Penalties Under the Law

Under the Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, EPA has greater authority to pursue administrative, judicial, and criminal penalties for violations of the regulations and for discharges of oil and hazardous substances. Under the new penalty system, three different courses of action are available to EPA in the event of a spill: (1) EPA may assess an administrative penalty against the facility; (2) EPA may seek a judicial penalty against the facility in the federal court system; or (3) EPA may seek a criminal action against the facility in the federal court system.

Administrative Penalties

EPA may assess administrative penalties against oil or hazardous substance dischargers as well as facility owners or operators who fail to comply with the Oil Pollution Prevention regulation. The administrative penalty amounts that violators must pay have increased under the OPA, and a new system of administrative penalties was created based on two classes of violations. Class I violations may be assessed an administrative penalty up to $10,000 per violation, but no more than $25,000 total. The more serious Class II violations may be assessed up to $10,000 per day, but no more than $125,000 total. However, a facility that has been assessed a Class II administrative penalty cannot be subject to a civil judicial action for the same violation.

Judicial Penalties

Judicial penalties may be assessed against facility owners or operators who discharge oil or hazardous substances, who fail to properly carry out a cleanup ordered by EPA, or who fail to comply with the oil pollution prevention regulation. Courts may assess judicial penalties for discharges as high as $25,000 per day or up to $1,000 per barrel of oil spilled (or $1,000 per reportable quantity of hazardous substance discharged.) For those discharges that result from gross negligence or willful misconduct, the penalties increase to no less than $100,000 and up to $3,000 per barrel of oil spilled (or per unit of reportable quantity of hazardous substance discharged). Owners and operators of facilities that fail to comply with an EPA removal order may be subject to civil judicial penalties up to $25,000 per day, or three times the cost incurred by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, as a result of their failure to comply. Finally, if the facility fails to comply with its EPA-approved SPCC plan, the civil judicial penalty may reach $25,000 per day of violation.

Criminal Penalties

EPA may pursue criminal penalties against facility owners or operators who fail to notify the appropriate Federal Agency of a discharge of oil. Specifically, under the Clean Water Act, the federal government can impose a penalty up to a maximum of $250,000 for an individual or $500,000 for a corporation, and a maximum prison sentence of five years.