Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 48:10-11

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
1. a. Any person who violates any provision of the Natural Gas Safety Act, P.L.1952, c.166 (C. 48:10-2 et seq.) as amended and supplemented or any order, rule, or regulation issued thereunder, shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $200,000 for each violation for each day that the violation persists; however, the maximum civil penalty shall not exceed $2,000,000 for any related series of violations.

b. Any civil penalty imposed pursuant to subsection a. of this section may be compromised by the Board of Public Utilities. In determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, 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, shall be considered. The amount of the penalty, when finally determined, or the amount agreed upon in compromise, may be deducted from any sums owing by the State to the person charged or may be recovered in a summary proceeding in accordance with the “Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999,” P.L.1999, c.274 (C. 2A:58-10 et seq.). The Superior Court and the municipal court shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of P.L.1952, c.166 (C. 48:10-2 et seq.).

L.1971, c.62; amended 1991, c.91, s.473; 2007, c.118, s.3; 2019, c.4, s.3.