V.I. Code tit. 12, § 190 (2019)
2019 US Virgin Islands Code|Title 12 - Conservation|Chapter 7 - Water Pollution Control|§ 190. Enforcement

 (a) Injunctive relief.  The Commissioner, or any resident of the United States Virgin Islands, is authorized to commence a civil action or may intervene in a civil action for appropriate relief, including a permanent or temporary injunction, for any violation or threatened violation for which the Commissioner is authorized to issue a compliance order under section 188 of this chapter. It shall not be necessary to first revoke any permit prior to seeking injunctive relief. Such action shall be brought in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, which court shall have jurisdiction to restrain such violation and to require compliance. Recourse to and exhaustion of the administrative remedies prescribed in section 188 shall not be a condition precedent to enforcement under this section. (b) Civil penalties.  (1) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, or of any permit, or limitation implementing any section of a permit, any permit filing requirement, any duty to allow or to perform an inspection or to allow the entry upon the premises of authorized persons, or any monitoring requirement, or any requirement imposed in a pretreatment program, rule, regulation, standard or order issued or promulgated hereunder, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $50,000 per day of such violation. (2) Civil penalties charged pursuant to this subsection may be assessed administratively by the Department; provided, said person has been given the opportunity to have a hearing before the Commissioner, and that in making the civil assessment the Commissioner has made findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Commissioner may promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to implement this paragraph. In determining the amount of any penalty assessed under this subsection, the Commissioner shall take into account the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, or violations, the violator's ability to pay and prior history of such violations, the degree of culpability, economic benefit or savings, if any resulting from the violation, and such other matters as justice may require. (3) If no petition for review is filed within the time provided for in section 191 of this chapter, the Commissioner's findings of facts and order shall be conclusive in connection with any enforcement determination or penalty assessment. (c) Criminal penalties.  (1) Any person who knowingly or negligently (A) violates any provision of this chapter, any rule or regulation promulgated hereunder, any order of the Commissioner or any permit or permit condition or limitation implementing any such sections in a permit issued under this chapter, or any requirement imposed in a pretreatment program or in any other permit issued by the Commissioner pursuant to the requirements of this chapter; or (B) introduces into a sewer system or into a publicly owned treatment works, any pollutant or hazardous substance that the person knew, or reasonably should have known could cause personal injury or property damage or who introduces into such treatment works a pollutant or hazardous substance, other than in compliance with all applicable laws, permits or requirements which causes the treatment works to violate any effluent limitation or condition in a permit issued to the treatment works, upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $75,000 per day of violation, or by imprisonment for not more than 3 year, or both. If a conviction of a person is for a violation committed after a first conviction of such person under this paragraph, punishment shall be by a fine of not more than $100,000 per day of violation, or by imprisonment of not more than 6 years, or by both imprisonment and fine. (i) For purposes of this subsection, a single operational upset which leads to simultaneous violations of more than one pollutant parameter shall be treated as a single violation. (ii) For the purpose of this subsection, the term “person” means in addition to the definition contained in section 182 of this chapter, any responsible corporate officer. (iii) For the purpose of this subsection, the term “hazardous substance” means (A) any substance designated pursuant to section 311(b)(2)(A) of the Federal Clean Water Act; (B) any element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance designated pursuant to section 102 of the Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended; (C) any hazardous waste having the characteristics identified under or listed pursuant to section 3001 of the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act (but not including any waste the regulation of which under the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act has been suspended by an act of Congress); (D) any toxic pollutant listed under section 307(a) of the Federal Clean Water Act; and (E) any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with respect to which the Administrator has taken action pursuant to section (7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act. (2) Any person who knowingly makes any false statements, representation or certification in any application, record, report, plan or other documents filed or required to be maintained under this chapter or by any permit, rule, regulation or order issued under this chapter, or who falsifies, tampers with or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required to be maintained under this chapter or by any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued under this chapter, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both. (d) Enforcement against persons introducing pollutants into publicly owned treatment works.  (1) In the event any condition of a permit for discharges from a publicly owned treatment works is violated, the Commissioner may proceed pursuant to section 188 or 190 of this chapter (A) to restrict or prohibit the introduction of any pollutant into such treatment works by a source not utilizing such treatment works prior to the finding that such condition was violated; or (B) to enforce the provisions of this chapter directly against any industrial user discharging prohibited substances into such publicly owned treatment works. (2) If the Commissioner finds on the basis of information available to him that an industrial user is not in compliance with a system of user charges required under territorial or federal law, or the condition of any permit issued by the Commissioner to the publicly owned treatment works into which such user is introducing pollutants, the Commissioner may proceed to enforce or apply such system of charges directly against such industrial user pursuant to section 188 or 190 of this chapter.