(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a person who offers for retail sale or for promotional purposes a product in a package or in a packaging component that includes a regulated metal shall not be subject to any administrative or civil penalty for a violation of this article, if the person proves, by a preponderance of evidence, all of the following:
(1) The person received a certificate of compliance for the package or packaging component from the manufacturer or supplier.
(2) The certificate of compliance received pursuant to paragraph (1) stated that the package or packaging component is in compliance with the requirements of this article.
(3) The person relied on the certificate of compliance and did not know or had no reason to know that the package or packaging component was in violation of this article.
(4) Upon receiving a notice of violation from the department, the person took corrective action by immediately removing the package or packaging component from commerce.
(b) The affirmative defense specified in subdivision (a) does not apply to, and may not be raised by, a person who has been found to be in violation of this article on at least two prior occasions in the preceding three years from the filing date of the current action.
(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 575, Sec. 16. Effective January 1, 2009.)