BILL REQ. #:  S-3928.1 

Read first time 01/19/10.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Rural Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to establishing civil penalties for failure to comply with dairy nutrient management recordkeeping requirements; adding a new section to chapter 90.64 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 90.64 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in chapter 43.05 RCW, the department of agriculture may impose a civil penalty to a dairy producer for failure to comply with recordkeeping requirements in RCW 90.64.010(17)(c). The amount of the civil penalty shall not exceed five thousand dollars in a calendar year.
     (2) In determining the amount of the civil penalty to be levied, the department of agriculture shall take into consideration:
     (a) The gravity and magnitude of the violation;
     (b) Whether the violation was repeated or is continuous;
     (c) Whether the cause of the violation was an unavoidable accident, negligence, or an intentional act;
     (d) The violator's efforts to correct the violation; and
     (e) The immediacy and extent to which the violation threatens the public health or safety or harms the environment.
     (3) The department of agriculture may establish by rule a graduated civil penalty schedule that includes the factors listed in this section.