(A) Right of entry: inspection and sampling. The Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee shall be permitted to enter and inspect facilities subject to regulation under this chapter as often as may be necessary to determine compliance with this chapter.
(1) If a discharger has security measures in force which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the discharger shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access to representatives of the Town of Stallings.
(2) Facility operators shall allow the Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee, ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, examination and copying of records that must be kept under the conditions of an NPDES permit to discharge storm water, and the performances of any additional duties as defined by state and federal laws.
(3) The Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee shall have the right to set up on any permitted facility such devices as are necessary in the opinion of the Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee to conduct monitoring and/or sampling of the facility's storm water discharge.
(4) The Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee has the right to require the discharger to install monitoring equipment as necessary. The facility's sampling and monitoring equipment shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition by the discharger at its own expense. All devices used to measure storm water flow and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
(5) Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be properly removed by the operator at the written or oral request of the Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the operator.
(6) Unreasonable delays in allowing the Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee access to a permitted facility is a violation of a storm water discharge permit and of this charge. A person who is the operator of a facility with an NPDES permit to discharge storm water associated with industrial activity commits an offense if the person denies the Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee reasonable access to the permitted facility for the purpose of conducting any activity authorized by this chapter.
(B) Search warrants. If the Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee has been refused access to any part of the premises from which storm water is discharged, and they are able to demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this chapter, or that there is a need to inspect and/or sample as part of a routine inspection and sampling program designed to verify compliance with this chapter or any order issued hereunder, or to protect the overall public health, safety, and welfare of the community, then the Storm Water Administrator or his/her designee may seek issuance of a search warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.
(Ord. passed 5-27-2014)