The Director may immediately halt or prevent any discharge of
pollutants which reasonably appears to present an imminent endangerment
to the health or welfare of persons. In the event that the Director
determines that a discharge of pollutants reasonably appears to present
an imminent endangerment to the health or welfare of persons, the
Director shall provide informal (oral or written) notice of said determination
to the user. Said user shall immediately stop or eliminate such discharge
and shall submit written proof of the elimination of the discharge
to the Director within 48 hours of receipt of notice of the Director's
determination. If said user fails voluntarily and immediately to halt
such a discharge, the Director shall take such actions as he or she
deems necessary to prevent or minimize endangerment to the health
or welfare of persons. Such actions include but are not limited to
seeking ex parte temporary injunctive relief, entry on private property
to halt such discharge, blockage of a public sewer to halt such discharge,
severance of the sewer connection, suspension of wastewater disposal
service, suspension or revocation of a wastewater discharge permit
and institution of a legal or special proceeding. After such discharge
has been halted, the Director may take such other and further actions
provided under this section as may be necessary to ensure elimination
of said discharge and compliance with the terms of this chapter and
wastewater discharge permits issued hereunder. If the user provides
satisfactory written proof that it has eliminated the cause of the
conditions creating the imminent endangerment, the Director may reinstate
the permit, restore the sewer connection and wastewater disposal service
and perform other activities to allow the user to commence discharging
again.
The Director may also, in accordance with the procedures set forth in § 30A-35 of this chapter, halt or prevent any discharge of pollutants which:
[Amended 9-11-2006 by L.L. No. 14-2006]
The Town shall annually publish, in the largest local daily newspaper, a list of the industrial users that, at any time during the previous 12 months, were in significant noncompliance, as defined in § 30A-3A, with applicable pretreatment standards or pretreatment requirements.
A.
The Director may issue compliance orders to industrial users not
complying with any pretreatment standards, pretreatment requirements,
wastewater discharge permits or any other provisions of this chapter
or the Act. Such orders may, among other things, direct said industrial
user to:
(1)
Comply immediately with pretreatment standards, pretreatment requirements,
wastewater discharge permit provisions, this chapter or the Act;
(2)
Comply with pretreatment standards, pretreatment requirements, wastewater
discharge permit provisions, this chapter or the Act in accordance
with a time schedule set forth by the Director;
(3)
Increase the frequency of sampling and analyses of the industrial
user's wastewater; and/or
(4)
Undertake appropriate remedial or preventive action to prevent the
possibility of violations in the future.
B.
The issuance of or compliance with an order under this section shall
not relieve the industrial user of liability for violations which
occur before the order is issued or while the order is effective.
A.
This section shall govern the ability of the Town to suspend or revoke any wastewater discharge permit to any industrial user in all situations except those described in §§ 30A-35 and 30A-36 of this chapter regarding discharges which present imminent endangerment or which constitute harmful discharges. In all other situations, the Town may revoke a wastewater discharge permit if the Town Board determines that a violation of any provision of the permit, the Act or this chapter exists. If the Town has an approved enforcement response plan, the permit shall be suspended or revoked in accordance with the provisions of the plan in effect at the time of the violations. Violations which may lead to such suspension or revocation include but are not limited to the following:
(1)
Failure of an industrial user to accurately or timely submit the
information required in any report.
(2)
Failure of an industrial user to allow access to its premises in
which a discharge source or treatment system is located or believed
to be located or in which wastewater records are kept, for the purposes
of inspection, monitoring, sampling or records examination or copying
by the Town, EPA, DEC, the United States or the state.
(3)
Failure of an industrial user to report significant changes in its
operations or the constituents, characteristics or volume of its wastewater.
(4)
Violation of conditions of the industrial user's permit or of
this chapter or the Act.
B.
Before the Town may suspend or revoke an industrial wastewater permit, it must give the industrial user a hearing in accordance with the procedures set forth at § 30A-41 below. The final decision as to whether to suspend or revoke a permit shall then be made by the Town Board, shall be implemented by the Director and shall be a final administrative action.
A.
Whenever the Director determines that any industrial user has violated or is violating any pretreatment standard, pretreatment requirement, its wastewater discharge permit or any other provision of the Act or this chapter, he or she may serve upon such user, either personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, a written notice of violation stating the nature of the violation. The Director may include with the notice of violation a compliance order directing the user to take specified actions to correct the violations. The Director may also include with the notice of violation an order to show cause before the Town Board as to why the user's wastewater discharge permit should not be suspended or revoked or why civil administrative penalties should not be assessed against the industrial user for said violations. Any such show cause hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of § 30A-41 of this chapter.
B.
Within 30 days of the date of the notice, the user shall submit to
the Director a written explanation of the reasons for the violations
and a plan for the satisfactory correction thereof consistent with
any compliance order which the Director may issue.
C.
Neither the issuance of a notice of violation nor the submittal of
or compliance with a plan of correction or compliance order shall
relieve the industrial user of any liability for violations of any
pretreatment standards, pretreatment requirements, wastewater discharge
permit, the Act or this chapter, nor is the issuance of such a written
notice required before the Town may take any other types of enforcement
action against the industrial user.
A.
Notice requirements. A notice from the Town Supervisor shall be served
on the user specifying the time and place of a hearing to be held
by the Town Board regarding the violation, the proposed action to
be taken, the reasons why the action is proposed and directing the
person to show cause before the Town Board why the proposed action
should not be taken. The notice of the hearing shall be served personally
or by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 10 days before
the hearing. Service must be made on an authorized representative
of the industrial user.
B.
Conduct of the hearing. The Town Board shall conduct the hearing
and take the evidence or may designate any of its members or the Director
to:
(1)
Issue in the name of the Town Board notices of hearings requesting
the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence
relevant to any matter involved in such hearings;
(2)
Take evidence;
(3)
Transmit a report of the evidence and hearing, including transcripts
and other evidence, together with recommendations to the Town Board
for action thereon; and
(4)
Take any further necessary action as permitted by this chapter or
applicable contracts or agreements.
C.
Testimony recorded under oath. At any hearing held pursuant to this
chapter, testimony taken must be under oath and recorded, either stenographically
or by voice recording. The transcript, so recorded, will be made available
to any member of the public or any party to the hearing upon payment
of the usual charges therefor.
D.
Orders. After the Town Board has reviewed the evidence, it may issue
an order suspending or revoking an industrial wastewater discharge
permit and/or assessing civil administrative penalties and the timing
for their payment to the Town against the industrial user. The issuance
of such an order shall be a final administrative action.
E.
Settlement. At any time after notice of the show cause hearing has
been served and before the Town Board has issued its order regarding
permit suspension or revocation and/or penalty assessment, the Town
Board may enter into a settlement agreement with the industrial user
to resolve the issues raised by the order to show cause.
If any person discharges industrial wastes, septage or other
wastewater into the POTW contrary to the provisions of this chapter,
the Act, any applicable pretreatment standards or pretreatment requirements,
the conditions and requirements of any wastewater discharge permit
issued hereunder or any order of the Director or Town Board, the Town's
counsel may commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable
relief, including but not limited to injunctive relief, penalties
and fines, in either state or federal court. The Town may also ask
appropriate officials at the local, state or federal levels to investigate
and bring a criminal action against any industrial user or person
associated with an industrial user believed to have violated the criminal
provisions of this chapter, the Act or any other law.
