(1) The owner or operator of a facility, an employer, or any other person submitting written information pursuant to EPCRA or this part to the commission, a committee, or a fire department shall be liable for a civil penalty of $5,000 for each item of information in the submission that is false, if such person knew or should have known the information was false or if such person submitted the information with reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. The division may institute a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction to impose and recover a civil penalty for the amount indicated in this subsection. However, the court may receive evidence in mitigation.

(2) Any person who knowingly and willfully provides false information or causes false information to be provided pursuant to EPCRA or this part to the commission, a committee, or a fire department in writing, with the intent to mislead the commission, committee, or fire department in the performance of its official duties, shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(3) Any provision of s. 325 or s. 326 of EPCRA which creates a federal cause of action shall create a corresponding cause of action under state law, with jurisdiction in the circuit courts. Any provision of s. 325 or s. 326 of EPCRA which imposes or authorizes the imposition of a civil penalty by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, or which creates a liability to the United States, shall impose or authorize the imposition of such a penalty by the division or create such a liability to and for the benefit of the state, to be paid into the Operating Trust Fund. Venue shall be proper in the county where the violation occurred or where the defendant has its principal place of business.

(4) No action may be commenced under this section if the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency has commenced and is diligently pursuing an administrative order or civil action to enforce the specific requirement concerned or to impose a civil penalty under EPCRA with respect to a violation of that requirement.

History.—s. 1, ch. 88-200; s. 5, ch. 92-150; s. 38, ch. 93-120; s. 109, ch. 2011-142.