[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 136-60, Publication of pollution
prevention achievements, was repealed 12-4-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-14.
When the Director of Public Works determines
that a user has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of
this chapter, an industrial discharge permit or order issued hereunder
or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, the Director of
Public Works may serve a verbal or written notice of violation specifying
the violation to the user. Within the time period specified in the
violation 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 of
Public Works. Submittal of this plan in no way relieves the user of
liability for any violations occurring before or subsequent to receipt
of the notice of violation. Nothing in this section shall limit the
authority of the Director of Public Works to take any action, including
emergency actions or any other enforcement action, without initially
issuing a notice of violation.
A.
The Director of Public Works may require any user
which has violated or continues to violate any provision of this chapter,
an industrial discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any other
pretreatment standard or requirement, to develop a compliance schedule.
B.
A compliance schedule pursuant to this section shall
comply with the following conditions:
(1)
The schedule shall contain progress increments in
the form of dates for the commencement and completion of major events
leading to the construction and operation of additional pretreatment
required for the user to meet the applicable pretreatment standards
(such events include, but are not limited to, retaining an engineer,
completing preliminary and final design plans, executing contracts
for major components, commencing and completing construction and beginning
and conducting routine operation).
(2)
No increment referred to above shall exceed nine months.
(3)
The user shall submit a progress report to the Director
of Public Works no later than 14 days following each date in the schedule
and the final date of compliance, including, as a minimum, whether
or not it complied with the increment of progress, the reason for
any delay and, if appropriate, the action being taken by the user
to return to the established schedule.
(4)
In no event shall more than nine months elapse between
such progress reports to the Director of Public Works.
The Director of Public Works may require any user which has violated or continues to violate any provision of this chapter, an industrial discharge permit or order issued hereunder, or any other pretreatment standard or requirement, to develop a pollution prevention plan in accordance with § 136-19, Pollution prevention plans, of this chapter. The pollution prevention plan must specifically address violation(s) for which this action was undertaken. The pollution prevention plan shall be developed using good engineering judgment and shall be submitted to the Director of Public Works no later than 60 days after the user was notified of this requirement.
The Director of Public Works may publish annually,
in the largest daily newspaper published in the municipality where
the Lebanon Treatment Works is located, a list of the users that,
during the previous 12 months, were in significant noncompliance with
applicable pretreatment standards and requirements.
A.
Any industrial user who violates the following conditions
of this chapter or a wastewater discharge permit or order, or any
applicable state or federal law, is subject to permit termination
by the Director of Public Works after consultation with the City Manager
for:
(1)
Violation of 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 constituents and characteristics; or
(4)
Refusal of reasonable access to the user's premises
for the purpose of inspection, monitoring or sampling.
A.
In addition to the provisions in § 136-65, Industrial discharge permit termination, of this chapter, any user who violates the following conditions is subject to discharge termination by the Director of Public Works after consultation with the City Manager for:
(1)
Violation of industrial 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
A.
The Director of Public Works may immediately suspend
a user's discharge, subsequent to informal notice to the user, whenever
such suspension is necessary to terminate an actual or threatened
discharge which reasonably appears to present or cause an imminent
or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of Lebanon Treatment
Works personnel or the public. The Director of Public Works may also
immediately suspend a user's discharge, after notice and opportunity
to respond, that threatens to interfere with the operation of the
Lebanon Treatment Works, or which presents, or may present, an endangerment
to the environment.
(1)
Any user notified of a suspension of its discharge shall immediately terminate or eliminate its wastewater discharge. In the event of a user's failure to immediately comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the Director of Public Works may implement such steps as deemed necessary, including immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the Lebanon Treatment Works, its receiving stream or endangerment to any individuals. The Director of Public Works may allow the user to recommence its discharge when the user has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Director of Public Works that the period of endangerment has passed, unless the termination proceedings in § 136-65, Industrial discharge permit termination, of this chapter are initiated against the user.
(2)
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 implemented to prevent any future occurrence, to the Director of Public Works prior to the date of any show cause or termination hearing under § 136-91, Show-cause hearing, or § 136-65, Industrial discharge permit termination, of this chapter.
B.
Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as requiring
a hearing prior to any emergency suspension under this section.
