58:10A-10.1. Mandatory civil administrative penalties

a. The provisions of section 10 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-10), or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto to the contrary notwithstanding, the department shall assess, with no discretion, a mandatory minimum civil administrative penalty for the violations enumerated in subsections b., c., and d. of this section.

b. The department shall assess a minimum mandatory civil administrative penalty of $1,000 against a violator for each serious violation, which assessment shall be made within six months of the serious violation.

c. The department shall assess a minimum mandatory civil administrative penalty of $5,000 against a violator for the violation that causes the violator to be, or to continue to be, a significant noncomplier.

d. The department shall assess a minimum mandatory civil administrative penalty of $100 for each effluent parameter omitted on a discharge monitoring report required to be submitted to the department, and each day during which the effluent parameter information is overdue shall constitute an additional, separate, and distinct offense, except that in no instance shall the total civil administrative penalty assessed pursuant to this subsection exceed $50,000 per month for any one discharge monitoring report. The civil administrative penalty assessed pursuant to this subsection shall accrue as of the fifth day following the date on which the discharge monitoring report was due and shall continue to accrue for 30 days. The commissioner may continue to assess civil administrative penalties beyond the 30-day period until submission of the overdue discharge monitoring report or overdue information. A permittee may contest the assessment of the civil administrative penalty required to be assessed pursuant to this subsection by notifying the commissioner in writing, within 30 days of the date on which the effluent parameter information was required to be submitted to the department, of the existence of extenuating circumstances beyond the control of the permittee, including circumstances that prevented timely submission of the discharge monitoring report, or portion thereof, or, if the civil administrative penalty is imposed because of an inadvertent omission of one or more effluent parameters, the permittee may submit, without liability for a civil administrative penalty assessed pursuant to this subsection or subsection c. of this section, the omitted information within 10 days of receipt by the permittee of notice of omission of the parameter or parameters.

e. If a violator establishes, to the satisfaction of the department, that a single operational occurrence has resulted in the simultaneous violation of more than one pollutant parameter, the department may consider, for purposes of calculating the mandatory civil administrative penalties to be assessed pursuant to subsections b. and c. of this section, the violation of the interrelated permit parameters to be a single violation.

f. The requirement that the department assess a minimum civil administrative penalty pursuant to this section shall in no way be construed to limit the authority of the department to assess a civil administrative penalty or bring an action for a civil penalty for a violation at any time after a violation occurred or to assess a more stringent civil administrative penalty or civil penalty against a person pursuant to section 10 of P.L.1977, c.74 (C.58:10A-10).

g. The provisions of this section shall not apply to violations occurring prior to the effective date of this section.

L.1990,c.28,s.6.