(a) Administrative Orders. The Director has the authority to issue enforceable Administrative Orders or permits to any and all dischargers to the POTW. Such orders or permits may contain numerical discharge values limiting the volume, concentration and/or mass loadings from dischargers.
(b) Administrative Penalties.
(1) Continuous dischargers. The Director may assess administrative penalties ranging in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100.00) to three hundred dollars ($300.00) per day upon dischargers who normally have a continuous discharge who fail to comply with numerical values or administrative orders or permits issued by the City or other regulatory agencies. Such administrative penalties shall be determined by the Director based on the severity of the violation and the enforcement category assigned to the violator.
If the violation is an "average" violation, the penalty shall be applied times the number of days, i.e., ($100 x 30 = $3,000.00). If a discharger has both monthly and seven (7) day violations for the same parameter, the monthly violation takes precedent. If violations of more than one parameter are found, each parameter so violated will be treated as a separate violation.
(2) Batch dischargers. The Director may assess administrative penalties ranging in the amount of five hundred dollars ($500.00) to three thousand dollars ($3,000) per violation upon dischargers who batch discharge who fail to comply with numerical values or Administrative Orders or permits issued by the City or other regulatory agencies. Such administrative penalties shall be determined by the Director based on the volume of the discharge, the severity of the violation, and the enforcement category assigned to the violator. If violations of more than one (1) parameter are found, each parameter so violated shall be treated as a separate violation.
(3) Surcharges. In addition to administrative penalties stated in subsection (b) hereof, "surcharges" may be imposed upon violating dischargers. Such surcharges are intended to recover the additional costs associated with treating "extra strength" discharges and are not penalties.
(c) Compliance Schedules. When, in the opinion of the Director, it becomes necessary for industrial users to install technology or provide additional operation and maintenance (O&M) to meet any condition of this chapter or applicable Administrative Order, the Director shall require the submittal of the shortest schedule by which the industrial user shall provide this additional technology or O&M. Where additional pretreatment and/or operation and maintenance activities will be required to comply with this chapter, the discharger shall provide a declaration of the shortest schedule by which the discharger can provide such additional pretreatment and/or implementation of additional operation and maintenance activities.
The following conditions shall apply to this compliance schedule:
(1) The schedule shall contain increments of progress in the form of dates for the commencement and completion of major events. Under no circumstances shall any increment exceed nine (9) months.
(2) Not later than fourteen (14) days following each date in the schedule and the final date for compliance, the industrial user shall submit a progress report to the Director including, at a minimum, whether or not it complied with the increment of progress to be met on such date and, if not, the date on which it expects to comply with this increment of progress, the reason for delay, and the steps being taken by the industrial user to return to the schedule established.
(d) Litigation. Whoever violates an order or permit or fails to comply with any provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be penalized in the manner set forth in Section 913.99(a). Discharges which interfere with the proper operation of, or cause damage to the POTW may also be liable under State and/or Federal law which provides for penalties up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per day and six (6) years in jail for a repeat knowing criminal violation.
(e) Emergency Suspension of Service and Discharge Permits. The Director may for good cause shown suspend the wastewater treatment service and/or curtail the water service to a discharger when an actual or threatened discharge presents or threatens an imminent or substantial danger to the health or welfare of persons, substantial danger to the environment, interfere with the operation of the POTW, or violate any pretreatment limits imposed by this chapter. Any discharger notified of the suspension of service(s) shall within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Director, cease all discharges. The Director may reinstate service(s) pending proof by the discharger of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge or conditions creating the threat of imminent or substantial danger as set forth above.
In the event of failure of the discharger to comply voluntarily with a suspension order within the specified time, the Director may in his discretion commence judicial proceedings immediately thereafter to compel the discharger's compliance with such order.
(f) Revocation of Treatment Services. The Director may terminate the wastewater treatment services to any discharger which:
(1) Fails to factually report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of its discharge;
(2) Fails to report significant changes in wastewater constituents or characteristics;
(3) Refuses reasonable access to the discharger's premises by representatives of the City for the purpose of inspection or monitoring; or
(4) Violates the conditions of this chapter, or any final judicial order entered with respect thereto.
