A Notice of Violation (NOV) is correspondence from DEQ that is sent to a person when an inspection or a review of agency records indicate that a violation of a law or regulation may have occurred. An NOV is not a case decision or final agency action.

The Virginia Code required the development of guidelines and procedures that contain specific criteria for calculating the appropriate penalty for each violation based on the following factors: the severity of the violations; the extent of any potential or actual environmental harm; the compliance history of the facility or person; any economic benefit realized from the noncompliance; and the ability of the person to pay the penalty. 

Penalties are deposited into the Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund, the Stormwater Fund, or the Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund.

A consent order is an administrative order issued by DEQ to a Responsible Party with its consent.  Consent orders are case decisions, are authorized by statute, can be enforced in court, and may include civil charges and/or specified actions that a Responsible Party must perform to return to compliance with environmental requirements.

If DEQ is not able to return someone to compliance through a consent order, the DEQ may pursue other options such as an informal fact finding proceeding, referral to the US Environmental Protection Agency, or the Office of the Attorney General for appropriate action. 

An informal Fact Finding Proceeding is a semi-formal proceeding. At the IFF, DEQ must prove that, more likely than not, the allegations that a violation has occurred are true and the assessed penalty is supported by law. Individuals have an opportunity to present evidence that the information in DEQ’s possession does not support a case decision that a violation occurred. An attorney may represent individuals at the IFF but is not required.

In some limited and appropriate cases, a consent order may include the performance of an environmentally beneficial project, called a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP), which goes beyond compliance. Performance of an approved SEP can mitigate a portion of a civil charge.

DEQ promotes voluntary environmental assessments and encourages facility owners and operators to voluntarily discover, disclose, correct and prevent violations of environmental requirements. Under Virginia law, facility owners or operators who perform voluntary environmental assessments enjoy a privilege from disclosing the resulting documents and immunity from all administrative or civil penalties for the violations they discover as a result, so long as the violations are voluntarily and promptly disclosed and corrected. The laws have qualifications, however, and they do not apply to programs that have been authorized, delegated, or approved by the U.S. EPA. For details please review DEQ procedures and instructions on this issue. 

DEQ assesses a penalty to penalize prior noncompliance as well as deter future noncompliance. The penalty also serves to create a regulatory environment that is fair to those who invested the time and money to maintain compliance on their own initiative. Corrective action is required by law, is necessary in order to protect human health and the environment, and not considered when assessing a penalty.

If you demonstrate good faith efforts to promptly correct the alleged violation, DEQ will favorably consider these actions when calculating any potential reduction. Also, if you think you do not have the ability to pay the assessed penalty, DEQ has a process in place to evaluate your claim and offer a payment plan or reduce/eliminate the penalty as appropriate. More information can be found in DEQ’s Civil Charge Guidance.

If you have questions about a Notice of Violation or an Order that you received, please call the Enforcement Specialist assigned to your case. The last paragraph of the Notice of Violation or cover letter to the Consent Order gives you the name and a phone number for the appropriate contact.