Ventura Municipal Code Art. 5 Compliance Monitoring

The public works director shall have the right to enter the premises of any user to determine whether the user is complying with all requirements of this chapter and any nondomestic wastewater discharge permit or general permit or order issued hereunder. Users shall allow the public works director ready access to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, records examination and copying, and the performance of any additional duties.

A. Adequate identification shall be provided by the public works director for all inspectors or other authorized personnel and these personnel shall identify themselves when entering any property for inspection purposes or when inspecting the work of any contractor.

B. Where a user has security measures in force which require proper identification and clearance before entry into its premises, the user shall make necessary arrangements with its security guards so that, upon presentation of suitable identification, the public works director shall be permitted to enter without delay for the purposes of performing specific responsibilities.

C. The public works director shall have the right to set up on the user’s property, or require installation of, such devices as are necessary to conduct sampling and/or metering of the user’s operations.

D. The public works director may require the user to install at its expense a control maintenance hole or sample box or other monitoring equipment in the sewer lateral before the connection with the city sewer main where representative samples of all regulated discharges from the industry can be collected and flow measurements accurately made as necessary. The facility’s sampling and monitoring equipment shall be maintained at all times in a safe and proper operating condition by the user at its own expense. All devices used to measure wastewater flow and quality shall be periodically calibrated as specified by the public works director to ensure their accuracy.

E. Any temporary or permanent obstruction to safe and easy access to the facility to be inspected and/or sampled shall be promptly removed by the user at the written or verbal request of the public works director and shall not be replaced. The costs of clearing such access shall be borne by the user.

F. Unreasonable delays in allowing the public works director access to the user’s premises shall be a violation of this chapter. (Ord. No. 2010-002, § 2, 2-1-10)

If the public works director has been refused access to a building, structure, or property, or any part thereof, and they can demonstrate probable cause to believe that there may be a violation of this chapter occurring on the property, that there is a need to inspect and/or sample discharges to the POTW on the property, or that access is necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the community, the public works director, working with the city attorney’s office, may seek issuance of a search warrant or court order allowing entry from the superior court of California, Ventura County. (Ord. No. 2010-002, § 2, 2-1-10)

Information and data on a user obtained from reports, surveys, wastewater discharge permit applications, nondomestic wastewater discharge permits, general permits, and monitoring programs, and from the public works director’s inspection and sampling activities, shall be available to the public without restriction, unless the user specifically requests, and is able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the public works director, that the release of such information would divulge information, processes, or methods of production entitled to protection as trade secrets under applicable state law. Any such request must be asserted at the time of submission of the information or data. When requested and demonstrated by the user furnishing a report that such information should be held confidential, the portions of a report which might disclose trade secrets or secret processes shall not be made available for inspection by the public, but shall be made available immediately upon request to governmental agencies for uses related to the NPDES program or pretreatment program, and in enforcement proceedings involving the person furnishing the report. Wastewater constituents and characteristics and other effluent data, as defined at 40 CFR 2.302 shall not be recognized as confidential information and shall be available to the public without restriction. (Ord. No. 2010-002, § 2, 2-1-10)