(A) Violation.
(1) A penalty is hereby established whereby any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall be deemed to be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be fined a minimum amount of not less than $500 per violation and a maximum amount of not more than $2,000 per violation. Each day of violation and each violation of a particular section of this chapter shall constitute a separable, offense for purposes of the city’s enforcement of this chapter. A culpable mental state is not required to prove an offense under this chapter.
(2) Upon the written certification by the city of the violation of any section of this chapter, the City Attorney is authorized to petition any court of competent jurisdiction for an injunction to enjoin the continuance of such violation. This remedy shall be cumulative of and to all other enforcement powers granted to the city by the terms of its Charter or any ordinance, or by the laws of the state or the United States. No provision of this chapter is intended, nor shall any part or portion hereof be construed so as to conflict with the State Water Code, state regulations or federal regulations.
(3) If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall be held to be invalid, the remainder of this chapter and the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall nevertheless be valid, and the City Council hereby declares that this chapter would have been enacted without such invalid provision.
(4) If compliance is not achieved to the city’s satisfaction, the city may, at its discretion, report the non-compliance to the USEPA, the TCEQ, the USGS, the U.S. Wildlife and Fisheries, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or any other state or federal agency for further action.
(B) Non-compliance flag and stop work orders. If the city determines that activities are being carried out in violation of this chapter, a notification of non-compliance shall be issued. In addition to the notification, if the violation continues beyond five days, a non-compliance flag will be posted at the site. Finally, if the violation continues after the five days after the non-compliance flag is posted, the city may stop all work until corrective measures have been completed. The site shall be posted with a stop work notice. No other permits may be issued by the city until corrections have been made to the satisfaction of the city. It is also against this chapter either to move or interfere with non-compliance flag and/or stop work orders and shall be considered as additional violation(s) of this chapter.
(C) Notification of violation. Any person found to be in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be required to correct the problem upon written notification from the city. Such written notification may require that certain conditions be adhered to in the correction of the problem. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Use of specific pollution prevention measures and techniques;
(2) Use of pretreatment procedures pollution prevention plans;
(3) Modification of existing plan;
(4) Completion of work within a specified time period; and
(5) Submission of pollution prevention plan or any other of its type.
(D) Appeals. Any person denied discharge to MS4 shall have the right to appeal such to the City Manager’s office within 45 days of the date of such denial.
(Ord. passed 7-26-2010)