# Civil penalty. **Citation:** Iowa Code § 476.51 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** Iowa General Assembly, Legislative Services Agency **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2025-12-22 1. A public utility which, after written notice by the commission of a specific violation, violates the same provision of this chapter, the same rule adopted by the commission, or the same provision of an order lawfully issued by the commission, is subject to a civil penalty, which may be levied by ## Document text 1. A public utility which, after written notice by the commission of a specific violation, violates the same provision of this chapter, the same rule adopted by the commission, or the same provision of an order lawfully issued by the commission, is subject to a civil penalty, which may be levied by the commission, of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars per violation. 2. A public utility which willfully, after written notice by the commission of a specific violation, violates the same provision of this chapter, the same rule adopted by the commission, or the same provision of an order lawfully issued by the commission, is subject to a civil penalty, which may be levied by the commission, of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars per violation. For the purposes of this section, "willful" means knowing and deliberate, with a specific intent to violate. 3. Each violation is a separate offense. In the case of a continuing violation, each day a violation continues, after the time specified for compliance in the written notice by the commission, is a separate and distinct offense. Any civil penalty may be compromised by the commission. In determining the amount of the penalty, or the amount agreed upon in a compromise, the commission may consider the appropriateness of the penalty in relation to the size of the public utility, the gravity of the violation, and the good faith of the public utility in attempting to achieve compliance following notification of a violation, and any other relevant factors. 4. The written notice given by the commission to a public utility under this section shall specify an appropriate time for compliance. 5. Civil penalties collected pursuant to this section from utilities providing water, electric, or gas service shall be forwarded by the chief operating officer of the commission to the treasurer of state to be credited to the general fund of the state and to be used only for the low income home energy assistance program and the weatherization assistance program administered by the department of health and human services. Civil penalties collected pursuant to this section from utilities providing telecommunications service shall be forwarded to the treasurer of state to be credited to the commerce revolving fund created in section 546.12 to be used only for consumer education programs administered by the commission. Penalties paid by a rate-regulated public utility pursuant to this section shall be excluded from the utility's costs when determining the utility's revenue requirement, and shall not be included either directly or indirectly in the utility's rates or charges to customers. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `ia-legislature-pipeline-safety` - SHA-256: `cb35b1ec0cae8d259788bf89a75a89a3b32bd0d8f28471b19f899e40cd777827` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T08:17:15.771Z - Exported: 2026-08-24T15:35:34.745Z - Document slug: `ia-code-476-51` ### Source metadata ```json { "jurisdiction": "US-IA", "codeEdition": "2026 Iowa Code", "exactScope": "This bounded corpus contains every current rule in 199 IAC chapters 10 and 19, the two chapters identified by the Iowa Utilities Commission pipeline-safety page, plus 15 selected Iowa Code sections that directly establish gas-utility applicability, inspection and rulemaking authority, enforcement, penalties, and acceptance of federal pipeline-safety aid. It does not claim all Iowa pipeline law or all of Iowa Code chapters 476 and 479.", "excludedScope": "Excluded are hazardous-liquid safety (which the IUC says remains exclusively with PHMSA), hazardous-liquid permitting in 199 IAC chapter 13 and Iowa Code chapter 479B, damage prevention and one-call law, agricultural restoration chapter 9, railroad-crossing chapter 42, general procedure and filing chapters, permits/orders/forms, privately owned propane service, and federal or private incorporated text. Former 199 IAC chapter 12 is inventoried as repealed and is not searchable.", "applicabilityCaveat": "Applicability depends on IUC jurisdiction, public-utility or pipeline-company status, intrastate versus interstate status, the gas and facility involved, customer count, rate regulation, exemptions, federal preemption, waivers, permits, tariffs, and Commission orders. Iowa inspects interstate gas operators only as PHMSA's agent; federal authorities retain enforcement. Chapter 19 is limited to rate-regulated gas utilities except where another law or order extends a duty.", "incorporationCaveat": "The rules incorporate or reference 49 CFR Parts 191, 192, 193, and 199; ASME B31.8-2022; NFPA 59-2024, NFPA 54-2024, and NFPA 501A-2021; other Iowa rules and statutes; federal forms and interpretations; and utility tariffs. The connector records citations but does not reproduce incorporated federal or private material, decide which edition controls beyond the state text, or grant rights in private standards.", "publicationCaveat": "The current IAC chapter listings dated August 5, 2026 are used to prove chapter and rule inventory; their official PDF and DOCX-formatted 'RTF' artifacts are archived independently. The official 2026 Iowa Code was published December 22, 2025. The live 2026 Code & Acts Sections Amended report is provisional; signed HF 2799 sections 23 and 24, effective July 1, 2026, are preserved as overlays to selected sections 476.1B and 476.2. Any unexpected selected-section amendment causes refresh failure.", "rights": "Iowa legal text and other government edicts are preserved with official attribution and cryptographic provenance. Public access does not grant rights in agency seals, website presentation, forms, utility filings, incorporated federal compilations, or privately authored standards; redistribution of those materials requires a separate rights review.", "references": [], "codeHistory": "83 Acts, ch 127, §34; 88 Acts, ch 1134, §92; 91 Acts, ch 260, §1238; 92 Acts, ch 1084, §1; 94 Acts, ch 1107, §81; 2003 Acts, ch 126, §4; 2009 Acts, ch 181, §48; 2018 Acts, ch 1160, §14; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1175, 2676; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §369 Referred to in §476.1A, 476.1B, 476.1C, 476.2, 476.20, 476.95A, 476.103 SUBCHAPTER VIII POLICIES", "currentActsOverlay": null, "region": "IA" } ```