15.80.230 Enforcement.
A. Notice to Comply.
1. Whenever the director finds that a person has violated a prohibition or failed to meet a requirement of this chapter, the director may order compliance by written notice of violation to the responsible person. Such notice may require without limitation:
a. The performance of monitoring, analyses, and reporting;
b. The elimination of illicit connections or discharges;
c. That violating discharges, practices, or operations shall cease and desist;
d. The abatement or remediation of stormwater pollution or contamination of hazards and the restoration of any affected property;
e. Payment of a fine to cover administrative and remediation costs; and
f. The implementation or maintenance of source control or treatment BMPs.
2. If abatement of a violation and/or restoration of affected property are required, the notice shall set forth a deadline within which such remediation or restoration must be completed. The city is authorized to issue a cease and desist order and/or to clean up and abate a discharge, including:
a. Requiring the discharger to abate and clean up their discharge, spill, or pollutant release within seventy-two hours of notification; or as soon as possible in the case of high risk spills;
b. Ordering abatement of discharges, spills or pollutant release within thirty days of notification, for uncontrolled sources of pollutants that could pose an environmental threat;
c. Performing clean-up and abatement work and billing the responsible party;
d. Ordering the cessation of pollution-causing activities until such time as the city determines that the pollution-causing activities have been adequately addressed.
Requiring a new deadline for completion of clean-up activities and notifying the appropriate regional water board staff member when all parties agree that clean-up activities cannot be completed within the original deadline. City staff will notify the appropriate regional water board staff member in writing within five business days of the determination that the clean-up deadline requires revision. Said notice shall further advise that, should the violator fail to complete the required remediation and/or restoration within the applicable deadline, such work will be done by the city or a contractor designated by the director and the expense thereof shall be charged to the violator pursuant to subsection D of this section.
B. Appeal. Notwithstanding the provisions in subsection E of this section, any person receiving a notice to comply under subsection A of this section may appeal the determination of the director pursuant to the provisions and procedures in Section 15.04.050.
C. Abatement by City. If the violation has not been corrected pursuant to the requirements set forth in the notice to comply, or in the event of an appeal under subsection B of this section, within ten calendar days of the decision of the city council upholding the decision of the director, then the city or a contractor designated by the director shall enter upon the subject private property and is authorized to take any and all measures necessary to abate the violation and/or restore the property. It shall be unlawful for any owner, agent or person in possession of any premises to refuse to allow the director or designated contractor to enter upon the premises for the purposes set forth above.
D. Charging Cost of Abatement/Liens. Within thirty calendar days after abatement of the nuisance by the city, the director shall notify the property owner of the property of the cost of abatement, including administrative costs. The property owner may file a written protest objecting to the amount of the assessment with the city clerk within fifteen calendar days. The city clerk shall set the matter for public hearing by the city council. The decision of the city council shall be set forth by resolution and shall be final.
If the amount due is not paid within ten calendar days after the decision of the city council or the expiration of the time in which to file an appeal under this chapter the charges shall become a special assessment against the property and shall constitute a lien on the property for the amount of the assessment. A copy of the resolution shall be turned over to the city auditor so that the auditor may enter the amounts of the assessment against the parcel as it appears on the current assessment roll, and the tax collector shall include the amount of the assessment on the bill for taxes levied against the parcel of land.
E. Urgency Abatement. The director is authorized to require immediate abatement of any violation of this chapter that constitutes an immediate threat to the health, safety or well-being of the public. If any such violation is not abated immediately as directed by the director, the city is authorized to enter onto private property and to take any and all measures required to remediate the violation. Any expense related to such remediation undertaken by the city shall be fully reimbursed by the property owner and/or responsible party.
F. Violations. It shall be unlawful for any person to violate any provision or fail to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter. A violation or failure to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punished as set forth in Section 1.04.060 of this code.
G. Compensatory Action. In lieu of enforcement proceedings, penalties, and remedies authorized by this chapter, the director may impose upon a violator alternative compensatory actions, such as storm drain stenciling, attendance at compliance workshops, creek cleanup, or other such similar actions.
H. Violations Deemed a Public Nuisance. In addition to the enforcement processes and penalties provided herein, any condition caused or permitted to exist in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter is a threat to public health, safety, and welfare, and is declared and deemed a nuisance, and may be summarily abated or restored by the city at the violator’s expense, and/or civil action to abate, enjoin, or otherwise compel the cessation of such nuisance may be taken by the city.
In addition to the remedies for nuisance abatement provided in this chapter, the city expressly reserves the right to utilize other enforcement remedies found within specific chapters of the code, remedies available under any applicable state or federal statute or pursuant to any other lawful power the city may possess. All such remedies shall be alternative to or in conjunction with, and not exclusive of, one another.
I. Acts Potentially Resulting in a Violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and/or State Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or any provision of any requirement issued pursuant to this chapter may also be in violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and/or the State Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and may be subject to sanctions of those acts including civil and criminal penalties. Any enforcement action authorized under this chapter shall also include written notice to the violator of such potential liability.
J. In response to instances of persistent noncompliance, repeat or escalating violations, or incidents of major environmental harm, the city may impose more substantial civil or criminal sanctions and escalate corrective response, up to and including by issuing citations or administrative fines against responsible parties either immediately on site or within a few days of the violation, consistent with the city’s enforcement response plan pursuant to the general permit.
(Ord. 2546 NCS §2 (part), 2015; Ord. 2209 NCS §1 (part), 2005.)