TALLAHASSEE - Penalties will increase for major environmental violations to try to stop
companies from thinking of low fines as simply a cost of doing business, the state’s top
environmental official said Wednesday.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole said the stiffer penalties
will likely be applied in about 10 percent of enforcement actions taken by the agency.
The minimum penalty for improper storage, treatment or disposal of
hazardous waste will go from $100 to $500 and the maximum will
increase from $25,000 per day to $32,000 per day. Under the new
guidelines. In a few cases, fines for such hazardous waste violations
could go as high as $50,000 a day, Sole said.
Also, Sole said the agency would start collecting true per day fines
in more cases. In the past, a per -day fine has often been levied on
the first day of a violation, but much smaller penalties have been
assessed on subsequent days until the violation stops, Sole said.
Another key difference in the way penalties will be handled involves
whether a company’s violation of environmental rules results in an economic benefit, Soles
aid. That can already be factored in when calculating a penalty, but rarely is.
Such economic benefits now will result in higher penalties, Sole said. For example, if star-
ting work before completing a permit results in speeding up the opening of a development,
saving a Developer $10,000, the ultimate penalty would likely go up by $10,000, to erase
that savings.
Environmental activists have complained for years that the DEP’ s approach to enforcing
pollution. rules has been too lax.
“Businesses have long known that if they do pay a penalty it’s going to be minimal,” said
Mark Ferrulo, director of the advocacy group Environment Florida. “It often pays to pollute
in Florida, Where it’s actually cheaper to pay the fines than to invest the money in cleaning
up the source of the pollution.”
Ferrulo said that new Gov. Charlie Christ had a strong record on enforcing environmental
laws when he was attorney general, and that he thought the current move toward tougher
enforcement at the DEP was partly a reflection of that
“Environmental enforcement has always had a carrot but it’s never had a stick, and I think
it’s great news that DEP is now going to carry a bigger stick,” Ferrulo said. “Because we’re
talking about direct impacts on public health that many of these violations have.”
Besides hazardous waste cases, higher penalties also will be in effect in cases where com-
panies are repeat violators, cases that cause what the agency considers significant harm
to the environment, and violations that go on for a long time.
companies from thinking of low fines as simply a cost of doing business, the state’s top
environmental official said Wednesday.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole said the stiffer penalties
will likely be applied in about 10 percent of enforcement actions taken by the agency.
The minimum penalty for improper storage, treatment or disposal of
hazardous waste will go from $100 to $500 and the maximum will
increase from $25,000 per day to $32,000 per day. Under the new
guidelines. In a few cases, fines for such hazardous waste violations
could go as high as $50,000 a day, Sole said.
Also, Sole said the agency would start collecting true per day fines
in more cases. In the past, a per -day fine has often been levied on
the first day of a violation, but much smaller penalties have been
assessed on subsequent days until the violation stops, Sole said.
Another key difference in the way penalties will be handled involves
whether a company’s violation of environmental rules results in an economic benefit, Soles
aid. That can already be factored in when calculating a penalty, but rarely is.
Such economic benefits now will result in higher penalties, Sole said. For example, if star-
ting work before completing a permit results in speeding up the opening of a development,
saving a Developer $10,000, the ultimate penalty would likely go up by $10,000, to erase
that savings.
Environmental activists have complained for years that the DEP’ s approach to enforcing
pollution. rules has been too lax.
“Businesses have long known that if they do pay a penalty it’s going to be minimal,” said
Mark Ferrulo, director of the advocacy group Environment Florida. “It often pays to pollute
in Florida, Where it’s actually cheaper to pay the fines than to invest the money in cleaning
up the source of the pollution.”
Ferrulo said that new Gov. Charlie Christ had a strong record on enforcing environmental
laws when he was attorney general, and that he thought the current move toward tougher
enforcement at the DEP was partly a reflection of that
“Environmental enforcement has always had a carrot but it’s never had a stick, and I think
it’s great news that DEP is now going to carry a bigger stick,” Ferrulo said. “Because we’re
talking about direct impacts on public health that many of these violations have.”
Besides hazardous waste cases, higher penalties also will be in effect in cases where com-
panies are repeat violators, cases that cause what the agency considers significant harm
to the environment, and violations that go on for a long time.
FLORIDA WATER BLAST, INC. Clearwater Florida Ph. 1-800-966-0614
