New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 7 - COASTAL PERMIT PROGRAM RULES › Subchapter 29 - ENFORCEMENT › Section 7:7-29.6 - Civil administrative penalties for violations other than failure to obtain a permit prior to conducting regulated activities

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) For violations other than failure to
				obtain a permit prior to conducting regulated activities, the Department may,
				in its discretion, assess a civil administrative penalty pursuant to this
				section of not more than $ 25,000 for each violation of
				13:19-1 et seq.,
				12:5-1 et seq., and/or
				13:9A-1 et seq., or any
				regulation, rule, permit, condition, or order adopted or issued by the
				Department pursuant thereto. The Department shall assess penalties under this
				section rather than under
				7:7-29.5 when
				7:7-29.5 is not applicable to the
				violation.
(b) Each violation of
				13:19-1 et seq.,
				12:5-1 et seq., and/or
				13:9A-1 et seq., or any
				regulation, rule, permit, condition, or order adopted or issued by the
				Department pursuant thereto, shall constitute an additional, separate, and
				distinct violation.
(c) Where any
				requirement of
				13:19-1 et seq.,
				12:5-1 et seq., and/or
				13:9A-1 et seq., or any
				regulation, rule, permit, condition, or order adopted or issued by the
				Department pursuant thereto, may pertain to more than one act, condition, or
				occurrence, the failure to comply with such requirement as it pertains to each
				such act, condition, or occurrence shall constitute an additional, separate,
				and distinct violation.
(d) To
				assess a civil administrative penalty pursuant to this section, the Department
				shall use the two factors described at (e) and (f) below, seriousness and
				conduct, to determine the amount of the base daily civil administrative
				penalty. The applicable daily penalty amount is determined using the base daily
				penalty matrix in the table below, based on the seriousness of the violation
				determined pursuant to (e) below and the conduct of the violator determined
				pursuant to (f) below:
Base Daily Penalty Matrix
SERIOUSNESS
Major
Moderate
Minor
Major
$ 25,000
$ 15,000
$ 10,000
CONDUCT
Moderate
$ 15,000
$ 7,500
$ 5,000
Minor
$ 10,000
$ 5,000
$ 1,000
(e)
				The seriousness of the violation shall be determined as major, moderate, or
				minor as follows:
1. Major seriousness shall
				apply to any violation which has caused or has the potential to cause serious
				harm to human health, safety, or the environment, or the coastal regulatory
				program, or seriously deviates from the applicable law and/or condition.
				"Serious" deviations include, but are not limited to, those violations which
				are in complete contravention of the law, requirement, and/or condition, and/or
				which severely impair or undermine the protection, operation, or intent of the
				law, requirement, or condition. Violations of "major" seriousness include, but
				are not limited to, any unauthorized activity occurring within or impacting a
				special area described at N.J.A.C. 7:7-9;
2. Moderate seriousness shall apply to any
				violation which has caused or has the potential to cause substantial harm to
				human health, safety, or the environment, the coastal regulatory program, or
				substantially deviates from the applicable law and/or condition. "Substantial
				deviation" shall include, but not be limited to, violations which are in
				substantial contravention of the law, requirement, and/or condition, and/or
				which substantially impair or undermine the protection, operation, or intent of
				the law, requirement, and/or condition. The Department will consider a
				violation to be of moderate seriousness if limited solely to upland areas that
				are not designated as a wetland or other special area identified at N.J.A.C.
				7:7-9; and
3. Minor seriousness
				shall apply to any violation not included in (e)1 or 2 above.