Athens City Code

Any person who shall commit any act declared unlawful under this chapter, who violates any provision of this chapter, who violates the provisions of any permit issued pursuant to this chapter, or who fails or refuses to comply with any lawful communication or notice to abate or take corrective action by the City, shall be guilty of a civil offense.

1. (1) Penalties. Under the authority provided in Tennessee Code Annotated § 68-221-1106, the City declares that any person violating the provisions of this chapter may be assessed a civil penalty by the City of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) per day for each day of violation. Each day of violation shall constitute a separate violation.
2. (2) Measuring civil penalties. In assessing a civil penalty, the City shall consider:
   1. (a) The harm done to the public health or the environment;
   2. (b) Whether the civil penalty imposed will be a substantial economic deterrent to the illegal activity;
   3. (c) The economic benefit gained by the violator;
   4. (d) The amount of effort put forth by the violator to remedy this violation;
   5. (e) Any unusual or extraordinary enforcement costs incurred by the City;
   6. (f) The amount of penalty established by ordinance or resolution for specific categories of violations; and
   7. (g) Any equities of the situation which outweigh the benefit of imposing any penalty or damage assessment.
3. (3) Recovery of damages and costs. In addition to the civil penalty in subsection (2) above, the City may recover:
   1. (a) All damages proximately caused by the violator to the City, which may include any reasonable expenses incurred in investigating violations of, and enforcing compliance with, this chapter, or any other actual damages caused by the violation.
   2. (b) The costs of the City’s maintenance of stormwater facilities when the user of such facilities fails to maintain them as required by this chapter.
4. (4) Referral to TDEC. In accordance with the City’s Enforcement Response Plan and the NPDES Permit requirements, the City may also notify TDEC of violations.
5. (5) Other remedies. The City may bring legal action to enjoin the continuing violation of this chapter, and the existence of any other remedy, at law or equity, shall be no defense to any such actions.
6. (6) Remedies cumulative. The remedies set forth in this section shall be cumulative, not exclusive, and it shall not be a defense to any action, civil or criminal, that one (1) or more of the remedies set forth herein has been sought or granted.