(a) The board and enforcement agencies shall impose civil penalties on the operators of solid waste facilities in a judicious manner and shall impose those penalties only after all reasonable efforts pursuant to Section 45010.2 have been made by enforcement agencies to provide proper notice of violations to alleged violators as well as a reasonable opportunity to bring solid waste facilities and disposal sites into compliance with this division.
(b) An enforcement agency shall not deposit funds collected through the imposition of civil penalties pursuant to this article in the General Fund of the local enforcement agency, but instead shall deposit those funds in a segregated account and use those funds exclusively for enhancing solid waste enforcement within the local enforcement agency’s jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Increasing enforcement programs.
(2) Expanding the agency’s enforcement capabilities.
(3) Bringing solid waste facilities into compliance with this division.
(4) Remediating illegal or abandoned solid waste disposal sites.
(c) Civil penalties paid to the board pursuant to this article shall be deposited in the Enforcement Penalty Account, which is hereby established in the Solid Waste Disposal Site Cleanup Trust Fund created pursuant to Section 48027. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 48027, the moneys in the Enforcement Penalty Account may be expended by the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce and implement this division.
(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 500, Sec. 21. Effective January 1, 2009.)