Big Bear Lake Municipal Code Art. VI Enforcement Remedies/Violations

Whenever the city engineer or his/her designee finds that any discharger has the potential to violate or has already violated any prohibition, limitation or requirement contained in this chapter, or in any NPDES stormwater permit, the city may serve upon such person a written notice of correction stating the nature of the violation and the necessary actions that must be implemented to correct the situation. The NOC shall stipulate a time period by which the problem must be corrected and the penalties for noncompliance.

(Ord. 2004-337 § 1(part), 2004)

When the city engineer or his/her authorized representative finds that any discharger has failed to comply with a notice of correction or has violated or continues to violate any prohibition, limitation or requirement contained in this chapter, or in any NPDES stormwater permit, the city may serve upon such person a written notice of violation stating the nature of the violation and the penalties for noncompliance. At a minimum, the notice of violation shall require that the discharger submit to the city engineer, within a time period specified in the notice, a plan indicating the cause of the violation and corrective actions which will be taken to prevent recurrence. A discharger shall be guilty of a separate offense for every day during any portion of which any violation of any provision of this chapter is committed, continued, or permitted by the discharger.

(Ord. 2004-337 § 1(part), 2004)

A. Except as herein provided, any person, firm, or corporation convicted of violating any provision of this chapter, including but not limited to a failure of a construction project and/or an industrial facility, which is required to obtain coverage under the state's general stormwater permits to file with the state board a notice of intent, to be covered by the relevant permit, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. The city attorney shall have the authority to prosecute any violation of this chapter, which is otherwise a misdemeanor, as an infraction, in the interests of justice. In such cases, the city attorney shall specify in the accusatory pleadings that the offense has been filed as an infraction. Each violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense. In addition, the following remedies may be imposed:

1. Upon conviction of a violation of this chapter, all land use applications, building permits, occupancy, and/or development permits for the subject property upon which a violation of this chapter took place may be suspended until appropriate mitigation measures specified by the city are completed to the city's satisfaction;

2. The violator may be required to retain and/or pay costs for a qualified consultant to develop and implement remedies for the violations as appropriate;

3. In addition to the remedies set forth for criminal violations set forth in subsection (A)(5) of this section, the city, at its discretion, may file legal action for damage, destruction or degradation of any storm drain, natural channel, or sewer system during a development project;

4. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this section, the illicit discharges into the storm drain system shall be punishable as an infraction or a misdemeanor, as permitted by subsection A of this section;

5. Any person found in violation of the provisions of this chapter may be subject to the following:

a. Any person, firm or corporation convicted of a misdemeanor under the provisions of this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment,

b. Any person, firm or corporation convicted of an infraction under the provisions of this chapter shall be punished by:

(i) A fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for a first violation,

(ii) A fine of two hundred dollars ($200.00) for a second violation of the same provision within one year from the date of the action constituting the previous violation, and

(iii) A fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each additional violation of the same provision within one year from the date of the action constituting the previous violation,

c. Each such person, firm or corporation shall be guilty of a separate offense for each and every day during any portion of which any violation of or failure to comply with any provision of this chapter is committed, continued, or permitted by such person, firm or corporation and shall be punishable accordingly,

d. In addition to the remedies provided by this chapter or elsewhere by law, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be enjoined or abated by the city by means of a civil action or administrative abatement pursuant to Chapter 8.80 of this code, and each day such condition continues shall be regarded as a new and separate offense,

e. Any person, firm or corporation who violates any provision or fails to comply with any requirement or provision of this chapter shall be liable for an administrative penalty or a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for each violation. Each day of such conduct is a separate and distinct violation. In determining the amount of the civil penalty, the court shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of the harm caused by the conduct constituting a violation, the nature and persistence of such conduct, the length of time over which the conduct occurred, the assets, liabilities and net worth of the person, whether corporate or individual, and any corrective action taken by the defendant. The civil penalty prescribed by this subsection shall be assessed and recovered and a civil action brought by the city attorney in any court of competent jurisdiction. The civil penalty prescribed by this section may be sought in addition to injunctive relief, specific performance or any other remedy; provided, however, that a civil penalty shall not be sought for any violation for which a criminal prosecution has been commenced,

f. In any civil, criminal or administrative action or proceeding commenced by the city to abate a nuisance, to enjoin a violation of any provision of this chapter, or to collect a civil penalty imposed either by this chapter, the city shall, if it is the prevailing party, be entitled to recover from the defendant in any such action reasonable attorney's fees and costs of suit.

B. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the city from taking other such lawful action as is necessary to prevent or remedy any violation(s).

