Okla. Stat. tit. 27A, § 27A-1015

Penalties - Power to halt or prevent discharge.

A. Once a Central Treatment Trust has made the election and

given the notice specified in Section 3 of this act, and entered

into the coordinating agreement with the Department as specified in

paragraph 2 of Section 4 of this act, the Department, in addition to

all of its other authority under state or federal law, shall have

and shall exercise the enforcement powers specified in this section

with respect to the POTW owned and operated by such CTT (terms used,

but not defined, in this section, but defined in 40 CFR, Section

403.3, shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in 40 CFR,

Section 403.3):

1. To issue permits to industrial users of the POTW, designed

to:

a. limit and control their contributions of pollutants

and allocate waste loads to the POTW so that the

requirements of the CTT's NPDES permit and Oklahoma

law will be met, and

b. require compliance by the industrial users with

applicable pretreatment standards and requirements;

2. To require compliance by industrial users of the POTW with

applicable pretreatment standards and requirements;

3. To deny or condition new or increased contributions of

pollutants, or changes in the nature of pollutants, by industrial

users to the POTW where such contributions would not meet applicable

pretreatment standards or requirements or where such contributions

would cause a violation of the CTT's NPDES Permit;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 27A. Environment and Natural Resources Page 407

4. To require industrial users of the POTW to develop a

compliance schedule for the installation of technology required to

meet applicable pretreatment standards and requirements;

5. To require industrial users of the POTW to submit all

notices and self-monitoring reports as are necessary to assess and

assure compliance with pretreatment standards and requirements and

with conditions and requirements of permits issued by the Department

pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection;

6. To require industrial users of the POTW to meet any

provisions of Oklahoma law applicable to the discharge of pollutants

by an industrial user to a POTW;

7. To carry out all inspection, surveillance, sampling and

monitoring procedures necessary to determine, independent of

information supplied by industrial users, compliance or

noncompliance by industrial users of the POTW with applicable

pretreatment standards and requirements. Authorized representatives

of the Department or of the CTT are hereby authorized in order to

carry out the purposes specified above to enter any premises of any

industrial user of the POTW which is contributing pollutants to the

POTW, and in which a discharge source or treatment system is located

or records are required by 40 CFR, Section 403.12 to be kept. The

authority to enter upon the premises of any industrial user of the

POTW granted in this paragraph is intended to, and shall, be as

extensive as the authority provided under Section 308 of the Federal

Clean Water Act; and

8. To promulgate rules reasonably required to implement

paragraphs 1 through 7 of this subsection, and to conduct individual

proceedings and to enter orders to enforce such rules and to enforce

paragraphs 1 through 7 of this subsection.

B. For purposes of promulgating rules, conducting individual

proceedings and issuing orders as provided in this section, the

Department shall be subject to the provisions of the Oklahoma

Administrative Procedures Act, Section 301 et seq. of Title 75 of

the Oklahoma Statutes; provided, that any person adversely affected

by issuance of a rule, permit or order of the Department may, within

thirty (30) days after such rule, permit or order becomes final,

seek judicial review thereof; provided further, that the exclusive

venue for such judicial review shall be the District Court of

Oklahoma County; and provided further, that such judicial review
the Oklahoma Statutes; provided, that any person adversely affected

by issuance of a rule, permit or order of the Department may, within

thirty (30) days after such rule, permit or order becomes final,

seek judicial review thereof; provided further, that the exclusive

venue for such judicial review shall be the District Court of

Oklahoma County; and provided further, that such judicial review

shall be limited to review of the administrative record compiled

before the Department, and shall be conducted by the court without a

jury.

C. An industrial user of the POTW who violates any provision of

this act or of any rule, permit or order of the Department issued

pursuant to this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not

more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per violation. Any

violation which continues for more than one (1) day shall constitute

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 27A. Environment and Natural Resources Page 408

a separate violation for each day of violation. If any such

penalties are not paid within thirty (30) days after

administratively assessed by the Department, the Department shall

bring suit in district court to recover such penalties. Penalties

shall be paid to the Department for the benefit of the CTT.

D. The Department may sue an industrial user of the POTW for

injunctive relief in any instance where an industrial user of the

POTW violates or threatens to violate any provision of this act or

of any rule, permit or order of the Department issued pursuant to

this section. In any such suit, the court shall have jurisdiction

to grant to the Department, without bond or other undertaking, such

prohibitory or mandatory injunctions as the facts may warrant,

including temporary restraining orders, after notice and hearing,

temporary injunctions or permanent injunctions.

E. The Department may sue for both civil penalties and

injunctive relief, as authorized by subsections C and D of this

section, in the same proceeding.

F. The venue of any suit brought by the Department pursuant to

subsections C and D of this section shall be either the District

Court of Oklahoma County, or the district court of the county where

the CTT maintains its administrative offices and the POTW is

located, at the Department's election.

G. In any proceeding by the Department to recover civil

penalties, injunctive relief or both, the prevailing party shall be

allowed to recover reasonable attorney fees, to be set by the court

and taxed and collected as costs.

H. In addition to the remedies provided for in subsections C

and D of this section, the Department shall have the following

additional remedy: The Department shall have the authority (after

informal notice to the affected industrial user) to immediately and

effectively halt or prevent any discharge of pollutants to the POTW

which reasonably appears to present an imminent endangerment of the

health or welfare of persons. The Department shall also have the

authority (which shall include notice to the affected industrial

user and an opportunity to respond) to halt or prevent any discharge

to the POTW which presents or may present an endangerment to the

environment or which threatens to interfere with the operation of

the POTW.

I. Nothing in this act shall directly or indirectly limit or

supersede any jurisdiction of the Department or the United States

Environmental Protection Agency under the Oklahoma Pollutant

Discharge Elimination Act, the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Code,

or any other federal or state statute or regulation.

J. The term "NPDES Permits" as used in this act shall include

any permit, or interim, successor, renewal or substitute permit

issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or by

the State of Oklahoma or an agency thereof in the event the State of

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Oklahoma at some future date is authorized to administer the NPDES
term "NPDES Permits" as used in this act shall include

any permit, or interim, successor, renewal or substitute permit

issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, or by

the State of Oklahoma or an agency thereof in the event the State of

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 27A. Environment and Natural Resources Page 409

Oklahoma at some future date is authorized to administer the NPDES

program in Oklahoma, pursuant to 33 U.S.C.A., Section 1342.