West Virginia Code 22-18-16 – Criminal penalties
(a) Any person who knowingly: (1) Transports any hazardous waste identified or listed under this article to a facility which does not have a permit required by this article, Section 3005 of the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, the laws of any other state which has an authorized hazardous waste program pursuant to Section 3006 of the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, or Title I of the federal Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act; (2) treats, stores or disposes of any such hazardous waste either: (A) Without having obtained a permit required by this article, or by Title I of the federal Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, or by Section 3005 or 3006 of the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended; or (B) in knowing violation of a material condition or requirement of such permit, is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not to exceed $50,000 for each day of violation or confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than two years, or both such fine and imprisonment or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in jail not more than one year in addition to the above fine.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 22-18-16
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Director: means the director of the Division of Environmental Protection or such other person to whom the director has delegated authority or duties pursuant to sections six or eight, article one of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
- Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air, or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
- Function: means any duty, obligation, power, authority, responsibility, right, privilege, activity or program. See West Virginia Code 22-1-2
- Hazardous waste: means a waste or combination of wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, may: (A) Cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
- Manifest: means the form used for identifying the quantity, composition and the origin, routing and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, treatment or storage. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
- Person: means any individual, trust, firm, joint stock company, public, private or government corporation, partnership, association, state or federal agency, the United States government, this state or any other state, municipality, county commission or any other political subdivision of a state or any interstate body. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Waste: means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded material including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations and from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which are point sources subject to permits under Section 402 of the federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, or source, special nuclear or by-product material as defined by the federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended. See West Virginia Code 22-18-3
(b) Any person who knowingly: (1) Makes any false material statement or representation in any application, label, manifest, record, report, permit or other document filed, maintained or used for purposes of compliance with this article; or (2) generates, stores, treats, transports, disposes of or otherwise handles any hazardous waste identified or listed under this article (whether such activity took place before or takes place after the effective date of this article) and who knowingly destroys, alters or conceals any record required to be maintained under rules promulgated by the director pursuant to this article, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not to exceed $25,000, or sentenced to imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year, or both fined and sentenced to imprisonment for each violation.
(c) Any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, is guilty of a felony, and, upon such conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than three years, or fined not more than $50,000 for each day of violation, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(d) Any person who knowingly transports, treats, stores or disposes of any hazardous waste identified or listed pursuant to this article in violation of subsection (a) of this section, or having applied for a permit pursuant to subdivision (13), subsection (a), section six or sections seven and eight of this article, and knowingly either: (1) Fails to include in a permit application any material information required pursuant to this article, or rules promulgated hereunder; or (2) fails to comply with applicable interim status requirements as provided in section eleven of this article and who thereby exhibits an unjustified and inexcusable disregard for human life or the safety of others and he or she thereby places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $250,000 or imprisoned not less than one year nor more than four years or both such fine and imprisonment.
(e) As used in subsection (d) of this section, the term "serious bodily injury" means:
(1) Bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death;
(2) Unconsciousness;
(3) Extreme physical pain;
(4) Protracted and obvious disfigurement; or
(5) Protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ or mental faculty.