Environmental Enforcement Attorney — Glendale & Los Angeles
Formal environmental enforcement begins when an agency issues a complaint, order, or information request, such as a Regional Water Board administrative civil liability complaint under Water Code § 13323. DiJulio Law Group represents Glendale and Los Angeles businesses through each stage of that process, from the first response through hearing and review.
What happens after a California Regional Water Board issues an administrative civil liability complaint?
Under Water Code § 13323, the executive officer of a Regional Water Board may issue a complaint alleging the violation, the law authorizing liability, and the proposed amount. The complaint must tell the recipient that a hearing before the board will be held within 90 days after service, and the recipient may waive that hearing. An order imposing liability may be reviewed by petition to the State Water Resources Control Board under Water Code § 13320.
When an Environmental Matter Becomes a Formal Enforcement Case
Most environmental problems start informally, with an inspection report or a notice of violation. Our environmental enforcement and compliance defense page covers that early stage: reading the notice, correcting the condition, and answering the inspector. This page covers what comes after, when an agency moves to a formal enforcement instrument with its own procedure, record, and deadlines.
In Los Angeles County, that instrument depends on the agency. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board may issue an administrative civil liability complaint. The Department of Toxic Substances Control or a local Certified Unified Program Agency may issue an order under Health and Safety Code § 25187 requiring correction and proposing a penalty. The South Coast Air Quality Management District may seek civil penalties under Health and Safety Code § 42400 et seq. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may start with an information request under CERCLA § 104(e) or Clean Water Act § 308.
Each track has different rules for who decides the case, what record is built, and how the result can be reviewed. The factors the agency must weigh are also written into statute. For Water Board penalties under Water Code § 13385(e), for example, the board considers the gravity of the violation, voluntary cleanup efforts, prior history, culpability, and economic benefit, among other things. A defense that speaks to those factors from the start generally gives the agency more to work with than a general denial.
Enforcement often overlaps with the substantive program at issue. Discharge questions connect to Clean Water Act compliance, emissions questions to Clean Air Act permitting, and waste handling questions to hazardous waste and CUPA matters. DiJulio Law Group coordinates the enforcement response with that underlying work so the two do not contradict each other.
How Do I Respond to a Regional Water Board ACL Complaint?
Start by calendaring the hearing. Under Water Code § 13323, the regional board must hold it within 90 days after service unless you waive it. Then test the proposed amount against the statutory penalty factors and the Water Boards' published penalty methodology, and decide whether to contest the complaint at hearing or negotiate a settlement.
Because the complaint must identify the alleged violation, the provision authorizing liability, and the proposed amount, each element can be checked against the permit and the monitoring record. The State Water Board's 2024 Water Quality Enforcement Policy (opens in a new tab) and its penalty methodology spreadsheet are public, so the staff calculation can be reviewed step by step. Under § 13323(e), information about hearing waivers and about the liability proposed and finally imposed is posted online.
An ACL complaint can also be resolved by settlement. The Water Boards support supplemental environmental projects, which are environmentally beneficial projects a settling party agrees to undertake to offset a portion of the penalty, if they meet the criteria in the Supplemental Environmental Projects Policy (opens in a new tab). Settlement terms should match ongoing Clean Water Act permit obligations. Earlier-stage notices of violation are covered on our enforcement and compliance defense page.
Should a Company Self-Disclose an Environmental Violation Under the EPA Audit Policy?
It depends on whether the violation can qualify. EPA's Audit Policy offers penalty mitigation only when the violation was discovered voluntarily, disclosed before a regulator would likely have found it, corrected within 60 days in most cases, and is not a repeat or excluded violation. Test those conditions before the 21-day disclosure window closes.
The Audit Policy addresses federal violations disclosed to EPA, so exposure to California agencies for the same facts is analyzed separately, often alongside air, water, and hazardous waste compliance work. Key eligibility conditions include the following:
- Voluntary discovery: a violation detected through legally required monitoring, sampling, or auditing generally does not qualify.
