Wash. Admin. Code § 446-65-040 - Compliance review hearing process
(1) A carrier that receives a written notice
of penalty from the state patrol has twenty business days from receipt of
notice to:
(a) Pay the penalty as stated in
the notice; or
(b) Submit a written
application for mitigation of the penalty; or
(c) Submit a written request for an
administrative hearing.
(2)
Mitigation. A carrier may
submit a request for mitigation of a penalty, except as provided in
RCW
46.32.100.
(a) A carrier's request for mitigation must:
(i) Be in writing;
(ii) Contain a statement explaining what the
steps the carrier has taken to come into compliance, or what steps the carrier
proposes to take in the future to come into compliance;
(iii) Contain a notarized signature of the
requestor; and
(iv) Be received by
the state patrol within twenty business days of the receipt of
notice.
(b) Upon timely
receipt of a written request for mitigation of a penalty, the state patrol
will:
(i) Review the materials submitted by
the requestor; and
(ii) Notify the
carrier in writing of the disposition of the request for mitigation.
(3)
Administrative hearing. A carrier may request an administrative
hearing to contest the violation or penalty, or both.
(a) A carrier's request for an administrative
hearing must:
(i) Be in writing; and
(ii) Be received by the state patrol within
twenty business days after receipt of the notice of penalty or
receipt of the disposition of a request for mitigation.
(b) A carrier may request an administrative
hearing without first requesting mitigation of the penalty.
(c) An administrative hearing will be
conducted under
chapter
34.05 RCW (Washington
Administrative Procedure Act).
(d)
The following process applies to administrative hearings under this chapter:
(i) The state patrol will notify the
assistant attorney general of the carrier's request for an administrative
hearing.
(ii) The assistant
attorney general will draft an administrative complaint and send it to the
carrier and to the office of administrative hearings.
(iii) The office of administrative hearings
will schedule a hearing date, and will notify the carrier, assistant attorney
general, and patrol in writing of the hearing date, time, and
location.
(iv) The hearing will be
conducted by an administrative law judge assigned by the office of
administrative hearings.
(v) At the
hearing, the assistant attorney general will present witnesses and other
evidence on behalf of the WSP.
(vi)
At the hearing, the carrier may be represented by an attorney or may choose to
represent himself or herself. The carrier or his/her attorney will be allowed
to present witnesses and other evidence.
(e) Nothing in this section will prevent the
parties from resolving the administrative matter by settlement agreement prior
to conclusion of the administrative hearing.
(4)
Initial and final order. At
the conclusion of the hearing, the administrative law judge will prepare an
initial order and send it to the carrier and the assistant attorney general.
(a) Either the carrier or the assistant
attorney general, or both, may file a petition for review of the initial order
with the patrol within twenty days of the date of service of the initial order.
A petition for review must:
(i) Specify the
portions of the initial order to which exception is taken;
(ii) Refer to the evidence of record which is
relied upon to support the petition; and
(iii) Be filed with the patrol within twenty
days of the date of service of the initial order.
(b) A party on whom a petition for review has
been served may, within ten days of the date of service, file a reply to the
petition. Copies of the reply must be mailed to all other parties or their
representatives at the time the reply is filed.
(c) The administrative record, the initial
order, and any exceptions filed by the parties will be submitted to the chief
or his/her designee for review. Following this review, the chief or his/her
designee will enter a final order that is appealable under the provisions of
chapter
34.05 RCW.
Notes
Statutory Authority: RCW 46.30.020 and Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.). 10-01-129, § 446-65-040, filed 12/21/09, effective 1/21/10.
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.