Virginia Code 10.1-1425.19: Inspections and enforcement actions by the Department
A. The Department shall seek to ensure, where appropriate, that any inspections conducted pursuant to Chapters 13 (§ 10.1-1300 et seq.) and 14 (§ 10.1-1400 et seq.) of this title and Chapter 3.1 of Title 62.1 (i) are multimedia in approach; (ii) are performed by teams of inspectors authorized to represent the air, water and solid waste programs within the Department; and (iii) minimize duplication of inspections, reporting requirements, and enforcement efforts.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 10.1-1425.19
- Department: means the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
- 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 an individual, corporation, partnership, association, governmental body, municipal corporation, or any other legal entity. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
- Pollution prevention: means eliminating or reducing the use, generation or release at the source of environmental waste. See Virginia Code 10.1-1425.10
- Solid waste: means any garbage, refuse, sludge, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, or community activities, but does not include (i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage; (ii) solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or in industrial discharges that are sources subject to a permit from the State Water Control Board; (iii) source, special nuclear, or by-product material as defined by the Federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; or (iv) post-use polymers or recovered feedstocks that are (a) processed at an advanced recycling facility or (b) held at or held for the purpose of conversion at such advanced recycling facility prior to conversion. See Virginia Code 10.1-1400
B. The Department may allow any person found to be violating any law or standard for which the Department has enforcement jurisdiction to develop a plan to reduce the use or generation of toxic or hazardous substances through pollution prevention incentives or initiatives and, to the maximum extent possible, implement the plan as part of coming into compliance with the violated law or standard. This shall in no way affect the Commonwealth’s ability and responsibility to seek penalties in enforcement activities.
1994, c. 169.