Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1200-05-03-.11 - REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATE

(1) The Commissioner may issue an order to revoke the certificate of an operator when he/she determines that the operator has not used reasonable care, judgment, or the application of his/her knowledge in the performance of his/her duties as a certified operator, or when the Commissioner determines that the operator is incompetent to perform those duties properly.

(2) An operator shall be deemed to have not used reasonable care, judgment, or the application of his/her knowledge in the performance of his/her duties if he/she does not comply with the laws, rules, permit requirements, or orders of any governmental agency or court which govern the water supply system or the wastewater system he/she operates. Such acts of noncompliance include but are not limited to the following:

(a) The intentional or the negligent failure by the operator or persons under his/her supervision to act that results in a water supply system facility or a wastewater system facility not operating in the manner in which it is capable of being operated for the performance of its designed function.

(b) The intentional or the negligent failure by the operator or persons under his/her supervision to comply with the monitoring, sampling, analysis, or reporting requirements for a water supply system facility or a wastewater system facility.

(c) The intentional or the negligent unlawful discharge of wastes from a water supply system facility or a wastewater system facility.

(d) The intentional or the negligent failure by the operator or persons under his/her supervision to notify the Department of conditions: which may affect the quantity or quality of water being supplied to the customers of a water supply system; which cause the pollution of the waters of the State of Tennessee; or, which are violative of a standard of water quality promulgated by any governmental agency.

(3) An operator shall be deemed to be incompetent to perform his/her duties properly when he/she does not possess the basic skills and knowledge necessary to operate a water supply system facility or a wastewater system facility including laboratory functions or if he/she fails to have a system of verification and oversight of employees under his/her charge. Incompetency shall be determined by examining the technical skills of the operator in operating the type of facility of which he/she is in direct charge.

(4) The Commissioner may issue an order to revoke the certificate of an operator when he/she determines that the operator obtained his/her certificate through fraud, deceit, or the submission of inaccurate data regarding his/her qualifications upon his/her application for a certificate.

(5) The Commissioner may issue an order to revoke the certificate of an operator when he/she determines that the operator has practiced fraud or deception during the performance of his/her duties as a certified operator.

(6) The Commissioner may issue an order to revoke the certificate of an operator who performs laboratory analytical services for a water supply system or a wastewater system when he/she determines that the operator has prepared and/or signed reports of laboratory analysis results for the system that:

(a) contain inaccurate data and are known or should be known by the operator to be false; or,

(b) contain inaccurate data because the operator has not used reasonable care, judgment, or the application of his/her knowledge either in the performance of the laboratory analysis or in the preparation of the laboratory analytical reports.

(7) An operator who receives an order of the Commissioner for the revocation of his/her certificate may appeal the order to the Board as provided by statute.

(8) An operator whose certificate is revoked for failure to use reasonable care, judgment or the application of operator knowledge in performing the operator's duties or for incompetency shall be ineligible to again apply for certification as an operator for a minimum of one year. An operator whose certificate is revoked for practicing fraud or deception, willfully violating regulations or permit conditions, or falsifying records and reports shall be ineligible to again apply for certification as an operator for a minimum of five years. When an operator whose certificate has been revoked has applied for a certificate after the minimum time has passed, the Board shall determine whether the operator has taken appropriate action to address the circumstances that were the cause of the revocation. The Board may request records and review his/her experience, education, training and past performance. The Board may request the former operator's presence at a meeting of the Board and interview him/her to assess the potential of future violations. After the reviews, the Board shall decide to accept or refuse the application.

Notes

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1200-05-03-.11

Original rule certified June 7, 1974. Repeal filed March 31, 1982; effective July 1, 1982. New rule filed June 9, 1986; effective July 10, 1986. Amendment filed September 18, 1990; effective December 1, 1990. Amendment filed September 12, 1994; effective December 14, 1994. Amendment filed March 8, 2007; effective May 22, 2007.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-101 et seq.,4-5-202, 68-221-906, 68-221-910, 68-221-911, and 68-221-915.