Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 27 - Soil Conservation and Water Quality Division › Division I - Soil Conservation Division › Chapter 40 - Coal Mining › Rule 27-40.74 - Civil Penalties

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
The following is incorporated by reference: 30 CFR Part 845,
				  as in effect on July 1, 2010, with the following exceptions:
(1) Delete from
				30 CFR
				845.13(b)(1) the words "One
				point shall be assigned for each past violation contained in a notice of
				violation" and insert the words "One point shall be assigned for each past
				notice of violation of a similar nature".
(2) Delete
				30 CFR
				845.1.
(3) Delete from
				30 CFR
				845.2 the words "section 518 of the Act" and
				insert the words "Iowa Code section
				207.15 "
Delete from
				  30 CFR
				  845.15(b) the words "section
				  521(a) of the Act" and insert the words "Iowa Code section 207.14 "
Delete from
				  30 CFR
				  845.15(b)(l)(i) the words
				  "section 525(c) of the Act" and insert the words "Iowa Code section 207.14,
				  subsection 7".
Delete from
				  30 CFR
				  845.15(b)(l)(ii) the words
				  "section 526 of the Act" and "section 526(c) of the Act" and insert the words
				  "Iowa Code section
				  207.15 ".
Delete from
				  30 CFR
				  845.15(b)(2) the words
				  "section 518(e), 518(f), 521(a)(4), or 521(c) of the Act" and insert the words
				  "Iowa Code sections
				  207.15(6),
				  207.15(7), 207.14(3) or 207.14(8) ", respectively.
Delete from
				  30 CFR
				  845.15(b)(l)(i) the words
				  "Office of Hearings and Appeals" and insert the word "division".
(4) Delete from
				30 CFR
				845.17(c) the phrase "Unless
				a conference has been requested," and add a new sentence to the end of the
				paragraph that reads "The reassessment shall be served as a Notice of
				Assessment."
(5) "Procedures for
				assessment conference" are created by deleting
				30 CFR
				845.18 and establishing procedures for the
				same in this subrule.
a. The division will
				arrange for an assessment conference to review the Notice of Assessment, upon
				written request of the person to whom notice or order was issued, if the
				request is received within 30 days from the date the Notice of Assessment is
				mailed.
b. The division
				administrator or the administrator's designee shall hold the assessment
				conference.
(1) The assessment conference
				shall be considered an informal proceeding and shall not be governed by Iowa
				Code chapter 17A, regarding requirements for formal adjudicatory hearings. The
				assessment conference shall be held within 60 days of the date the conference
				request is received or the end of the abatement period, whichever is later.
				However, failure by the division to hold such a conference within 60 days from
				the date of the conference request shall not be grounds for dismissal of all or
				part of an assessment unless the person against whom the proposed penalty has
				been assessed proves actual prejudice as a result of the delay.
(2) The division shall post notice of the
				time and place of the conference at least five days prior to the conference.
				Any person shall have a right to attend and participate in the
				conference.
(3) The division
				administrator or the administrator's designee shall consider all relevant
				information on the violation. Within 30 days after the conference is held, the
				division shall either:
* Settle the issues, in which case a settlement agreement
				  shall be prepared and signed by the permittee and the division; or
* Affirm, raise, lower, or vacate the penalty.
c. The division shall
				promptly serve the person assessed with a notice of the agency's action in the
				manner provided in
				30 CFR
				845.17(b), and shall provide
				a worksheet if the penalty has been raised or lowered. The reasons for the
				conference officer's actions shall be fully documented in the file.
d. Terms of settlement agreement.
(1) If a settlement agreement is entered
				into, the person assessed will be deemed to have waived all rights to further
				review of the violation or penalty in question except as otherwise expressly
				provided for in the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement shall
				contain a clause to this effect.
(2) If full payment of the amount specified
				in the settlement agreement is not received by the division within 30 days
				after the date of signing the settlement agreement, the division may enforce
				the agreement or rescind it and either affirm, raise, lower, or vacate the
				penalty within 30 days from the date of the recision.
e. The division may terminate the conference
				when the administrator or the administrator's designee determines that the
				issues cannot be resolved or that the person assessed is not diligently working
				toward resolution of the issues.
f.
				No evidence as to statements made or evidence produced by one party at a
				conference shall be introduced as evidence by another party or to impeach a
				witness at a subsequent contested case or judicial proceeding.