A.
Administrative
Penalties
(1)
Administrative
penalties may be imposed when the following occurs:
(a) The Lead Poisoning Control
Act, these rules, and/or an order issued pursuant to these rules,
requires an action which is either not taken or not completed by a specified
deadline. This trigger includes, but is not limited to, a property owner
denying the Department access to inspect, removing Department postings, missing
specified timelines or denying tenants' relocation (or denying reimbursement
for relocation).
(b) The
Lead Poisoning Control Act, these rules, and/or an order
issued pursuant to these rules, prohibits an action, and the action is
performed. Examples include, but are not limited to, re-renting an apartment
identified with a lead hazard once it has been posted and ordered to be cleared
of lead-based substances, removing required posted notices or evicting a family
due to notification of the presence of lead based paint.
(2)
Assessment of Administrative
Penalties
(a) When the Department is
considering imposing a penalty pursuant to these rules, it shall issue a notice
of potential penalty assessment. The Notice of Potential Penalty Assessment may
be included in an Order to Abate or a letter requiring access to a property.
The Notice of Potential Penalty Assessment will identify the date after which a
penalty may be assessed.
(b)
Following the date set forth in the Notice of Potential Penalty Assessment, the
Department may then issue a Notice of Penalty Assessment with a specified
penalty to be paid. Such notice shall state how the property owner may appeal a
Notice of Penalty Assessment to the Department's Office of Administrative
Hearings. Any hearing resulting from such appeal, shall be governed by 10-144
Code of Maine Rules ("CMR") Chapter 1, Administrative Hearings
Regulations. The Department may issue successive Notices of Penalty for
continuing or new violations.
(c)
The penalty assessed may be no greater than $500 per violation, per day, per
dwelling unit. Each day that a violation remains uncorrected counts as a
separate violation.
(3)
Reduction or Waiving of Administrative Penalties: The Department
may assess a penalty or waive the penalty assessed, based on, but not limited
to, the following criteria:
(a) Steps were
taken by the owner to prevent the violation;
(b) Steps were taken by the owner to mitigate
the damages resulting from the violation; or
(c) Steps were taken to address the
violation.
(4)
Assessment of Administrative Penalties - Enforcement
The penalty assessed may be no greater than $500 per
violation, per day, per dwelling unit. Each day during which the person fails
to comply with an order of the Department constitutes a separate and distinct
violation.
B.
Criminal Violation.
A person who violates any section of the Lead
Poisoning Control Act or rules adopted, pursuant to this chapter,
commits a Class E crime. Violations existing with individual dwelling units are
considered separate violations. The Department reserves the right to pursue any
legal or equitable sanction or order available.
C.
Injunction requiring removal.
If the lead based substance remains an environmental lead
hazard at the expiration of 30 days or at the expiration of an extension given
by the commissioner pursuant to
22 M.R.S.
§1321, that is a violation of this
chapter. When a violation has occurred, the Department, in addition to any
other remedies it has, may seek a mandatory injunction ordering the
environmental lead hazard to be removed by a suitable third party at the
expense of the owner of the affected dwelling, premises, residential
child-occupied facility, child care facility, premises of the family child care
provider or nursery school.
