§ 27-150. Control of prohibited wastes; powers and duties of director.

(a)

Regulatory actions: If wastewater is discharged or proposed to be discharged in violation of this division, the director and/or the parish attorney may take such action necessary to:

(1)

Prohibit the discharge;

(2)

Require a discharger to demonstrate that in-plant modifications will eliminate the violation;

(3)

Require pretreatment to eliminate the violation;

(4)

Require the person making, causing or allowing the discharge to pay any additional cost or expense or damages incurred by the parish for handling and treating excess loads imposed on the sanitary sewerage system;

(5)

Take such other remedial action as may be deemed to be desirable or necessary to achieve the purpose of this division;

(6)

For waste discharges defined as hazardous or toxic by EPA, the director may require the discharge to be halted and the discharger to verify in writing that the hazardous/toxic waste components are being stored, treated and/or disposed in full compliance with EPA and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality regulations.

(b)

Admission to property.

(1)

The director shall have the right to enter the premises of any user to determine whether the user is complying with all requirements of this ordinance and any individual wastewater discharge permit or order issued hereunder. Users shall allow the 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.

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 director shall be permitted to enter without delay for the purposes of performing specific responsibilities.

b.

The 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.

c.

The director may require the user to install monitoring equipment 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 calibrated to ensure their accuracy.

d.

The director shall have the right to enter the premises of any user to determine whether the user is complying with all requirements of this ordinance and any individual wastewater discharge permit or order issued hereunder. Users shall allow the 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.

e.

Unreasonable delays in allowing the director access to the user's premises shall be a violation of this ordinance.

(c)

Confidentiality. Information and data regarding industrial discharges including reports, questionnaires, permit applications, permits, monitoring programs, and inspections will be available to the public or another government agency unless nondisclosure is requested in writing and such information is determined by the parish to require confidentiality. Industries that request confidentiality must demonstrate that the release of such data would divulge information, processes, or methods of production that would be entitled to protection pursuant to the law of the State of Louisiana. Such information may be classified as confidential by the department if the director makes a written determination that confidentiality is necessary to protect trade secrets, proprietary secrets and information, and commercial or financial information.

Requests for confidentiality must be made at the time the material is received by the Parish of Jefferson, and the word "confidential" should appear prominently on each page. Permit applications or permit modification documents shall contain references in the applicable sections to the pages wherein a confidentiality request has been made. Anyone requesting confidentiality must provide to the parish a statement setting forth the reasons and authority for the designation. If no confidentiality claim is made at the time of submission, the parish may make the information available to the public without further notice at least to the extent provided by 40 CFR 2.302. If a claim is asserted, the information will be treated in accordance with procedures in which the fullest possible disclosure of records to the public consistent with the rights of individuals to privacy and the rights of persons in business information entitled to confidential treatment will be made. If the director determines that any material should not be afforded confidentiality, the director shall issue a written denial of the request for nondisclosure to the requestor. Nondisclosure shall not apply to necessary use by duly authorized officers or employees of parish, state or federal government in carrying out their responsibilities under local, state or federal law. Any officer or employee of the local, state or federal government who seeks access to such information must be duly authorized by the director. The director shall make the determination to grant such authorization based on a request by such person. The director may request in writing the requestor's name affiliation, and the need for access to the information based on applicable local, state or federal law.

Air-emission data, effluent data, discharges to surface water and groundwater and the location and identification of any buried waste materials shall not be construed as confidential information. Claims of confidentiality for the name and address of any permit applicant or permittee will be denied.

Access to confidential information will be provided only to the director, and representatives of the parish, state or federal government in carrying out their responsibilities under state or federal law.

The director may declare documents, records, information, or other items confidential in order to prevent impairment of an ongoing investigation or prejudice to the final decision regarding a violation.

Information determined to be confidential by the director shall be maintained in a locked file separate from nonconfidential information. The file shall be labeled "CONFIDENTIAL," with access appropriately controlled. Whenever a person is authorized access to a confidential file, he shall sign an access log which indicates his understanding of the confidential status and his responsibility to protect the information from being disclosed to the public. The person will also indicate in the access log which file was removed, the date and time the file was removed, his affiliation, and the time and date the file was returned. Except for the staff of the parish department of environmental affairs, authorized persons shall review a confidential file in the presence of a department of environmental affairs staff member.

The release of nonconfidential information to the public or another governmental agency will be accomplished only with the written approval of the parish attorney. Such requests must be made in writing to the parish attorney at least seventy-two (72) hours in advance of the desired date of release of information. In order to avoid a possible misfiling of the records, public access to the files will not be permitted. The requested nonconfidential materials will be photocopied and presented to the individuals requesting the information at their cost.

(d)

The parish reserves the right to deny discharge or impose conditions on any new or increased discharge to the POTW if it may adversely affect POTW operation, worker safety, or compliance with state and/or federal regulations.

(e)

The parish may require the submission of a slug or spill control and countermeasure plan for those industrial users who may cause or have caused problems to the POTW with slug discharges or spills.

(Ord. No. 18587, § 9, 9-2-92; Ord. No. 20921, § 8, 3-15-00; Ord. No. 24196, § 7, 1-25-11)