§ 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.