- Independence: disclosure must come before EPA or another regulator would likely identify the violation through its own investigation or a third party's information.
- Repeat violations: the same or a closely related violation at the facility within the past 3 years, or a pattern at commonly owned facilities within 5 years, makes it ineligible.
- Excluded violations: those causing serious actual harm, those that may have presented an imminent and substantial endangerment, and those that violate an existing order or consent agreement.
- New owners: under EPA's New Owner Audit Policy (opens in a new tab), an eligible buyer that did not cause the violation may disclose problems found in pre-closing legal due diligence up to 45 days after closing.
330 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 1280
Glendale, California 91203
Los Angeles County Superior Court, including the Glendale and Stanley Mosk courthouses.
Enforcement defense, permitting and compliance, hazardous waste, and cleanup cost recovery in California.
Formal Enforcement Matters We Handle
For facility operators, property owners, and businesses in Glendale, Los Angeles, and across Southern California that are the subject of a formal agency action. Related environmental law services are handled in the same practice, and enforcement against a company can raise board oversight and corporate governance questions as well.
Water Board ACL Complaints
Administrative civil liability complaints under Water Code § 13323, including penalty analysis under Water Code § 13385, hearing preparation, settlement, and petitions to the State Water Board under Water Code § 13320.
DTSC and CUPA Orders
Orders under Health and Safety Code § 25187 requiring correction and proposing penalties, including the notice of defense that must generally be filed within 15 days after service to request a hearing.
SCAQMD Penalty Matters
Notices of violation from the South Coast Air Quality Management District and civil penalty claims under Health and Safety Code § 42400 et seq., some of which apply on a strict-liability basis.
EPA Information Requests
Responses to CERCLA § 104(e) and Clean Water Act § 308 requests, including scoping, document collection, privilege review, and certification of answers.
Water Board Technical Reports
Orders under Water Code § 13267 requiring technical or monitoring reports under penalty of perjury, and whether the burden bears a reasonable relationship to the need for the report.
Voluntary Self-Disclosure
Evaluating disclosure under the EPA Audit Policy after an internal audit or pre-acquisition legal due diligence, and preparing the disclosure within the policy's 21-day window.
Formal Enforcement Situations That Reach Our Office
Composite examples drawn from the kinds of matters this practice handles. They illustrate common fact patterns and are not descriptions of specific client cases or predictions of any result.
The ACL Complaint After a Stormwater Exceedance
A Los Angeles industrial operator receives an administrative civil liability complaint proposing a penalty for unreported sampling exceedances. The response focuses on the statutory factors: what was discharged, what was corrected, prior history, and what economic benefit, if any, the operator actually realized.
The CERCLA 104(e) Letter About a Former Site
A Glendale company receives an EPA information request asking about waste it shipped decades ago to a site now under investigation. The answers will be used to identify responsible parties, so the search, the records, and the certification all need to be accurate and complete.
The Violation Found in Due Diligence
A buyer's environmental audit of a newly acquired facility identifies permit violations by the prior owner. Whether to disclose to EPA, and how quickly, is weighed against the Audit Policy conditions and the indemnities negotiated in the commercial property purchase documents.
When Formal Enforcement Needs Counsel
- You have been served with an administrative civil liability complaint or a proposed penalty order.
- A DTSC or CUPA order has been served and the 15-day period to file a notice of defense is running.
- You have received an EPA information request under CERCLA § 104(e) or Clean Water Act § 308.
- A Water Board has ordered technical or monitoring reports under Water Code § 13267.
- You have received a Proposition 65 60-day notice of violation.
- An internal audit or acquisition review has found a possible violation that may be disclosed.
What to Do First
Calendar the procedural deadline
A notice of defense, a hearing date, a petition to the State Water Board, and an information request response each run on their own clock. Fix the service date and calendar every deadline that follows from it.
