1. (a) A person who:

   1. (1) operates an underground storage tank and knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly violates:

      1. (A) the terms of a permit issued by the department that relates to the operation of an underground storage tank; or
      2. (B) an Indiana statute that relates to the operation of an underground storage tank; and

   2. (2) discharges a contaminant into the environment, if the discharge results in:

      1. (A) a substantial risk of serious bodily injury;
      2. (B) serious bodily injury to an individual;
      3. (C) the death of a vertebrate animal; or

      4. (D) damage to the environment that renders the environment unfit for human or vertebrate animal life, or causes damage to an endangered, an at risk, or a threatened species;

         commits a Level 6 felony. However, the offense is a Level 5 felony if it results in the death of another person.

2. (b) It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that the person did not know and could not reasonably have been expected to know that the substance discharged into the environment was capable of causing a result described in subsection (a)(2).

3. (c) Notwithstanding IC 35-50-2-6 (a), IC 35-50-2-7 (a), or IC 35-50-3-2 , the court may order a person convicted under this section to pay:

   1. (1) a fine of at least five thousand dollars ($5,000) and not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for each day of violation; or

   2. (2) if the person has a prior unrelated conviction for an offense under this title that may be punished as a felony, a fine of not more than one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for each day of violation.

      In determining the amount of a fine imposed for a violation of this section, the court shall consider any improper economic benefit, including unjust enrichment, received by the defendant as a result of the unlawful conduct.

As added by P.L.137-2007, SEC.31. Amended by P.L.158-2013, SEC.197.