35-11-1106. Limitation on civil penalties; voluntary reports of violations.

(a) If an owner or operator of a facility regulated under this act voluntarily reports to the department a violation disclosed by the audit conducted under W.S. 35-11-1105 within sixty (60) days of the completion date of the audit, the department shall not seek civil penalties or injunctive relief for the violation reported unless:

(i) The facility is under investigation for any violation of this act at the time the violation is reported;

(ii) The owner or operator does not take action to eliminate the violation within the time frame specified in an order affirmed by the council or otherwise made final pursuant to W.S. 35-11-701(c)(ii);

(iii) The violation is the result of gross negligence or recklessness; or

(iv) The department has assumed primacy over a federally delegated environmental law and a waiver of penalty authority would result in a state program less stringent than the federal program or the waiver would violate any federal rule or regulation required to maintain state primacy. If a federally delegated program requires the imposition of a penalty for a violation, the voluntary disclosure of the violation shall to the extent allowed under federal law or regulation, be considered a mitigating factor in determining the penalty amount.

(b) Reporting a violation is mandatory if required by this act, any departmental rule or regulation, federal law or regulation, local ordinance or resolution, any order of the council or by any court and is therefore not voluntary under this section.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, injunctive relief may be sought under W.S. 35-11-115.

(d) The elimination of administrative or civil penalties under this section does not apply if a person or entity has been found by a court to have committed serious violations that constitute a pattern of continuous or repeated violations of environmental laws, rules, regulations, permit conditions, settlement agreements or orders on consent and that were due to separate and distinct events giving rise to the violations, within the three (3) year period prior to the date of the disclosure. A pattern of continuous or repeated violations may also be demonstrated by multiple settlement agreements related to substantially the same alleged violations concerning serious instances of noncompliance with environmental laws that occurred within the three (3) year period immediately prior to the date of the voluntary disclosure.