Virginia Administrative Code › Title 4 - CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES › Agency 25 - DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › Chapter 130 - COAL SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION REGULATIONS › Part 843 - Enforcement Procedures › Section 4VAC25-130-843.13 - Suspension or revocation of permits; pattern of violations

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
(a)
(1) The director shall issue a show cause
				  order to a permittee requiring justification as to why his permit and right to
				  mine under the Act should not be suspended or revoked, if the director
				  determines that a pattern of violations of any requirements of the Act, this
				  chapter, or any permit condition required by the Act exists or has existed, and
				  that the violations were caused by the permittee's willful or unwarranted
				  failure to comply with those requirements or conditions, or if the permittee
				  failed to pay the final civil penalty assessment as required by
				  4VAC25-130-845.20. Violations by any person conducting surface coal mining
				  operations on behalf of the permittee shall be attributed to the permittee,
				  unless the permittee establishes that they were acts of deliberate
				  sabotage.
(2) The director may
				  determine that a pattern of violations exists or has existed based upon two or
				  more inspections of the permit area within any 12-month period, after
				  considering the circumstances, including:
(i)
				  The number of violations, cited on more than one occasion, of the same or
				  related requirements of the Act, this chapter, or the permit;
(ii) The number of violations, cited on more
				  than one occasion, of different requirements of the Act, this chapter, or the
				  permit; and
(iii) The extent to
				  which the violations were isolated departures from lawful
				  conduct.
(3) The director
				  shall promptly review the history of violations of any permittee who has been
				  cited for violations of the same or related requirements of the Act, this
				  chapter, or the permit during three or more inspections of the permit area
				  within any 12-month period. If, after such review, the director determines that
				  a pattern of violations exists or has existed, he shall issue a show cause
				  order as provided in subdivision (a) (1) of this section.
(4)
(i) In
				  determining the number of violations within any 12-month period, the director
				  shall consider only violations issued as a result of an inspection carried out
				  pursuant to 4VAC25-130-840.11, 4VAC25-130-842.11 and
				  4VAC25-130-842.12.
(ii) The
				  director may not consider violations issued as a result of inspections other
				  than those mentioned in subdivision (a) (4) (i) of this section in determining
				  whether to exercise his discretion under subdivision (a) (2) of this section,
				  except as evidence of the "willful" or "unwarranted" nature of the permittee's
				  failure to comply.
(5)
				  Whenever a permittee fails to abate a violation contained in a notice of
				  violation or cessation order within the abatement period set in the notice or
				  order or as subsequently extended, the division shall review the permittee's
				  history of violations to determine whether a pattern of violations exists
				  pursuant to this section, and shall issue a show cause order as appropriate
				  pursuant to 4VAC25-130-845.15(b)(2).