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(a) Costs and charges incurred by the City by reason of the abatement of any violation of this Article, including but not limited to monitoring and inspection costs; a delinquency in the payment of a bill for any industrial waste charge in excess of 30 days; and any civil penalties assessed against a discharger for violations of this Article or against the City for violations caused by a discharger shall be an obligation owed by the owner of the property where the discharge originated in the City. The City shall mail to the owner of the property where the discharge occurred a notice of the amounts due and a warning that lien proceedings will be initiated against the property if the amounts due are not paid within 30 days after mailing of the notice.
(b) Liens shall be created and assessed in accordance with the requirements of Article XX of Chapter 10 of the San Francisco Administrative Code, commencing with Section 10.230.
(Added by Ord. 19-92, App. 1/23/92; amended by Ord. 116-97, App. 3/28/97; Ord. 322-00, File No. 001917, App. 12/28/2000)
The General Manager shall provide for annual notice in the City's largest circulated newspaper of dischargers that were in significant noncompliance during the preceding 12 months.
(Added by Ord. 19-92, App. 1/23/92; amended by Ord. 116-97, App. 3/28/97)
(a) Any records, reports, or information submitted by a discharger to the General Manager, whether made in writing or by communication incorporated in Department reports, shall be available to the public, except upon a showing made by a discharger satisfactory to the General Manager that public disclosure of records, reports, or information which the General Manager or other authorized personnel has received would divulge methods or processes entitled to protection as confidential trade secrets. All such records, reports, or information at any time may be disclosed to other authorized City personnel or any local, State or federal agency.
(b) Whenever the General Manager makes a written request or orders that a discharger furnish information, the request or order shall include a notice that:
(1) States that the discharger may assert a business confidentiality claim covering specified information; and
(2) States that if no such claim accompanies the information when it is received by the General Manager, it may be made available to the public without further notice to the discharger.
(c) In assessing the validity of a business confidentiality claim, the General Manager shall determine whether the information is entitled by statute or judicial order to confidential treatment. In the absence of such a finding, the General Manager shall make the information available for public disclosure.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, discharger wastewater data is not confidential and shall be made available to the public without restriction.
(Added by Ord. 19-92, App. 1/23/92; amended by Ord. 116-97, App. 3/28/97)
Any reports that must be submitted pursuant to Section 127 to the General Manager by a discharger shall be retained for a minimum of five years and shall be made available for inspection and copying by the General Manager or any State or federal agency. This period of retention shall be extended during the course of any unresolved litigation regarding the discharge of pollutants by the discharger or the operation of the City's pretreatment program or when requested by any State or federal agency.
(Added by Ord. 19-92, App. 1/23/92; amended by Ord. 116-97, App. 3/28/97)
If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Article, is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, invalid or ineffective by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity or effectiveness of the remaining portions of this Article. The Board of Supervisors declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Article irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases could be declared unconstitutional, invalid or ineffective.
(Added by Ord. 19-92, App. 1/23/92; amended by Ord. 116-97, App. 3/28/97)
(a) Authorization. Any citizen may commence a civil action on his or her own behalf against any person who is alleged to have violated, or to be in violation of: (i) any requirement imposed pursuant to this Article; or (ii) any order, regulation, variance or permit issued by the General Manager pursuant to this Article. For purposes of this Section and Subsection (h) of Section 132, "citizen" shall mean either of the following:
(1) An individual who resides in the City; or
(2) A corporation, partnership or association that maintains its principal office in the City, and which has an interest which is, or may be, adversely affected.
(b) Notice. No action may be commenced under Subsection (a) of this Section:
(1) Prior to 60 days after the citizen has given notice of the alleged violation to (A) the General Manager, (B) the City Attorney, (C) the District Attorney, and (D) the alleged violator or violators of the requirement, order, regulation, variance or permit; or
(2) If the City has commenced and is diligently prosecuting a civil, criminal, or administrative penalty action pursuant to this Article and the City's enforcement response plan to require compliance with the requirement, order, regulation, variance or permit, provided that in any such action brought in State court, any citizen may intervene as a matter of right.
