(a) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each such violation.

(b) An action under this section shall be instigated by any person making a complaint in writing, verified by oath, that the person has reason to believe that a violation under this chapter has occurred.

(c) Prosecution of violations of this chapter shall be by district attorney or the Attorney General and shall be brought in the circuit court for the county in which the violation, or some part thereof, arose or in the circuit court for the county in which the defendant resides or maintains his or her principal place of business within the state.

(d) The amount of such penalties shall be dependent upon the degree of non-compliance, the amount of injury or damage caused, the degree of threat to public safety, the degree of public inconvenience caused as a result of the violation, and the number of past violations. Mitigation of the penalty may be shown by "good faith" efforts of the violator to have complied with the provisions of this chapter.

(e) All penalties recovered in such actions shall be paid into the General Fund of the State of Alabama.

(f) In any successful action or petition brought under this section, the court shall award the office of the Attorney General or the office of the district attorney reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

(g) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall not be subject to payment of the assessed penalty in subsection (a) if he or she has been assessed a civil penalty for this same violation under the provisions of the Federal Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 or the Federal Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 or any amendment to these acts.

(h) This chapter does not affect any civil remedies for personal injury or property damage or criminal sanctions except as otherwise specifically provided for in this chapter.

(i) No civil penalty may be imposed pursuant to this section against an excavator or operator who violates any provision of this chapter if the violation occurred while the excavator or operator was responding to an emergency. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the civil penalty shall be imposed if the violation was willful or malicious.

(j) This section shall not be construed to limit any provision of law granting governmental immunity to state or local entities or to impose any liability or duty of care not otherwise imposed by law upon any state or local entity.

(k) Any person who willfully or maliciously removes or otherwise destroys a marking used by an operator to mark the location of any underground facility, except in the ordinary course of excavation, is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.