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(A) It is the responsibility of all persons owning real property in the county to sustain diligent and good faith efforts to protect the natural environment and prevent illegal dumping on their property. Persons owning real property in the county shall not cause or allow the disposal upon their property of any solid waste materials.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no enforcement action may be taken under this subchapter against a landowner on whose land waste has been improperly disposed without the landowner's consent unless there has been made a diligent and good faith effort to identify, locate and take enforcement action against a person or persons who appear likely to have committed or caused the improper disposal act(s).
(C) Any landowner who in good faith provides information concerning a name, an address, or any other evidence of a responsible person's identity found in waste improperly disposed on the landowner's property is not liable to said person for an action taken by enforcement authorities under this subchapter against the person as a result of information provided by the landowner.
(D) The owner of real property upon which improper disposal acts have occurred may be included as a party of any enforcement action against a person who allegedly committed the violation so that the landowner may be ordered to allow the violator access to the land to remove and properly dispose of the waste allegedly disposed in violation of this subchapter.
(E) A landowner upon whose land waste has been disposed in violation of this subchapter without the landowner's consent may, in addition to any other legal or equitable remedy available to the landowner, recover from the person responsible for the improper disposal reasonable expenses incurred by the landowner in removal.
(F) A landowner who consents to or allows disposal of waste generated by others upon his property, without making a diligent and good faith effort to prevent the improper disposal of waste and failing to notify the Health Officer of said improper acts of disposal within a reasonable period of time, shall be subject to enforcement procedures, deemed to be the responsible party, served with notice and held liable for the costs associated with the clean-up of all waste deposited upon his or her property and the removal of such waste for final disposal at an approved sanitary landfill.
(G) If a diligent and good faith effort is made by the Health Officer to identify, locate and take enforcement action against a person or persons who committed prohibited acts of waste disposal and such efforts have failed to identify violators of acts prohibited herein, the owner of real property upon which an open dump is located shall be held responsible for correcting and controlling any nuisance conditions which may occur as a result of the open dump.
(H) Materials which provide identifying information regarding the generator shall constitute a rebuttable presumption that the generator has deposited solid waste without the express consent of the landowner and in violation of this subchapter. The presumption can be rebutted by proof that:
(1) The person obtained the express consent of the landowner; or
(2) The person properly placed the solid waste in waste storage containers for pickup by a licensed waste hauler.
(Ord. 2002-6-3, passed 6-3-2002)
(A) It shall be the duty of the Health Officer to enforce this subchapter upon the receipt of a written complaint filed with said Officer. The Health Officer is authorized to perform inspections of the alleged violations complained of and in the furtherance of fulfilling his or her duty to enforce this subchapter.
(B) If, upon inspection, the Health Officer determines that this subchapter is being violated by a person who owns, occupies and/or leases the subject real property which is governed by this subchapter, it shall be the duty of the Health Officer to cause an initial written notice of violation(s) to be issued and served upon the land owner(s) of record and any known occupant(s) and/or lessee(s) who are in possession or control of the subject real property. Such notice shall state the violator(s) alleged under this subchapter, order the abatement of such violation(s), indicate a method of abatement which will adequately abate the offending violation(s), and state a reasonable period of time within which the violation(s) must be abated. A notice of violation may be hand delivered by the Health Officer or a Sheriffs Deputy or delivered in any other manner reasonably calculated to result in actual notice to the violator, including certified mail and publication. If notice by publication is required, the notice shall be published once each week for two successive weeks in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the county and in any other county where the real property tax statements are being sent by the Treasurer of Putnam County.
(C) Abatement of any violation must be accomplished in an environmentally safe and lawful manner which has been pre-approved in writing by the Health Officer.
(D) If the violation is not satisfactorily abated within the reasonable period of time specified in the first notice, the Health Officer shall cause a second notice to be issued and served. If the subchapter violation(s) is not substantially abated, on or before the deadline stated in the second notice, the matter may be referred to the Health Officer's attorney for the appropriate court intervention.
(E) If the Health Officer identifies an emergency condition presented by the violation and such condition presents an imminent health and safety hazard to the citizens of the county, the Health Officer shall issue a notice reciting the existence of the emergency and requiring immediate abatement by the responsible person.
(Ord. 2002-6-3, passed 6-3-2002) Penalty, see § 50.99
(A) Any person violating any provision of this chapter, for which no other penalty is provided, shall be subject to the penalty provisions of § 10.99.
(B) Sections 50.20 through 50.23 shall be enforced by injunction of the Circuit Court upon proof of its violation by a mere preponderance of the evidence, and in addition, a violation of §§ 50.20 through 50.23 shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 and each day’s violation shall constitute a separate offense.
(1983 Code, Ch. 41, § 3-41-5)
(C) Any person convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of §§ 50.01 through 50.09 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine of not more than $500 for a first offense; for a second offense a fine of not more than $1,000; and for a third and each subsequent offense by a fine of not more than $1,000, to which may be added imprisonment in the county jail for any determinate period not exceeding 90 days. Each day after the expiration of the time limit for abating insanitary conditions and completing improvements to abate such conditions as ordered by the County Board of Health, or by the County Health Officer, shall constitute a distinct, and separate offense.
(D) (1) The doing of any prohibited act or the omission of any required act governed by this §§ 50.50 through 50.55 is declared to be a violation of §§ 50.50 through 50.55. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that a person has violated §§ 50.50 through 50.55, such person shall be fined in an amount not to exceed $2,500. The Health Officer shall request that the court enter a judgment for the amount of the fines imposed plus court costs, attorney fees, administrative costs and/or clean-up costs expended by the Health Officer in taking enforcement action.
(2) If a court of competent jurisdiction has found a person to be in violation of this §§ 50.50 through 50.55 and has ordered the person to clean up the subject real property but such violator fails or refuses to comply with the court's order, the Health Officer may clean-up the subject real property and request that the court increase the amount of the judgment by the amount required to reimburse the Health Officer for any and all reasonable costs and expenses associated with the clean-up. Such clean-up may be accomplished by a county department or agency and/or a private contractor. Any such department or agency or contractor which accomplishes the clean-up, in whole or in part, shall prepare an invoice itemizing the date(s) and the costs of the work performed, including labor, equipment and materials expended. If any scrap value can be realized, the same shall be itemized on the invoice and used to offset the costs of clean-up.
(3) The Health Officer shall also be entitled to seek an injunction or any other relief allowed by law through a court of competent jurisdiction for purposes of obtaining an order to abate the open dump condition and prohibiting further and future dumping.
(Ord. 1992-9-8, passed 9-8-1992; Ord. 2002-6-3, passed 6-3-2002)