(c) Intervention: Protection of City Interests.
(1) In any action brought under this Section where the City is not a party, the City may intervene as a matter of right.
(2) Whenever an action is brought under this Section, the plaintiff shall serve a copy of the complaint on the City Attorney and General Manager. No consent judgment or settlement shall be entered in an action in which the City is not a party prior to 30 days following receipt of the proposed consent judgment or settlement by the City Attorney and General Manager.
(d) Litigation Costs. The court in issuing any final order brought pursuant to this Section shall award costs of litigation (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party who brought the underlying action, when the court determines such an award is appropriate. The court may, if a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction is sought by the citizen, require a filing of a bond or undertaking in accordance with State law and local court rules.
(e) Other relief not restricted.
(1) Nothing in this Section shall restrict any right which any person may have under any statute, ordinance, or common law to seek enforcement of any requirement prescribed by or under this Article, or to seek any other relief.
(2) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit or restrict the City from bringing any administrative, civil or criminal action or obtaining any remedy or sanction against any person to enforce any requirement set forth in this Article. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to authorize judicial review by a citizen of any permit, role, variance or regulation issued pursuant to this Article.
(Added by Ord. 115-97, App. 3/28/97)
a. Sections 140--140.7 of this Article provide requirements for the control of the discharge of fats, oils and grease to the City's sewerage system. Large quantities of fats, oil and grease that are discharged from commercial and residential kitchens contribute to blockages in the City's sewerage system. The resulting clogs in sewer pipes cost the City millions of dollars each year in grease removal and sewer repair costs, and result in the overall degradation of the City's sewer infrastructure.
b. This Article facilitates implementation of a comprehensive pollution prevention program to keep fats, oils and grease out of the City's sewer system, and compliance with the City's current Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits and the Sanitary Sewer Overflow Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) permit, which are issued by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).
c. The US EPA promotes the development of fats, oils and grease control programs throughout the country because approximately 40,000 fats, oils and grease-related sanitary sewer overflows that have the potential to contaminate the nation's water bodies occur each year. Nationwide, wastewater utilities have been sued for violations of the Clean Water Act caused by sanitary sewer overflows.
d. The City's aggressive efforts to control fats, oils and grease will enhance its compliance with the Clean Water Act, and also reduce the potential for system back-ups from the combined sewer system.
e. The primary objective of sections 140-140.7 of this Article is to reduce fats, oils and grease discharges from local food service establishments into the City's sewerage system. Food service establishments are required by current regulations to comply with a limit on the amount of total oil and grease they can discharge into City sewers. This discharge limit has not been completely effective in keeping fats, oils and grease out of the sewers. Many food service establishments have grease capturing equipment that is not well maintained or serviced and does little to remove grease from wastewater discharges. Other food service establishments have no grease capturing equipment at all.
1. Provide standards for the types of grease capturing equipment that must be installed by food service establishments;
2. Provide for the effective long-term use of grease capturing equipment through related operational requirements and prohibitions, and periodic inspections;
3. Increase opportunities for recovering from wastewater discharge lines both food solids (which can be composted) and waste grease (which can be recycled, and may also be able to be converted to biofuel);
4. Aid in preventing sanitary sewer blockages and obstructions from contributions and accumulation of fats, oils and grease in the sanitary sewerage system;
5. Prevent the uncontrolled introduction of fats, oils and grease into the sewage system that will interfere with its operation; and
6. Facilitate City compliance with applicable federal and state laws regarding sewerage system operations.
(Added by Ord. 18-11, File No. 101147, App 2/16/2011)
The provisions of sections 118-139 of this Article apply to the discharge of fats, oils and grease to the City's sewerage system, except to the extent different requirements or procedures are provided in sections 140.1-140.7 of this Article. Sections 140.1-140.7 of this Article are intended to complement, rather than supersede, the provisions of City building codes and regulations applicable to the installation and operation of grease capturing equipment. Sections 140-140.7 shall be effective on and after April 1, 2011.
(Added by Ord. 18-11, File No. 101147, App 2/16/2011)
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