{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-350.990","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 350.990","heading":"Penalties.","body":"(1) Any permittee, person, or operator who violates any of the provisions of this chapter\nor administrative regulations promulgated pursuant thereto or who fails to perform\nthe duties imposed by these provisions, except the refusal or failure to obtain a\npermit or other authorization as provided in this chapter, or who violates any\ndetermination or order issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, may be\nliable to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for the\nviolation, and an a dditional civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars\n($5,000) for each day during which the violation continues, and in addition, may be\nenjoined from continuing the violations provided in this section. Any permittee,\noperator, or person who fails to abate a violation noted in a notice of noncompliance\nor an order for immediate compliance and cessation within the time period\nprescribed for the abatement shall be assessed a civil penalty of not less than seven\nhundred fifty dollars ($750) for each day during which the violation continues. Any\nperson issued an order pursuant to KRS 350.130(4) shall be assessed a civil penalty\nof not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation cited in the\nunderlying notice of noncompliance issued ther ewith. No separate civil penalty\nshall be assessed for the order issued pursuant to KRS 350.130(4). Each day of\ncontinuing violation may be deemed a separate violation for purposes of penalty\nassessment. The cabinet shall develop a method for calculating m onetary penalties\nand shall promulgate it as an administrative regulation. The secretary or a\ndesignated representative, upon his or her own initiative or upon written request\nreceived within fifteen (15) days after the cabinet mails its proposed penalty\nassessment, may waive the use of the method for calculating monetary penalties if\nhe or she determines that, taking into account exceptional factors present in the\nparticular case, the penalty is demonstrably unjust. The basis for every waiver shall\nbe fully explained and documented in the records of the case. If the secretary or his\nor her designated representative waives the use of the formula, he or she shall\ndetermine the appropriate penalty upon consideration of the permittee's history of\nprevious violations at the particular surface coal mining operation, the seriousness\nof the violation, whether the permittee was negligent, and the demonstrated good\nfaith of the permittee charged in attempting to achieve rapid compliance after\nnotification of the violation. The penalties shall be recoverable in an action brought\nin the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky by the cabinet. The Franklin Circuit\nCourt shall hold concurrent jurisdiction and venue of all civil and injunctive actions\ninstituted by the cabinet for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter or the\norders and administrative regulations of the cabinet promulgated pursuant thereto.\nAll sums recovered shall be placed in the State Treasury, except those moneys\ncollected in excess of eight hundr ed thousand dollars ($800,000) in any fiscal year\nshall be deposited into the restricted fund account of the Office of the\nCommissioner of the Department for Natural Resources to be disbursed for the\npurposes set out in KRS Chapters 350, 351, and 352. All moneys previously\ndeposited in the abandoned mine land enhancement fund shall be redeposited in the\nreclamation guaranty fund.\n(2) Any person or operator who engages in surface coal mining operations without first\nsecuring a permit, as provided in KRS 350. 060, or any person who engages in coal\nexploration operations, exclusive of core drilling, without proper authorization, as\nrequired by the cabinet pursuant to KRS 350.057 or administrative regulations\npromulgated pursuant thereto, or any person or operato r who engages in other\nmining operations, without proper authorization as required by this chapter or\nadministrative regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, shall be liable to a civil\npenalty for damages to the Commonwealth of not less than five thousand  dollars\n($5,000) nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) and in addition, may\nbe enjoined from continuing the violations. Each day shall constitute a separate\nviolation. In addition to the foregoing penalties, any permittee, person, or operat or\nwho fails to abate a violation of KRS 350.060 or KRS 350.029 or KRS 350.057, as\nnoted in a notice of noncompliance or an order for immediate compliance and\ncessation within the time period prescribed for the abatement, shall be assessed an\nadditional civil penalty of not less than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) for each\nday during which the violation continues. However, the penalties provided in\nsubsection (1) of this section shall apply in lieu of the penalties provided in this\nsubsection where an o perator or permittee through inadvertence has exceeded the\nboundaries or expiration date of the permit in effect at that time.\n(3) The cabinet shall bring an action for the recovery of penalties and bring an action\nfor a restraining order, temporary or per manent injunction, against any permittee,\noperator, or person violating or threatening to violate any of the provisions of this\nchapter or violating or threatening to violate any order or determination issued\npursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The  Franklin Circuit Court shall hold\nconcurrent jurisdiction and venue of all civil and injunctive actions instituted by the\ncabinet for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter or the orders and\nadministrative regulations of the cabinet promulgated pursuant thereto.