When the Township finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 5, a wastewater discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, then the Township may serve upon that user a written notice of violation. Within 20 days of the receipt of this notice, an explanation of the violation and a plan for the satisfactory correction and prevention thereof, to include specific required actions, shall be submitted by the user to the Township. Submission of this plan in no way relieves the user of liability for any violations occurring before or after receipt of the notice of violation. Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the Township to take any action, including emergency actions or any other enforcement action, without first issuing a notice of violation.
The Township may enter into consent orders, assurances of voluntary compliance, or other similar documents establishing an agreement with any user responsible for noncompliance. Such documents will include specific action to be taken by the user to correct the noncompliance within a time period specified by the document. Such documents shall have the same force and effect as the administrative orders issued pursuant to § 274-122, Compliance orders, and § 274-123, Cease-and-desist orders, and shall be judicially enforceable.
The Township may order a user which has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 5, a wastewater discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, to appear before the Township and show cause why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. Notice shall be served on the user specifying the time and place for the meeting, the proposed enforcement action, the reasons for such action, and a request that the user show cause why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. The notice of the meeting shall be served personally or by registered or certified mail (return receipt requested) at least 10 days prior to the hearing. Such notice may be served on any authorized representative of the user. A show cause hearing shall not be a bar against, or prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
When the Township finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 5, a wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, then the Township may issue an order to the user responsible for the discharge directing that the user come into compliance within a specified time. If the user does not come into compliance within the time provided, sewer service may be discontinued unless adequate treatment facilities, devices, or other related appurtenances are installed and properly operated. Compliance orders also may contain other requirements to address the noncompliance, including additional self-monitoring and management practices designed to minimize the amount of pollutants discharged to the sewer. A compliance order may not extend the deadline for compliance established for a pretreatment standard or requirement, nor does a compliance order relieve the user of liability for any violation, including any continuing violation. Issuance of a compliance order shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
When the Township finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 5, a wastewater discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, or that the user's past violations are likely to recur, the Township may issue an order to the user directing the user to cease and desist all such violations and directing the user to:
A. 
Immediately comply with all requirements; and
B. 
Take such appropriate remedial or preventive action as may be needed to properly address a continuing or threatened violation, including halting operations and/or terminating the discharge. Issuance of a cease-and-desist order shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
A. 
When the Township finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 5, a wastewater discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, then the Township may assess a civil penalty upon such user in an amount not to exceed $25,000 regardless of jurisdictional boundaries or the maximum amount that the Township is authorized to assess, whichever is the lesser. Such civil penalties shall be assessed on a per violation, per day basis. In the case of monthly or other long term average discharge limits, the penalties shall be assessed for each day during the period of violation. The penalties may be assessed whether or not the violation was willful or negligent.
B. 
Notice of assessment of penalty shall state the appeal process to be followed including the name, address and telephone number of the Township Representative responsible for accepting such appeal. Said notice shall also contain the date or dates of violation of the permit requirement that was violated and the amount of penalty assessed. The notice shall state the time frame for appeal. It shall be served personally on the violator or shall be sent by certified mail to the address of the permit holder as noted on the permit.
C. 
The penalty shall be assessed in accordance with Chart for Assessment, below, which sets forth the City of Allentown's assessment policy considering damage to air, water, land or other natural resources, cost of restoration and abatement, savings resulting to the person for the violation, history of past violations, deterrence of future violations and other relevant factors.
Chart for Assessment
Damage to Environment
Points
Cost of Restoration/Abatement
Points
Extreme
5
Over 10,000
5
Severe
4
7,000
4
Moderate
3
5,000
3
Slight
2
2,500
2
None
1
0
Past Violations
Savings to Violator
Points
No. of Violations in Last 365 Days
Points
10,000
5
5
5
7,500
4
4
4
5,000
3
3
3
2,500
2
2
2
0
1
1
1
D. 
Other factors will be considered.
(1) 
Other factors which may be considered include, but are not limited to, damage to POTW, willfulness or concealment, endangerment to the public and/or POTW personnel.
(2) 
Points shall be assessed for a violation in accordance with the above chart which constitutes the City of Allentown assessment policy.