Any person or industrial user violating any
of the provisions of this chapter shall become liable to the city
for any expense, loss or damage occasioned the city by reason of such
violation. If the Director of Public Works or City Council shall have
caused the disconnection of a drain from a public sewer, the city
may collect the expenses associated with completing the disconnection
from any person or user responsible for, or willfully concerned in,
or who profited by such violation. The city may thereafter refuse
to permit the restoration of the former connection or of any new connection
to the property concerned in the violation until the claim of the
city for the cost of completing such disconnection shall have been
paid in full plus interest and the reasonable cost of any legal expenses
incurred by the city in connection therewith.
No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is part of the public sewerage system. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to immediate arrest under charge of disorderly conduct pursuant to the Code of the City of Lebanon and state and federal statutes in accordance with § 136-97, Disorderly conduct arrest, of this chapter.
A.
For the purposes of this section, "upset" means an
exceptional incident in which there is unintentional and temporary
noncompliance with pretreatment standards due to factors beyond the
reasonable control of the user. An upset does not include noncompliance
to the extent caused by operational error, improperly designed treatment
facilities, inadequate treatment facilities, lack of preventive maintenance
or careless or improper operation.
B.
An upset shall constitute an affirmative defense to an action brought for noncompliance with pretreatment standards if the requirements of Subsection C below, are met.
C.
A user who intends to establish the affirmative defense
of 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(s)
of the upset;
(2)
At the time being of the upset, the facility was operated
in a prudent and workman-like manner and in compliance with applicable
operation and maintenance procedures; and
(3)
The user has submitted the following information to
the Director of Public Works within 24 hours of becoming aware of
the upset (if this information is provided orally, a written submission
must be provided within five days):
(a)
A description of the indirect discharge and
cause of noncompliance;
(b)
The period of noncompliance, including exact
dates and times, or, if not corrected, the anticipated time the noncompliance
is expected to continue; and
(c)
Action being implemented and/or planned to reduce,
eliminate and prevent recurrence of the noncompliance.
D.
In any enforcement proceeding, the user seeking to
establish the occurrence of an upset shall have the burden of proof.
E.
Users will have the opportunity for a judicial determination
on any claim of upset only in an enforcement action brought for noncompliance
with pretreatment standards.
F.
Users shall control 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.
A user shall have an affirmative defense to an enforcement action brought against it for noncompliance with the general prohibitions in § 136-10, Prohibited discharge standards, Subsection A, General prohibitions, or the specific prohibitions in § 136-10, Prohibited discharge standards, Subsection B, Specific prohibitions, of this chapter if it can prove that it did not know, or have reason to know, that its discharge, alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, would cause pass-through or interference and that either:
A.
A local limit exists for each pollutant discharged
and the user was in compliance with each limit directly prior to,
and during, the pass-through or interference; or
B.
No local limit exists, but the discharge did not change
substantially in nature or constituents from the user's prior discharge
when the city was regularly in compliance with its NPDES permit and,
in the case of interference, was in compliance with applicable sludge
use or disposal requirements.
A.
BYPASS
SEVERE PROPERTY DAMAGE
For the purposes of this section, the following terms
shall have the meaning indicated:
The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion
of a user's treatment facility.
Substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment
facilities which causes them to become inoperable or substantial and
permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected
to occur in the absence of a bypass. "Severe property damage" does
not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.
C.
Prior notice.
(1)
If a user knows in advance of the need for a bypass,
it shall submit prior notice to the Director of Public Works, at least
10 days before the date of the bypass, if possible.
(2)
A user shall submit oral notice to the Director of
Public Works of an unanticipated bypass that exceeds applicable pretreatment
standards within 24 hours from the time it becomes aware of the bypass.
A written submission shall also be provided within five days of the
time the user becomes aware of the bypass. The written submission
shall contain a description of the bypass and its cause; the duration
of the bypass, including exact dates and times, and, if the bypass
has not been corrected, the anticipated time it is expected to continue;
and steps implemented or planned to reduce, eliminate and prevent
reoccurrence of the bypass. The Director of Public Works may waive
the written report on a case-by-case basis if the oral report has
been received within 24 hours.
D.
Enforcement action.
(1)
Bypass is prohibited, and the Director of Public Works
may initiate enforcement action against a user for a bypass, unless:
(a)
Bypass was unavoidable to prevent loss of life,
personal injury or severe property damage;
(b)
There were no feasible alternatives to the bypass,
such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated
wastes or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime.
This condition is not satisfied if adequate backup equipment should
have been installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgment
to prevent a bypass which occurred during normal periods of equipment
downtime or preventive maintenance; and
