[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
This chapter applies to all water entering the MS4 generated on any
developed or undeveloped lands, unless otherwise authorized by this
chapter or the Wisconsin department of natural resources.
(B)
Interpretation. The provisions of this chapter shall be held to be
minimum requirements and shall not be considered a limitation or repeal
of any other power granted by the state. Where any terms or requirements
of this chapter may be inconsistent or conflicting, the more restrictive
requirement or interpretation shall control. This chapter does not
intentionally repeal, abrogate, annul, impair or interfere with any
easements, covenants, deed restrictions, agreements, rules, regulations
or permits previously adopted or issued pursuant to law.
(C)
Administration. The director shall administer and enforce the provisions
of this chapter.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
If any section, clause, provision or portion of this chapter
is judged unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction,
the remainder of the chapter shall remain in force and not be affected
by such judgment.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
In this chapter:
Means a discharge prohibited by this chapter which occurs
by chance and without planning or thought before the occurrence.
Means structural or non-structural measures, practices, techniques
or devices used to avoid or minimize sediment or pollutants carried
in runoff to waters of the state.
Means any land alterations or disturbances that may result
in soil erosion, sedimentation or change in runoff including but not
limited to removal of ground cover, grading, excavating and filling
of land.
Means the director of public works.
Means any material, including any substance, waste or combination
thereof, which because of its quantity, concentration or physical,
chemical or infectious characteristics may cause or significantly
contribute to, a substantial present or potential hazard to human
health, safety, property or environment when improperly treated, stored,
transported, disposed of or otherwise managed.
Means either of the following: a) Any pipe, open channel,
drain or conveyance, whether on the surface or subsurface, which allows
an illicit discharge to enter the MS4 including, but not limited to,
any conveyances which allow any non-storm water discharge including
sewage, process wastewater and wash water to enter the MS4, regardless
of whether such pipe, open channel, drain or conveyance has been previously
allowed, permitted or approved by an authorized enforcement agency;
or b) Any pipe, open channel, drain or conveyance connected to the
MS4 which has not been documented in plans, maps or equivalent records
and approved by an authorized enforcement agency.
Means any direct or indirect non-storm water discharge to
the MS4.
Means activities designated in 40 CFR section 122.26(b)(14)
and subject to a national pollution discharge elimination system industrial
permit.
Means municipal separate storm sewer system, a conveyance
or system of conveyances including roads with drainage systems, municipal
streets, catch basins, curbs, gutters, ditches, constructed channels
or storm drains, which meet all the following criteria: a) Owned or
operated by a city; b) Designed or used for collecting or conveying
storm water; c) Not a combined sewer conveying both sanitary and storm
water; and d) Not part of a publicly owned wastewater treatment works
that provides secondary or more stringent treatment.
Means any discharge to the MS4 that is not composed entirely
of storm water.
Means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue,
sewage, garbage, refuse, oil, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes,
biological materials, radioactive substances, heat, wrecked or discarded
equipment, rocks, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal and
agricultural waste discharged into water.
Means contaminating or rendering unclean or impure the waters
of the state or making the same injurious to public health, harmful
for commercial or recreational use or deleterious to fish, bird, animal
or plant life.
Means any building, lot, parcel of land or portion of land
whether improved or unimproved including adjacent sidewalks and parking
strips.
Means any surface flow, runoff and drainage consisting entirely
of water from any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from
such precipitation.
Means a document which describes the best management practices
and activities to be implemented by a person or business to identify
sources of pollution or contamination at a site and the actions to
eliminate or reduce pollutant discharges to storm water, storm water
conveyance systems and receiving waters to the maximum extent practicable.
Means any water or other liquid, other than storm water,
discharged from a facility.
Means those portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior within
the boundaries of this state, and all lakes, bays, rivers, streams,
springs, ponds, wells, impounding reservoirs, marshes, watercourses,
drainage systems and other surface water or groundwater, natural or
artificial, public or private, within this state or its jurisdiction.
Means a permit issued by the Wisconsin department of natural
resources that authorizes the discharge of pollutants to waters of
the state, whether the permit applies on an individual, group or general
area-wide basis.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
Prohibition of illicit discharges. No person shall throw, drain,
discharge, cause to be discharged or allow others under their control
to discharge into the MS4 or waters of the state any materials other
than storm water.
(B)
Exemptions. The following non-storm water discharges are excluded
from subsection (A) of this section:
(1)
Waterline flushing or other potable water sources;
(2)
Landscape irrigation or lawn watering;
(3)
Diverted, natural riparian habitat and wetland flows;
(4)
Rising ground water, ground water infiltration to storm drains
and uncontaminated pumped groundwater;
(5)
Foundation or footing drains, not including active ground water
dewatering systems and crawl space pumps;
(6)
Air conditioning condensation;
(7)
Springs;
(8)
Non-commercial washing of vehicles;
(9)
Dechlorinated swimming pool water with less than one part per
million chlorine;
(10)
Fire-fighting and fire training activities;
(11)
Other discharges specified in writing by the director as being
necessary to protect public health and safety; and
(12)
Other water sources determined by the director in writing as
not containing pollutants that cause or contribute to waterway degradation
including, but not limited to, a violation of applicable water quality
standards and degradation of the biotic integrity of surface water
bodies and their floodplains.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
Prohibition of illegal connections. The construction, use, maintenance
or continued existence of illicit connections to the MS4 is prohibited.
