12999.6. (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Multijurisdictional priority investigation” means a priority investigation involving more than one county or a priority investigation involving a person that is the subject of priority investigations in more than one county.
(2) “Priority investigation” has the same meaning as in the 2005 Cooperative Agreement, or the most current version of the Cooperative Agreement, between the department, the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9.
(b) In lieu of a civil penalty levied by the county agricultural commissioner, the director may levy a civil penalty of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for each violation described in subdivision (c), or may refer any of those violations to the proper enforcement agency, including the district attorney of the county where the violations occurred or the Attorney General.
(c) The director may initiate and maintain an enforcement action for a violation of a statute or implementing regulation described in Section 12999.5 meeting any of the following conditions:
(1) Where the county agricultural commissioner and director agree that enforcement by the department is appropriate.
(2) After consultation with the county agricultural commissioner for either of the following violations:
(A) A violation related to a multijurisdictional priority investigation involving human or environmental health effects.
(B) A violation that caused a health, property, or environmental hazard where the director finds the county agricultural commissioner has failed to discharge their duties pursuant to Section 2281.
(d) Before a civil penalty is levied, the person charged with the violation shall be given a written notice of the proposed action, including the nature of the violation and the amount of the proposed penalty, and shall have the right to request a hearing within 20 days after receiving notice of the proposed action. A notice of the proposed action that is sent by certified mail to the last known address of the person charged shall be considered received even if delivery is refused or the notice is not accepted at that address. If a hearing is requested, notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given at least 10 days before the date set for the hearing. Before the hearing, the person shall be given an opportunity to review the director’s evidence. At the hearing, the person shall be given the opportunity to present evidence on their own behalf. If a hearing is not timely requested, the director may take the action proposed without a hearing.
(e) If the person against whom the director levied a civil penalty requested and appeared at a hearing, the person may seek judicial review of the director’s decision within 30 days of the date of the decision pursuant to Section 1094.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(f) After exhaustion of the review procedures provided in this section, the director, or the director’s representative, may file a certified copy of a final decision of the director that directs the payment of a civil penalty and, if applicable, any order that denies a petition for writ of administrative mandamus, with the clerk of the superior court of any county. Judgment shall be entered immediately by the clerk in conformity with the decision or order. Pursuant to Section 6103 of the Government Code, the clerk of the superior court shall not charge a fee for the performance of any official service required in connection with the entry of judgment pursuant to this section.
(g) Any money recovered under this section shall be paid to the investigating county agricultural commissioner to reimburse the cost of the investigation with the remainder going into the Department of Pesticide Regulation Fund for use by the department, upon appropriation, in administering this division and Division 6 (commencing with Section 11401).
(h) This section shall only apply to violations that occur on or after January 1, 2023.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 574, Sec. 8. (AB 211) Effective September 27, 2022.)