25214.3
. (a) Except as provided in Sections 25214.3.3 and
25214.3.4, a person who violates this article shall not be subject to
criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this chapter and shall only
be subject to the administrative or civil penalty specified in
subdivision (b).
(b) (1) A person who violates this article shall be liable for an
administrative or a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500) per day for each violation. That
administrative or civil penalty may be assessed and recovered in an
administrative action filed with the Office of Administrative
Hearings or in a civil action brought in any court of competent
jurisdiction.
(2) In assessing the amount of an administrative or a civil
penalty for a violation of this article, the presiding officer or the
court, as applicable, shall consider all of the following:
(A) The nature and extent of the violation.
(B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.
(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the violator.
(D) Whether the violator took good faith measures to comply with
this article and the time these measures were taken.
(E) The willfulness of the violator's misconduct.
(F) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the penalty would
have on both the violator and the regulated community as a whole.
(G) Any other factor that justice may require.
(c) Administrative and civil penalties collected pursuant to this
article shall be deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account,
for expenditure by the department, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to implement and enforce this article, except as
provided in Section 25192.
(d) (1) For the purpose of administering and enforcing this
article, an authorized representative of the department, upon
obtaining consent or after obtaining an inspection warrant pursuant
to Title 13 (commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code
of Civil Procedure, may, upon presenting appropriate credentials and
at a reasonable time, do any of the following:
(A) Enter a factory, warehouse, or establishment where jewelry is
manufactured, packed, held, or sold; enter a vehicle that is being
used to transport, hold, or sell jewelry; or enter a place where
jewelry is being held or sold.
(B) Inspect a factory, warehouse, establishment, vehicle, or place
described in subparagraph (A), and all pertinent equipment, raw
material, finished and unfinished materials, containers, and labeling
in the factory, warehouse, establishment, vehicle, or place. In the
case of a factory, warehouse, or establishment where jewelry is
manufactured, packed, held, or sold, this inspection shall include
any record, file, paper, process, control, and facility that has a
bearing on whether the jewelry is being manufactured, packed, held,
transported, sold, or offered for sale or for promotional purposes in
violation of this article.
(2) (A) An authorized representative of the department may secure
a sample of jewelry when taking an action authorized pursuant to this
subdivision. If the representative obtains a sample prior to leaving
the premises, he or she shall leave a receipt describing the sample
obtained.
(B) The department shall return, upon request, a sample that is
not destroyed during testing when the department no longer has any
purpose for retaining the sample.
(C) A sample that is secured in compliance with this section and
found to be in compliance with this article that is destroyed during
testing shall be subject to a claim for reimbursement.
(3) An authorized representative of the department shall have
access to all records of a carrier in commerce relating to the
movement in commerce of jewelry, or the holding of that jewelry
during or after the movement, and the quantity, shipper, and
consignee of the jewelry. A carrier shall not be subject to the other
provisions of this article by reason of its receipt, carriage,
holding, or delivery of jewelry in the usual course of business as a
carrier.
(4) An authorized representative of the department shall be deemed
to have received implied consent to enter a retail establishment,
for purposes of this section, if the authorized representative enters
the location of that retail establishment where the public is
generally granted access.