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Updated January 2025 – Gem Lake Consolidated Land Use Ordinance No. 131 163 16. Suspension of MS4 Access. 1. Emergency Cease and Desist Orders. When the City of Gem Lake finds that any person has violated, or continues to violate, any provision of this ordinance, or any order issued hereunder, or that the person’s past violations are likely to recur, and that the person’s violation(s) has (have) c aused or contributed to an actual or threatened discharge to the MS4 or waters of the United States which reasonably appears to present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons or to the environment, the City of Gem Lake may issue an order to the violator directing it immediately to cease and desist all such violations and directing the violator to: 1. Immediately comply with all ordinance requirements; and 2. Take such appropriate preventive action as may be needed to properly address a continuing or threatened violation, including immediately halting operations and/or terminating the discharge. 2. Any person notified of an emergency order directed to it under this Subsection shall immediately comply and stop or eliminate its endangering discharge. In the event of a discharger’s failure to immediately comply voluntarily with the emergency order, the City of Gem Lake may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize harm to the MS4 or waters of the United States, and/or endangerment to persons or to the environment, including immediate termination of a facility’s water supply, sewer connection, or other municipal utility services. The City of Gem Lake may allow the person to recommence its discharge when it has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the City of Gem Lake that the period of endangerment has passed, unless further termination pro ceedings are initiated against the discharger under this ordinance. A person that is responsible, in whole or in part, for any discharge presenting imminent endangerment shall submit a detailed written statement, describing the causes of the harmful discharge and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence, to the City of Gem Lake within five (5) days of receipt of the emergency order. Issuance of an emergency cease and desist order shall not be a bar against, or a prerequisite for, taking any other action against the violator. 3. Suspension Due to Illicit Discharges in Emergency Situations. The City of Gem Lake may, without prior notice, suspend MS4 discharge access to a person when such suspension is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present imminent and substantial danger to the environment, or to the health or welfare of persons, or to the MS4 or waters of the United States. If the violator fails to comply with a suspension order issued in an emergency, the City of Gem Lake may take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent or minimize damage to the MS4 or waters of the United States, or to minimize danger to persons. 4. Suspension Due to the Detection of Illicit Discharge. Any person discharging to the MS4 in violation of this section may have their MS4 access terminated if such termination would abate or reduce an illicit discharge. The City of Gem Lake will notify a violator of the proposed termination of its MS4 access. The violator may petition the City of Gem Lake for a reconsideration and hearing. 5. A person commits an offense if the person reinstates MS4 access to premise terminated pursuant to this Section, without the prior approval of the City of Gem Lake. 17. Civil Penalties. In the event the alleged violator fails to take the remedial measures set forth in the notice of violation or otherwise fails to cure the violations described therein within ten (10) days, or such greater period as the City of Gem Lake shall deem appropriate, after the City of Gem Lake has taken one or more of the actions described above, the City of Gem Lake may impose a penalty not to exceed $ 1,000.00 (depending on the severity of the violation) for each day the violation remains un-remedied after receipt of the notice of violation. 18. Criminal Penalties. Any person violating any of the provisions of this Section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment for not to exceed ninety (90) days or both. 19. Appeal of Notice of Violation. Any person receiving a Notice of Violation may appeal the determination of the City of Gem Lake. The notice of appeal must be received within thirty (30) days from the date of the Notice of Violation, except in the instance where a Cease and Desist Order is issued as described in Section 13, then the notice of appeal must be received within ten (10) days from the date of the Cease and Desist Order. Hearing on the appeal before the appropriate authority or his/her designee shall take place within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the notice of appeal. The decision of the municipal authority or their designee shall be final.