(a) A person who violates any of the following shall be liable civilly in accordance with this section: (1) Section 13375 or 13376. (2) A waste discharge requirement or dredged or fill material permit issued pursuant to this chapter or any water quality certification issued pursuant to Section 13160. (3) A requirement established pursuant to Section 13383. (4) An order or prohibition issued pursuant to Section 13243 or Article 1 (commencing with Section 13300) of Chapter 5, if the activity subject to the order or prohibition is subject to regulation under this chapter. (5) A requirement of Section 301, 302, 306, 307, 308, 318, 401, or 405 of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1311, 1312, 1316, 1317, 1318, 1341, or 1345), as amended. (6) A requirement imposed in a pretreatment program approved pursuant to waste discharge requirements issued under Section 13377 or approved pursuant to a permit issued by the administrator. (b) (1) Civil liability may be imposed by the superior court in an amount not to exceed the sum of both of the following: (A) Twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day in which the violation occurs. (B) Where there is a discharge, any portion of which is not susceptible to cleanup or is not cleaned up, and the volume discharged but not cleaned up exceeds 1,000 gallons, an additional liability not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) multiplied by the number of gallons by which the volume discharged but not cleaned up exceeds 1,000 gallons. (2) The Attorney General, upon request of a regional board or the state board, shall petition the superior court to impose the liability. (c) Civil liability may be imposed administratively by the state board or a regional board pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 13323) of Chapter 5 in an amount not to exceed the sum of both of the following: (1) Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day in which the violation occurs. (2) Where there is a discharge, any portion of which is not susceptible to cleanup or is not cleaned up, and the volume discharged but not cleaned up exceeds 1,000 gallons, an additional liability not to exceed ten dollars ($10) multiplied by the number of gallons by which the volume discharged but not cleaned up exceeds 1,000 gallons. (d) For purposes of subdivisions (b) and (c), âdischargeâ includes any discharge to navigable waters of the United States, any introduction of pollutants into a publicly owned treatment works, or any use or disposal of sewage sludge. (e) In determining the amount of any liability imposed under this section, the regional board, the state board, or the superior court, as the case may be, shall take into account the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation or violations, whether the discharge is susceptible to cleanup or abatement, the degree of toxicity of the discharge, and, with respect to the violator, the ability to pay, the effect on its ability to continue its business, any voluntary cleanup efforts undertaken, any prior history of violations, the degree of culpability, economic benefit or savings, if any, resulting from the violation, and other matters that justice may require. At a minimum, liability shall be assessed at a level that recovers the economic benefits, if any, derived from the acts that constitute the violation. (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for the purposes of this section, a single operational upset that leads to simultaneous violations of more than one pollutant parameter shall be treated as a single violation. (2) (A) For the purposes of subdivisions (h) and (i), a single operational upset in a wastewater treatment unit that treats wastewater using a biological treatment process shall be treated as a single violation, even if the operational upset results in violations of more than one effluent limitation and the violations continue for a period of more than one day, if all of the following apply: (i) The discharger demonstrates all of t
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