§ 143-215.1C. Report to wastewater system customers on system performance; publication of notice of discharge of untreated wastewater and waste. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 143‑215.1C. Report to wastewater system customers on system performance; publication ofnotice of discharge of untreated wastewater and waste.

(a)        Report to Wastewater System Customers. – The owner oroperator of any wastewater collection or treatment works, the operation ofwhich is primarily to collect or treat municipal or domestic wastewater and forwhich a permit is issued under this Part, shall provide to the users orcustomers of the collection system or treatment works and to the Department an annualreport that summarizes the performance of the collection system or treatmentworks and the extent to which the collection system or treatment works hasviolated the permit or federal or State laws, regulations, or rules related tothe protection of water quality. The report shall be prepared on either acalendar or fiscal year basis and shall be provided no later than 60 days afterthe end of the calendar or fiscal year.

(b)        Publication of Notice of Discharge of Untreated Wastewater.– The owner or operator of any wastewater collection or treatment works, theoperation of which is primarily to collect or treat municipal or domesticwastewater and for which a permit is issued under this Part shall:

(1)        In the event of a discharge of 1,000 gallons or more ofuntreated wastewater to the surface waters of the State, issue a press releaseto all print and electronic news media that provide general coverage in thecounty where the discharge occurred setting out the details of the discharge.The owner or operator shall issue the press release within 48 hours after theowner or operator has determined that the discharge has reached the surfacewaters of the State. The owner or operator shall retain a copy of the pressrelease and a list of the news media to which it was distributed for at leastone year after the discharge and shall provide a copy of the press release andthe list of the news media to which it was distributed to any person uponrequest.

(2)        In the event of a discharge of 15,000 gallons or more of untreatedwastewater to the surface waters of the State, publish a notice of thedischarge in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which thedischarge occurs and in each county downstream from the point of discharge thatis significantly affected by the discharge. The Secretary shall determine, atthe Secretary's sole discretion, which counties are significantly affected bythe discharge and shall approve the form and content of the notice and thenewspapers in which the notice is to be published. The notice shall becaptioned "NOTICE OF DISCHARGE OF UNTREATED SEWAGE". The owner oroperator shall publish the notice within 10 days after the Secretary hasdetermined the counties that are significantly affected by the discharge andapproved the form and content of the notice and the newspapers in which thenotice is to be published. The owner or operator shall file a copy of thenotice and proof of publication with the Department within 30 days after thenotice is published. Publication of a notice of discharge under thissubdivision is in addition to the requirement to issue a press release undersubdivision (1) of this subsection.

(c)        Publication of Notice of Discharge of Untreated Waste. – Theowner or operator of any wastewater collection or treatment works, other than awastewater collection or treatment works the operation of which is primarily tocollect or treat municipal or domestic wastewater, for which a permit is issuedunder this Part shall:

(1)        In the event of a discharge of 1,000 gallons or more ofuntreated waste to the surface waters of the State, issue a press release toall print and electronic news media that provide general coverage in the countywhere the discharge occurred setting out the details of the discharge. The owneror operator shall issue the press release within 48 hours after the owner oroperator has determined that the discharge has reached the surface waters ofthe State. The owner or operator shall retain a copy of the press release and alist of the news media to which it was distributed for at least one year afterthe discharge and shall provide a copy of the press release and the list of thenews media to which it was distributed to any person upon request.

(2)        In the event of a discharge of 15,000 gallons or more ofuntreated waste to the surface waters of the State, publish a notice of thedischarge in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which thedischarge occurs and in each county downstream from the point of discharge thatis significantly affected by the discharge. The Secretary shall determine, atthe Secretary's sole discretion, which counties are significantly affected bythe discharge and shall approve the form and content of the notice and thenewspapers in which the notice is to be published. The notice shall becaptioned "NOTICE OF DISCHARGE OF UNTREATED WASTE". The owner oroperator shall publish the notice within 10 days after the Secretary hasdetermined the counties that are significantly affected by the discharge andapproved the form and content of the notice and the newspapers in which thenotice is to be published. The owner or operator shall file a copy of thenotice and proof of publication with the Department within 30 days after thenotice is published. Publication of a notice of discharge under thissubdivision is in addition to the requirement to issue a press release undersubdivision (1) of this subsection. (1999‑329, s. 8.1; 1999‑456, s. 68.)