HO-CHUNK NATION CODE (HCC)
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HO-CHUNK NATION CODE (HCC)
TITLE 3 – HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 12 – CA\KEJA HOWARE EGI NI\I\ KIKURU Z~A HI U\
(SEWAGE AND WASTE WATER USE ORDINANCE)
ENACTED BY LEGISLATURE: January 10, 2024
CITE AS: 3 HCC § 12
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I - General Provisions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Authority .....................................................................
Findings .......................................................................
Purpose ........................................................................
Declaration of Policy ...................................................
Jurisdiction ..................................................................
Interpretation ...............................................................
Applicability ...............................................................
Department and Division Responsibility ....................
Definitions ..................................................................
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3
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4
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Chapter II – Regulations
10.
11.
12.
13.
Waste Water Service................................................
Use of Community Sewer System...........................
Other Rules and Regulations ...................................
Prohibited Activities ................................................
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9
12
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Chapter III - Customer Relations and Enforcement
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Establishment of Rates and Connection Fees ……..
Payment of Bills……………………………...........
Customer Complaints and Requests........................
Enforcement……………………………………….
Penalties …………...................................................
Reports .....................................................................
Validity…………………………………………….
Sovereign Immunity……………………………….
Effective Date……………………………………...
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CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. Authority.
a. Article V, Section 2(a) of the Constitution grants the Legislature the power to make
laws, including codes, ordinances, resolutions, and statutes.
b. Article V, Section 2(h) of the Constitution grants the Legislature the power to enact
all laws prohibiting and regulating conduct, and imposing penalties upon all persons
within the jurisdiction of the Nation.
c. Article V, Section 2(l) of the Constitution grants the Legislature the power to enact
laws to manage, lease, permit, or otherwise deal with the Nation’s lands, interests in lands
or other assets.
d. Article V, Section 2(o) of the Constitution grants the Legislature the power to enact
laws to regulate and zone any lands within the jurisdiction of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
e. Article V, Section 2(s) of the Constitution grants the Legislature the power to
promote public health, education, charity, and such other services as may contribute to
the social advancement of the members of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
f. Article V, Section 2(t) of the Constitution grants the Legislature the power to enact
laws governing law enforcement on lands within the jurisdiction of the Nation.
2. Findings.
a. It is in the best interest of the Nation to monitor and regulate the waste water of all
community systems so that system planning, system repair and financial stability can be
accomplished.
b. It is in the best interest of the Nation and its waste water system users to protect the
systems by providing centralized waste treatment that meets recognized standards.
3. Purpose. This Ordinance is enacted to promote the appropriate treatment of waste
water, to prevent the spread of disease and to protect the environment from harmful
discharges.
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4. Declaration of Policy.
a. It is the policy of the Nation to regulate and control community waste water
systems owned by the Nation through a mandatory and enforceable program to protect,
promote, and preserve the health and general welfare of the public. This shall include all
tribally operated waste water systems.
b. The Ho-Chunk Nation adopts the State of Wisconsin Plumbing Code, specifically
Wisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter Comm. 81, Definitions and Standards, Chapter
Comm. 82, Design, Construction, Installation, Supervision and Inspection of Plumbing
and Chapter Comm. 84, Plumbing Product as the code that shall govern all plumbing
installation on Ho-Chunk Nation property. This code applies to all waste water or sewage
projects on trust land and fee-simple land owned by the Nation. All construction shall be
in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Specification for Sewer and Water
Construction in Wisconsin.
c. When Ho-Chunk Nation development occurs on fee-simple land, the laws
developed by the State of Wisconsin through its Department of Commerce and
Department of Natural Resources have concurrent jurisdiction along with the Nation’s
own rules and regulations.
d. It is not intended by this Ordinance to repeal, abrogate, annul, impair or interfere
with existing Ho-Chunk Nation law or adopted law. Whenever this Ordinance imposes
greater restrictions, the provisions of this Ordinance shall apply.
5. Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of this Ordinance shall include all lands held by the
Nation or the People, or by the United States for the benefit of the Nation or the People,
and any additional lands acquired by the Nation or by the United States for the benefit of
the Nation or the People, including but not limited to air, water, surface, subsurface,
natural resources and any interest therein, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent or
right-of way in fee or otherwise, by the governments of the United States or the HoChunk Nation, existing or in the future. In addition, it shall extend to any and all tribal
lands as defined herein and persons or activities therein.
6. Interpretation. Where a provision of this Ordinance correlates with Wisconsin
Statutes or with a standard in Wisconsin Administrative Code, and where the Ordinance
provision is unclear, the provision shall be interpreted with persuasive authority given to
Ho-Chunk law.
7. Applicability.
a. This Ordinance shall apply to all homes, program buildings, enterprises and
temporary customers served by a collection system owned by Ho-Chunk Nation, which
provides centralized treatment.
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b. This Ordinance shall apply to any new installation of waste water systems, or the
major alteration of an existing waste water system, undertaken after the effective date of
this Ordinance.
c. The owner(s) of all houses, buildings, or properties used for human occupancy,
employment, business, recreation, or other purposes, situated within the Nation, and
located within two-hundred (200) feet of any sanitary sewer within and part of the sewer
system is hereby required, at the owner(s)’ expense, to install suitable toilet facilities
therein, and to connect such facilities directly with and to the proper sanitary sewer in
accordance with the provisions of this Chapter, within ninety (90) calendar days after
date of official notice to do so by the Division of Environmental Health.
8. Department and Division Responsibility.
a. The Division of Environmental Health, as the entity directly responsible for the
operation and maintenance of waste water systems, is charged with the primary
responsibility for administering and enforcing the provisions of this Ordinance.
b. The Department of Health shall be responsible for billing customers and collection
of non-payment.
c. It is expressly stipulated that no claim shall be made against the Ho-Chunk Nation
or the Department of Health for backups due to breaking, clogging, stoppage, or freezing
of any service lateral from the house to the right of way line. The Division of
Environmental Health reserves the right to cut off service at any time with notification for
the purpose of repairs or any other necessary purpose, any regulation to the contrary
notwithstanding.
d. Maintenance. All public waste water system components within the jurisdiction of
this Ordinance up to the right of way of the users premises will be maintained by the
Division of Environmental Health without expense to the property owner, except when
they are damaged as a result of the negligence or carelessness on the part of the user of
the premises or business, in which case these components and/or systems will be repaired
at the expense of the property owner. Any fees for such repair will be added on to the
next regular billing invoice for service to the premises. Waste Water service laterals,
being the piping from the home to the right of way, must be maintained free of defective
conditions, by and at the expense of the owner of the property.
9. Definitions. Terms not otherwise defined herein shall be defined in accordance with
the latest publication of 40 CFR 403 or the latest edition of “Standard Methods for the
Examination of Water and Wastewater,” published by the American Public Health
Association, the American Water Works Association and the Water Pollution Control
Federation or the Uniform Plumbing Code. For the purposes of this Ordinance, the
following definitions shall apply:
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a. “Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)” means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the
biochemical oxidation of organic matter under EPA-approved laboratory procedure in
five days at twenty degrees centigrade, expressed in terms of weight and concentration
(milligrams per liter).
b. “Building drain” mean that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a wastewater
drainage system which receives the discharge from waste pipes inside the walls of the
building, and conveys it to the sewer lateral, beginning two (2) feet outside the inner face
of the building wall.
c. “Complaint" means a person's grievance regarding a decision made by the Division
of Environmental Health.
d. “Community Sewer System” means a public sewer system that serves at least ten
(10) service connections used by year-round residents.
e. “Department” means the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Health.
f. “Division of Environmental Health” means the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of
Health Division of Environmental Health.
