Any person who 1) at the time of a violation knew or should have known that a pollutant or substance was discharged contrary to any provision of this Part
2, or contrary to any notice, order, permit, decision or determination promulgated, issued or made by the Director of Wastewater under this Part
2; or 2) intentionally makes a false statement, representation or certification in an application for, or form pertaining to a permit, or in a notice, report or record required by this Part
2, or in any other correspondence or communication, written or oral, with the City regarding matters regulated by this Part
2; or 3) intentionally falsifies, tampers with or renders inaccurate any sampling or monitoring device or record required to be maintained by this Part
2; or 4) commits any other act, pertinent to this Part
2, that is punishable by imprisonment for up to 90 days; shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $500 per violation, per day, or imprisonment for up to 90 days, or both in the discretion of the court.
Each act of violation, and each day or portion of a day that a violation of this Part
2 or of any permit or order issued or entered into under this Part
2 is permitted to exist or occur, constitutes a separate violation and shall be subject to fines, penalties and other sanctions as provided by this Part
2.
The number of violations resulting from a user's
noncompliance with applicable discharge prohibitions or effluent limitations
shall be determined as follows:
A. Applicable concentration limitations and mass (or
loading) limitations shall be treated as separate limitations, and
a user may be liable and penalized separately for exceeding any of
those limitations for a single pollutant or sampling parameter.
B. Each violation of an instantaneous maximum allowable
discharge limit for a single pollutant or sampling parameter shall
constitute a single violation for each such exceedence, and there
may be multiple violations for each day on which such a violation
occurs or continues.
C. Each violation of a monthly average limit (or other
long-term average discharge limit) for a single pollutant or sampling
parameter shall constitute a violation for each day of the month (or
other applicable long-term average discharge limit period) during
which the violation occurred, regardless of the number of days on
which samples were actually taken. (For example, in a month with 31
days, a violation of the monthly average limit for that month constitutes
31 violations for each pollutant parameter for which the monthly average
limit was exceeded during the month.)
D. If a wastewater discharge permit regulates more than
one outfall, each outfall shall be considered separately in computing
the number of violations as provided by this section.
A violation of this Part
2, or of any permit, order or notice issued or entered into under this Part
2, is deemed to be a public nuisance.
When the Director of Wastewater finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part
2, a wastewater discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any pretreatment standard or requirement, the Director of Wastewater, through an attorney, may institute legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to seek all appropriate relief for such violation. The action may seek temporary or permanent injunctive relief, damages, penalties, costs and any other relief, at law or equity, that a court may order, including, but not limited to, a requirement that the user conduct environmental remediation. The Director of Wastewater may also seek collection of surcharges, fines, penalties and any other amounts due to the City that a user has not paid. Funds from the collection of such fines, assessments, levies, charges, expenses and penalties shall be deposited into the proper City of Monroe Wastewater Department revenue account.
The remedies provided by this Part
2 are cumulative and nonexclusive. The Director may take any, all or any combination of the remedies against a noncompliant user. Further, the Director of Wastewater is empowered to take more than one enforcement action against a noncompliant user. The imposition of a single penalty, fine, order, damage or surcharge upon any person for a violation of this Part
2, or of any permit or order issued or entered into under this Part
2, shall not preclude the imposition by the Director or a court of competent jurisdiction of a combination of any or all of those sanctions and remedies or additional sanctions and remedies with respect to the same violation, consistent with applicable limitations on penalty amounts under state or federal laws or regulations. A criminal citation and prosecution of a criminal action against a person shall not be dependent upon and need not be held in abeyance during any civil, judicial or City administrative proceeding, conference or hearing regarding the person.