Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549), article 79

79. (1) All expenses reasonably incurred by the Authority in the exercise of its powers or any other amount due to the Authority under this Act or regulations made th ereunder, shall be recoverable a s a civil debt by the Authority from the person against whom the order ha s been issued, or from any person responsible in any manner for the ac ts mentioned in the order, including an order for payment, or from an applicant, subject to such right of recovery that such person m ay have against any other person. (2) Where the Authority desires to sue for the recovery of a debt due to the Authority under any law or regulation which it is entitled to enforce, the Chairperson or an officer of the Autho rity duly authorised by the Authority to act on its behalf may make a declaration on oath before the Court Registrar or before any ot her officer authorised to administer the oath in judicial matters, wherein he states the nature of the debt and the name of the de btor and confirm that it is due. (3) The declaration referred to in sub-article (2) shall be serv ed upon the debtor by means of a judicial act and it shall have th e same effect as a final judgement of the competent court unless the debtor shall, within a period of twenty days from service upon him of the said declaration, oppose the claim by filing an applicat ion demanding that the court d eclare the claim unfounded. (4) The application filed in terms of sub-article (3) shall be served upon the Authority, which shall be entitled to file a re ply within a period of twenty days. The court shall appoint the application for hearing on a date after the lapse of that perio d. (5) Any debts due to the Authority shall be prescribed by the lapse of the period of five years from the date on which the de bt was due. Special procedure.80. (1) The Authority may impose an administrative fine upon 58 [CAP. 549. ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION any person: (a) who infringes any provision of this Act, regulations prescribed thereunder or of any other law with which the Authority is entitled to secure compliance and to enforce; or (b) who fails to comply with any directive or decision given by the Authority whether under this Act, regulations prescribed ther eunder or under any other law with which the Authority is entitled to secure compliance and to enforce; or (c) who fails to abide by any stop order or compliance order and the provisions therein; or (d) who fails to comply with any condition of any authorisation granted under this Act, including with failure to provide data or information required in authorisation conditions in a timely and/or appropriate manner: Provided that if the infringement is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent , or involvement of, or to be attributable to, any gross negligen ce on the part of a person being a dire ctor, manager, secretary or ot her officer, however so described, of such body corporate or a pers on who was purporting to act in any such capacity then such person and such body corporate shall be responsible for the said infringement and shall be jointly and severally liable for the payment of any administrative penalty imposed by the Authority as a consequence thereof. (2) An administrative fine imposed under sub-article (1) shall not exceed one hundred thousand euro (€100,000) for each contravention or one thousand five hundred euro (€1,500) for ea ch day of non-compliance, from the date of the notice of the imposition of the administrative fine given by the Authority. Proceedings when imposing administrative fines.