g. “Domestic wastewater” means liquid wastes including the following:
1) From the noncommercial preparation, cooking and handling of food, or
2) Containing human excrement and similar matter including hand sink, bath, or
shower water from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and institutions,
or
3) Generated inside of domestic dwellings.
h. “Enterprise” means a business entity that is connected to the community waste
water system.
i. “Homes” mean all places of residence including, but not limited to houses and
mobile homes or trailers connected to the community waste water systems.
j. “Industrial discharger” means any user who discharges “industrial waste water” as
defined in this section.
k. “Industrial waste water” means waste water from any producing, manufacturing, or
any activity of any nature, including institutional, agricultural, commercial, and industial
operations, where water is used for the removal of waste, other than domestic waste water
as defined in this section.
l. “Interceptor” means a device designed and installed so as to separate and retain
prohibited, deleterious, hazardous, or undesirable matter from waste water and to permit
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the waste water to discharge to the Publicly Owned Treatment Works. “Interceptor”
includes but is not limited to grease interceptors, grease traps, sand interceptors and
clarifiers.
m. “Meter or Water Meter” means a device used to measure the amount of water used
by a customer of the community waste water system.
n. “Nation” means the Ho-Chunk Nation.
o. “Oil and grease” is any material recovered as a substance soluble in n-hexane or
other solvent used in an oil and grease procedure listed in 40 CFR, Part 136, Table 1B
“List of Approved Inorganic Test Procedures,” ot otherwise approved for NPDES
monitoring.
p. “Owner” means any person or entities of the Nation such as the Department of
Housing Property Management or Ho-Chunk Housing and Community Development
Agency (HHCDA), who has legal title to, or license to operate or inhabit a property.
q. "Plumbing Code” means the plumbing regulations found in Chapters 81, 82, and
84 of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce code.
r. “POTW” or “Publicly Owned Treatment Works” means a treatment works as
defined by Section 212 of the Clean Water Act, which is owned by a state or municipality
(as defined by Section 502(4) of the Clean Water Act (“the act”)). This definition
includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and
reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes
sewers, pipes and other conveyances only they convey waste water to a POTW treatment
plant. The term also means the municipality as defined in Section 502(4) of the Clean
Water Act, which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from
such treatment works.
s. “Pretreatment” means application of any process to reduce the amount of pollutants
in or alter the nature of the pollutant properties in waste water prior to discharging such
waste water into the POTW.
t. “Private sewer” means a sewer privately owned and not directly connected to a
community sewer system.
u. “Program Buildings” means all connections to the community waste water system
that house in part or in total a program of the Ho-Chunk Nation such as educational
facility, community center, feeding site or recreational facility.
v. “Public nuisance” means any discharge in violation of the provisions of this
ordinance, a waste water discharge permit, or an order of the Ho-Chunk Nation Trial
Court.
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w. “Public sewer” means a sewer controlled by public authority or the Ho-Chunk
Nation.
x. "Request" means an individual requesting service such as repairs or connections.
y. “Sewage” means waste water.
z. “Sewer” means a pipe or conduit for carrying waste water.
aa. “Sewer Lateral” means the extension from the building drain to the public sewer
main.
bb. “Suspended solids” means the total suspended solids that are measured by the
procedure for total suspended solids listed in 40 CFR, Part 136, Table 1B “List of
Approved Inorganic Test Procedures.”
cc. "Tribal Lands" mean all lands to which title thereto is held by the Nation, or for
the benefit of the Nation, and any lands held in the name of one or more Tribal
member(s) to which waste water service is provided by the Nation.
dd. “Unlawful discharge” means a substance that will interfere with the treatment of
the waste water to a degree that it creates a serious health hazard or inhibits or disrupts
the publicly owned treatment works (POTW), its treatment processes or operations, or its
processing, use or disposal of sludge.
ee. “User” means the entity using the Nation’s property or the person or entity that
owns the property and is using the waste water systems, or any person who discharges,
causes, or permits the discharge of waste water into the Ho-Chunk Nation’s waste water
systems.
ff. “Waste water” means any industrial or domestic sewage.
gg. “Waste water treatment system” means POTW or pretreatment facility.
