(a) General provisions.
(1) Whenever a court of competent jurisdiction enters a judgment against or convicts a person under the provisions of this section, the Commission will update AVS to reflect the judgment or conviction.
(2) The existence of a performance bond or bond forfeiture cannot be used as the sole basis for determining that an alternative enforcement action is unwarranted.
(3) Nothing in this part eliminates or limits any additional enforcement rights or procedures available to a permittee or an applicant under Federal or State law.
(b) Criminal penalties. Under §134.179 and §134.180 of the Act, the Commission may request the Texas Attorney General to pursue criminal penalties against any person who:
(1) willfully and knowingly violates a condition of the permit;
(2) willfully and knowingly fails or refuses to comply with:
(3) knowingly makes any false statement, representation, or certification, or knowingly fails to make any statement, representation, or certification in any application, record, report, plan, or other document filed or required to be maintained under the Commission's regulatory program or any order or decision issued by the Commission under the Act.
(c) Civil actions for relief.
(1) Under §134.173 of the Act, the Commission may request the Texas Attorney General to institute a civil action for relief whenever the permittee or an agent of the permittee:
(2) A civil action for relief includes a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or any other appropriate order by a district court of the United States for the district in which the surface coal mining and reclamation operation or the permittee's principal office is located.
(3) Temporary restraining orders will be issued in accordance with Rule 680 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended.
(4) Any relief the court grants to enforce an order under paragraph (2) of this subsection will continue in effect until completion or final termination of all proceedings for review of that order under the Act or its implementing regulations unless, beforehand, the district court granting the relief sets aside or modifies the order.
Source Note: The provisions of this §12.676 adopted to be effective February 24, 2014, 39 TexReg 1121; amended to be effective December 28, 2020, 45 TexReg 9503