(A) Any violation of pretreatment requirements under this subchapter (i.e., including, but not limited to, those relating to limits, sampling, analysis, reporting, meeting compliance schedules and regulatory deadlines) is an instance of noncompliance for which the user is liable for enforcement, including penalties and injunctive relief. Instances of significant noncompliance are user violations, which meet one or more of the following criteria:
(1) Violations of wastewater discharge limits as follows:
(a) Chronic violations. Sixty-six percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit in a six-month period (any magnitude of exceedance);
(b) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations. Thirty-three percent or more of the measurements exceed the same daily maximum limit or the same average limit by more than the TRC in a six-month period, (e.g., limit x TRC = the point at which a violation becomes a TRC violation). There are two groups of TRCs as follow:
Group I for conventional pollutants (BOD, TSS, FOG) | TRC = 1.4 |
Group II for all other pollutants | TRC = 1.2 |
(c) Wastewater discharge permit limit. Any other violation of a wastewater discharge permit limit (average or daily maximum) that the WRA Director believes has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference, including slug loads or pass through or which endangers the health of city, sanitary sewer district, WRA or operating contractor personnel or the public; and
(d) Discharge of a pollutant. Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health/welfare or to the environment and has resulted in the WRA's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent a discharge.
(2) Violations of compliance schedule milestones, contained in a wastewater discharge permit or enforcement order, for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance by 90 days or more after the schedule date;
(3) Failure to provide reports for compliance schedules, self-monitoring data or any other report required by the WRA within 45 days from the due date;
(4) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; and
(5) Any other violation or group of violations, which may include a violation of best management practices that the WRA Director considers to be significant.
(B) When a user is in significant noncompliance, the WRA Director is directed to:
(1) Report the information to the State Department of Natural Resources as part of the annual pretreatment performance summary of permitted user noncompliance;
(2) Include the user in the annual public notification according to § 52.038; and
(3) Address significant noncompliance through appropriate enforcement actions or document in a timely manner the reasons for withholding enforcement.
(Ord. 2010-09, passed 7-13-2010; Am. Ord. 2019-03, passed 2-26-2019; Am. Ord. 2022-09, passed 8-23-2022)