(3) 
Points shall be totaled and the civil penalty shall be assessed as follows:
Number of Points
Penalty
25
$25,000
20
$20,000
15
$15,000
10
$10,000
5
$5,000
(a) 
The assessment of penalties may include numbers which are not whole, such as 1.5, to allow flexibility and discretion by the Township in arriving at a fair and appropriate penalty. The above listed penalty shall be then prorated to reflect the less than whole number of points assessed.
Example: Total Points = 12.5
Civil Penalty = $12,500
(b) 
All penalties collected shall be placed in a restricted account and shall only be used by the Township or the City of Allentown to repair damage and provide for additional maintenance and costs as a result of violations, to pay penalties imposed by state or federal government for violation of pretreatment standards, for the costs of investigation and enforcement action, for monitoring of discharge in the pretreatment program, and for capital improvement to the POTW.
E. 
Any party seeking to appeal the assessment of a fine shall do so by filing a notice of appeal with the Township within 30 days after receipt or service of said notice.
(1) 
The Appeals Board shall hear all such appeals. A transcript shall be made of said hearing at the sole expense of the appellant.
(2) 
Appellant shall pay the cost of appeal and the estimate of stenographer fees at the time of filing said appeal. Failure to pay said costs and fees at the time of filing shall make the appeal void. Such fees shall be established by the Township by resolution.
(3) 
After the hearing, any additional stenographer charges shall be billed to appellant and shall be paid in full within 10 days of receipt, or the appeal shall be null and void ab initio.
(4) 
The Appeals Board shall either affirm the decision of the Township, or reverse or modify the same as the substantial evidence indicates in accordance with the assessment policy adopted by the Township as above. Appeals from the decision of the Appeals Board shall be in accordance with Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Local Agency Law. Each permit holder shall keep the Township apprised in writing of any change in mailing address. The address on the permit shall be used to send all correspondence and notice of civil penalty assessment to permit holders. The sending of a notice of civil assessment to a permit holder's address on permit shall conclusively be presumed to be valid service; thus, if the certified mail sent to such address is not accepted or picked up by permit holder, then the date of service shall be the date that the certified mail was rejected or returned unclaimed.
F. 
The Township shall charge all costs for reestablishing the operation of the POTW after a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this Part 5, a wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement. These costs shall be paid by user within 10 days after notice of assessment of the same. Notice and appeal rights shall be the same as in the case of assessment of civil penalties. Any user not paying said assessment of costs within such a ten-day period shall pay an additional penalty of 5% of the penalty per month or any part thereof.
G. 
Issuance of a civil penalty shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
The Township may immediately suspend a user's discharge, after informal notice to the user, whenever such suspension is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge, which reasonably appears to present or cause an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons. The Township may also immediately suspend a user's discharge, after notice and opportunity to respond, that threatens to interfere with the operation of the POTW, or which presents, or may present, an endangerment to the environment.
A. 
Any user notified of a suspension of its discharge shall immediately stop or eliminate its discharge. In the event of a user's failure to immediately comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the Township may take such steps as deemed necessary, including immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the POTW, its receiving stream, or endangerment to any individuals. The Township may allow the user to recommence its discharge when the user has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Township that the period of endangerment has passed, unless the termination proceedings in § 274-126 of this Part 5, titled "Termination of discharge," are initiated against the user.
B. 
A user that is responsible, in whole or in part, for any discharge presenting imminent endangerment shall submit a detailed written statement, describing the causes of the harmful contribution and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence, to the Township prior to the date of any show cause or termination hearing under § 274-121, Show cause hearing, or § 274-126, Termination of discharge.
C. 
Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as requiring a hearing prior to any emergency suspension under this section.
A. 
In addition to the provisions in § 274-98 of this Part 5, titled Wastewater discharge permit revocation, any user who violates the following conditions is subject to discharge termination:
(1) 
Violation of wastewater discharge permit conditions;
(2) 
Failure to accurately report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of its discharge;
(3) 
Failure to report significant changes in operations or wastewater volume, constituents, and characteristics prior to discharge;
(4) 
Refusal of reasonable access to the user's premises for the purpose of inspection, monitoring, or sampling; or
(5) 
Violation of the Pretreatment Standards in Article XV of this Part 5.
B. 
Such user will be notified of the proposed termination of its discharge and be offered an opportunity to show cause under § 274-121 of this Part 5, titled "Show cause hearing," why the proposed action should not be taken. Exercise of this option by the Township shall not be a bar to, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.