Laserfiche WebLink
,' ~ ~ .y -_ <br />P <br />mce for Assessing Civil Penalties <br />Introduction: <br />This outlines.the criteria sad procedures for assessing civil penalties for <br />violations of permits issued and for any unauthorized discharge. <br />Ob ectlve: <br />The objective is to assess civil penalties to permit violators and unauthor- <br />ized discharges is a fair, timely sad equitable manner. Further, civil <br />_ penalties are to ensure that a polluter will not benefit by negligence or <br />mismanagement. The Division Rill strive to remove any economic advantage <br />through a penalty sufficient to serve as an economic incentive to comply with <br />permits issued. <br />Background; <br />The authority for assessing civil penalties is pursuant to Section 25-8-608, <br />Colorado Revised Statutes, 1973, as amended. <br />The law allows a penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars C$10,000) per <br />day for each day during which such violation occurs. Any civil penalties <br />collected atoll be credited to the general fund. <br />Further, the law authorizes the Executive Director or his designee to deter- <br />mine the amount of each penalty to be assessed. The Executive Director has <br />designated the Assistant Director, Office of Health Protection to assess <br />penalties. <br />Criteria for Penalties <br />:TION I - BASIC PENALTY - EFFLDENT VIOLATION <br />A. Severity Classification <br />Assessment of a penalty is often difficult because of the way the individual <br />factors vary in degree. The first factor in classifying a violation into one <br />' of the following categories is according to the magnitude of the violation or <br />its effects. The maximum enalt which may be assessed for a discharge <br />violation under State law is 10,000 a day. <br />1. Severe - $7,500 - $10,000 per violation per day for the discharge of <br />large volumes of. a highlq toxic or hazardous substances or substantial <br />damage to the receiving waters. The discharge has caused or is likely y <br />to cause substantial risk to public health, safety or welfare, or to the '\ <br />environment. <br />49 <br />