(a) Any person who violates or threatens to violate the provisions of this article may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a person who violates this article shall not be subject to criminal penalties and shall only be subject to the administrative or civil penalties specified in subdivision (c).
(c) (1) A person who violates this article shall be liable for an administrative or a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per day for each violation. That administrative or civil penalty may be assessed and recovered in an administrative action filed with the Office of Administrative Hearings or in a civil action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) In assessing the amount of an administrative or a civil penalty for a violation of this article, the presiding officer or the court shall consider all of the following:
(A) The nature and extent of the violation.
(B) The number and severity of the violations.
(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the violator.
(D) Whether the violator took good faith measures to comply with this article and the time these measures were taken.
(E) The willfulness of the violator’s misconduct.
(F) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would have on both the violator and the regulated community as a whole.
(G) Any other factor that justice may require.
(d) Administrative and civil penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account, for expenditure by the Department of Toxic Substances Control, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement and enforce this article, except as provided in Section 25192.
(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 718, Sec. 4. (SB 855) Effective October 19, 2010.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018