Any discharger who is found to have violated an order of the City Manager, or who has failed to comply with any provision of this Part 2 (or permits issued hereunder), and the regulations or rules of the City, promulgated pursuant to this Part 2, shall be guilty of a violation of the City Code. Whenever the City Manager finds that any user has violated, or is violating, this Part 2, a significant industrial user discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment requirement, the City Manager may serve upon said user a written notice of violation. Within 10 days of the receipt of this notice, an explanation of the violation and a plan for satisfactory correction and prevention thereof, to include specific required actions, shall be submitted by the user to the City Manager. Submission of this plan in no way relieves the user of liability for any violation occurring before or after receipt of the notice of violation. Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the City to take any action, including emergency actions or any other enforcement action, without first issuing a notice of violation.
Any discharger violating any of the provisions of this Part 2, or who discharges or causes a discharge producing a deposit or obstruction, or causes damage to or impairs the City's POTW, shall be liable to the City for any expense, loss or damage caused by such violation or discharge. This shall include, but not be limited to, penalties levied upon the City by the EPA or Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) for violation of its NPDES permit caused by any violation by a discharger, including all actual costs, court, attorney and other related legal fees plus an additional charge of 100% of the total costs and/or penalties.
Any person or entity who knowingly makes any false statement, representation or certification in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this Part 2, or who falsifies, tampers with, or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under this Part 2, shall, upon conviction, be punished as provided for in § 313-42 of this Part 2.
The City Manager may for good cause shown, suspend the sewage disposal system service and/or the discharge permit of a discharger when it appears that an actual or impending discharge presents or threatens an imminent or substantial danger to the health or welfare of persons or the environment, interferes with the operation of the POTW, violates any pretreatment limits or conditions imposed by this Part 2 or any discharge permit issued pursuant to this Part 2. Any discharger notified of the suspension of sewage disposal system service and/or the discharger's discharge permit, shall cease all discharges immediately upon notification or as directed by the City Manager. In the event of failure of the discharger to comply voluntarily with the suspension order within the specified time, the City Manager may take whatever steps are deemed necessary to eliminate the discharge, including cessation of City water service and/or shall commence judicial proceedings for injunctive relief immediately thereafter to compel the discharger's compliance with such order. The City Manager may reinstate the discharge permit and/or sewage disposal system service and terminate judicial proceeding upon presentation of proof by the discharger of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge or conditions creating the threat of imminent or substantial danger as set forth above.
Whenever the City Manager determines that any discharger has violated this Part 2, or any other applicable laws or regulations which the City is authorized to enforce, the City Manager may issue administrative orders of the type listed below, as deemed appropriate under the circumstances. Multiple orders may be issued simultaneously or in combination as a single order with respect to a single discharger.
A. 
Cease and desist order. A cease and desist order directs the noncomplying user to cease illegal or unauthorized discharges immediately or to terminate its discharge altogether. Any person who uses, applied for use and/or is connected to the POTW under this Part 2 shall be deemed to have consented to inspection pursuant to this section, including entrance upon that person's property by the City Manager to take such steps as are necessary to eliminate the discharge should the discharger fail to comply with such order. Such order shall be final and in effect until a hearing, if requested by the user, is conducted and a final decision is made by the City Manager. A written request for such hearing shall be made within 10 calendar days after receiving the order.
B. 
Consent order. An agreement between the City Manager and the user which may contain compliance schedules, requirements for reimbursement of the City for damages and costs incurred or remedial actions, fines and administrative penalties and signatures of the City Manager and the authorized representative. A consent order shall address every identified and potential deficiency in the user's compliance status at the time of the order.
C. 
Show-cause order. Where the violation is not corrected by timely compliance, the City Manager may order any discharger who causes or allows prohibited conduct, to show cause before the City Manager why a proposed permit revocation action should not be taken. A written notice shall be served on the discharger by personal service, or by certified mail, return receipt requested, specifying the time and place of a hearing to be held by the City Manager regarding the violations, the reasons why the enforcement action is to be taken, the proposed enforcement action and directing the discharger to show cause before the City Manager why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. The notice of the hearing shall be served no less than 10 days before the hearing. Service may be made on any agent, officer or authorized representative of the discharger. The proceedings at the hearing shall be considered by the City Manager who shall then enter appropriate orders with respect to the alleged improper activities of the discharger. Appeal of such order may be taken by the discharger in accordance with applicable state law.