CHAPTER II
REGULATIONS
10. Waste Water Service.
a. If running water is supplied to a building after enactment of this Ordinance, waste
water service connection shall be made, whenever possible, to a public sewer system
which has been inspected and approved by the Division of Environmental Health. The
user shall make such connection to the community sewer system within one year after
official notice of approval from the Division to do so.
b. Application for Service.
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(1) Every person requesting the utility service shall file an application in writing
to the Division of Environmental Health in such form as is prescribed for that purpose.
Such applications shall be available from the Division of Environmental Health. All
applicants must provide a legal lease or other proof of ownership documenting their
authority to occupy the premises.
(2) If the applicant is not the owner of the premises, the written consent of the
owner must accompany the application.
(3) The Division shall require each new connection to apply to the Division of
Environmental Health for services and pay a non-refundable user/new connection fee
prior to connection to the system. All reconnections must reapply for services, but are
exempt from the connection fee.
c. Installations and Alterations.
(1) Installations and major alterations of a public waste water system shall be
undertaken only by a State of Wisconsin-licensed or duly qualified plumber, shall be
executed in a safe, neat and workmanlike manner, and shall meet the material and
installation standards of this ordinance. All work shall have an approved design and shall
meet the specifications established in Standard Specifications for Sewer and Water
Construction in Wisconsin or similar governing document for that State if the work is
being performed in another State. All installation shall be done in accordance with
standards established in Standard Specifications for Sewer and Water Construction in
Wisconsin or similar governing document for that State if the work is being performed in
another State.
(2) The Division of Environmental Health shall be responsible for design
approval. All contractors must provide notification to the Division of Environmental
Health prior to starting a construction project on a community waste water system.
(3) Connections by users outside the Ho-Chunk Nation tribal lands and territories
shall be made only upon specific approval from the Division of Environmental Health.
Upon approval, the user shall install all required extensions to the sewer system in
accordance with specifications established by the Division of Environmental Health and
shall pay all applicable fees and charges.
(4) A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every
building or residence, except where one building or residence stands at the rear of another
on an interior lot and no sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building or
residence. In this case the side sewer to the front building or residence may be extended
to the rear building or residence with the Division’s approval. The Nation does not and
will not assume any obligation or responsibility for maintenance or damage caused by or
resulting from any single connection aforementioned.
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(5) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when
they are found on examination and tested by the Division of Environmental Health to
meet all requirements of this ordinance.
(6) The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer, and
the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, resting, and
backfilling the trench shall all conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing
code or other applicable rules and regulations of the Nation and/or as required by the
Division of Environmental Health.
(7) Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an
elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too
low to permit gravity flow to the sewer system, sewage carried by such building drain
shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
(8) No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, foundation drains,
areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff or ground water to a building sewer or
building drain, which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a sanitary sewer, unless
such connection is approved by the Division of Environmental Health for purposes of
disposal of polluted surface drainage.
(9) The connection of the building sewer into the sewer system shall conform to
the requirements of the building and plumbing code or other applicable rules and
regulation of the Nation and/or as required by the Division of Environmental Health. All
such connections shall be made gastight and watertight and verified by proper testing.
Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the
Division of Environmental Health before installation.
(10) The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the board when the
building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the sewer system. The
connection and testing shall be made under the supervision of an authorized
representative of the Division of Environmental Health.
(11) All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded
with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks,
parkways, and other property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a
manner satisfactory to the Division of Environmental Health. Any landscaping disturbed
in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the owner.
d. Materials. The materials used shall be new and durable. The size of the pipe shall
be adequate in relation to the fixture served.
e. Maintenance.
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(1) All public waste water collection systems components subject to this
ordinance shall be maintained in a safe and sanitary condition by the Division of
Environmental Health.
