Environmental violations with the potential to pollute the county’s ground and surface waters, including Biscayne Bay, now carry heftier fines. This includes pollution discharges to ground or surface waters and prohibited discharges to sanitary sewers or to stormwater sewers.
At a minimum, fines have doubled for certain violations, such as failing to obtain an operating permit; but in many cases, fines have quadrupled or more.
The ordinance that amends the County Code to allow the fine increase also provides escalating civil penalties for second, third and subsequent offenses, every time a DERM inspector investigates and finds a violation has occurred. It also addresses all responsible parties and places a greater penalty burden on contractors who knowingly break the law.
The public is encouraged to report environmental violations to DERM via the 311Direct app, online or by emailing environmentalcomplaints@miamidade.gov.
Original source can be found here.
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