Tennessee Code Title 68. Health, Safety and Environmental Protection § 68-201-117

The technical secretary, the board, and within their respective jurisdictions, the local pollution control programs operating under a certificate of exemption pursuant to § 68-201-115 are authorized to levy noncompliance and nonpayment penalties after appropriate notice and hearing, against any air contaminant source not in final compliance with the applicable Tennessee air pollution control regulations by July 1, 1979. The technical secretary, the board, and the duly exempted local pollution control programs are specifically authorized to accept enforcement responsibility for these civil penalties from the United States environmental protection agency. These penalties are to be equivalent to the economic value a person may realize by a delay in compliance beyond July 1, 1979, including the amount it would have cost the person to comply with all applicable air pollution control regulations had the person chosen to do so. The board shall promulgate regulations specifying the procedures to be used in calculating the penalty and providing for quarterly payment of annualized cost. The technical secretary, the board, and the duly exempted local pollution control programs shall consider the matters in § 120 of the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7420) in their actions. The commissioner, the board, and the duly exempted local pollution control programs are also authorized to file suit for the assessment of the penalties as part of any other civil action brought under this part. The commissioner, the board, and the duly exempted local pollution control programs are authorized to file suit for collection or assessment of the civil penalty, along with other equitable relief pursuant to § 68-201-111 in the chancery courts of the county where the pollution is occurring or where the violator or polluter is doing business. The chancery court shall treat a failure to appeal a civil penalty assessment as a confession of judgment by the polluter or violator to the amount of the assessment; and the court is authorized to render judgment and provide for execution of such civil penalties. Such actions for civil penalties shall be triable without a jury.