Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 40 of chapter 82 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1984 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Any person, contractor or company found by the department of public utilities, after a hearing, to have violated any provision of this section shall forfeit to the commonwealth the sum of two hundred dollars for the first offense and not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars for any subsequent offense.

SECTION 2. Section 105A of chapter 164 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following two paragraphs:-

Any person, firm or corporation who violates any provision of any code adopted by the department pertaining to the safety of pipeline facilities and the transportation of gas, or of any regulation or rule thereunder, at a time when the department has submitted and has in effect the annual certification to the United States Secretary of Transportation provided for in section five A of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act amendments of 1974 (see section 1674 of Title 49 of the United States Code), shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars for each violation for each day that the violation persists; provided, however, that the maximum civil penalty shall not exceed two hundred thousand dollars for any related series of violations.

Any such civil penalty shall be determined by the department. In determining the amount of the penalty, the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of the person, firm, or corporation charged, the gravity of the violation, and the good faith of the person, firm or corporation charged in attempting to achieve compliance, after notification of a violation, shall be considered. The amount of the penalty, when finally determined, may be deducted from any sums which the commonwealth may owe to the person, firm or corporation charged or may be recovered in a civil action commenced in the superior court.