(2) All users shall keep their sewer laterals in good repair and protected from
frost, at their own risk and expense, and shall prevent any unnecessary clogging from
prohibited items being inserted into the waste water system.
(3) Every user shall permit the Division of Environmental Health, or its duly
authorized agent, at all reasonable hours of the day, to enter their premises or building to
examine the waste water system pipes and fixtures, and/or the manner in which the water
is being used within the home or business when the Division of Environmental Health
has reason to believe repairs are necessary or that a violation of this ordinance has
occurred or is continuing.
11. Use of Community Sewer System.
a. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any unpolluted waters such as
stormwater, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, or cooling water to the sewer
system.
b. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described
waters or wastes to the sewer system:
(1) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, lubricating oil, or other flammable or
explosive liquid, solid or gas.
(2) Any waters containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids, or gases in sufficient
quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any
waste treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, or creates a public
nuisance.
(3) Any water or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5, or having any other
corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structure, equipment, and
personnel.
(4) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing
obstruction to the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the
sewer system and wastewater treatment works such as but not limited to ashes, bones,
cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood,
unground garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, and paper
dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
c. The following described substances, materials, waters, or waste shall be limited in
discharges to the sewer system to concentrations or quantities which will not harm either
the sewer system, POTW processes, or equipment, will not have an adverse effect on the
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underlying groundwater, or will not otherwise endanger lives, limb, public property, or
constitute a nuisance. The Division of Environmental Health may set limitations lower
than the limitations established in the regulation below if, in the opinion of the Division
of Environmental Health, such more severe limitations are necessary to meet the above
objectives. In forming an opinion as to the acceptability, the Division of Environmental
Health will give consideration to such factors as the quantity of subject waste in relations
to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials or construction of the sewers, the waste
water treatment process employed, capacity of the waste treatment works, degree of
treatablity of the waste in the POTW, and other pertinent factors. The limitations or
restrictions on materials or characteristics of waste or waste waters discharged to the
sewer system which shall not be violated without approval of the Division of
Environmental Health are as follows:
(1) Waste water having a temperature higher than one-hundred and fifty degrees
(150°) Fahrenheit or sixty-five degrees (65 °) Celsius.
(2) Waste water containing petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oils, or
products or mineral oil origin exceeding limits, which may be established by the Division
of Environmental Health.
(3) Waste water containing floatable oils, fat, or grease.
(4) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. Garbage grinders may be
connected to sanitary sewers from homes, hotels, institutions, restaurants, hospitals,
catering establishments, or similar places where garbage originates from the preparation
of food in kitchens for the purpose of consumption on the premises or when served by
caterers.
(5) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, and similar
objectionable or toxic substances to such degree that any such material received in the
composite waste water at the waste water treatment works exceeds the limits established
by the Division of Environmental Health for such materials.
(6) Any waters or wastes containing odor-producing substances exceeding limits,
which may be established by the Division of Environmental Health.
(7) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life concentration as may
exceed limits established by the Division of Environmental Health.
(8) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment
or reduction by the waste water treatment works, which may degrade the quality of the
underlying groundwater.
(9) Any water or wastes which, by integration with other water or wastes in the
sewer system, may release noxious gases, form suspended solids which interfere with the
collection system, or create a condition detrimental to structures and treatment processes.
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d. If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the
sewer system, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics which in
the judgment of the Division of Environmental Health may have a deleterious effect upon
sewer system, waste water treatment works, processes, equipment, or underlying
groundwater, or which otherwise creates a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance,
the Division of Environmental Health may:
(1) Reject the wastes;
(2) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the sewer
system; or
(3) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge.
