The primary responsibility for enforcement of the provisions of Chapters
12.04 through
12.18 shall be vested in the director or agents of the city as he or she shall designate; and provided further, that field inspectors or other employees of the city are hereby authorized to act as agents of the city for and on behalf of the director with the power to inspect and issue notices for violations of Chapters
12.04 through
12.18.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
(a) When the director finds that a user has violated, or continues to
violate, any provision of this title, individual wastewater discharge
permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard
or requirement, the director may serve upon that user a written notice
of violation issue a verbal notice to the user, which may be documented
by the director. A verbal notice is a warning communicated to the
industrial user orally, and is documented internally by the city.
(b) When the director finds that a user has violated, or continues to
violate, any provision of this title, individual wastewater discharge
permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard
or requirement, the director may issue a written warning notice, irrespective
of whether the director has issued a verbal warning. A warning notice
is a written notice of violation that a moderate violation has occurred.
The warning notice directs the industrial user to take actions to
correct the violation and does not require a formal response.
(c) When the director finds that a user has violated, or continues to
violate, any provision of this title, an individual wastewater discharge
permit, or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard
or requirement, the director may serve upon that user a written notice
of violation. Within fourteen days, or ten business 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.
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 director to take any action, including emergency actions or any
other enforcement action, without first issuing a notice of violation.
(Ord. 2896-09 § 39; Ord. 2952-11 § 4)
Waste or wastewater discharge, threatened waste or wastewater discharge, or any condition or act in violation of any provision of this chapter or Chapters
12.04 through
12.16 or of any provision of any permit issued pursuant to Chapter
12.12 or of any order or directive of the director authorized by the provisions of said Chapters
12.12 through Chapter
12.18 is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Such nuisance may be abated, removed or enjoined and damages assessed therefor, in any manner provided by law.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
When the director finds that a discharge of wastewater has taken place or is likely to take place in violation of Chapters
12.04 through
12.18, or the provisions of a wastewater discharge permit, the director may issue an order to cease and desist such discharge, or practice, or operation likely to cause such discharge and direct those persons not complying with such prohibitions, limits, requirements, or provisions to:
(b) Comply in accordance with a time schedule set forth by the city;
or
(c) Take appropriate remedial or preventive action.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
The city may revoke any wastewater discharge permit, and/or terminate, or cause to be terminated wastewater service to any premises if a violation of any provision of this chapter or of Chapters
12.04 through
12.16 is found to exist, or if a discharge of wastewater causes or threatens to cause a condition of contamination, pollution or nuisance. If service is terminated it is unlawful for any person to discharge any material to the city sanitary sewer. This provision is in addition to other statutes, rules or regulations, authorizing termination of service for delinquency in payment.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
In the event cleanup, repairs, construction, or other work is performed on any premises pursuant to any provision of law relating to an emergency or pursuant to any other provision of law authorizing public work on private property in order to correct, eliminate or abate a condition upon such premises which threatens to cause, causes, or has caused a violation of any provision of this chapter or of Chapters
12.04 through
12.16, or of any permit issued pursuant to Chapters
12.04 through
12.16 or of any other requirement of law, the user responsible for the occurrence or condition giving rise to such work, the occupant and the owner of the premises shall be liable, jointly and severally to the city for such public expenditures.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
Wastewater discharge permits may be revoked for one or more
material violations of this title, including the following:
(a) Failure to notify the city of changes to the user's operations or systems as described in Section
12.12.190;
(b) Misrepresentation of or failure to fully disclose all relevant facts
in the wastewater discharge permit application;
(c) Falsifying self-monitoring reports;
(d) Tampering with monitoring facilities or equipment;
(e) Refusing to allow the city timely access to the facility premises
and records;
(f) Failure to meet the prohibitions on discharge listed in Section
12.12.020 or the local limits specified in Section
12.12.120;
(g) Failure to meet compliance time schedules or any wastewater discharge
permit conditions or requirements;
(i) Failure to pay sewer charges;
(j) Failure to complete a wastewater discharge permit application or submit a discharge report per Section
12.12.150;
(k) Violation of any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
(a) Complaint. The director may serve an administrative complaint on
any person who has violated any applicable code provision. The complaint
shall state:
(1) The act or failure that constitutes the violation;
(2) The provisions of law authorizing the civil liability to be imposed;
and
(3) The proposed civil penalty.
The complaint shall be served by personal delivery or certified
mail on the person subject to requirements that the director alleges
were violated, and shall inform the person served that a hearing on
the complaint shall be conducted within thirty days after service,
unless the person charged with the violation waives his or her right
to a hearing.
