Whenever the Director has reasonable cause to believe that an in-channel operation is in violation of the Act or the Regulations, this chapter, any terms or conditions of a permit issued pursuant to this chapter, or development agreement (“violation”), the following procedure shall be followed:
(a) In the event of a violation of the Act or Regulations, or a violation that in the sole discretion of the Director poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health, safety, or the environment, the following procedures shall be followed:
i. The Director shall provide a written notice to the operator at the time of inspection or as soon thereafter as the violation is made known. The operator shall be provided thirty (30) days to correct. If correction is not or cannot be achieved within thirty (30) days, the operator and the County may enter into a stipulated order to comply, with notice sent to the Department. A stipulated order to comply shall include a schedule and time for compliance that the County determines is reasonable after taking into account the actions and legal processes required to correct the violation.
ii. If the operator does not comply with a notice issued pursuant to (a)(i), above, within thirty (30) days of being served the notice, the County may issue an Order to Comply, pursuant to Section 10-3.1006 of this Chapter.
(b) If the Director determines that a violation other than a violation of the Act, does not pose an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health, safety, or the environment, the following procedure shall be followed:
i. The Director shall provide written notice to the operator documenting the potential violation (“condition of concern”). The Director may request additional information from the operator to assess the site conditions and determine if a violation exists. The operator shall be provided thirty (30) days to respond to this initial notice. If the requested information is not received within thirty (30) days, the Director shall proceed with an Order to Comply as set forth in Section 10-3.1006. An extension of time may be requested by the applicant in cases where compilation of the information may take longer, but such extension shall not exceed sixty (60) days.
ii. If the operator resolves the condition of concern within the timeframe set in (b)(i) above, the Director shall verify by conducting a site inspection or review of information provided by the operator, whichever is appropriate. The Director shall notify the operator in writing that the condition of concern has been satisfactorily resolved.
iii. If the Director determines the condition of concern is still active after the timeframe described in 3(b)(i), the Director shall submit a notice to the operator requiring submittal of a Correction Plan. The Correction Plan to be provided by the operator shall at a minimum describe in detail the sequence, methods, and timeline necessary for each step to correct the conditions of concern identified by the Director. The Correction Plan must be received within thirty (30) days from the date of notification. The Director shall review and accept or request changes to the Correction Plan within thirty (30) days of receipt. If changes or clarification is requested, the operator shall then be provided another thirty (30) days to finalize and submit the final Correction Plan and commence implementation. Implementation must begin immediately (unless mutually agreed upon and documented in the Correction Plan) and must be fully completed no later than one year from the date of submission of the final Correction Plan.
Once the Correction Plan is finalized, the Director shall forward the Correction Plan to the Planning Commission as an informational/ correspondence item with the next Planning Commission agenda packet. No formal action shall be taken by the Planning Commission on the Correction Plan.
iv. In the event that the procedure set forth above does not result in correction of a violation, an order to comply shall be served to the operator pursuant to Section 10-3.1006. (as amended by Ord. 1518, eff. February 13, 2020)