If the Division of Environmental Health permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste
flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the
review and approval of the Division of Environmental Health.
e. Grease, oil, and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the
Division of Environmental Health, such devices are necessary for the proper handling of
liquid wastes containing floatable grease in excessive amounts or any flammable wastes,
sand or other harmful ingredients, except that such interceptors shall not be required for
private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity
approved by the Division of Environmental Health and shall be located as to be readily
and easily accessible for cleaning and inspections. In the maintaining of the interceptors,
the owner(s) shall be responsible for the proper removal and disposal by appropriate
means of the captured material and shall maintain records of the dates and means of
disposal. Any removal and hauling of the collected materials not performed by the
owner(s)’ personnel shall be performed by currently licensed waste disposal firms.
f. Where pretreatment or flow equalizing facilities are provided or required for any
waters or wastes, the facilities shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and
effective operation by the owner(s) at their expense.
g. All measurements, tests, and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to
which reference is made in this ordinance shall be determined in accordance with the
latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater,
published by the American Public Health Association. Sampling methods, location,
times, durations, and frequencies are to be determined on an individual basis subject to
approval by the Division of Environmental Health.
12. Other Rules and Regulations.
a. Vacating of Premises and Discontinuance of Service. Whenever premises served
by the Division are vacated, or whenever any person desires to discontinue utility
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services, the Division of Environmental Health must be notified in writing. The owner or
occupant of the premises shall be liable for any damages to the utility(s) by reason of
failure to notify the Division of Environmental Health of the discontinuation of utility
service(s).
b. Property Rights. The private property of each user shall not be subject to utility
debts in any amount or to any extent whatever, except for per capita payments to the
extent authorized by the Nation’s Per Capita Distribution Ordinance (2 HCC § 12).
Debts owed under this Ordinance are deemed debts to the Nation.
13. Prohibited Activities.
a. No person(s) shall maliciously, willfully, or negligently break, damage, destroy,
uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance, or equipment, which is a part
of the sewer system and waste water treatment works. Any person violating this
provision shall be subject to immediate arrest under charges of disorderly conduct.
b. Liability for Minors. Parents are as responsible for the acts of their minor children
as if the parents committed the acts themselves.
CHAPTER III
CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND ENFORCEMENT
14. Establishment of Rates and Connection Fees.
a. Waste Water Service Rates. Subject to approval by the Legislature, the Division of
Environmental Health shall as needed propose standard rates for waste water use and
revise said rates when deemed necessary.
(1) Nine (9) months prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, the Division of
Environmental Health shall bring a proposal for rates for waste water use to the full
Legislature for its approval.
(2) The rates shall remain the same as the previous fiscal year, unless the
Legislature approves an adjusted rate by Resolution.
b. The Connection fee shall be set by the Division of Environmental Health.
15. Payment of Bills.
a. Reasonable care will be exercised in the proper delivery of utility bills. Failure to
receive a utility bill, however, shall not relieve any person of the responsibility for
payment of rates within the prescribed period, nor exempt any person from any penalty
imposed for delinquency in the payment thereof.
b. Billing.
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(1) The property owner or occupant shall be held responsible for all water and
sewer bills on premises that he or she owns or occupies. All water and sewer bills and
notices of any nature relative to the water and sewer services will be addressed to the
owner or occupant and mailed or delivered to the premises referred to on such bill or
notice each month. Such bills shall be due and payable to the Department of Health
before the end of the month in which the bill is rendered.
(2) The Department of Health shall account for all sewage use rate income. The
Department of Health shall transfer the total income received for waste water services
into the Division of Environmental Health respective waste water treatment plant
restricted accounts.
c. Default on Water and Sewer Bill. If a customer defaults on payment for water or
sewer services, the Department of Health may:
(1) Impose a late fee, as established by the Legislature.
(2) Send notice to the Division of Environmental Health to terminate utility
service. In turn, the Division of Environmental Health may terminate utility service upon
fifteen (15) calendar days after notice to the customer.
(3) Take any other action necessary to collect such payments. Any amount of
money due and owing for payment of utility services found to be in default of the user's
obligation to make timely payment for such services, as well as any reasonable costs
associated with the collection of the amount in default, shall be considered a debt to the
Ho-Chunk Nation.
d. Discontinuation of Services. When utility services have been discontinued due to
default, the Division may restore said utility services at its discretion. The Division shall
establish rates for any such reconnection.
e. The Legislature may establish a separate rate for any enterprise deemed necessary.