(g) Notification of Violation; Administrative Adjustment. Whenever the Director finds that any discharger has engaged in conduct which justifies termination of wastewater treatment services, pursuant to subsection (f) hereof, the Director shall serve, or cause to be served, upon such discharger a written notice either personally or by certified or registered mail stating the nature of the alleged violation. Within ten (10) days of the date of receipt of the notice, the discharger shall respond personally or in writing to the Director, advising of its position with respect to the allegations. Thereafter, the parties shall meet to ascertain the veracity of the allegations, and where necessary, establish a plan for the satisfactory correction thereof.
(h) Show Cause Hearing. Where the violation of subsection (f) hereof is not corrected by timely compliance by means of administrative adjustment, the Director may order any discharger which causes or allows conduct prohibited by subsection (f) hereof, to show cause before Council why the proposed service termination action should not be taken. A written notice shall be served on the discharger by personal service, certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, specifying the time and place of a hearing to be held by Council regarding the violation; the reasons why the enforcement action was taken; and directing the discharger to show cause before Council why the enforcement action should not be continued. The notice of the hearing shall be served no less than ten (10) days before the hearing. Service may be made on any agent, officer or authorized representative of a discharger.
(i) Judicial Proceedings. Following the entry of any order by the Director with respect to the conduct of a discharger contrary to the provisions of subsection (f) hereof, the attorney for the City may, following the request for such action by Council, commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas.
(j) Annual Publication. As required by 40 CFR 403.8(f)(2)(vii) at least annually the Director shall publish a list of all industrial users which at any time during the previous twelve (12) months were in significant noncompliance (SNC) with applicable pretreatment requirements. For the purposes of this provision, an industrial user is in significant noncompliance if its violations meet one or more of the following criteria (Note: Items (1) and (2) below apply only to Significant Industrial Users and are applicable to each of a Significant Industrial User's permitted monitoring locations. For Non-Significant Industrial Users, only items (3), (4) and (8) apply:
(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined herein as those in which sixty-six percent (66%) or more of all of the measurements taken during a six (6) month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit, the average limit or the instantaneous limit for the same pollutant parameter for any Significant Industrial User's permitted monitoring location;
(2) Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined herein as those in which thirty-three percent (33%) or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six (6) month period equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limit, the average limit, or instantaneous limit multiplied by the applicable TRC. (TRC = 1.4 for B.O.D., TSS, fats, oil and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH) for any Significant Industrial User's permitted monitoring location;
(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or longer term average) that the Director 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;
(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment of human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5) Failure to meet, within ninety (90) days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order for starting final construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(6) Failure to provide, within forty-five (45) days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety (90) day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;
(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;
(8) Any other violation or group of violations, including violations BMPs which the Director determines will or has adversely affected the operation or implementation of the City's pretreatment program.
(k) Right of Appeal. Any discharger or any interested party shall have the right to request in writing an interpretation or ruling by the Director on any matter covered by this chapter and shall be entitled to a prompt written reply.
In the event that such inquiry is by a discharger and deals with matters of performance or compliance with this chapter for which enforcement activity relating to an alleged violation is the subject, receipt of a discharger's request shall stay all enforcement proceedings pending receipt of the aforesaid written reply. This stay provision shall not apply to enforcement proceedings implemented under subsection (e) hereof. Appeal of any judicial order entered pursuant to this chapter may be made in accordance with local and State law.
(l) Operating Upsets. Any discharger who experiences an upset in operations which places the discharger in a temporary state of noncompliance with this chapter shall inform the Director or his designated representative thereof within twenty-four (24) hours of first awareness of the commencement of the upset. Where such information is given verbally, a written follow-up report thereof shall be filed by the discharger with the Director within five (5) calendar days. The report shall specify:
(1) Description of the upset, the cause thereof, and the upset's impact on a discharger's compliance status.
(2) Duration of noncompliance including exact dates and times of noncompliance and, if the noncompliance continues, the time by which compliance is reasonably expected to occur.
(3) All steps taken or to be taken to reduce, eliminate and prevent recurrence of such an upset or other conditions of noncompliance.
(Ord. H-15. Passed 10-19-15.)