Riverside Municipal Code Div. IV Enforcement

Failure to comply with this chapter, or any section, subsection, or part of this chapter, is a violation of this chapter and may be punished by administrative, civil, and/or criminal penalties. The remedies available under this chapter are in addition to all other remedies available under the law.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6377 §2 (part), 2002; Ord. 6232 §2 (part), 1995)

The City shall use an Enforcement Response Plan (ERP), as required by 40 CFR 403.8(f)(5), and adopted by resolution of the City Council, to guide the City in imposing progressive enforcement actions against users and persons in noncompliance with this chapter.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6377 §2 (part), 2002; Ord. 6232 §2 (part), 1995)

There is hereby established a class of violations to be known as administrative violations that are further subdivided into minor and major administrative violations as follows:

A. Minor administrative violations include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Submission of incomplete reports or questionnaires;

2. Failure to submit reports by the scheduled due date;

3. Failure to respond to questionnaires;

4. Missing a compliance date without proper prior notification to the City;

5. Failure to conduct sampling when required;

6. Failure to notify the Director of a violation of a permit condition within 24 hours after discovery of the violation; or

7. Failure to pay all required fees, penalties and charges within 30 calendar days from the due date.

B. Major administrative violations include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Failure to notify the Director of a slug discharge immediately after discovery of said discharge;

2. Failure to respond, by a given date, to letters requiring responses or to administrative orders;

3. Missing a compliance date by more than 30 calendar days;

4. Falsification of documents or attempting to mislead City officials in any manner whatsoever;

5. Failure to cooperate with City officials exercising their authority under this chapter, including monitoring and inspection activities;

6. A pattern of minor administrative violations;

7. Failure to provide the City with access to user's premises for the purpose of inspection, photography, electronic image recording, monitoring, or sampling;

8. Failure to produce records as required;

9. Failure to accurately report noncompliance;

10. Failure to submit required reports (self-monitoring, 180-day baseline monitoring report, 90-day compliance report, compliance schedule progress reports) or submitting such reports more than 45 calendar days late;

11. Failure to pay charges pursuant to Section 14.12.460 of this chapter, permit application fees, permit renewal fees, and civil penalties within 60 calendar days after the due date; or

12. Failure to pay all other required fees, penalties, and charges within 60 calendar days after the due date.

C. Upon notice of appropriate mitigating circumstances and consistent with applicable federal and state laws, the Director has sole discretion to treat a major administrative violation as a minor administrative violation, or a pattern of minor administrative violations with aggravating circumstances as individual major administrative violations.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6377 §2 (part), 2002; Ord. 6232 §2 (part), 1995)

A. There is hereby established a class of violations to be known as discharge violations that are further subdivided into minor and major discharge violations as follows:

1. Minor discharge violations are those that, either alone or in combination with similar user discharge violations, pose, as determined by the Director, no significant threat to the public health, safety or welfare, the environment, the POTW, City sewer, or the storm drain system, the beneficial use of the biosolids or to any City employee or contractor.

2. Major discharge violations include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. Significant noncompliance;

b. Discharge violations which, either alone or in combination with similar discharges pose, as determined by the Director, a significant threat to the public health, welfare or safety, the environment, the safe and efficient operation of the POTW, the beneficial use of biosolids or to any POTW employee or contractor, or cause or contribute to additional treatment costs incurred by the City or a violation of the NPDES permit, or cause or contribute to pass-through, interference, or other known damages;

c. Discharging regulated pollutants to the POTW without a current discharge permit;

d. A pattern of minor discharge violations;

e. Failure to correct a minor discharge violation within a specific time period as directed by the Director;

f. Tampering with or purposely rendering inaccurate any monitoring device, method or record required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter;

g. Intentional discharge of a prohibited waste by a liquid waste hauler into the POTW; or

h. Discharging wastewater without a valid industrial user permit after notification.

B. Upon notice of appropriate mitigating circumstances, the Director has discretion to treat a major discharge violation as a minor discharge violation. The Director also has the discretion to treat a pattern of minor discharge violations with aggravating circumstances as individual major discharge violations.