This prohibition expressly includes, without limitation, illicit connections
made in the past, regardless of whether the connection was permissible
under law that was in effect at the time of connection.
(B)
Location. Any drain or conveyance that has not been documented in
plans, maps or the equivalent, and which may be connected to the MS4,
shall be located by the owner or occupant of that property upon receipt
of written notice of violation from the director requiring that such
locating be completed. Such notice will specify a reasonable time
period within which the location of the drain or conveyance is to
be completed, that the drain or conveyance be identified as storm
sewer, sanitary sewer or other, and that the outfall location or point
of connection to the storm sewer system, sanitary sewer system or
other discharge point be identified. Results of these investigations
are to be documented and provided to the director.
(C)
Violations. A person is in violation of this section if the person
constructs, uses or maintains an illicit connection or allows such
a connection to continue.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
Suspension due to illicit discharges in emergency situations.
(1)
The director may, without prior notice, suspend MS4 discharge
access to a person when such suspension is necessary to stop an actual
or threatened discharge, which presents or may present imminent and
substantial danger to the environment, to the health or welfare of
persons, to the MS4 or to waters of the state.
(2)
If the violator fails to comply with a suspension order issued
in an emergency, the director may take such steps as considered necessary
to prevent or minimize damage to the MS4, waters of the state or the
public.
(B)
Suspension due to the detection of illicit discharge.
(1)
Any person discharging to the MS4 in violation of this chapter
may have their MS4 access terminated if such termination would abate
or reduce an illicit discharge. The director shall notify a violator
of the proposed termination of its MS4 access.
(2)
A person commits a violation of this chapter if the person reinstates
MS4 access to premises terminated pursuant to this section, without
the prior approval of the director.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
Any person subject to an industrial or construction activity
Wisconsin pollutant discharge elimination system storm water discharge
permit shall comply with all provisions of such permit. Proof of compliance
with such permit may be required in a form acceptable to the director
before allowing discharges to the MS4.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
The director shall adopt requirements identifying best management
practices for any activity, operation or facility, which may cause
or contribute to pollution or contamination of the MS4 or waters of
the state.
(B)
A commercial or industrial establishment shall provide, at its own
expense, reasonable protection from accidental discharge of prohibited
materials or other wastes into the MS4 or waters of the state through
the use of structural and nonstructural best management practices
identified by the director under subsection (A) of this section.
(C)
Any person responsible for the premises, which is or may be the source
of an illicit discharge, may be required to implement, at such person's
expense, structural and non-structural best management practices,
in addition to those required by subsection (B) of this section, to
prevent the further discharge of pollutants to the MS4.
(D)
Compliance with all terms and conditions of a valid Wisconsin pollutant
discharge elimination system storm water discharge permit authorizing
the discharge of storm water associated with industrial activity,
to the extent practicable, shall be considered compliance with the
provisions of this section. These best management practices shall
be part of a storm water pollution prevention plan as necessary for
compliance with requirements of the Wisconsin pollutant discharge
elimination system storm water discharge permit.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
Every person owning or leasing property through which waters
of the state pass shall keep and maintain that part of the waters
of the state within the property free of trash, debris, excessive
vegetation and other obstacles that would pollute, contaminate, or
significantly retard the flow of water through the waters of the state.
In addition, the owner or lessee shall maintain privately owned structures,
within or adjacent to waters of the state, so that such structures
will not become a hazard to the use, function or physical integrity
of the waters of the state.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
The director or his or her designees shall be permitted to enter
and inspect properties and facilities at reasonable times as often
as may be necessary to determine compliance with this chapter.
(A)
If a facility has security measures in force which require proper
identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the owner
or operator shall make the necessary arrangements to allow access
to the director or his or her designees.
(B)
The operator shall allow the director or his or her designees ready
access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection,
sampling, photography, videotaping, examination and copying of any
records that are required under the conditions of a Wisconsin pollutant
discharge elimination system storm water discharge permit.
(C)
The director or his or her designees shall have the right to set
up, on any facility, such devices as are necessary in the opinion
of the director or his or her designees to conduct monitoring or sampling
or both of flow discharges.
(D)
The director or his or her designees may require the facility to
install monitoring equipment and perform monitoring as necessary,
at its own expense, and make the monitoring data available to the
director or his or her designees. This sampling and monitoring equipment
shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition
by the facility, at its own expense. All devices used to measure flow
and quality shall be calibrated to ensure their accuracy.
(E)
Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to
the property or facility to be inspected or sampled or both shall
be promptly removed by the owner or operator at the written or oral
request of the director or his or her designees and shall not be replaced.
The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the owner or operator.
(F)
Unreasonable delays in allowing the director or his or her designees
access to a facility is a violation of this chapter.
