(a) Applicability. This section applies to all facilities that have stormwater discharges associated with commercial or industrial activity, including construction activity.
(b) Access to Facilities.
(1) Inspections authorized. The Administrator or authorized designees are hereby authorized to inspect such facilities subject to regulation under this Chapter as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this Chapter. If the Administrator or authorized designees determine that inspection of a facility is needed, the Administrator or authorized designees shall notify the property owner, the operator of such facility, and/or any other parties who, in the sole determination of the Administrator or authorized designees, directly benefit from the storm sewer system, that such inspection is required as follows:
A. Written notice. The Administrator or authorized designees shall cause written notice to be served on the property owner, the operator of such facility, and/or any other parties benefiting from the storm water system notifying such parties that inspection is necessary as set forth in subsections (b)(2) through (5) below, and that response to the inspection notice should be delivered to the Administrator or authorized designees within fourteen (14) days of the notice. 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 representatives of municipality. The notice shall be served upon the property owner, the operator of such facility, and/or benefited parties at the tax billing address for each respective premises reflected upon the records of the Franklin County Auditor. Service shall be accomplished by any means permitted for service of Summons under the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure. Each property affected by such notice shall also be posted with such notice by the Administrator or authorized designees.
B. Unknown address. In those instances where the address of the owner is unknown, it shall be sufficient to publish a notice once a week in a newspaper of general circulation in Franklin County, Ohio setting forth the substance of the notice and time frame for compliance. The time frame for compliance shall be no less than fourteen (14) days after the publication.
C. Entrance without prior notice. The Administrator or authorized designees may enter the property and inspect the property without prior written notice as set forth above if there is an emergency, the property is open to the general public, or the subject property has a history of regulatory oversight, as determined in the sole discretion of the Administrator in consultation with the Solicitor.
D. Unreasonable delays. Unreasonable delays in allowing the Administrator or authorized designees access to a permitted facility are violations of a stormwater discharge permit and of this Chapter. A person who is the operator of a facility with a NPDES permit to discharge stormwater associated with industrial activity commits an offense if the person denies the Administrator or authorized designees reasonable access to the permitted facility for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized or required by this Chapter.
E. Refusal of access. If the Administrator or authorized designees have been refused access to any part of the premises from which stormwater is discharged, and he/she is able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this Chapter, 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 Chapter or any order issued hereunder, or to protect the overall public health, safety, and welfare of the community, then the Village of Obetz may seek issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Facility operators shall allow the Administrator or authorized designees 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 Administrator or authorized designees shall have the right to set up on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the authorized enforcement agency to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility's stormwater discharge.
(4) The Administrator or authorized designees have the right to require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary at the discharger's expense. 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 Administrator or authorized designee and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(Ord. 34-09. Passed 12-14-09.)