Section 12-5-53. Criminal penalty

   (a) Any person who violates any provision of this article or any permit condition or limitation established pursuant to this article or who fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with any final order of a court lawfully issued as provided in this article or who violates any requirement imposed in a pretreatment program approved by the director or who introduces into a sewer system or into a publicly owned treatment works any pollutant or hazardous substance which causes or may reasonably be anticipated to cause personal injury or property damage or which causes such treatment works to violate any effluent limitation or condition in any permit issued to the treatment works pursuant to this article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $2,500.00 per day nor more than $25,000.00 per day of violation, or imprisoned no more than one year, or both. If the conviction is for a violation committed after a first conviction of such person under this subsection, punishment shall be by a fine of not more than $50,000.00 per day of violation, by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.

(b) Any person who knowingly makes any false statement, representation, or certification in any application, record, report, plan, or other document filed or required to be maintained by this article or by any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued under this article, or who falsifies, tampers with, or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required to be maintained by this article or by any permit, rule, regulation, or order issued under this article, shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $10,000.00, imprisoned not more than two years, or both. If the conviction is for a violation committed after a first conviction of such person under this subsection, punishment shall be by a fine of not more than $20,000.00 per day of violation, or by imprisonment for not more than four years, or both.

(c) Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this article or any permit condition or limitation established pursuant to this article or who knowingly fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with any final order of a court lawfully issued as provided in this article or who knowingly violates any requirement imposed in a pretreatment program approved by the director or who knowingly introduces into a sewer system or into a publicly owned treatment works any pollutant or hazardous substance which causes or may reasonably be anticipated to cause personal injury or property damage or which causes such treatment works to violate any effluent limitation or condition in any permit issued to the treatment works pursuant to this article shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5,000.00 per day nor more than $50,000.00 per day of violation or by imprisonment for not more than two years, or both. If the conviction is for a violation committed after the first conviction of such person under this subsection, punishment shall be by a fine of not more than $100,000.00 per day of violation or by imprisonment for not more than four years, or both.

(d) Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this article or any permit condition or limitation established pursuant to this article or who knowingly fails, neglects, or refuses to comply with any final order of a court lawfully issued as provided in this article and who knows at that time that he thereby places another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $250,000.00 or imprisonment of not more than 15 years, or both. A defendant that is an organization shall, upon conviction of violating this subsection, be subject to a fine of not more than $1 million. The following provisions apply for the purpose of this subsection:

   (1) In determining whether a defendant who is an individual knew that his conduct placed another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, the person is responsible only for actual awareness or actual belief that he possessed, and knowledge possessed by a person other than the defendant but not by the defendant himself may not be attributed to the defendant; except that in proving the defendant's possession of actual knowledge, circumstantial evidence may be used, including evidence that the defendant took affirmative steps to shield himself from relevant information;

   (2) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that the conduct charged was consented to by the person endangered and that the danger and conduct charged were reasonably foreseeable hazards of an occupation, a business, a profession, medical treatment, or medical or scientific experimentation conducted by professionally approved methods and that the person endangered had been made aware of the risks involved prior to giving consent. Such defense must be established by the preponderance of the evidence;

   (3) The term "organization" means a legal entity, other than a government, established or organized for any purpose, and such term includes a corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, joint stock company, foundation, institution, trust, society, union, or any other association of persons; and

   (4) The term "serious bodily injury" means bodily injury which involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.

(e) It shall be an affirmative defense under subsections (a) and (c) of this Code section that the introduction of any pollutant or hazardous substance into a sewer system or a publicly owned treatment works was in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local requirements which govern the introduction of a pollutant or hazardous substance into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works.

Ga. L. 1964, p. 416, § 22; Ga. L. 1974, p. 599, § 14; Ga. L. 1986, p. 350, § 5.