\n(4) Any permittee, operator, or person who knowingly and willfully violates any of the\nprovisions of this chapter, except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, or\nany determination or order issued pursuant to the sections of thi s chapter which\nhave become final, shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Each day on which\nthe violation occurs may constitute a separate offense.\n(5) (a) Any person or operator who, in violation of KRS 350.060(1)(a) willfully and\nknowingly engages in surface coal mining operations without first obtaining a\npermit from the cabinet, or any person or operator who willfully and\nknowingly engages in coal exploration operations, exclusive of core drilling,\nwithout proper authorization, as required by the cab inet pursuant to KRS\n350.057 or administrative regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, or any\nperson or operator who willfully and knowingly engages in other mining\noperations without proper authorization as required by this chapter or\nadministrative reg ulations promulgated pursuant thereto, with the intent to\nviolate the laws, shall be guilty of a Class D felony.\n(b) Any person or operator who in violation of KRS 350.060(1)(b) willfully and\nknowingly receives, transports, sells, conveys, transfers, trade s, exchanges,\ndonates, purchases, delivers, or in any way derives benefit from coal removed\nfrom any surface mining operations conducted in violation of KRS\n350.060(1)(a) or 350.057 shall be guilty of a Class D felony.\n(6) Any person who violates any of th e provisions of KRS 350.600 or administrative\nregulations promulgated pursuant thereto shall be subject to civil penalties of not\nmore than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). Each day of continuing violation\nshall be deemed a separate violation.\n(7) Any permittee, operator, or person who knowingly makes any false statement,\nrepresentation, or certification, or knowingly fails to make any statement,\nrepresentation, or certification in any application, record, report, plan, or other\ndocument filed or required to be maintained by the cabinet, shall upon conviction be\nguilty of a Class A misdemeanor.\n(8) Except as permitted by law, any permittee, operator, or person who willfully and\nknowingly resists, prevents, impedes, or interferes with the secretary or other\npersonnel of the cabinet in the performance of duties pursuant to this chapter shall\nbe guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.\n(9) When a corporate permittee violates any provision of this chapter or administrative\nregulation promulgated pursuant thereto or fails or refuses to comply with any final\norder issued by the secretary, any director, officer, or agent of the corporation who\nwillfully and knowingly authorized, ordered, or carried out the violation, failure, or\nrefusal shall be subject to the same ci vil penalties, fines, and imprisonment as may\nbe imposed upon a person pursuant to this section.\n(10) Upon notice by the secretary that any surety has failed to comply with the\nprovisions of KRS 350.032(3), the commissioner of the Kentucky Department of\nInsurance shall revoke the surety's certificate of authority to conduct insurance\nbusiness within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.\n(11) The cabinet, upon written request by any permittee, person, or operator subject to\nany penalty assessment under this section and pursuant to procedures, if any, set\nforth by administrative regulation and after consultation with the local county fiscal\ncourt, may allow as an alternative to the payment of any assessed penalty under this\nsection the performance of in -kind reclamati on, environmental rehabilitation, or\nsimilar action to correct environmental pollution. The in -kind work shall not\nsubstitute for those remedial measures mandated by the cabinet for the correction of\nany violations. The estimated cost of the in -kind work s hall be greater than the\npenalty assessment. The cabinet's Division of Abandoned Mine Lands shall have\nthe authority to approve proposed in-kind projects and to recommend projects to the\ncabinet, and shall determine whether the estimated cost of the in -kind work exceeds\nthe penalty assessment. For the purposes of this subsection, the cost of the in -kind\nwork shall include only those expenditures for actual on -site reclamation or\nrehabilitation work, including direct equipment, personnel, and material cost, but\nexcluding administrative overhead or transportation costs. Failure to perform the in-\nkind work as agreed upon by the person or operator subject to the penalty\nassessment shall reinstate the liability of the person, permittee, or operator for the\nfull a mount of the assessed penalty. The cabinet may prepare and promulgate\nadministrative regulations as are necessary to implement and administer the\nprovisions of this subsection.","path":["KRS Chapter 350"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47731","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:36Z","sha256":"aa91e56c4a5559c0d5ecaa3fe52a5f520658246870d2ddae88a669bfa41e78ec","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-350.755","next":"us-ky/krs-351.010"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}