Ohio Code 3746.22 – Prosecutions
(A) The attorney general, the prosecuting attorney of the county, or the city director of law of the city where a violation of section 3746.14, 3746.15, 3746.18, or 3746.20 of the Revised Code has occurred or is occurring, upon the written request of the director of environmental protection, shall criminally prosecute to termination or bring an action for injunction in any court of competent jurisdiction against any person who has violated or is violating any of those sections. The court in which an action for injunction is filed has the jurisdiction to and shall grant preliminary and permanent injunctive relief upon a showing that the person against whom the action is brought has violated or is violating any of those sections. The court shall give precedence to such an action over all other cases.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3746.22
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means any person as defined in section 1. See Ohio Code 3746.01
- Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
- Voluntary action: means a series of measures that may be undertaken to identify and address potential sources of contamination of property by hazardous substances or petroleum and to establish that the property complies with applicable standards. See Ohio Code 3746.01
- Whoever: includes all persons, natural and artificial; partners; principals, agents, and employees; and all officials, public or private. See Ohio Code 1.02
(B) Whoever violates section 3746.14, 3746.18, or 3746.20 of the Revised Code, or violates section 3746.15 of the Revised Code in a manner that otherwise would constitute a violation of Chapter 3714., 3734., or 6111. of the Revised Code or rules adopted under any of those chapters, shall pay a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars for each day of each violation. Whoever violates section 3746.15 of the Revised Code in a manner that otherwise would constitute a violation of Chapter 3704 of the Revised Code or rules adopted under it shall pay a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars for each day of each violation. The attorney general, the prosecuting attorney of the county, or the city director of law of the city where a violation of any of those sections has occurred or is occurring, upon the written request of the director, shall bring an action under this division for the imposition of a civil penalty in any court of competent jurisdiction against any person who has committed or is committing any such violation. Moneys arising from civil penalties imposed under this division shall be paid into the voluntary action program administration fund created in section 3746.16 of the Revised Code.
(C) An action for injunction or civil penalties under division (A) or (B) of this section is a civil action governed by the Rules of Civil Procedure.