I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5077

To provide for the assessment of an increased civil penalty in a case in

which a person or entity that is the subject of a civil environmental

enforcement action has previously violated an environmental law or in

a case in which a violation of an environmental law results in a catastrophic event.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. PALLONE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for the assessment of an increased civil penalty

in a case in which a person or entity that is the subject

of a civil environmental enforcement action has previously violated an environmental law or in a case in

which a violation of an environmental law results in

a catastrophic event.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Increased Environ3 mental Compliance Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

6 (1) if a person or entity that is the subject of

7 a civil enforcement action under an environmental

8 law has previously violated an environmental law at

9 the same site or facility or for the same regulated

10 activity, the person or entity—

11 (A) was apparently not deterred by the

12 previous Federal or State enforcement action;

13 and

14 (B) should be subject to an additional pen15 alty to achieve the goal of deterrence; and

16 (2) because of the daily penalty maximums

17 specified in environmental law in effect on the date

18 of enactment of this Act, the penalty assessed for a

19 violation that results in a single catastrophic event

20 may not be great enough to reflect the serious actual

21 or potential public health or environmental con22 sequences of the violation.

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide

24 for the assessment of an increased civil penalty in a case

25 in which—
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1 (1) a person or entity that is the subject of a

2 civil environmental enforcement action has pre3 viously violated an environmental law at the same

4 site or facility or for the same regulated activity; or

5 (2) a violation of an environmental law results

6 in a catastrophic event.

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this Act:

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means—

11 (A) the Administrator of the Environ12 mental Protection Agency; and

13 (B) to the extent that a State has been

14 delegated, authorized, or approved authority to

15 enforce an environmental law, the State.

16 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL LAW.—The term ‘‘envi17 ronmental law’’ means any of the following laws (in18 cluding any regulation, permit, or other requirement,

19 any administrative or judicial judgment, settlement

20 agreement, order or decree on consent, and any ad21 ministrative or judicial order issued or imposed

22 under any such law):

23 (A) The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,

24 and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.).
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1 (B) The Toxic Substances Control Act (15

2 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).

3 (C) The Federal Water Pollution Control

4 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).

5 (D) The Marine Protection, Research, and

6 Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1401 et

7 seq.).

8 (E) The Act to Prevent Pollution from

9 Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.).

10 (F) The Shore Protection Act of 1988 (33

11 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).

12 (G) The Safe Drinking Water Act (42

13 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).

14 (H) The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42

15 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).

16 (I) The Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et

17 seq.).

18 (J) The Comprehensive Environmental Re19 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of

20 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.).

21 (K) The Emergency Planning and Commu22 nity Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C.

23 11001 et seq.).

24 (L) Chapter 51 of title 49, United States

25 Code.
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1 (M) Chapter 601 of title 49, United States

2 Code.

3 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means a per4 son, site or facility owner or operator, or other re5 sponsible party identified under a law listed in para6 graph (2).

7 (4) RELATED PARTY.—The term ‘‘related

8 party’’ means—

9 (A) a person having a relationship de10 scribed in Section 267(b) of the Internal Rev11 enue Code of 1986 to the owner or operator;

12 and

13 (B) a predecessor of the owner or operator

14 (including, in the case of a merger of 2 or more

15 independent corporations, each of the previously

16 independent corporations).

17 (5) REPEAT VIOLATION.—The term ‘‘repeat

18 violation’’ means the violation by a repeat violator

19 that is the subject of a finding and enforcement ac20 tion, criminal action, or other agency action de21 scribed in paragraph (6).

22 (6) REPEAT VIOLATOR.—The term ‘‘repeat vio23 lator’’ means a person that has been found, in a

24 final Federal or State administrative, criminal, or
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1 civil judicial action, order, settlement agreement, or

2 consent decree, to have violated—

3 (A) the same environmental law at the

4 same site or facility or for the same regulated

5 activity at least twice during the preceding 5-

6 year period; or

7 (B) any environmental law at the same site

8 or facility or for the same regulated activity at

9 least twice during the preceding 3-year period.

10 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL PENALTY FOR REPEAT VIOLATIONS.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In a civil judicial or administra12 tive proceeding brought against a repeat violator for a sub13 sequent violation of the same environmental law or sepa14 rate environmental laws at 1 or more sites or facilities

15 owned or operated by the repeat violator, or for violations

16 for the same regulated activity under 1 or more environ17 mental laws, the repeat violator shall be assessed up to—

18 (1) an additional penalty of 25 percent of the

19 maximum penalty assessable per day of violation for

20 the first repeat violation under the applicable envi21 ronmental law;

22 (2) an additional penalty of 50 percent of the

23 maximum penalty assessable per day of violation for

24 the second repeat violation under the applicable envi25 ronmental law; and
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1 (3) an additional penalty of 100 percent of the

2 maximum penalty assessable per day of violation

3 under the applicable environmental law for the third

4 and each subsequent violation.

5 (b) TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OR OPERATION.—The

6 transfer of ownership or operation of a site or facility by

7 the owner or operator of the site or facility to a related

8 party shall not affect the liability of the owner or operator

9 with respect to a repeat violation under this section.

10 SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL PENALTY FOR CATASTROPHIC

11 EVENTS.

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

13 (1) CATASTROPHIC EVENT.—The term ‘‘cata14 strophic event’’ means a release of pollutants under

15 any environmental law that results in—

16 (A) the potential for serious human injury

17 or death, or serious environmental damage; or

18 (B) serious human injury or death, or seri19 ous environmental damage.

