Section R12-1-1217. Augmentation of Civil Penalties

A.      A continuing violation, for the purposes of calculating the pro- posed civil penalty, is considered a separate violation for each day it continues. The second (or successive) day of a continu- ing violation is not considered a repeat violation of the viola- tion occurring on the first day.

B.       If a second severity level I violation is committed within five years, the Agency shall increase the base civil penalty by 100%, provided the registration or license is not revoked under R12-1-1219.

C.      If a second severity level II violation is committed within a period of five years, the Agency shall increase the base civil penalty by 50%, provided the registration or license is not revoked under R12-1-1219.

D.      If a severity level III violation is repeated within five years, the Agency shall increase the base civil penalty by 50%. If the same severity level III violation is repeated a second time within five years, the base civil penalty shall be increased by 100%, provided the registration or license is not revoked under R12-1-1219.

E.       If a severity level IV violation is repeated within five years, the Agency shall propose the base d civil penalty.

1.        If the same violation occurs three times within five years, the Agency shall increase the base civil penalty by 50%.

2.        If the same violation occurs four times within five years, the Agency shall increase the base civil penalty by 100%, provided the registration or license is not revoked under R12-1-1219.

F.       If more than three severity level V violations are observed during two consecutive inspections, the Agency shall impose a civil penalty for each violation. The base civil penalty for each violation is the base civil penalty assessed for a severity level V violation. If the inspection shows repetition of a violation the base civil penalty for each repeat violation is the base civil penalty assessed for a severity level IV violation. Subsection

(E) does not apply to penalties under this subsection.

G.      Other rights and procedures are not affected by the repeat nature of a violation.

H.      A person may avoid the penalties in subsections (D) and (E) by demonstrating to the Director in the response to the penalty that the violation meets all of the following criteria:

1.        It was not a violation that could reasonably be expected to have been prevented by the licensee’s or registrant’s cor- rective action for a previous violation or a previous licensee or registrant finding;

2.        It was or will be corrected within the time given for cor- rection, by specific corrective action committed to by the licensee or registrant by the end of the inspection, which includes immediate and comprehensive measures to pre- vent recurrence;

3.        It was not a willful violation.

I.        Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the Agency shall not impose a penalty that exceeds a maximum of

$5,000 for each violation for each day up to a maximum of

$25,000 for any 30-day period.

Historical Note

Adopted effective January 2, 1996 (Supp. 96-1).

Amended by final rulemaking at 5 A.A.R. 1817, effective May 12, 1999 (Supp. 99-2). Amended by final rulemak-

ing at 9 A.A.R. 4302, effective November 14, 2003

(Supp. 03-3).