Put a litigation hold in place
Sampling data, manifests, permits, emails, and maintenance logs are the record in a formal proceeding. Suspend routine deletion and collect the records before anyone answers substantive questions.
Build the penalty-factor record
Document corrective action, compliance history, and actual economic benefit with dates and costs. Those facts map directly onto the statutory penalty factors. Contact the firm to review the notice before the first response goes out.
Environmental Enforcement — Questions California Clients Ask
Questions businesses in Glendale and Los Angeles ask when an environmental agency moves from inspection to formal enforcement.
What is administrative civil liability from a California Water Board?
Administrative civil liability is a penalty a Regional Water Board or the State Water Board imposes itself, without filing suit. For violations covered by Water Code § 13385, the administrative amount may not exceed $10,000 for each day of violation, plus up to $10 per gallon for discharged volume over 1,000 gallons that is not cleaned up. The board must weigh the statutory factors in § 13385(e) when setting the amount.
Can a Water Board penalty order be appealed?
Yes. Under Water Code § 13320, an aggrieved person may petition the State Water Resources Control Board to review a Regional Water Board action within 30 days of that action. Water Code § 13323 provides that liability orders are final upon issuance and reviewable only as provided in §§ 13320 and 13330, and the time to pay is extended while review is sought.
How do I request a hearing on a DTSC or CUPA penalty order?
Under Health and Safety Code § 25187(d), a person served with an order who has not resolved the matter informally may request a hearing by filing a notice of defense within 15 days after service. For a DTSC order, the hearing is held before an administrative law judge within 90 days after the notice of defense is received. A CUPA order may allow a choice of hearing officer.
What is a CERCLA 104(e) information request?
Under 42 U.S.C. § 9604(e), EPA may require any person who may have relevant information to furnish documents and information about materials sent to a site, the nature and extent of a release, and ability to pay for cleanup. If a person does not comply, EPA may issue a compliance order and ask the Attorney General to enforce it in court.
What is a Clean Water Act Section 308 request?
Section 308 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1318, allows EPA to require the owner or operator of a point source to keep records, make reports, install monitoring equipment, sample effluent, and provide other information it reasonably requires. It also authorizes entry and inspection. EPA commonly uses it to gather facts before deciding whether to bring an enforcement action.
How does the EPA Audit Policy reduce penalties?
Under EPA's Audit Policy, an entity that meets all nine conditions may receive a 100 percent reduction of gravity-based penalties. An entity that meets every condition except systematic discovery may receive a 75 percent reduction. EPA may still collect any economic benefit from the noncompliance. Disclosure generally must be made in writing within 21 days of discovery, through EPA's eDisclosure system.
What is a Proposition 65 60-day notice?
Under Health and Safety Code § 25249.7(d), a private party may sue to enforce Proposition 65 only after giving 60 days' notice to the Attorney General, the local prosecutor, and the alleged violator. A notice alleging a failure to warn must include a certificate of merit. The private action may not proceed if a public prosecutor is diligently prosecuting the same violation.
Are SCAQMD civil penalties based on fault?
Not always. Health and Safety Code § 42402 makes a person who violates district rules, permits, or orders strictly liable for civil penalties up to stated amounts. For higher per-day penalties under § 42402(b), the statute provides an affirmative defense where the violation was not caused by intentional or negligent conduct, subject to exceptions. The applicable tier depends on the facts and the rule involved.
Local Representation
Glendale and Los Angeles facilities are subject to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, DTSC, local CUPAs, and EPA Region 9. Where an enforcement order leads to investigation and cleanup, it often runs alongside remediation and natural resource damages work.
Talk to an Environmental Attorney
A formal enforcement action builds a record from the first response. Send the complaint, order, or request before anyone replies. If cleanup or allocation among prior owners is also at stake, see our environmental remediation and environmental mediation pages, or compare natural resource damages claims, which follow a separate trustee process.