Any penalty for violation of any provision of this act, or of any rule, regulation, general order, or order of the commission, involving safety standards for pipeline facilities or the transportation of gas in the State of California may be compromised by the commission. In determining the amount of such penalty, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, the appropriateness of such 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, shall be considered. The amount of any such penalty, when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, may be recovered in a civil action in the name of the People of the State of California in the superior court in and for the county, or city and county in which the cause or some part thereof arose, or in which the corporation complained of has its principal place of business or the person complained of resides. In any such action, all penalties incurred, or amounts agreed upon in compromise for violations committed up to the time of commencing the action may be sued for and recovered. In all such actions, the procedure and rules of evidence shall be the same as in ordinary civil actions, except as otherwise herein provided. All fines and penalties recovered by the state in any such action, together with the costs thereof, shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the General Fund.

(Added by Stats. 1970, Ch. 520.)