16. Customer Complaints and Requests.
a. All billing account complaints shall be filed in writing with the Executive Director
of Health, who shall make the initial determination on the complaint. If the customer is
not satisfied with the Executive Director’s decision he or she may request a review of the
decision in writing by the Department of Health Board of Directors.
b. All service complaints shall be directed to the Division of Environmental Health.
c. All requests for repairs or connections shall be made directly to the Division of
Environmental Health.
17. Enforcement.
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a. The Division of Environmental Health is hereby authorized to issue a citation for
violation of this Ordinance to either the owner or occupant of the premises. The citation
shall specifically state the violation and penalty. Any citation so issued is to be referred to
the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Justice for prosecution.
b. Any fines imposed as penalties, and any costs associated with such prosecutions,
may be collected by any means available in law. The Trial Court may also issue other
orders deemed necessary to abate the problem giving rise to the violation. Failure to
comply with any other order of the Trial Court may be punishable as contempt.
18. Penalties. The following penalties may be assessed singly or in combination:
a. A person who violates any provision of this Ordinance shall forfeit not less than
twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
b. A person who repeatedly violates provisions of this Ordinance may be ordered to
post a bond of at least fifty dollars ($50.00) against future violations.
c. Any or all utility services provided by the Nation, including water, sewer, or other
service may be terminated for a violation of any provision of this Ordinance or for a
failure to pay any forfeiture assessed for any violation.
d. A person who violates any provision of this Ordinance may be required to do
community service work.
e. Restrictive conditions may be placed on future utility service.
f. Each day in which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate
offense.
19. Reports.
a. Annual Report. The Division of Environmental Health shall submit a detailed
annual report, signed and presented to the Ho-Chunk Nation Legislature.
b. The Division Waste Water Operator will submit any required reports to the State of
Wisconsin.
20. Validity. The invalidity of any section, clause, sentence, or provision of this
Ordinance shall not affect the validity of any other parts of this Ordinance, which can be
given effect without such invalid part or parts.
21. Sovereign Immunity. No section, clause, sentence or provision of this Ordinance
shall be construed as a waiver of the Nation’s sovereign immunity.
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22. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect beginning on July 1, 2013, but the
Division of Environmental Health shall propose the rates, during the Legislative Session,
at least three (3) months prior to the beginning of the 2013 fiscal year.
Legislative History:
04-23-09 – Introduced to Development Committee.
05-23-09 – Development Committee refers to the Legislature to place out for 45-day comment period.
06-10-09 - Legislature places the proposed code out for 45-day public comment by motion.
11-03-09 – Legislature passes motion “to table Sewage & Wastewater Usage Ordinance for further review
and clarification.”
02-09-10 – Legislature presented with final version of Ordinance for consideration of enactment of
Ordinance. Sent out for 45 day review after a change was made to have the Legislature approve the rate
schedule.
07-20-10 – Motion to table so Legislative Counsel, paralegal and staff can compile information and public
comments received from the areas regarding the sewer use ordinance.
07-05-12 – Sewer Use Ordinance placed on the Agenda for discussion by Legislature. Tabled due to lack
of notice to the President’s Office.
07-17-12 - Sewer Use Ordinance motion was made and approved to have a 10 day review of the Sewer
Use Ordinance with minor changes suggested.
08-07-12— A motion was made and passed to have a resolution drafted to adopt the Sewer Use Ordinance
and to choose the rate option #3 in the rate proposal.
08-22-12 – Legislature enacted the Sewage and Waste Water Use Ordinance under the citation 3 HCC §
10.
06-18-13 – Legislature re-designates the Sewage and Waste Water Use Ordinance as 3 HCC § 12.
01-10-24 – Legislature adopts amendments to the Ordinance via Resolution 01-10-24D.
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This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.