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PHOENIX — Gas station owners whose pumps are out of calibration now face fines of $1,000 for each one.

The fines are double what they were before the Legislature passed a law last week that was signed by Gov. Janet Napolitano.

The law went into effect this week.

Many station owners are upset with the new fines.

The executive director of the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Andrea Martincic, said her group was never contacted by the bill's sponsor.

She also said the higher fines could be a burden for station owners already operating on tight profit margins.

Martincic acknowledged that there is room to improve the state's 95 percent pump-compliance rate, which is in line with the national average.

The new law doubled the maximum per-pump civil penalty to $1,000, and increased the cap on total fines that could be assessed to a station in a 30-day period from $5,000 to $10,000.

In the past, fines have not been assessed because of the cap.

Sen. Richard Miranda, D-Tolleson, supported the increase and said the old fines did not provide an incentive for station owners to fix broken pumps.

Miranda noted it could cost $800 to calibrate a faulty pump, while the fine was only $500.

State workers inspected about a third of the 66,000 pumps in Arizona in the past year and found 9 percent weren't dispensing the correct amount of fuel.

Martincic said there are plenty of incentives besides the fine for owners to keep their pumps in calibration.

"They risk consumer complaints and loss of revenue" otherwise, she said.

Martincic added that the higher fines also could be a burden for many operators who aren't responsible for mechanical problems at their stations.