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(b) Hearing. Unless the person charged with the violation(s) waives his or her right to a hearing, the director of environmental services or designee ("hearing officer") shall conduct a hearing within thirty days. If the hearing officer finds that the person has violated any reporting or discharge requirement of Chapters
12.04 through
12.18, he or she may assess administrative penalties against the person. In determining the amount of the civil penalty, the hearing officer may take into consideration all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm caused by the violation, the economic benefit derived through any noncompliance, the nature and persistence of the violation, the length of time over which the violation occurs and corrective action, if any, attempted or taken by the discharger. Civil penalties that may be imposed pursuant to
Government Code Section 54740.5 are as follows:
(1) An amount not to exceed two thousand dollars for each day for failing
or refusing to furnish technical or monitoring reports;
(2) An amount not to exceed three thousand dollars for each day for failing
or refusing to timely comply with any compliance schedule established
by the city;
(3) An amount not to exceed five thousand dollars per violation for each
day of violation for discharges in violation of any waste discharge
limitation, permit condition or requirement issued, reissued or adopted
by the city; and
(4) An amount not to exceed ten dollars per gallon for discharges in
violation of any suspension, cease and desist order or other orders,
or prohibition issued, reissued or adopted by the city.
(c) Appeal. Any person against whom penalties are assessed by the hearing
officer may appeal the decision of the hearing officer within thirty
days of notice of the decision to the city manager. The city manager
may hear the appeal or deny review of the case. If the city manager
decides to hear the appeal, it shall conduct the appeal in accordance
with procedures established by the council. The decision of the city
manager shall be in writing and shall be final. All civil penalties
imposed in accordance with this section shall be payable within thirty
days of the decision of the hearing officer; provided, that if the
decision is appealed, all penalties shall be payable within thirty
days after the city manager decision on the appeal.
(d) Lien. The amount of any civil penalties imposed under this section
which have remained delinquent for a period of sixty days shall constitute
a lien against the real property of the discharger from which the
violation occurred resulting in imposition of the penalty. The director
shall cause the amount of uncollected penalty to be recorded with
the county recorder, in accordance with Section 54740.5 of the California
Government Code.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1; Ord. 3062-15 § 4)
(a) Civil Penalties. Any person who intentionally or negligently violates any provision of Chapters
12.04 through
12.18 or any provision of any permit shall be civilly liable to the city in a sum of not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars per day for each day in which such violation occurs. The city may petition the superior court pursuant to
Government Code Section 54740 to impose, assess, and recover such sums.
(b) Injunctive Relief. When the director, or designee, finds that a user
has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this chapter,
an individual wastewater discharge permit, or order issued hereunder,
or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the director may
petition the superior court through the city attorney for the issuance
of a temporary or permanent injunction, as appropriate, which restrains
or compels the specific performance of the individual wastewater discharge
permit, order, or other requirement imposed by this chapter on activities
of the user. The director may also seek such other action as is appropriate
for legal and/or equitable relief, including a requirement for the
user to conduct environmental remediation. A petition for injunctive
relief shall not be a bar against, or prerequisite for, taking any
other action against a user.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1; Ord. 2952-11 § 5)
It is unlawful knowingly to make or present to city any false statement, representation, record, report, plan or other document, or knowingly to tamper with or render inaccurate any monitoring device or equipment installed or operated pursuant to Chapters
12.04 through
12.18 or pursuant to any permit issued under Chapters
12.04 through
12.18.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
The remedies provided for in this chapter shall be cumulative
and not exclusive, and shall be in addition to any and all other remedies
available to the city.
(Ord. 2490-94 § 1)
The director shall publish annually, in a newspaper of general
circulation that provides meaningful public notice within the jurisdictions
served by the POTW, a list of the users which, at any time during
the previous twelve months, were in significant noncompliance with
applicable pretreatment standards and requirements. The term significant
noncompliance shall be applicable to all significant industrial users
(or any other industrial user that violates subsections (c), (d) or
(h) of this section) and shall mean:
(a) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six percent or more of all the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including those defined in Chapter
12.12 of this title;
(b) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirty-three percent or more of wastewater measurements taken for each pollutant parameter during a six-month period equals or exceeds the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including those defined in Chapter
12.12 of this title, multiplied by the applicable TRC criteria (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oils and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(c) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by Chapter
12.12 of this title that the director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through, including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public;
(d) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment
to the public or to the environment, or has resulted in the director's
exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(e) Failure to meet, within ninety days of the scheduled date, a compliance
schedule milestone contained in an individual wastewater discharge
permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing
construction, or attaining final compliance;
(f) Failure to provide within forty-five days after the due date, any
required reports, including baseline monitoring reports, reports on
compliance with categorical pretreatment standard deadlines, periodic
self monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance
schedules;
(g) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or any other violation(s),
which may include a violation of best management practices, which
the director determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation
of the local pretreatment program.
(Ord. 2896-09 § 40)