(G)
If the director or his or her designees have been refused access
to any part of the premises from which storm water is discharged,
and the director or his or her designees 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 or sample or both 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, environment and welfare of the community, then
the director or his or her designees may seek issuance of a search
warrant from any court of competent jurisdiction.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
Notwithstanding other requirements of law, as soon as any person
responsible for a facility, activity, operation or emergency response
has information of any known or suspected release of pollutants or
non-storm water discharges from that facility or any operation which
is resulting or may result in illicit discharges or pollutants being
discharged into the MS4 or waters of the state, such person shall
take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery, containment and
cleanup of such release to minimize the effects of the discharge.
(B)
In the event of a discharge of non-hazardous materials, the director
shall be notified by telephone, electronic communication or in person
within 24 hours of the nature, quantity and time of occurrence of
the discharge. Notifications by any chosen means shall be confirmed
by written notice addressed and mailed to the director within three
business days following the notification. If the discharge of prohibited
materials emanates from a commercial or industrial establishment,
the operator of such establishment shall also retain an on-site written
record of the discharge and the actions taken to prevent its recurrence.
Such records shall be retained for at least three years. Such person
shall also take immediate steps to ensure no recurrence of the discharge
or spill.
(C)
In the event of a discharge of hazardous materials, emergency response
agencies and other appropriate agencies shall be immediately notified
by the owner, operator or person responsible for emergency response
for the facility.
(D)
Failure to provide notification of a discharge, as provided in this
section, is a violation of this chapter.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
Notice of violation. When the director or his or her designees finds
that a violation of this chapter has occurred, the director or his
or her designees shall order compliance by a written notice of violation.
(1)
The notice of violation shall contain:
A)
The name and address of the alleged violator;
B)
The address, when available, or a description of the building,
structure or land upon which the violation is occurring or has occurred;
C)
A statement specifying the nature of the violation;
D)
A description of the remedial measures necessary to restore
compliance with this chapter;
E)
A time schedule for the completion of such remedial action;
and
F)
A statement of the penalty or penalties that may be assessed
against the person to whom the notice of violation is directed.
(2)
The notice of violation may require without limitation:
A)
The performance of monitoring, analyses and reporting;
B)
The elimination of illicit discharges and illegal connections;
C)
That violating discharges, practices or operations shall cease
and desist;
D)
The abatement or remediation of storm water pollution or contamination
hazards and the restoration of any affected property;
E)
Payment to cover administrative and abatement costs; and
F)
The implementation of pollution prevention practices.
(3)
If abatement of a violation or restoration of affected property
or both is required, the notice shall contain the following:
(B)
Enforcement and abatement measures after appeal.
(1)
If the violation has not been corrected pursuant to the requirements set forth in the subsection (A) of this section, or in the event of an appeal under section 8-2-14 of this chapter, within five days of upholding the decision, then the director or his or her designees shall enter upon the subject private property and to take any measures necessary to abate the violation and restore the property.
(C)
Costs of abatement of the violation.
(1)
Within 30 days after abatement of the violation, the owner of
the property will be notified of the cost of abatement including administrative
costs.
(2)
The property owner may file a written objection to the amount
of the assessment with the city clerk within 15 days.
(3)
If the amount due is not paid within 30 days after receipt of
the notice, or if an appeal is taken, within 30 days after a decision
on such appeal, the charges shall become a special assessment against
the property and shall constitute a lien on the property for the amount
of the assessment.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
Penalty. If a person who has received notice of violation issued by the director under section 8-2-12 of this chapter fails to take the remedial measures set forth in the notice of violation or otherwise fails to cure the violations described in such notice within 10 days, or such greater period as director shall consider appropriate, and after the director has taken one or more of the actions described in section 8-2-12 of this chapter, the violator shall upon conviction be subject to a Class 3 forfeiture for each separate offense. A separate offense exists each day the violation remains unremedied after receipt of the notice of violation. For any subsequent violation the person shall upon conviction be subject to a Class 1 forfeiture.
(B)
Injunction. The director may refer any violation of this chapter
to the city attorney for the commencement of further legal proceedings.
It shall not be necessary to prosecute for forfeiture before resorting
to injunction proceedings.
(C)
Public nuisance. Any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation
of this chapter is a threat to public health, safety, welfare, and
environment and is considered a nuisance.
(D)
Other remedies. The remedies listed in this chapter are not exclusive
of any other remedies available under any applicable federal, state
or local law and the city may seek cumulative remedies.
(E)
Costs. The city may recover in full attorney's fees, court costs
and other expenses associated with enforcement of this chapter, including
sampling and monitoring expenses.
[12-2-2008; 2016 Code]
(A)
The board of public works shall hear and decide appeals made by any
aggrieved person or by an officer, department, board or bureau of
the city affected by any decision of the director where it is alleged
that there is error in any order, decision or determination made by
the director in administering this chapter.
(B)
Any person receiving a notice of violation under section 8-2-12 of this chapter may appeal the determination of the director. The notice of appeal must be received by the city clerk within five days from service of the notice of violation. The notice of appeal shall include a copy of the notice of violation and be signed by the person who received the notice of violation.
(C)
Hearing on the appeal before the board of public works shall take
place within 21 days from the receipt of the notice of appeal.
