S.B. 88 Enrolled

ENVIRONMENTAL SELF-EVALUATION ACT
AMENDMENTS
2002 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Bill Wright
This act modifies the Environmental Self-Evaluation Act. The act extends the time period
for disclosure of an instance of noncompliance with an environmental law or requirement
from ten to 21 days. The act makes technical changes.
This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
AMENDS:
19-7-109, as enacted by Chapter 91, Laws of Utah 1996
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 19-7-109 is amended to read:
19-7-109. Incentives for voluntary disclosure and compliance -- Waiver of civil
penalties.
(1) As used in this section, "regulated entity" means any person, business, or other entity
subject to regulation under Title 19, Environmental Quality Code.
(2) The department shall waive civil penalties for an instance of noncompliance with an
environmental law or requirement:
(a) that a regulated entity discovered through an environmental self-evaluation;
(b) that a regulated entity voluntarily disclosed to the department in writing within [ten]
21 days after the entity's discovery of the violation;
(c) that a regulated entity remedied or corrected within 60 days after discovery of the
violation, or within a reasonable amount of time if the violation cannot be remedied within 60
days; and
(d) regarding which the regulated entity submitted to the department a written outline of
reasonable steps the regulated entity will take to prevent a recurrence.
(3) The department may not waive penalties under Subsection (2) if:
(a) the instance of noncompliance resulted from a lack of due diligence in complying with

environmental laws, taking into account the size and nature of the regulated entity;
(b) the instance of noncompliance is a recurrence of a similarly caused specific violation or
a violation of the specific terms of a judicial or administrative consent order or agreement;
(c) the instance of noncompliance resulted from reckless or willful disregard of
environmental laws;
(d) the regulated entity conducted the environmental self-evaluation for a fraudulent purpose;
(e) the department had already initiated a compliance investigation at the time of the
disclosure and the regulated entity had been advised of or was aware of the investigation;
(f) the instance of noncompliance was discovered pursuant to a legally mandated monitoring,
testing, or sampling requirement prescribed by law, rule, permit, order, or consent agreement; or
(g) the instance of noncompliance resulted in serious actual harm or imminent and
substantial endangerment to human health or the environment.
(4) (a) To the extent the instance of noncompliance resulted in an economic benefit or
competitive advantage over other similar regulated entities that did achieve compliance, the
department may seek a civil penalty to recover the monetary amount of the economic benefit or
competitive advantage resulting from the incidence of noncompliance.
(b) Action under this Subsection (4) is not prohibited by Subsection (2).
(5) This section does not limit the department's discretion in reducing penalties for
noncompliance with an environmental law which may not fully qualify for waiver under this section,
but which the department determines should be appropriately reduced.

- 2 -