2013 Maryland Code
ENVIRONMENT
§ 9-342 - Civil penalties

§9-342.

(a) In addition to being subject to an injunctive action under this subtitle, a person who violates any provision of this subtitle or of any rule, regulation, order, or permit adopted or issued under this subtitle is liable to a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000, to be collected in a civil action brought by the Department. Each day a violation occurs is a separate violation under this subsection.

(b) (1) In addition to any other remedies available at law or in equity and after an opportunity for a hearing which may be waived in writing by the person accused of a violation, the Department may impose a penalty for violation of any provision of this subtitle or any rule, regulation, order, or permit adopted or issued under this subtitle.

(2) The penalty imposed on a person under this subsection shall be:

(i) Up to $5,000 for each violation, but not exceeding $50,000 total; and

(ii) Assessed with consideration given to:

1. The willfulness of the violation, the extent to which the existence of the violation was known to but uncorrected by the violator, and the extent to which the violator exercised reasonable care;

2. Any actual harm to the environment or to human health, including injury to or impairment of the use of the waters of this State or the natural resources of this State;

3. The cost of cleanup and the cost of restoration of natural resources;

4. The nature and degree of injury to or interference with general welfare, health, and property;

5. The extent to which the location of the violation, including location near waters of this State or areas of human population, creates the potential for harm to the environment or to human health or safety;

6. The available technology and economic reasonableness of controlling, reducing, or eliminating the violation;

7. The degree of hazard posed by the particular pollutant or pollutants involved; and

8. The extent to which the current violation is part of a recurrent pattern of the same or similar type of violation committed by the violator.

(3) Each day a violation occurs is a separate violation under this subsection.

(4) Any penalty imposed under this subsection is payable to this State and collectible in any manner provided at law for the collection of debts.

(5) If any person who is liable to pay a penalty imposed under this subsection fails to pay it after demand, the amount, together with interest and any costs that may accrue, shall be:

(i) A lien in favor of this State on any property, real or personal, of the person; and

(ii) Recorded in the office of the clerk of court for the county in which the property is located.

(6) Any penalty collected under this subsection shall be placed in a special fund to be used for monitoring and surveillance by the Department to assure and maintain an adequate record of any violations, including discharge of waste material and other pollutants into the waters of this State or into the environment.

§ 9-342 - 1. Significant violations of effluent limitations by sewage treatment facilities

(a) "Sewage treatment plant" defined. --

(1) In this section, "sewage treatment plant" means any publicly or privately owned facility that is:

(i) Constructed to receive primarily and treat human sewage; and

(ii) Subject to a State discharge permit.

(2) For purposes of this section, "sewage treatment plant" means only those plants that have a discharge permit that was issued on the basis of a discharge of 500,000 gallons or more per day.

(b) Significant violations -- Biochemical oxygen, suspended solids or Kjeldahl nitrogen. --

(1) In this subsection, "significant violation" means a monthly average discharge as expressed in milligrams per liter that is equal to or greater than:

(i) 1.4 times the effluent limitation allowed by the discharge permit for biochemical oxygen demand; or

(ii) 1.2 times the effluent limitation allowed by the discharge permit for:

1. Suspended solids; or

2. Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN).

(2) (i) If a sewage treatment plant is in significant violation of any effluent limitation under this subsection, the owner shall pay an administrative penalty of $ 10 for each pound that is discharged in excess of its discharge permit under this subsection.

(ii) A penalty for each significant violation of each of the effluent limitations of this subsection may not exceed $ 5,000 per month.

(c) Significant violations -- Phosphorus or nitrogen. --

(1) In this subsection, "significant violation" means a monthly average discharge as expressed in milligrams per liter that is equal to or greater than 1.2 times the effluent limitation allowed by the discharge permit for any 2 months in a consecutive 6-month period for:

(i) Phosphorus; or

(ii) Nitrogen.

(2) (i) If a sewage treatment plant is in significant violation of any effluent limitation under this subsection, the owner shall pay an administrative penalty of $ 10 for each pound that is discharged in excess of its discharge permit under this subsection.

(ii) A penalty for each significant violation of each of the effluent limitations of this subsection may not exceed $ 5,000 per month.

