Title 3.2. Agriculture, Animal Care, and Food
Chapter 36. Fertilizer
§ 3.2-3625. Violations; civil penalties.
A. The Commissioner shall give notice of the violation to the registrant or the licensee responsible for the regulated product. The Commissioner may give notice to the distributor from whom the Commissioner sampled the regulated product.
B. To determine the amount of any civil penalty, the Commissioner shall give due consideration to (i) the history of previous violations, (ii) the seriousness of the violation, and (iii) the demonstrated good faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve compliance with the chapter after notification of the violation.
C. The Commissioner shall determine procedures for payment of uncontested civil penalties. The procedures shall include provisions for a person to consent to abatement of the alleged violation and pay a penalty or negotiated sum in lieu of such penalty without admission of civil liability arising from such alleged violation.
D. The person to whom a civil penalty is issued shall have 15 days to request an informal fact-finding conference, held pursuant to § 2.2-4019, to challenge the fact or amount of the civil penalty. If the civil penalty is upheld, the person against whom the civil penalty has been upheld shall have 15 days to pay the proposed penalty in full, or if the person wishes to contest either the amount of the penalty or the fact of the violation, forward the proposed amount to the Commissioner's office for placement in an interest-bearing trust account in the State Treasurer's office. If through administrative or judicial review of the proposed penalty, it is determined that no violation occurred, or that the amount of penalty should be reduced, the Commissioner shall within 30 days of that determination remit the appropriate amount to the person with interest accrued thereon.
E. Final orders of the Commissioner may be recorded, enforced, and satisfied as orders or decrees of a circuit court upon certification of such orders by the Commissioner. Such orders may be appealed in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.).
F. Except as otherwise provided, any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this chapter or the regulations adopted hereunder is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.