D. 
Compliance order. A compliance order directs the discharger to achieve compliance by a date specified in the order. Compliance orders require industrial users to develop management practices, spill prevention programs and related POTW industrial pretreatment program requirements.
E. 
Stop-work order. Where there is work in progress that constitutes causes or is causing a violation of any provision of this Part 2, the City Manager may issue a stop-work order to prevent further violations or damage.
F. 
Administrative fines, as specified in § 313-42 of this Part 2.
A list of all dischargers in significant noncompliance for the NPDES Industrial Pretreatment Program annual reporting period shall be published by the City in The Grand Rapids Press by the date specified in the City's NPDES permit.
Pursuant to the City Manager's authority to issue administrative orders, the City Manager may require a noncomplying industrial or commercial user to post a performance bond sufficient to cover expenses which might reasonably be incurred as a result of future violations. Industrial or commercial users who have, in the prior two years, been responsible for causing an upset at the POTW, may be required to obtain liability insurance sufficient to cover the reasonable costs of restoring the POTW in the event of another such incident. These requirements may be made conditions of the significant industrial user discharge permit.
Following the entry of any order by the City Manager with respect to the conduct of a discharger contrary to the provision of this Part 2, the attorney for the City or his/her designee may, following the authorization of such actions by the City Manager, commence a civil infraction or criminal action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the court of competent jurisdiction. Such relief may include, but is not limited to, the following: injunctive relief against an industrial user for failure to comply with pretreatment standards and requirements; suit for damages and costs to the City, including legal expense; municipal civil infraction actions and criminal prosecution seeking fines and imprisonment as permitted by § 313-42 of this Part 2 and state law.
Any discharger shall have the right to request, in writing, an interpretation or ruling by the City Manager on any matter covered by this Part 2 and shall be entitled to a prompt written reply.
A. 
Any discharger experiencing an upset in operations which places the discharger in a temporary state of noncompliance with this Part 2, or a discharge permit issued pursuant hereto, shall inform the City Manager immediately upon becoming aware of the upset. The City Manager shall make a determination whether this discharge can continue. Upon the City Manager allowing the discharge to continue, a written follow-up report thereof shall be filed by the discharger with the City Manager within five days. The report shall include:
(1) 
A description of the upset, the cause thereof and the upset's impact on a discharger's compliance status;
(2) 
The duration of noncompliance, including exact dates and time of noncompliance, and, if noncompliance continues, the time by which compliance is reasonably expected to occur; and
(3) 
All steps taken, or to be taken, to reduce, eliminate and prevent recurrence of such upset or other conditions of noncompliance.
B. 
A documented and verified operating upset shall be an affirmative defense to any enforcement action brought by the City Manager against a discharger for any noncompliance with this Part 2 or any discharge permit issued pursuant hereto, which arises out of violations alleged to have occurred during the period of the upset. It will not, however, be a defense to an action for damages to the POTW or to persons, property or natural resources caused by the upset. An upset will be considered "documented and bona fide" only if the discharger complies with § 313-41A and with 40 CFR 403.16(c) and Rule 323.2315 of the MAC. In any enforcement proceeding, the user seeking to establish the occurrence of an upset shall have the burden of proof.
C. 
The user shall have controlled production of all discharges to the extent necessary to maintain compliance with pretreatment standards upon reduction, loss or failure of its treatment facility, until the facility is restored or an alternative method of treatment is provided. This requirement applies in the situation where, among other things, the primary source of power of the treatment facility is reduced, lost or fails.
D. 
Conditions necessary for the demonstration of a bona fide upset. A user who wishes to establish the affirmative defense of an operating upset shall demonstrate through properly signed, contemporaneous operating logs or other relevant evidence that:
(1) 
An upset occurred and the user can identify the cause of the upset;
(2) 
The facility was, at the time, being operated in a prudent and appropriate manner and in compliance with applicable operation and maintenance procedures;
(3) 
The user notified the City Manager immediately upon becoming aware of the upset; and
(4) 
A written submission, containing the following information, was provided within five days of commencement of the upset:
(a) 
A description of the discharge and cause of noncompliance;
(b) 
The period of noncompliance, including exact dates and times or, if not corrected, the anticipated time the noncompliance was expected to continue; and
(c) 
Steps taken to reduce eliminate and prevent recurrence of the noncompliance.