Limited liability exceptions

Violations Ineligible for Liability Protections

The Enviro-Check law contains specific protections that prevent use of the law to deflect penalties for known or serious violations. This law does not provide limited liability under any of the following circumstances:

• The disclosed violation presents an imminent threat or may cause serious harm to public health or the environment;
• The facility discovers the violation before beginning the compliance audit;
• The DNR discovers the violation first (before the facility submits a final report);
• The violation is identified through monitoring or sampling required by permit, statute, rule, judicial or administrative order or consent agreement;
• The violation is a repeat violation of the same requirement at the same facility committed in the same manner, unless it was caused by a change in business processes or activities; and
• The violation results in a substantial economic benefit that gives the facility a clear competitive business advantage.