally not containing pollutants.
(2) Any other discharge specified in writing by an authorized enforcement agency, including, but not limited to, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, or by order or consent decree of the courts of Michigan or the United States.
(3) This prohibition shall not apply to any non-storm water discharge permitted under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, waiver, or waste discharge order issued to the discharging person and administered under the authority of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
(c) This prohibition expressly includes, without limitation, illicit connections made in the past, regardless of whether the connection was permissible under law or practices applicable or prevailing at the time of connection.
(d) Any sanitary sewer system which is or has been connected to the storm drainage system, or which is or has been connected to the storm drainage system as a result of a false application, misrepresentation, or non-disclosure on an construction permit, or which was connected to the storm drainage system by way of obtaining sanitary sewer system connection and plumbing permits through any means which circumvented the limitations created by this section, shall be disconnected, from the storm drainage system by the property owner or the city, unless:
(1) The property owner, at his or her own expense, sufficiently excavates the area and the location of the sanitary sewer system service line connection, in a manner which allows the department of building and engineering and/or the department of public service the ability to reasonably and sufficiently inspect the condition, and if upon the completion of the inspection, approves of the connection by issuing the property owner a fully executed and approved inspection certificate. Any and all fees associated with this inspection and the issuance of the inspection certificate shall be charged against tale property owner and paid in full by the property owner before the commencement of the inspection.
(2) A dye test, conducted by the city, determines that the connection is not an illicit connection.
(3) The property owner, at his or her own expense, and after obtaining all necessary permits and approval from the City connects the illicit connection to a sanitary sewer system.
(4) The city connects the illicit connection to a sanitary sewer system.
(e) Any property owner who has a known illicit connection to the storm drainage system, shall be guilty of a civil infraction and shall be subject to a fine not exceeding the sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00). The enforcing agency may recover all attorney's fees, court fees, and other expenses associated with the enforcement of this section, including any inspection, sampling, and monitoring expenses.
(f) If the property owner fails to disconnect the illicit connection, or reconnect the illicit connection to the sanitary sewer system, the Superintendent of the Department of Buildings, City Engineer and/or the Director of the Department of Public Works, or his or her designee, shall disconnect the illicit connection from the storm drainage system or shall reconnect the illicit connection to a sanitary sewer system.
(g) The Superintendent of the Department of Buildings, the City Engineer or the Director of the Department of Public Works, or his or her designee, shall take all steps necessary to disconnect the illicit connection from the storm drainage system, or shall reconnect the illicit connection to a sanitary sewer system, and shall keep or cause to be kept an accurate record of all expenses associated with the disconnection or reconnection. A report of the work done and all expenses occurred abating the illicit connection from the storm drainage system shall be compiled by the Department of Building and Engineering, and/or the Department of Public Works.
(Res. 02-550A. Passed 10-7-02.)