20 (2) CRITERIA AIR POLLUTANT.—The term ‘‘cri21 teria air pollutant’’ means an air pollutant listed

22 under section 108 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.

23 7408).

24 (3) HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANT.—The term

25 ‘‘hazardous air pollutant’’ has the meaning given the
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1 term in section 112(a) of the Clean Air Act (42

2 U.S.C. 7412(a)).

3 (4) HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE.—The term ‘‘haz4 ardous substance’’ has the meaning given the term

5 in section 101 of the Comprehensive Environmental

6 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980

7 (42 U.S.C. 9601).

8 (5) OZONE-DEPLETING SUBSTANCE.—The term

9 ‘‘ozone-depleting substance’’ means a class I sub10 stance or a class II substance, as defined in section

11 601 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7671).

12 (b) ADDITIONAL PENALTY.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to a civil penalty

14 assessed in a judicial or administrative proceeding

15 under another environmental law, the Administrator

16 shall assess an additional penalty for each cata17 strophic event against the violator—

18 (A) in the case of a catastrophic event that

19 results in the potential for serious human injury

20 or death, or serious environmental damage, but

21 that does not have a result described in sub22 paragraph (B) or (C), a minimum of—

23 (i) $10,000 per pound of hazardous

24 air pollutant emitted in the course of the

25 catastrophic event;
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1 (ii) $10,000 per ton of criteria air pol2 lutant or ozone-depleting substance emit3 ted in the course of the catastrophic event;

4 and

5 (iii) $10,000 for each quantity of haz6 ardous substance equal to the reportable

7 quantity of the hazardous substance, as

8 specified in parts 117 and 302, title 40,

9 Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc10 cessor regulation), released in the course of

11 the catastrophic event;

12 (B) in the case of a catastrophic event that

13 results either in a serious human injury or

14 death, or in serious environmental damage, a

15 minimum of—

16 (i) $15,000 per pound of hazardous

17 air pollutant emitted in the course of the

18 catastrophic event; and

19 (ii) $15,000 per ton of criteria air pol20 lutant or ozone-depleting substance emit21 ted in the course of the catastrophic event;

22 and

23 (iii) $15,000 for each quantity of haz24 ardous substance equal to the reportable

25 quantity of the hazardous substance, as
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1 specified in parts 117 and 302, title 40,

2 Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc3 cessor regulation), released in the course of

4 the catastrophic event; and

5 (C) in the case of a catastrophic event that

6 results both in a serious human injury or death

7 and in serious environmental damage, a min8 imum of—

9 (i) $25,000 per pound of hazardous

10 air pollutant emitted in the course of the

11 catastrophic event;

12 (ii) $25,000 per ton of criteria air pol13 lutant or ozone-depleting substance emit14 ted in the course of the catastrophic event;

15 and

16 (iii) $25,000 for each quantity of haz17 ardous substance equal to the reportable

18 quantity of the hazardous substance, as

19 specified in parts 117 and 302, title 40,

20 Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc21 cessor regulation), released in the course of

22 the catastrophic event.

23 (2) AIR POLLUTANTS FALLING WITHIN MUL24 TIPLE CATEGORIES.—For the purpose of deter25 mining an additional civil penalty under paragraph
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1 (1), if an air pollutant is both a hazardous air pol2 lutant and a criteria air pollutant, hazardous sub3 stance, or ozone-depleting substance, the air pollut4 ant shall be considered to be a hazardous air pollut5 ant.

6 (c) PREVENTIVE MEASURES.—In addition to any

7 measures required to be implemented under any other pro8 vision of law, the Administrator may require in an order,

9 consent decree, settlement agreement, permit, or other en10 forceable mechanism that a violator against which a pen11 alty is assessed under subsection (b) shall implement pre12 ventive measures, including additional monitoring, record13 keeping, reporting, training, and other design, equipment,

14 work practice, and operational requirements.

15 SEC. 6. PRESERVATION OF AUTHORITY.

16 Nothing in this Act limits the authority of the

17 Administrator—

18 (1) to assess appropriate penalties, on consider19 ation of relevant factors, under any environmental

20 law; or

21 (2) to impose more stringent requirements and

22 penalties or exercise any civil or criminal authority

23 in the case of repeat violators or catastrophic events.
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1 SEC. 7. EMERGENCY ORDER AND CIVIL ACTION PENALTY

2 AUTHORITY.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, the Administrator may, with respect to any

5 person or entity responsible for creating a condition that

6 may present an imminent and substantial endangerment

7 to human health or the environment in violation of an en8 vironmental law, issue an administrative order or bring a

9 civil action in United States District Court, seeking such

10 relief as is necessary to protect human health or the envi11 ronment.

12 (b) PENALTY.—A person or entity described in sub13 section (a) may be fined not less than $25,000 and not

14 more than $10,000,000, to be paid into the Health and

15 Environment Trust Fund of the Environmental Protection

16 Agency.

17 (c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The Administrator

18 shall make funds in the Health and Environmental Trust

19 Fund available for withdrawals, without further Act of ap20 propriation, in an amount not to exceed $500,000 for each

21 project, to pay costs incurred by the Federal Government

22 in addressing a health or environmental threat—

23 (1) for which a fine was collected under sub24 section (b); and
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1 (2) in accordance with the statutory authority

2 under which the action seeking payment of the fine

3 was initiated.

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