Section 25187.8 Of Article 8. Enforcement From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.5. >> Article 8.
25187.8
. (a) An authorized representative of the department or
local officer or agency authorized to enforce this chapter pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 25180, who, in the course of conducting
an inspection of a facility, detects a minor violation of any permit
conditions, rule, regulation, standard, or other requirement, shall
issue a notice to comply before leaving the site in which the minor
violation is alleged to have occurred.
(b) A facility which receives a notice to comply pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall have not more than 30 days from the date of
receipt of the notice to comply in which to achieve compliance with
the permit conditions, rule, regulation, standard, or other
requirement cited on the notice to comply. Within five working days
of achieving compliance, an appropriate person who is an owner or
operator of, or an employee at, the facility shall sign the notice to
comply and return it to the department representative or to the
authorized local officer or agency, as the case may be, which states
that the facility has complied with the notice to comply. A false
statement that compliance has been achieved is a violation of this
chapter pursuant to Section 25191.
(c) A single notice to comply shall be issued for all minor
violations cited during the same inspection and the notice to comply
shall separately list each of the cited minor violations and the
manner in which each of the minor violations may be brought into
compliance.
(d) A notice to comply shall not be issued for any minor violation
which is corrected immediately in the presence of the inspector.
Immediate compliance in that manner may be noted in the inspection
report, but the facility shall not be subject to any further action
by the department representative or by the authorized local officer
or agency.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (g), a notice to
comply shall be the only means by which the department representative
or the authorized local officer or agency shall cite a minor
violation. The department representative or the authorized local
officer or agency shall not take any other enforcement action
specified in this chapter against a facility which has received a
notice to comply if the facility complies with this section.
(f) If a facility that receives a notice to comply pursuant to
subdivision (a) disagrees with one or more of the alleged violations
listed on the notice to comply, the owner shall give the person who
issued the notice to comply written notice of disagreement. If the
issuing agency takes administrative enforcement action on the basis
of the disputed violation, that action may be appealed in the same
manner as for other alleged violations under subdivisions (d) to (j),
inclusive, of Section 25187.
(g) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if a
facility fails to comply with a notice to comply within the
prescribed period, or if the department, or an authorized local
officer or agency, determines that the circumstances surrounding a
particular minor violation or combination of minor violations are
such that immediate enforcement is warranted to prevent harm to the
public health or safety or to the environment, the department or
authorized local officer or agency may take any needed enforcement
action authorized by this chapter.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the
department, or an authorized local officer or agency, determines that
the circumstances surrounding a particular minor violation or
combination of minor violations are such that the assessment of a
civil penalty pursuant to this chapter is warranted or is required by
the federal act, in addition to issuance of a notice to comply, the
department or authorized local officer or agency shall assess that
civil penalty in accordance with this chapter, if the department or
authorized local officer or agency makes written findings that set
forth the basis for the department's or authorized local officer's or
agency's determination.
(h) A notice to comply issued to a facility pursuant to this
section shall contain an explicit statement that the facility may be
subject to reinspection at any time by the department or authorized
local officer or agency that issued the notice to comply. Nothing in
this section shall be construed as preventing the reinspection of a
facility to ensure compliance with this chapter or to ensure that
minor violations cited in a notice to comply have been corrected and
that the facility is in compliance with this chapter.
(i) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the
department, or authorized local officer or agency, on a case-by-case
basis, from requiring a facility to submit reasonable and necessary
documentation to support the facility's claim of compliance pursuant
to subdivision (b).