§ 143-215.104Q.  (Expires January 1, 2032 - see notes) Enforcement procedures; criminal penalties.

(a) Any person who negligently commits any of the offenses set out in subdivisions (1) through (10) of G.S. 143-215.104P(a) shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor, which may include a fine not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) per day of violation, provided that the fine shall not exceed a cumulative total of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for each period of 30 days during which a violation continues.

(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully commits any of the offenses set out in subdivisions (1) through (10) of G.S. 143-215.104P(a) shall be guilty of a Class I felony, which may include a fine not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per day of violation, provided that this fine shall not exceed a cumulative total of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for each period of 30 days during which the violation continues. For the purposes of this subsection, the phrase "knowingly and willfully" shall mean "intentionally and consciously" as the courts of this State, according to the principles of common law, interpret the phrase in the light of reason and experience.

(c) (1) Any person who knowingly commits any of the offenses set out in subdivisions (3) through (10) of G.S. 143-215.104P(a) and who knows at that time that he thereby places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury shall be guilty of a Class C felony, which may include a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) per day of violation, provided that this fine shall not exceed a cumulative total of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for each period of 30 days during which the violation continues.

(2) For the purposes of this subsection, a person's state of mind is knowing with respect to:

a. His conduct, if he is aware of the nature of his conduct.

b. An existing circumstance, if he is aware or believes that the circumstance exists.

c. A result of his conduct, if he is aware or believes that his conduct is substantially certain to cause danger of death or serious bodily injury.

(3) Under this subsection, the following should be considered in determining whether a defendant who is a natural person knew that his conduct placed another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury:

a. The person is responsible only for actual awareness or actual belief that he possessed, and

b. Knowledge possessed by a person other than the defendant but not by the defendant himself may not be attributed to the defendant.

(4) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this subsection that the conduct charged was conduct consented to by the person endangered and that the danger and conduct charged were reasonably foreseeable hazards of an occupation, a business or profession, or of medical treatment or medical or scientific experimentation conducted by professionally approved methods, and the person had been made aware of the risks involved prior to giving consent. The defendant may establish an affirmative defense under this subdivision by a preponderance of the evidence.

(d) No proceeding shall be brought or continued under this section for or on account of a violation by any person who has previously been convicted of a federal violation based upon the same set of facts.

(e) In proving the defendant's possession of actual knowledge, circumstantial evidence may be used, including evidence that the defendant took affirmative steps to shield himself from relevant information. Consistent with the principles of common law, the subjective mental state of defendants may be inferred from their conduct.

(f) For the purposes of the felony provisions of this section, a person's state of mind shall not be found "knowingly and willfully" or "knowingly" if the conduct that is the subject of the prosecution is the result of any of the following occurrences or circumstances:

(1) A natural disaster or other act of God that could not have been prevented or avoided by the exercise of due care or foresight.

(2) An act of third parties other than agents, employees, contractors, or subcontractors of the defendant.

(3) An act done in reliance on the written advice or emergency on-site direction of an employee of the Department. In emergencies, oral advice may be relied upon if written confirmation is delivered to the employee as soon as practicable after receiving and relying on the advice.

(4) An act causing no significant harm to the environment or risk to public health, safety, or welfare and done in compliance with other conflicting environmental requirements or other constraints imposed in writing by environmental agencies or officials after written notice is delivered to all relevant agencies that the conflict exists and will cause a violation of the identified standard.

(5) Violations causing no significant harm to the environment or risk to public health, safety, or welfare for which no enforcement action or civil penalty could have been imposed under any written civil enforcement guidelines in use by the Department at the time. This subdivision shall not be construed to require the Department to develop or use written civil enforcement guidelines.

(6) Occasional, inadvertent, short-term violations causing no significant harm to the environment or risk to public health, safety, or welfare. If the violation occurs within 30 days of a prior violation or lasts for more than 24 hours, it is not an occasional, short-term violation.

(g) All general defenses, affirmative defenses, and bars to prosecution that may apply with respect to other criminal offenses under law may apply to prosecutions brought under this section or other criminal statutes that refer to this section and shall be determined by the courts of this State according to the principles of common law as they may be applied in light of reason and experience. Concepts of justification and excuse applicable under this section may be developed in light of reason and experience.

(h) All general defenses, affirmative defenses, and bars to prosecution that may apply with respect to other criminal offenses under law may apply to prosecutions brought under this section or other criminal statutes that refer to this section and shall be determined by the courts of this State according to the principles of common law as they may be applied in light of reason and experience. Concepts of justification and excuse applicable under this section may be developed in light of reason and experience.

(i) For purposes of this section, the term "person" means, in addition to the definition contained in G.S. 143-212, any responsible corporate or public office or employee. If a vote of the people is required to effectuate the intent and purpose of this Article by a county, city, town, or other political subdivision of the State and the vote on the referendum is against the means or machinery for carrying out the intent and purpose, then this section shall not apply to elected officials or to any responsible appointed officials or employees of the county, city, town, or other political subdivision. (1997-392, s. 1.)