(Ord. 7551 §47, 2021; Ord. 7362 §6, 2017; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6377 §2 (part), 2002; Ord. 6232 §2 (part), 1995)

For any violation by any user or person that is not classified herein, or for the violation of any rule or regulation promulgated hereunder, the Director shall have the discretion to treat such a violation as a minor or major violation and to exercise enforcement authority accordingly. In exercising this enforcement authority, the Director shall consider the magnitude of the violation, its duration, and its effect on receiving waters, the POTW, the POTW's biosolids, the health and safety of City employees, contractors, users, and the general public. The Director shall also evaluate the user's or person's compliance history, good faith, and any other factors the Director deems relevant.

(Ord. 7551 §48, 2021; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6377 §2 (part), 2002; Ord. 6232 §2 (part), 1995)

Each violation of this chapter may be charged as a separate violation for each day the same violation exists. Each wastewater pollutant violation is considered an individual violation for each pollutant in violation for each day in violation.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6377 §2 (part), 2002; Ord. 6232 §2 (part), 1995)

The Director may require compliance with this chapter and any permit or order issued under this chapter by issuing Administrative Orders that are enforceable in a court of law, or by directly seeking court action. The Director may use Administrative orders, either individually, sequentially, concurrently, or in any order for one or more violations as appropriate for the circumstances. Administrative orders include, but are not limited to the following:

A. Stop work order. The Director may issue a written stop work order to any person engaged in doing or causing to be done new construction, tenant improvements, alterations, or additions relative to the City's pretreatment program if:

1. City permits have not been obtained;

2. Work has begun without prior written approval by the Director; or

3. Violations of this chapter are found at the site of the new construction, tenant improvements, alterations, or additions. Any person served a stop work order pursuant to this section shall immediately stop such work until written authorization for such work is issued by the Director.

B. Correction notice. The Director may issue a correction notice for minor violations noted during an inspection of the user's facility. Extensions may be granted to a user who fails to correct minor violations required by a correction notice, upon a showing of good cause, where "good cause" means an unforeseeable and unavoidable event or series of events, over which user had no control that prevented or significantly impaired the user's ability to comply with the correction notice.

C. Written warning. The Director may issue a written warning to notify a user of a minor violation or any violation that has not been corrected as required by a correction notice. The written warning shall state the provision(s) violated and the facts supporting the violation, and may include any proposed corrective actions or monitoring to be required. Failure to come into compliance by the date noted on the written warning or accompanying inspection report shall result in a $500.00 fine.

D. Monitoring/production information order (MPIO). The Director may issue an MPIO when two consecutive violations for the same pollutant are detected in City or user samples, when a pattern of wastewater pollutant non-compliance has been detected or when inconsistent wastewater pollutant compliance had resulted in Significant Non-Compliance. The MPIO shall be used to determine if discharge compliance has been achieved or if a detected violation is consistent. The MPIO shall require the user to sample the user's wastewater discharge for the pollutant(s) in violation and record the daily effluent wastewater flow for all days within a 14 consecutive day period that industrial wastewater is discharged to the POTW. Production information shall be required of all categorical industrial users which have production-based discharge limits. The user required to conduct an MPIO shall comply with all the instructions given in the MPIO.

E. Notice of violation (NOV). An NOV shall be issued to a user for a violation of a written warning, stop work order, provisions of the industrial user permit or of this chapter, an MPIO that has resulted in significant non-compliance or any other violation that has resulted in significant non-compliance. NOVs issued to Class I and II Industrial User Permit holders and Liquid Waste Hauler permit holders shall be subject to a $1,000.00 fine. All other NOVs shall be subject to a $750.00 fine. The Director may serve the user with a written NOV personally or by certified mail. The NOV shall state the provision(s) violated and the facts supporting the violation, and may include any proposed corrective actions or monitoring to be required. The NOV shall require the user to respond in writing to the Director, within ten calendar days from the date of service of the NOV, with a written explanation of or response to the violation(s) and a plan for the satisfactory correction or prevention thereof, including specific required actions. Submission of this plan in no way relieves the user of liability for any violations occurring before or after receipt of the NOV.

F. Violation meeting. A violation meeting shall be required of all users who have failed to achieve compliance after the issuance of an NOV or at the conclusion of an MPIO that has resulted in significant noncompliance. This meeting shall be for the City to draft a consent order or compliance order or for the user to propose solutions, request time extensions, draft a compliance schedule, or file an appeal. Any user for whom a violation meeting is scheduled shall be subject to a $1,000.00 fine.

