A. Any person who violates or refuses, fails, or neglects to comply with any regulation or order of the Board, Director, or Inspector, any condition of a permit, or any provision of this chapter is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
B. In addition, any person who violates any regulation or order of the Board, Director, or Inspector, any condition of a permit, or any provision of this chapter shall upon such finding by an appropriate circuit court be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each day of such violation. All civil penalties under this section shall be recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General in the name of the Commonwealth. The court shall direct that all civil penalties assessed under this section be paid into the treasury of the county or city where the gas, oil, or geophysical operation determined by the court to be in violation is located.
C. The Board, with the consent of the gas, oil, or geophysical operator, may provide in an order issued by the Board against such operator for the payment of civil penalties for past violations in specific sums not to exceed the limit specified in subsection B. Such civil penalties shall be instead of any appropriate civil penalty that could be imposed under this section and shall not be subject to the provisions of § 2.2-514. Civil penalties collected under this section shall be paid into the treasury of the county or city where the gas, oil, or geophysical operation subject to the order issued by the Board is located.
1982, c. 347, §§ 45.1-358, 45.1-360; 1984, c. 590; 1990, c. 92, § 45.1-361.8; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.
Structure Code of Virginia
Title 45.2 - Mines, Minerals, and Energy
Chapter 16 - Virginia Gas and Oil Act
§ 45.2-1601. Regulation of coal surface mining not affected by chapter
§ 45.2-1602. Construction; purposes
§ 45.2-1603. Virginia Gas and Oil Board; membership; compensation
§ 45.2-1604. Duties and responsibilities of the Director; Virginia Gas and Oil Inspector
§ 45.2-1605. Exclusivity of regulation and enforcement
§ 45.2-1607. Expenditure of funds
§ 45.2-1608. Violations; penalties
§ 45.2-1609. Appeals; venue; standing
§ 45.2-1610. Copy of lease to lessor
§ 45.2-1611. Objections by coal owner
§ 45.2-1612. Distance limitations of certain wells
§ 45.2-1613. Meetings of the Board; notice; general powers and duties
§ 45.2-1614. Additional duties and responsibilities of the Board
§ 45.2-1615. Applicability and construction
§ 45.2-1616. Statewide spacing of wells
§ 45.2-1617. Voluntary pooling of interests in drilling units; validity of unit agreements
§ 45.2-1618. Notice of hearing; standing; form of hearing
§ 45.2-1619. Field rules and drilling units for wells; hearings and orders
§ 45.2-1620. Pooling of interests in drilling units
§ 45.2-1621. Coalbed methane gas; ownership
§ 45.2-1622. Pooling of interests for coalbed methane gas wells; conflicting claims to ownership
§ 45.2-1623. Conflicting claims of ownership; arbitration
§ 45.2-1625. Appeals of the Director's decisions; notices; hearings and orders
§ 45.2-1627. Standing when Director or Board fails to act
§ 45.2-1628. Recording of orders
§ 45.2-1629. Duties, responsibilities, and authority of the Director
§ 45.2-1630. Powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Inspector
§ 45.2-1632. Notice of permit applications and permit modification applications required; content
§ 45.2-1633. Bonding and financial security required
§ 45.2-1634. Gas and Oil Plugging and Restoration Fund
§ 45.2-1635. Expiration of permits
§ 45.2-1636. Abandonment or cessation of well or corehole operation; plugging required
§ 45.2-1637. Objections to permits; hearing
§ 45.2-1638. Appeals of Director's decisions to the Board
§ 45.2-1639. Persons required to register; designated agents
§ 45.2-1640. Report of permitted activities and production required; contents
§ 45.2-1641. Developing a gas or oil well as a water well
§ 45.2-1642. Orphaned Well Fund; orphaned wells
§ 45.2-1643. Interference by injection wells with groundwater supply
§ 45.2-1644. Safety in coalbed methane gas, oil, and geophysical operations
§ 45.2-1645. Chesapeake Bay; drilling for gas or oil prohibited
§ 45.2-1646. Tidewater Virginia; drilling for gas or oil prohibited in certain areas
§ 45.2-1647. Hydraulic fracturing; groundwater management area