Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) The Department may
assess a civil administrative penalty pursuant to this section against each violator
who fails to carry out monitoring or sampling activities or to submit discharge
monitoring reports, baseline monitoring reports, monitoring report forms or sludge
quality assurance reports required by the Water Pollution Control Act or any rule,
water quality standard, effluent limitation, administrative order or permit issued
pursuant thereto.
(b) Each violation,
including each parameter that is required to be monitored, sampled and reported and
that is not monitored, sampled and reported, is an additional, separate and distinct
violation. Each day during which a violation continues shall constitute an
additional, separate and distinct violation.
(c) Except as provided in (e) below, the
Department shall assess a civil administrative penalty for violations described in
this section based on the conduct of the violator at the midpoint of the following
ranges except as adjusted pursuant to (d) below:
1. For any intentional, deliberate, purposeful,
knowing or willful act or omission by the violator, the civil administrative penalty
shall be in an amount up to $ 50,000;
2.
For any unintentional but foreseeable act or omission by the violator, the civil
administrative penalty shall be in amount up to $ 40,000; or
3. For any other violations the civil
administrative penalty shall be in an amount up to $ 20,000.
(d) The Department may, in its discretion, adjust
the amount determined pursuant to (c) above to assess a civil administrative penalty
in an amount no greater than the maximum amount nor less than the minimum amount in
the range on the basis of the following factors:
1. The compliance history of the
violator;
2. The number, frequency and
severity of the violation(s);
3. The
measures taken by the violator to mitigate the effects of the current violation or
to prevent future violations;
4. The
deterrent effect of the penalty;
5. The
cooperation of the violator in correcting the violation remedying the damage caused
by the violation and ensuring that the violation does not reoccur;
6. Any unusual or extraordinary costs or impacts
directly or indirectly imposed on the public or the environment as a result of the
violation;
7. Any impacts on the
receiving water, including stress upon the aquatic biota, or impairment of receiving
water uses, such as for recreational or drinking water supply, resulting from the
violation; and
8. Other specific
circumstances of the violator or violation.
(e) For any person's failure to submit a complete
discharge monitoring report, the Department shall assess a minimum mandatory civil
administrative penalty of not less than $ 100.00 for each effluent parameter omitted
on a discharge monitoring report, nor greater than $ 50,000 per month for any one
discharge monitoring report, for any discharge monitoring report required to be
submitted after June 30, 1991.
1. The civil
administrative penalty assessed pursuant to (e) above shall begin to accrue on the
fifth day after the date on which the discharge monitoring report was due and shall
continue to accrue at least for 30 days if the violation is not corrected.
2. The Department may continue to assess civil
administrative penalties for the failure to submit a complete discharge monitoring
report beyond the 30-day period referenced in (e)1 above until the violation is
corrected.
3. To contest a civil
administrative penalty assessed pursuant to this section, a violator shall submit
evidence of extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the permittee, including
circumstances that prevented timely submission of a complete discharge monitoring
report, or portion thereof, within 30 days after the date on which the effluent
parameter information was required to be submitted to the Department. If the
violator fails to submit the required information within this 30-day period, the
violator shall have waived its right to contest the civil administrative penalty in
this manner and be barred from doing so.
4. A violator will not be subject to a civil
administrative penalty for the inadvertent omission of one or more effluent
parameters in a discharge monitoring report if both of the following conditions are
met:
i. The violator submits the omitted
information to the Department within 10 days after receipt by the violator of notice
of the omission; and
ii. The violator
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department that the violation for which the
Department assessed the civil administrative penalty was due to an inadvertent
omission by the violator of one or more effluent parameters.
(f) A violation under this section is
non-minor and, therefore, not subject to a grace period.