G. Consent Order. The Director may, at any time after finding a violation of this chapter, enter into an agreement with the violating user known as a consent order. Such agreement may be a compliance schedule with milestones, other specific actions to be taken by the user to correct or prevent the noncompliance within a specified time period, payment of damages, consent order fines, penalties, or other remedies. The consent order is developed between the user and the City. A consent order has the same force and effect as any other administrative order issued pursuant to this chapter. Consent orders issued to Class I and II Industrial User Permit holders and Liquid Waste Hauler permit holders shall be subject to a $1,000.00 fine. All other consent orders shall be subject to a $750.00 fine.

H. Compliance order.

1. The Director may issue a compliance order for a violation of this chapter, the user's industrial user permit, or an order issued thereunder. Compliance orders shall specify the provisions violated and the facts constituting the violation(s), and direct that adequate treatment be installed and operated by a specified time period. Compliance orders may also contain such other requirements as the Director deems appropriate to assure timely compliance with this chapter, such as installation of pretreatment technology, additional self-monitoring or management practices, adherence to a compliance schedule, submission of action plans, and appearance by the user at a specific time and place for a compliance meeting, or other measures necessary to achieve and maintain compliance. Compliance orders are developed without user comment. Compliance orders issued to Class I and II Industrial User Permit holders and Liquid Waste Hauler permit holders shall be subject to a $1,000.00 fine. All other compliance orders shall be subject to a $750.00 fine.

2. If no public hearing on the violation has been previously conducted, the alleged violating user may either submit a written explanation or other response to the compliance order or request that the Director conduct either an informal meeting or a hearing. Such submission or request shall be in writing and filed with the Director no later than ten calendar days after service of the compliance order. The submission or request shall not stay the compliance order.

I. Civil penalty order. A civil penalty order may be issued to assess penalties and any other costs incurred by the City in the investigation, monitoring, legal assistance, enforcement, cleanup or repair caused by the user's violation. The civil penalty order may be included with any other administrative order.

J. Cease and desist order. A cease-and-desist order shall be issued by the Director to any user or person whose violation of this chapter, industrial user permit, or any order issued under this chapter, poses a threat to the POTW, storm drain, personnel, environment or the public. A cease-and-desist order may also be issued by the Director to a user who continues to discharge industrial wastewater to the City's POTW without a valid industrial user permit. The Director may issue a cease-and-desist order immediately upon discovering any such violation and direct a user or person in noncompliance to take such appropriate remedial or preventive actions as Director deems are needed to eliminate a continuing or threatened violation, including stopping operations and terminating the discharge. Such cease-and-desist order shall include the provision violated and the facts constituting the violation. A user subject to a cease-and-desist order shall be subject to a $1,000.00 fine.

K. Show cause order. The Director may set a hearing requiring a user to show cause why the City should not take a proposed enforcement after issuance and conclusion of a consent order, compliance order, or cease and desist order. A user subject to a show cause order shall be subject to a $1,000.00 fine. The hearing shall be held before the enforcement action is executed. The hearing shall follow written procedures established by the Director, maintained for public review in the office of the Director, and provided to the user together with the hearing notice. The hearing procedures shall provide the user with notice and an opportunity to be heard, and may include the following:

1. Appearance by the user to show cause to the Director why a proposed enforcement action should not be taken;

2. The hearing shall be open to the public;

3. A notice of the hearing and order shall be served on the user specifying the time and place for the hearing; the proposed enforcement action and the reasons for such action, the alleged violation and the facts supporting the violation, and a request that the user show cause why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken;

4. The Director shall permit the user to respond to the notice and order, to present evidence and argument on all relevant issues, and to conduct cross-examination of any witnesses necessary for the full disclosure of the facts;

5. The Director may request the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter, and may seek subpoenas from the appropriate court to compel the presence of witnesses;

6. The testimony taken shall be under oath and recorded, with a transcript prepared and provided to any person upon payment of the usual charges for such transcript;

7. The notice of the hearing and the order to show cause shall be served upon the user personally or by registered or certified mail (return receipt requested) at least 15 calendar days prior to the hearing; except that the Director may set an earlier date for the hearing at the user's request. Such notice may be served on any authorized representative of the user;

8. Upon review of the evidence, the Director shall make written findings of fact and decision in the nature of an order, which shall be served upon user; and

9. The City may immediately impose an enforcement action after the hearing whether or not a duly notified user appears as noticed.

