25516. (a) A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty, whether by settlement or court order, under Section 25515 or 25515.2, as determined by the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the civil penalty collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b) A person who provides information that materially contributes to the conviction of a person or business under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3, as determined by the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the fine collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the fine collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(c) An informant shall not be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the unified program agency, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(d) If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the person making the first notification received by the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General that brought the action shall be eligible for the reward, except that, if the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(e) Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in this state are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), unless the providing of the information does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(f) An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business has violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employee’s primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(g) The unified program agency or the state shall pay rewards under this section pursuant to the following procedures:
(1) An application shall be signed by the informant and presented to the unified program agency or the state within 60 days after a final judgment has been entered or the period for an appeal of a judgment has expired.
(2) The determination by the district attorney, city attorney, or Attorney General as to whether the information provided by the applicant materially contributed to the imposition of a judgment under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3 shall be final.
(3) The unified program agency or the state shall notify the applicant in writing of its decision to grant or deny a reward within a reasonable time period following the filing of an application.
(4) Approved reward claims shall be paid by the unified program agency or the state within 30 days of the collection and deposit of the penalties specified in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(h) The names of reward applicants or informants shall not be disclosed by the unified program agency or the state unless the names are otherwise publicly disclosed as part of a judicial proceeding.
(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, rewards paid by the state shall only be paid after appropriation by the Legislature.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 115, Sec. 33. (AB 148) Effective July 22, 2021.)