§ 52.212 PUBLIC NUISANCES.

   A violation of any provision of this chapter, a wastewater discharge permit, other control document, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement is hereby declared a public nuisance and shall be corrected or abated as directed by the Board. Any person(s) creating a public nuisance shall be subject to the provisions of the City Code governing such nuisances, including reimbursing the Board for any costs incurred in removing, abating, or remedying said nuisance.

(Ord. 9-2016, passed 6-7-2016)

§ 52.213 CONTRACTOR LISTING.

   Users which have not achieved compliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements are not eligible to receive a contractual award for the sale of goods or services to the Board. Existing contracts for the sale of goods or services to the Board held by a user found to be in significant noncompliance with pretreatment standards or requirements may be terminated at the discretion of the Board.

(Ord. 9-2016, passed 6-7-2016)

§ 52.214 COST RECOVERY.

   When a discharge of wastes causes an obstruction, damage, or any other impairment to the POTW, the Board may assess a charge against the user for the work required to clean or repair the facility and add that charge to the user's charges and fees. The user may be responsible for paying the following (but not limited to) costs:

   (A)   Cost of mileage and labor incurred in detecting and correcting the violation;

   (B)   Laboratory analysis costs associated with detecting and correcting the violation;

   (C)   Additional treatment costs caused by the violation or associated with detecting and correcting the violation;

   (D)   Costs of any additional equipment acquired or expended by the Board for detecting or correcting the violation;

   (E)   Repair and/or replacement of any part of the sewerage system damaged by the violation;

   (F)   Any liability, damages, fines or penalties incurred by the Board as a result of the violation;

   (G)   Any and all expenses of outside professionals to include, but not limited to, engineers, scientists, and/or legal counsel; and

   (H)   Other costs associated with the detection and correction of the violations.

(Ord. 9-2016, passed 6-7-2016)

AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES TO DISCHARGE VIOLATIONS

§ 52.230 CIU UPSET.

   (A)   For the purposes of this section, upset means an exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards because of factors beyond the reasonable control of the CIU. An upset does not include noncompliance to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance, or careless or improper operation.

   (B)   An upset shall constitute an affirmative defense to an action brought for noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards if the requirements of division (C), below, are met.

   (C)   A CIU who wishes to establish the affirmative defense of upset shall demonstrate, through properly signed, contemporaneous operating logs, or other relevant evidence that:

      (1)   An upset occurred and the CIU can identify the cause(s) of the upset;

      (2)   The facility was at the time being operated in a prudent and workman-like manner and in compliance with applicable operation and maintenance procedures; and

      (3)   The CIU has submitted the following information to the Board within 24 hours of becoming aware of the upset (if this information is provided orally, a written submission must be provided within five days):

         (a)   A description of the indirect discharge and cause of noncompliance;

         (b)   The period of noncompliance, including exact dates and times or, if not corrected, the anticipated time the noncompliance is expected to continue; and

         (c)   Steps being taken and/or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent recurrence of the noncompliance.

   (D)   In any enforcement proceeding, the CIU seeking to establish the occurrence of an upset shall have the burden of proof.

   (E)   CIUs shall have the opportunity for a judicial determination on any claim of upset only in an enforcement action brought for noncompliance with categorical pretreatment standards.

   (F)   CIUs shall control production of all discharges to the extent necessary to maintain compliance with categorical pretreatment standards upon reduction, loss, or failure of its treatment facility until the facility is restored or an alternative method of treatment is provided. This requirement applies in the situation where, among other things, the primary source of power of the treatment facility is reduced, lost, or fails.

(Ord. 9-2016, passed 6-7-2016)

§ 52.231 PROHIBITED DISCHARGE STANDARDS.

   A user shall have an affirmative defense to an enforcement action brought against it for noncompliance with the general prohibitions in § 52.015(A) or the specific prohibitions in § 52.015(B)(3) through (7) and (9) through (17) if it can prove that it did not know, or have reason to know, that its discharge, alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, would cause pass through or interference and that either:

   (A)   A local limit exists for each pollutant discharged and the user was in compliance with each limit directly prior to, and during, the pass through or interference; or

   (B)   No local limit exists, but the discharge did not change substantially in nature or constituents from the user's prior discharge when the Board was regularly in compliance with its NPDES permit, and in the case of interference, was in compliance with applicable sludge use or disposal requirements.

(Ord. 9-2016, passed 6-7-2016)

§ 52.232 BYPASS.

   (A)   For the purposes of this section,

      (1)   Bypass means the intentional diversion of wastestreams from any portion of a user's treatment facility.

      (2)   Severe property damage means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to

occur in the absence of a bypass. Severe property damage does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.

   (B)   A user may allow any bypass to occur which does not cause pretreatment standards or requirements to be violated, but only if it also is for essential maintenance to assure efficient operation. These bypasses are not subject to the provision of divisions (C) and (D) of this section.

   (C)   Bypass notifications.

      (1)   If a user knows in advance of the need for a bypass, it shall submit prior notice to the Board, at least ten days before the date of the bypass, if possible.

      (2)   A user shall submit oral notice to the Board of an unanticipated bypass that exceeds applicable pretreatment standards within 24 hours from the time it becomes aware of the bypass. A written submission shall also be provided within five days of the time the user becomes aware of the bypass. The written submission shall contain a description of the bypass and its cause; the duration of the bypass, including exact dates and times, and, if the bypass has not been corrected, the anticipated time it is expected to continue; and steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent reoccurrence of the bypass. The Board may waive the written report on a case-by-case basis if the oral report has been received within 24 hours.

   (D)   Bypass.

      (1)   Bypass is prohibited, and the Board may take an enforcement action against a user for a bypass, unless

         (a)   Bypass was unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage;

         (b)   There were no feasible alternatives to the bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime. This condition is not satisfied if adequate back-up equipment should have been installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgment to prevent a bypass which occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventive maintenance; and

         (c)   The user submitted notices as required under division (C) of this section.

      (2)   The Board may approve an anticipated bypass, after considering its adverse effects, if the Board determines that it will meet the three conditions listed in division (D)(1) of this section.

(Ord. 9-2016, passed 6-7-2016)

SURCHARGE SAMPLING AND VOLUME DETERMINATIONS

§ 52.250 SAMPLING AND TESTING FOR SURCHARGES OR USER CHARGES.

   (A)   The discharged sewage shall be sampled during each surcharge billing period for a minimum of a one day period, i.e., 24 hours, by means of a composite sample. An extended sampling period of up to one week, i.e., seven continuous days, or reduction may be requested to enable the gathering of a sample representative of a business' sewage. The extension or reduction of the sampling period beyond the initial one day sampling period may be requested by either the sewer user involved or the Board. If an extended sampling period is requested, the parameter values used to calculate the surcharge shall be the arithmetical average of the individual values. If a user has multiple discharges of sewage, each discharge shall be sampled according to quality. The volume of each discharge shall be determined by actual measurement or by means of process usage. If significant process changes are made to affect quality of any discharge, resampling may be requested by either the user involved or the Board.

   (B)   The sample shall be measured for the following parameters: Carbonaceous Biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) total suspended solids (TSS) and/or phosphorus. These tests shall be conducted in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 136, Guideline Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysis of Pollutants.

(Ord. 9-2016, passed 6-7-2016)