(Ord. 7551 §49, 2021; Ord. 7362 §6, 2017; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002; Ord. 6232 §2 (part), 1995)

The Director may revoke any permit if the user violates any provision of this chapter or the permit. Those violations include but are not limited to: falsification of information; denial of the right of entry when conditioned in the permit; user's failure to re-apply for a permit or request a required permit modification; user's failure to pay required permit fees or charges; or user's discharge in violation of this chapter. Validity of a permit shall be conditioned upon industrial user's compliance with this chapter. The Director may revoke the permit upon a minimum notice of 15 calendar days when the Director finds that user violated any provision of this chapter or permit. Within the 15 days prior to the intended permit revocation, the Director shall make a hearing available to the industrial user. All costs for permit revocation and reissuance will be paid by the user.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002)

The Director may immediately order a user to cease discharge of wastewater to the POTW, and may suspend wastewater disposal and treatment service to stop an actual or threatened discharge that presents or may present an imminent danger to the health or welfare of persons or to the environment, causes interference or pass-through, causes the City to violate its NPDES permit, or if the user has failed to obtain a valid permit. If the user fails to voluntarily comply with the suspension order, the Director may take such steps as deemed necessary, including severing a sewer connection, to prevent damage to the POTW, or danger to any person or the environment. All costs for terminating or reestablishing sewer service shall be paid by the user.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002)

The names of all significant industrial users which are found to be in significant noncompliance with this chapter shall be published at least annually in a newspaper(s) of general circulation that provides meaningful public notice within the City, in accordance with 40 CFR 403.8(f)(2)(vii)(A-H), and any subsequent revisions of that section. The names of all industrial users shall also be published whose violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement or whose discharge that the City determines has:

A. Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66 percent or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit or the average limit for the same pollutant parameter;

B. Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33 percent or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the daily maximum limit or the average limit multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC=1.4 for COD, BOD, TSS, fats, oil, and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);

C. Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or longer-term average) that the control authority 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 human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority under 40 CFR 403.8(f)(1)(vi)(B) to halt or prevent such a discharge;

E. Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;

F. Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;

G. Failure to accurately report noncompliance;

H. Any other violation or group of violations which the control authority determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.

(Ord. 7459 §33, 2019; Ord. 7362 §6, 2017; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002)

A. Any user violating any provision of this chapter, user's permit, or administrative order shall be liable to the City for a civil penalty not less than $1,000.00 per violation per day for each violation for as long as the violation continues, plus actual damages incurred by the City. In addition to these penalties and damages, the Director may order user to pay the City's costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, and other expenses associated with the enforcement activities, including, but not limited to, sampling, monitoring, laboratory costs and inspection expenses.

B. Upon petition by the Director, through the City Attorney, an award of such penalties, damages and costs shall be ordered against such user by an appropriate court in the County of Riverside. In determining the amount of such penalties, damages and costs, the court shall take into account all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm caused by the violation, the magnitude and duration, any economic benefit gained through a user's violation, corrective actions by a user, the compliance history of the user, good faith efforts to restore compliance, threat to human health, to the environment and to the POTW, and any other factor as justice requires. The purpose of any civil penalty is to encourage compliance and remedy unquantified damage to the POTW and environment, and not to impose criminal sanctions or retribution.

C. If any user discharges wastewater to the POTW contrary to the provisions of this chapter, federal or state pretreatment requirements, or any order of the City or permit issued under this chapter, the Director through the City Attorney may commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the appropriate court in the County of Riverside.

(Ord. 7551 §50, 2021; Ord. 7362 §6, 2017; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002)

A. Any user which willfully or knowingly violates any provision of this chapter, or any orders or permits issued hereunder shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 per day per violation, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, per violation per day. This penalty shall be consistent with the Federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq., and shall apply to the exclusion of any other more lenient chapter provision. A user shall be guilty of a separate violation for each day a violation of any provision of this chapter or industrial user permit is committed or continued by such user.

B. Any user that willfully or knowingly makes any false statements, representations, or certifications in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter or the user's industrial user permit, or which falsifies, tampers with, or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under this chapter shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of at least $1,000.00 per violation per day or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, per violation per day. This penalty shall be consistent with the Federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1251, et seq., and shall apply to the exclusion of any other more lenient chapter provision.

