In setting the amount of a civil penalty imposed under RCW
78.44.087, the department shall consider the following base penalty schedule:
(1) Category I. Fines of two hundred fifty dollars may be levied for each violation of the following:
(a) Failure to post the reclamation plan at the mine site if directed to do so by the department;
(b) Failure to install or maintain monuments;
(c) Failure to provide a new reclamation plan upon request;
(d) Failure to provide requisite solid waste permits to the department;
(e) Failure to route or provide drainage so that reclaimed surfaces are protected from erosion or mass wasting; and/or
(f) Excavation within the reclamation setbacks.
(2) Category II. Fines of five hundred dollars may be levied for each violation of the following:
(a) Failure to pay annual fees;
(b) Unauthorized sale of, or backfilling with, topsoil needed for reclamation;
(c) Failure to revegetate a segment within the first appropriate growing season;
(d) Surface mining outside the reclamation permit area;
(e) Failure to protect adjacent properties from erosion or slope failure;
(f) Failure to compact fill used for reclamation if such failure results in slope failure; and/or
(g) Any violation of an order of the department.
(3) Category III. Fines of one thousand dollars per day to a maximum of ten thousand dollars per day may be levied seven days per week for each violation of the following:
(a) Surface mining without a reclamation permit;
(b) Failure to provide performance security upon request;
(c) Failure to remove noxious, combustible, or compactible materials from the mine site;
(d) Failure to complete reclamation of a segment within two years after cessation of operations;
(e) Failure to comply with an emergency order of the department; and/or
(f) Failure to comply when more than one order of the department has been issued for the same violation.