(a) Cease and Desist Orders. Whenever the General Manager finds that a discharge of wastewater is taking place or threatening to take place in violation of any requirement imposed pursuant to this Article, or pursuant to any order, regulation, or permit issued by the General Manager, the General Manager may issue an order directing the discharger to cease and desist such discharges and directing the discharger to achieve compliance in accordance with a detailed schedule of specific actions the discharger must take in order to correct or prevent violations of this Article. The General Manager may order the revocation or suspension of any permit or variance. Any order issued by the General Manager under this Section may require the discharger to provide such information as the General Manager deems necessary to explain the nature of the discharge. The General Manager may require in any cease and desist order that the discharger pay to the City the costs of any extraordinary inspection or monitoring deemed necessary by the General Manager because of the violation.
(b) Cleanup and Abatement Orders.
(1) Any person who has discharged or discharges pollutants or wastewater in violation of this Article or any order, regulation, or prohibition issued by the General Manager, shall upon order of the General Manager and at the discharger's expense clean up such wastewater and abate the effects of the unlawful discharge.
(2) The General Manager may perform any cleanup, abatement or remedial work required under Subdivision (1) when required by the magnitude of the violation or when necessary to prevent pollution, nuisance or injury to the environment. Such action may be taken in default of, or in addition to, remedial work by the discharger or other persons, regardless of whether injunctive relief is being sought.
(3) Any discharger who has violated or is in violation of the requirements of this Article shall be liable to the City for costs incurred in abating the effects thereof, or taking other remedial action, including but not limited to administrative costs, inspection costs, attorneys fees, and penalties or other liability imposed upon the City by other agencies.
(c) Administrative Civil Penalty Orders.
(1) The General Manager may issue a complaint to any discharger on whom an administrative civil penalty may be imposed pursuant to Section 133(c). The complaint shall allege the acts or failure to act that constitute a basis for liability and the amount of the proposed administrative civil penalty. The General Manager shall serve the complaint by personal service or certified mail and shall inform the discharger so served that a hearing shall be conducted in accordance with Section 129 of this Article, unless the discharger waives the right to a hearing. If the discharger waives the right to a hearing, the General Manager shall issue an order setting liability in the amount proposed in the complaint unless the General Manager and the discharger have entered into a settlement agreement, in which case the General Manager shall issue an order setting liability on the amount specified in the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement shall be approved by the City Attorney as to form. Where the discharger has waived the right to a hearing or where the General Manager and the discharger have entered into a settlement agreement, the order shall not be subject to review by any court or governmental agency.
(2) Any hearing required by Subsection (1) shall be conducted in accordance with Section 129.
(3) Orders imposing civil liability issued under this Section shall become effective and final upon issuance. Payment of civil penalties to the General Manager shall be made within 30 days of issuance of the order. Copies of such orders shall be served by personal service or by certified mail upon the discharger served with the complaint and upon other persons who appeared and participated at the hearing and requested a copy.
(d) Injunctive Relief.
(1) Upon the failure of any discharger or dischargers to comply with any requirement of this Article, a permit, or any regulation, prohibition, cease and desist order, cleanup and abatement order, or any other order issued by the General Manager, the City Attorney, upon request of the General Manager, may petition the proper court for injunctive relief, payment of civil penalties, and any other appropriate remedy, including restraining such discharger or dischargers from continuing any prohibited activity and compelling compliance with lawful requirements.
(2) In any civil action brought pursuant to this Article in which a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction is sought, it is not necessary to allege or prove at any stage of the proceeding that irreparable damage will occur should the temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction not be issued, or that the remedy at law is inadequate. The court shall issue a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction in a civil action brought pursuant to this Article without the allegations and without the proof specified above.
(e) Termination of Discharge. In addition to other remedies, when in the judgment of the General Manager the discharger has not or cannot demonstrate satisfactory progress toward compliance with the requirements of this Article, the General Manager, after providing written notice to the discharger by certified mail 30 days in advance of such action, may sever or plug the connection from the discharger's side sewer to the sewerage system or otherwise prevent the discharge of wastewater from the discharger's facilities to the sewerage system.
(f) Orders issued under this Section shall become final upon receipt by the discharger or as specified by the General Manager. Orders may be issued by certified mail, or, except for orders under Paragraph (e), by personal service.
(g) The discharger may request a public hearing within 15 days of the final date of an order issued under Subsections (a), (b) or (e) of this Section. The effective date of such an order shall not be postponed solely because of the filing of a request for a hearing. Notice of a public hearing and of the final decision of the General Manager shall be given as provided in Section 129.
(h) Cost Reimbursement by Citizens.
(1) In any instance where the General Manager issues an order to a discharger under this Section for a violation of this Article, and the General Manager determines that information provided by a citizen contributed to the identification of the violation and issuance of the order, the discharger shall, in addition to any other fees or costs authorized under this Section, pay the reasonable costs directly incurred by the citizen in obtaining the information in accordance with the requirements set forth in this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, "citizen" shall have the meaning defined in Section 139(a) of this Article.
(2) Any citizen seeking the recovery of costs pursuant to this subsection shall have the burden of documenting the costs and proving that the costs sought to be recovered are reasonable and accurate. Except as set forth in subparagraph (3), reimbursable costs shall be limited to documented costs directly incurred by the citizen plus an additional five percent of the total amount authorized for recovery of overhead expenses.
(3) In the alternative, where a citizen is either unable, or chooses not to document reimbursable costs otherwise recoverable under this subsection, the discharger shall, in addition to any other fees or costs authorized under this Section, pay $50 to the citizen for cost reimbursement.
(Added by Ord. 19-92, App. 1/23/92; amended by Ord. 114-97, App. 3/28/97; Ord. 116-97, App. 3/28/97)