GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1987 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 270

HOUSE BILL 805

 

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO REMOVE PROHIBITED DISCHARGES.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1 . G.S. 143-215.91(a) reads as rewritten:

"(a)      Civil Penalties.  Any person who intentionally or negligently discharges oil or other hazardous substances, or knowingly causes or permits the discharge of oil in violation of this Part or fails to report a discharge as required by G.S. 143-215.85 or who fails to comply with the requirements of G.S. 143-215.84(a) or orders issued by the Commission as a result of violations thereof, shall incur, in addition to any other penalty provided by law, a penalty in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for every such violation, the amount to be determined by the Environmental Management Commission after taking into consideration the gravity of the violation, the previous record of the violator in complying or failing to comply with the provisions of this Part as well as G.S. 143-215.1, the amount expended by the violator in complying with the provisions of G.S. 143-215.84, the estimated damages attributed to the violator under G.S. 143-215.90, and such other considerations as the Environmental Management Commission deems appropriate. Every act or omission which causes, aids or abets a violation of this section shall be considered a violation under the provisions of this section and subject to the penalty herein provided. The penalty herein provided for shall become due and payable when the person incurring the penalty receives a notice in writing from the Environmental Management Commission describing the violation with reasonable particularity and advising such person that the penalty is due. The Environmental Management Commission may, upon written application therefor, receive within 15 days, and when deemed in the best interest of the State in carrying out the purposes of this Article, remit or mitigate any penalty provided for in this section or discontinue any action to recover the penalty upon such terms as it, in its discretion, shall deem proper, and shall have the authority to ascertain facts upon all such applications in such manner and under such regulations as the Environmental Management Commission may adopt. If the amount of such penalty is not paid to the Department within 15 days after receipt of  notice, or if an application for remission or mitigation has not been made within 15 days as herein provided, and the amount provided in the order issued by the Environmental Management Commission subsequent to such application is not paid within 15 days of receipt thereof, the Attorney General, upon request of the Environmental Management Commission, shall bring an action in the name of the State in the Superior Court of Wake County or of any other county wherein such violator does business, to recover the amount specified in the final order of the Environmental Management Commission. In any such action, the amount of the penalty shall be subject to review by the court. In  all such actions the procedures and rules of evidence shall be the same as in an ordinary civil action except as otherwise in this Article provided. Notification received pursuant to this subsection or information obtained by the exploitation of such notification shall not be used against any person in any criminal case, except as prosecution for perjury or for giving a false statement."

Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 2nd day of June, 1987.