(a) The department may enforce in the court for the county in which a response action exempted pursuant to Section 79290 is located any federal or state law, rule, regulation, standard, requirements, criteria, or limitation with which the remedial or removal action is required to comply.

(b) (1) Any consent decree entered into pursuant to an enforcement action authorized by this section shall require the parties to attempt expeditiously to informally resolve any disagreements concerning the implementation of the response action with the appropriate federal and state agencies and shall provide for administrative enforcement.

(2) The consent decree shall stipulate that the penalty for violation of the consent decree shall be an amount not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per day, which may be enforced by the state. These penalties do not impair or affect the authority of the court to order compliance with the specific terms of the consent decree.

(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 257, Sec. 2. (AB 2293) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 4 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 257.)