Ordinance No. 20518 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Appeal of Penalty Prior to imposition of any penalty, a business shall have an opportunity to be heard by the Toxics Board as to the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a violation, the circumstances surrounding a violation, and the amount of a penalty, if any, that should be imposed. The Board may ask a hearings official, City staff member, or the City Attorney to preside at the hearing and to advise the Board as the Board deems appropriate. Prior to any hearing on a penalty, the Board shall provide to the business, and to any person who the Board knows is interested in the matter, notice of the specific procedures that it will follow at the hearing. The decision of the Toxics Board. shall be final, except that under Section 8. 1.13 of the law, any person may appeal the decision to the Circuit Court for Lane County. Audits Toxics Program staff will audit every reporting business at least once every three years. The charter amendment provides for advance audit notification of no more than one month. For reporting businesses that have previously been inspected by program staff, the audit consists of a review of all data reported since the previous audit, followed by written notification of questions and/or required corrections. A business is given 30 days to respond to an audit letter. Failure to respond in a timely fashion may be considered a violation of the City Charter (see Appendix A, Article VIII). There is no penalty for an initial violation, but such violation will be recorded. Penalties are provided for subsequent violations. In the case of a business that has not been physically inspected, the audit shall consist of such inspection followed by a written report of any observations made during the inspection and /or in a review of the data reported. Again, the business will be given 30 days to respond to the written audit report. Businesses that are suspected of being required to report but have not filed a report may be audited at any time with 24 hours' notice and during regular business hours. Right to Dispute an Audit Finding If a business believes an audit finding is incorrect, or a recommendation made by the Toxics Program staff for a change in reporting method is incorrect or inadvisable, the business may appeal that recommendation to the Toxics Board, stating the reasons for the appeal. The Toxics Board's decision stands, except that under Section 8. LB of the law, any person may appeal the decision to the Circuit Court for Lane County. Supplying of Forms/Directions/Updates At the end of the reporting year, instructions necessary to complete the reporting process for the current year will be sent to businesses required to report. The Toxic Right -to -Know Program's Hazardous Substance Tracking Instructions handbook is available in printed and other forms upon request by contacting Toxics Program staff at 541 - 682 -7118, and is also available at the Eugene Public Library. -24-