C. Any user that introduces into a sewer system or into a publicly owned treatment works any pollutant or hazardous substances that the person knew or reasonably should have known could cause personal injury or property damage.

D. Any other violation of this Chapter may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor in accordance with Section 1.01.110 of this Code.

(Ord. 7551 §51, 2021; Ord. 7362 §6, 2017; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002)

A user issued a written warning may be placed on probation for up to six months. A user issued repeated written warnings for a similar violation or a notice of violation may be placed on probation for up to 12 months. If the user commits the same violation within the probationary period, extension of the probationary period or more severe enforcement may follow. Violations committed after the probationary period, will be treated as a new violation for purposes of enforcement. Repeated same violations can only be granted two probationary periods. If the same violation occurs after two consecutive probationary periods accompanying either a written warning or a notice of violation, more severe enforcement may follow.

(Ord. 7551 §52, 2021; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002)

The remedies in this chapter are non-exclusive. The Director may take any, all, or any combination of these remedies against a noncompliant user. Enforcement of violations of this Chapter will generally be in accordance with the City's Enforcement Response Plan. The Director, however, may take alternative actions against a user as circumstances warrant. The Director may also take multiple enforcement actions against a user.

(Ord. 7551 §53, 2021; Ord. 7032 §2, 2009; Ord. 6637 §2 (part), 2002)

After an order making any monetary amount owing under this chapter has become final, or after a court in an action has entered a final judgment in favor of the City, the Director through the City Attorney may initiate a civil action, if not earlier filed as a part of the judicial review, in the appropriate court to recover such amount plus prevailing interest from the date of the final order or the date of the final judgment, as the case may be. In such an action, the validity, amount, and appropriateness of such penalty shall not be subject to review. Any user who fails to pay on a timely basis the amount of an assessment of a civil penalty as described in this section shall be required to pay to the City, in addition to such amount and interest, the City's attorneys' fees and costs, including filing fees, process service fees for collection proceedings and a quarterly nonpayment penalty for each quarter during which such failure to pay persists. Such nonpayment penalty shall be in an amount equal to 20 percent of the aggregate amount of such person's penalties and nonpayment penalties that are unpaid as of the beginning of such quarter.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009)

When a user's discharge causes an obstruction, damage, interference, pass-through or otherwise adversely impacts the POTW, the Director may assess a charge, including administrative costs attributable thereto, against the user for costs incurred by the City for extra monitoring, investigation, quantifiable damages and work required to clean, repair and resume normal operations. A 90 percent administrative fee shall be added to the direct charges. Unless appealed as provided herein, such charge shall be payable by the user within 30 calendar days of being notified of such charge and is subject to collection by civil suit or other procedures provided in this chapter.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009)

A. Any user affected by and dissatisfied with any decision, order, industrial user permit, or enforcement action under this chapter may file an appeal with the Director requesting reconsideration. The appeal must be in writing, detail the facts supporting the user's disagreement, and submitted within ten calendar days of receiving notice of the matter to be appealed. The Director shall decide the matter and issue a written decision within ten calendar days of receiving the appeal. Submitting an appeal does not automatically suspend any obligations or enforcement.

B. If the appellant is not satisfied with the Director's decision, then the appellant may, within ten calendar days after receiving the Director's decision, file a written appeal with the City Council, lodging such appeal with the City Clerk along with an appeals fee of $100.00. The City Council will hear the appeal within 30 calendar days of filing or the next regularly scheduled meeting. The City Council will normally make a ruling on the appeal within 15 days of the hearing.

C. That the degree of protection shall be commensurate with the degree of hazard City Council's final ruling shall be deemed the City's final decision on the matter. No person may obtain judicial review of any decision, order, or enforcement action by the City under this chapter without first having exhausted his or her administrative remedies set forth in this section.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009)

The Director may also seek penalties, payments, and liens on a user's property as provided in Government Code Sections 54739 et seq.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009)

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any user or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this chapter and the application of such provision to other users or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009)

All the provisions of this chapter are to be reasonably interpreted. The intent herein is to recognize that there are varying degrees of hazard to the POTW, the POTW's sludge, storm drain, personnel, environment and the public, and to apply the principle that the degree of protection shall be commensurate with the degree of hazard.

(Ord. 7032 §2, 2009)