(d) Significant violations -- Dissolved oxygen. --

(1) In this subsection, "significant violation" means more than 10% of the instantaneous measurements for dissolved oxygen in the effluent, measured over a period of 1 month, that violate the minimum dissolved oxygen permit limit.

(2) If a sewage treatment plant is in significant violation of the effluent limitation under this subsection, the owner shall pay an administrative penalty of $ 5,000 for each significant violation under this subsection.

(e) Significant violations -- Effluent pH or chlorine. --

(1) In this subsection, "significant violation" means more than 10% of the instantaneous measurements of effluent pH or chlorine, over a period of 1 month, that violate the range for pH or the maximum limit for chlorine in the discharge permit.

(2) The owner of a sewage treatment plant shall pay an administrative penalty of $ 5,000 for each effluent limitation in a month for which a significant violation occurs under this subsection.

(f) Penalties -- Calculation; payment. --

(1) Penalties required by this section shall be:

(i) Calculated on the basis of:

1. The monthly discharge monitoring report filed by each sewage treatment plant; and

2. Any other discharge monitoring information that may be compiled by the Department; and

(ii) Assessed on a monthly basis.

(2) (i) Unless a hearing is requested, all penalties for any significant violation under this section shall be paid to the Department within 90 days of the end of the calendar month in which the significant violation occurred.

(ii) If a hearing is requested, all penalties for any significant violation under this section shall be paid to the Department within 30 days after the decision of the hearing officer.

(g) Penalties -- Maximum amount; additional to other penalties. --

(1) Penalties for the sum of all significant violations under subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section may not exceed $ 25,000 per month for any sewage treatment plant.

(2) The penalties required to be imposed under this section are in addition to any other penalties provided by law.

(h) Penalties -- Right to hearing. -- Any person required to pay a penalty under this section shall have the right to a hearing but may waive that right in writing.

(i) Penalties -- Waiver; reduction; use to upgrade plant. --

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a penalty imposed under this section may not be:

(i) Waived;

(ii) Reduced; or

(iii) Used to assist the penalized person in upgrading a sewage treatment plant.

(2) A penalty imposed under this section may be waived by the Department:

(i) If the discharge was due to:

1. An act of God; or

2. A power outage or a massive discharge of any pollutant that could not reasonably have been anticipated by the owner or operator of the plant; or

(ii) As long as the sewage treatment plant:

1. A. Is in compliance with a compliance schedule contained in an order issued by the Department; and

B. Meets all interim effluent limitations established by the Department; or

2. A. Has recently upgraded to meet more stringent standards and is operating under a start-up program and schedule approved by the Department;

B. Is implementing operational modifications to accomplish biological nutrient removal under a program and schedule approved by the Department; or

C. Is accomplishing major maintenance or facility repair under a program and schedule approved by the Department; or

(iii) If compliance with the effluent limitations set forth in this section is prevented by a judicial or administrative action initiated by a person other than an agency responsible for regulating the sewage treatment plant or the owner or operator of the sewage treatment plant.

(3) For purposes of the waiver allowed in paragraph (2)(ii) of this subsection, the Department may not issue any waiver if the compliance schedule in effect as of October 1, 1992 or any subsequent compliance schedule is modified by the Department, except that a waiver may be allowed if:

(i) The violator applies in writing for a waiver and clearly demonstrates that extraordinary circumstances prevent compliance; and

(ii) The Department determines that the violator has acted in good faith to meet all effluent limitations and has failed to comply because of extraordinary circumstances that have been documented by clear and convincing evidence.

(j) Penalties -- Deposit. -- The Department shall deposit the penalties collected under this section in the Maryland Clean Water Fund created under § 9-320 of this subtitle.

(k) Penalties -- Collection. -- The Department shall collect the penalties required to be imposed under this section beginning January 1, 1993 and on the first day of each subsequent month.

§ 9-342 - 2. Reimbursement of costs in conducting environmental health monitoring or testing

(a) In general. -- A person who discharges a pollutant into the waters of the State in violation of § 9-322 or § 9-323 of this subtitle shall reimburse the Department for the reasonable costs incurred by the Department in conducting environmental health monitoring or testing, including the cost of collecting and analyzing soil samples, surface water samples, or groundwater samples for the purpose of assessing the effect on public health and the environment of the person's discharge.

(b) Recovery of costs in civil action. -- The Department may recover costs that are reimbursable under subsection (a) of this section in a civil action.