(220 ILCS 20/7) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 557)

Sec. 7. Penalties; action for penalties; Commission approval of penalties.

(a) Any person violating paragraph (a) of Section 6 of this Act or any rule or order issued under this Act is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed the maximum penalties established by Section 60122(a)(1) of Title 49 of the United States Code for each day the violation persists. Such civil penalties do not apply to a violation with respect to a pipeline facility in existence on the effective date of this Act unless such violation persists one year from the effective date.

(b) Any civil penalty may be compromised by the Commission or, subject to this Act, by the pipeline safety manager. In determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, the Commission or, subject to this Act, the pipeline safety manager, as the case may be, shall consider the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of the person charged, the gravity of the violation, and the good faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve compliance, after notification of a violation. The amount of the penalty when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, shall be paid or deducted from any sums owing by the State of Illinois to the person charged pursuant to the terms and conditions of the NOPV or the agreed compromise or Commission order, as the case may be, or may be recovered in a civil action in accordance with paragraph (c) of this Section 7. Unless specifically stated otherwise in the terms and conditions of any compromise agreement, any compromise of a penalty recommended in an NOPV by the person charged shall not be deemed to be an admission of liability.

(c) Actions to recover penalties under this Act shall be brought in the name of the People of the State of Illinois in the circuit court in and for the county in which the cause or some part thereof, arose or in which the corporation complained of, if any, has its principal place of business or in which the person, if any, complained of, resides. All penalties recovered by the State in any action shall be paid into the general fund of the State Treasury. The action shall be commenced and prosecuted to final judgment by the Attorney General on behalf of the Commission. In all such actions, the procedure and rules of evidence shall conform with the Civil Practice Law and other rules of court governing civil trials.

(d) In addition the Commission may proceed under Section 4-202 of the Public Utilities Act, either by mandamus or injunction, to secure compliance with its rules, regulations and orders issued under this Act.

(e) Any person penalized under this Section is not subject, for the same cause, to any other penalty provided in the Public Utilities Act.

(f) In the event any penalty recommended by the pipeline safety manager is paid by the person charged in the applicable NOPV in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section or in accordance with the terms and conditions of a compromise, agreed upon by such person and the pipeline safety manager, then the pipeline safety manager shall report, and request approval of, each such payment of a recommended penalty or agreed compromise, as the case may be, to the Commission at a public meeting of the Commission and shall also post such report on the Commission's website as a public document subject to the requirements of Section 4-404 of the Public Utilities Act. Whenever such report and request for approval shall be made to the Commission, the Commission shall have the power, and it is hereby given authority, either upon complaint or upon its own motion, upon reasonable notice given within 45 days after such report and request for approval was made at a public meeting of the Commission, to enter upon a hearing concerning the propriety of the applicable NOPV, payment, or compromise. In the event the Commission does not exercise this power within the 45-day period, the payment or agreed compromise referenced in the report shall be deemed approved by the Commission by operation of law at the expiration of the 45-day period and the NOPV and related investigation shall be deemed closed.

(Source: P.A. 98-526, eff. 8-23-13.)