(a) A user shall have an affirmative defense to an enforcement action brought against it for noncompliance with the general prohibitions in Section
26-142 of this chapter if it can prove that it did not know, or have reason to know, that its discharge alone or in conjunction with discharges from other sources, would cause pass through or interference and that either:
(1) A local limit exists for each pollutant discharged and the user was in compliance with each limit directly prior to, and during, the pass through or interference; or
(2) No local limit exists, but the discharge did not change substantially in nature or constituents from the user's prior discharge when the City of Boynton Beach was regularly in compliance with its NPDES permit, and in the case of interference, was in compliance with applicable sludge use or disposal requirements.
(b) Any user subject to enforcement action under the provisions of this division may request a hearing before the Utilities Director within ten days of receipt of notification or proposed enforcement action. A hearing is to be held by the Utilities Director concerning the violation, the reasons why the action is to be taken, the proposed enforcement action, and directing the user to show cause before the Utilities Director why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken.
(c) The Utilities Director may conduct the hearing and take the evidence, or, at the Utilities Director's sole discretion, may designate the City Attorney or an independent arbitrator to:
(1) Issue, in the name of the city, notices of hearing requesting the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter involved in that hearing.
(2) Take evidence and hear testimony (the strict rules of evidence shall not apply to any hearing).
(3) Transmit a report of the evidence and hearing, including transcripts and other evidence, together with recommendation to the Utilities Director or his or her designee for action thereon.
(d) At any hearing held pursuant to this division, testimony taken must be under oath and recorded stenographically, with the costs thereof to be borne by the user. 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 thereof.
(e) After the Utilities Director or his or her designee has reviewed the evidence, he or she may issue an order to the user responsible for the noncompliance(s) stating that, following a 30-day time period to provide remediation of noncompliance(s), penalties as per Section
26-177 will go into effect. Further orders as are necessary and appropriate may be issued.
(f) The city shall also establish and assess against the user, appropriate surcharges or fees to reimburse the city for the additional cost of operation and maintenance of the wastewater treatment works due to the violation of this division.
(g) Costs for conducting a show cause hearing shall be borne by the user requesting the hearing if the enforcement action is upheld.
(Ord. No. 93-8, § 2, 5-18-93; Ord. No. 99-21, § 1, 8-3-99; Ord. 10-002, § 2, 1-19-10; Ord. No. 12-019, § 2, 12-4-12; Ord. No. 13-032, § 2, 11-9-13)
