When the Director or their designee finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of these City Regulations, a wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the Director or their designee may serve upon that user a written notice of violation. Within 10 days of the receipt of such 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 Director or their designee. Submission of such a 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 City to take any action, including emergency actions or any other enforcement action, without first issuing a notice of violation.
(Ord. 1911, 7-17-2023)
The City may enter into consent orders, assurances of compliance, or other similar documents establishing an agreement with any user responsible for noncompliance. Such documents shall 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 Sections 23B-58 and 23B-59 of these City Regulations and shall be judicially enforceable.
(Ord. 1911, 7-17-2023)
A. 
The City may order a user which has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of these City Regulations, a wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, to appear before the Director or designee and to explain why an 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 appear and explain 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 as defined in Section 23B-2 and required by Section 23B-23(A). A show cause hearing shall not be a bar against, or prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
B. 
At a minimum, this meeting shall be documented with the following information:
1. 
Meeting location;
2. 
Date and time of the meeting;
3. 
List of the meeting attendees;
4. 
Summary of the discussion occurring at the meeting; and
5. 
Conclusions reached at the meeting, including the details of agreements made, if any.
(Ord. 1911, 7-17-2023)
When the Director finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of these City Regulations, a wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the Director may issue a compliance 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.
(Ord. 1911, 7-17-2023)
When the Director finds that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of these City Regulations, 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 Director may issue an order to the user directing it 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.
(Ord. 1911, 7-17-2023)
In addition to the provisions in Section 23B-31 of these City Regulations, any user who violates the following conditions is subject to discharge termination:
A. 
Violation of wastewater discharge permit conditions;
B. 
Failure to accurately report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of its discharge;
C. 
Failure to report significant changes in operations or wastewater volume, constituents, and characteristics prior to discharge;
D. 
Refusal of reasonable access to the user's premises for the purpose of inspection, monitoring, or sampling;
E. 
Violation of the pretreatment standards in Article 3 of these City Regulations; or
F. 
Failure to timely pay any charges assessed.
Such user will be notified of the proposed termination of its discharge and be offered an opportunity to respond under Section 23B-57 of these City Regulations why the proposed action should not be taken. Exercise of this option by the Director shall not be a bar to, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the user.
(Ord. 1911, 7-17-2023)
A. 
Administrative fines are punitive monetary charges assessed by the Control Authority rather than a court. The purpose of the fine is to recover the economic benefit of noncompliance and to deter future violations. When assessing an administrative fine the following factors are considered:
1. 
Type and severity of the violation;
2. 
Number of violations cited;
3. 
Duration of noncompliance;
4. 
Impact of the violation on the receiving water, sludge quality, and POTW operation;
5. 
Whether the violation threatened public health;
6. 
The economic benefit or savings the user gained from the noncompliance;
7. 
Compliance history of the user;
8. 
Whether the user is making a good faith effort to comply.
B. 
When assessing fines, charges shall include, but are not limited to:
1. 
City representative's fully burdened hourly rate for work in field and administrative costs;
2. 
Equipment usage;
3. 
Laboratory analysis.
(Ord. 1911, 7-17-2023)