16 Tex. Admin. Code § 9.15 - Penalty Guidelines for LP-Gas Safety Violations
(a) Policy. Improved safety and environmental
protection are the desired outcomes of any enforcement action. Encouraging
licensees, certificate holders, registered manufacturers, and other registrants
to take appropriate voluntary corrective and future protective actions once a
violation has occurred is an effective component of the enforcement process.
Deterrence of violations through penalty assessments is also a necessary and
effective component of the enforcement process. A rule-based enforcement
penalty guideline to evaluate and rank LP-gas-related violations is consistent
with the central goal of the Commission's enforcement efforts to promote
compliance. Penalty guidelines set forth in this section will provide a
framework for more uniform and equitable assessment of penalties throughout the
state, while also enhancing the integrity of the Commission's enforcement
program.
(b) Guidelines This
section complies with the requirements of Texas Natural Resources Code, §
81.0531. The
penalty amounts contained in the tables in this section are provided solely as
guidelines to be considered by the Commission in determining the amount of
administrative penalties for violations of Texas Natural Resources Code,
Chapter 113; of rules, orders, licenses, registrations, permits, or
certificates relating to LP-gas safety adopted under those provisions; and of
regulations, codes, or standards that the Commission has adopted by
reference.
(c) Commission
authority. The establishment of these penalty guidelines shall in no way limit
the Commission's authority and discretion to assess administrative penalties.
The typical minimum penalties listed in this section are for the most common
violations cited; however, this is neither an exclusive nor an exhaustive list
of violations that the Commission may cite. The Commission retains full
authority and discretion to cite violations of Texas Natural Resources Code,
Chapter 113; of rules, orders, licenses, registrations, permits, or
certificates relating to LP-gas safety adopted or issued under those
provisions; and of regulations, codes, or standards that the Commission has
adopted by reference, and to assess administrative penalties in any amount up
to the statutory maximum when warranted by the facts in any case, regardless of
inclusion in or omission from this section.
(d) Factors considered. The amount of any
penalty requested, recommended, or finally assessed in an enforcement action
will be determined on an individual case-by-case basis for each violation,
taking into consideration the following factors:
(1) the person's history of previous
violations;
(2) the seriousness of
the previous violations;
(3) any
hazard to the health or safety of the public; and
(4) the demonstrated good faith of the person
charged.
(e) Typical
penalties. Regardless of the method by which the typical penalty amount is
calculated, the total penalty amount will be within the statutory limit.
Typical penalties for violations of Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 113;
of rules, orders, licenses, registrations, permits, or certificates relating to
LP-gas safety adopted under those provisions; and of regulations, codes, or
standards that the Commission has adopted by reference, are set forth in Table
1.
(f)
Penalty enhancements for certain violations. For violations that involve
threatened or actual safety hazards, or that result from the reckless or
intentional conduct of the person charged, the Commission may assess an
enhancement of the typical penalty. The enhancement may be in any amount in the
range shown for each type of violation, as shown in Table 2.
(g)
Penalty enhancements for certain violators. For violations in which the person
charged has a history of prior violations within seven years of the current
enforcement action, the Commission may assess an enhancement based on either
the number of prior violations or the total amount of previous administrative
penalties, but not both. The actual amount of any penalty enhancement will be
determined on an individual case-by-case basis for each violation. The
guidelines in Tables 3 and 4 are intended to be used separately. Either
guideline may be used where applicable, but not both.
(h)
Penalty reduction for settlement before hearing. The recommended monetary
penalty for a violation may be reduced by up to 50% if the person charged
agrees to a settlement before the Commission conducts an administrative hearing
to prosecute a violation. Once the hearing is convened, the opportunity for the
person charged to reduce the basic monetary penalty is no longer available. The
reduction applies to the basic penalty amount requested and not to any
requested enhancements.
(i)
Demonstrated good faith. In determining the total amount of any monetary
penalty requested, recommended, or finally assessed in an enforcement action,
the Commission may consider, on an individual case-by-case basis for each
violation, the demonstrated good faith of the person charged. Demonstrated good
faith includes, but is not limited to, actions taken by the person charged
before the filing of an enforcement action to remedy, in whole or in part, a
violation or to mitigate the consequences of a violation.
(j) Other sanctions. Depending upon the
nature of and the consequences resulting from a violation of the rules in this
chapter, the Commission may impose a non-monetary penalty, such as requiring
attendance at a safety training course, or may issue a warning.
(k) Penalty calculation worksheet. The
penalty calculation worksheet shown in Table 5 lists the typical penalty
amounts for certain violations, the circumstances justifying enhancements of a
penalty and the amount of the enhancement, and the circumstances justifying a
reduction in a penalty and the amount of the reduction.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.