(Ord. 2004-337 § 1(part), 2004)

Nothing in these sections shall be deemed to impose any liability upon the city of Big Bear Lake or upon any of its officers or employees or agents, or to relieve the owner, applicant or contractor from the duty to abide by any and all applicable provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 2004-337 § 1(part), 2004)

The city engineer may require compliance with any prohibition, limitation or requirement contained in this chapter, any NPDES stormwater permit or the basin plan, by issuing an administrative order. Administrative orders may include compliance orders, stop work orders, cease and desist orders, termination of service orders and immediate termination of service orders. Administrative orders may include the imposition of administrative penalties in the amount specified in Section 14.04.320(A)(5)(e) of this chapter. An administrative order shall be final unless an administrative hearing is requested within ten (10) days of the notice of the administrative order. If an administrative hearing is requested, the person must comply with the administrative order pending on the hearing. An administrative order may be enforced through legal action, if necessary to obtain compliance.

A. Compliance Orders. The city engineer or his/her designee may issue a compliance order to any discharger who fails to correct a violation of this chapter, any NPDES stormwater permit or the basin plan. The order shall be in writing, specify the violation(s) and require appropriate compliance measures within a specified time period. The compliance order may include the following terms and requirements:

1. Specific steps and time schedules for compliance as reasonably necessary to eliminate an existing prohibited discharge or illegal connection or to prevent the imminent threat of a prohibited discharge;

2. Specific requirements for containment, cleanup, removal, storage, installation of overhead covering or proper disposal of any pollutant having the potential to contact stormwater runoff;

3. Installation of stormwater treatment devices, containment structures, wash racks and addition and removal of stormwater drains;

4. Any other terms or requirements reasonably calculated to prevent imminent threat of or continuing violations of this chapter, including, but not limited to requirements for compliance with best management practices guidance documents promulgated by any federal, state or regional agency and a listing of the amount of any administrative penalties to be imposed if the compliance schedule is not implemented.

The city engineer or his/her designee may adopt a proposed compliance schedule submitted by the user or may adopt a revised compliance schedule if in his/her judgment, the proposed compliance schedule would allow the user to cause harm to the receiving waters and/or the city's stormwater drainage system.

B. Stop Work Order. The city engineer or building official may serve a written stop work order on any person engaged in doing or causing to be done any act in violation of this chapter, including, but not limited to, situations where:

1. No construction permit has been granted by the city;

2. Work has begun prior to the submittal of a written stormwater quality management plan (SWQMP) and subsequent approval by the city engineer or his/her designee; or

3. Violations of this article are found at the site of the new construction, tenant improvements, alterations or additions.

Any person served a stop work order shall stop such work forthwith until written authorization to continue is received from the city engineer or building official. The stop work order may include an administrative penalty for the violation.

C. Cease and Desist Order. When the city engineer or his/her designee finds that any industrial and/or commercial discharger has violated or threatens to violate any prohibition, limitation or requirement contained in this chapter, any NPDES stormwater permit or the basin plan, or NPDES stormwater permit, the city may issue a cease and desist order directing the discharger to:

1. Immediately discontinue any illicit connection or prohibited discharge to the city's stormwater drainage system;

2. Immediately contain or divert any flow of water off the property, where the flow is occurring in violation of any provision of this chapter;

3. Immediately discontinue any other violation of this chapter.

The cease and desist order may include an administrative penalty for the violation.

D. Termination of Service. When the city engineer finds any discharger, who has a direct connection into the city's stormwater drainage system or who has violated an administrative order, the city engineer may terminate storm drain service to the discharger. The discharger shall be liable for all costs for termination of storm drain service incurred by the city. This provision is in addition to any other statutes, rules or regulations authorizing termination of service for delinquency payment or for any other reasons. Storm drain service shall be reinstituted by the city engineer after the discharger has complied with all the provisions of the administrative order. The discharger shall also be liable for all costs for reinstituting storm drain service and for any administrative penalties associated with the violation.

E. Immediate Termination of Service. The city engineer may immediately suspend storm drain service and any nonstormwater discharge permit when such suspension is necessary, in the opinion of the city engineer, to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons or the environment, or which significantly or could significantly cause pollution to the receiving waters, ground and/or stormwater drainage system of the city. Any discharger notified that their storm drain service has been suspended shall immediately cease and eliminate the discharge into the city stormwater drainage system. The immediate termination of service order may also include the imposition of administrative penalties for the violation.

In the event of failure to comply voluntarily with the termination of service order, the city engineer shall take appropriate steps, including immediate severance of all applicable storm drain connections. All persons responsible for a discharge that may endanger the health or welfare of the community or the environment shall be liable for all costs incurred by the city in terminating storm drain service. Storm drain service shall be reinstituted by the city engineer after the actual or threatened discharge has been eliminated. A detailed written statement, submitted by the industrial and/or commercial discharger, describing the cause of the harmful contribution and the measures to prevent any future occurrence, shall be submitted to the city engineer within ten (10) working days of the date of storm drain service termination.

(Ord. 2004-337 § 1(part), 2004)