69-4-522. Duties of department -- rulemaking. (1) The department shall:

(a) assess civil penalties pursuant to 69-4-524 and 69-4-525;

(b) maintain incident reports;

(c) collect fees from underground facility owners in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to 69-4-502(4)(a) and subsection (2)(c) of this section;

(d) collect fines for failures to file incident reports in accordance with 69-4-529;

(e) award grants in accordance with 69-4-528; and

(f) conduct mediation and contested cases regarding disputed civil penalties in accordance with 69-4-526.

(2) The department shall adopt rules to implement this part. Rules must provide for the:

(a) assessment and collection of civil penalties provided for in 69-4-524 and 69-4-525;

(b) reporting and collection of incident reports pursuant to 69-4-529;

(c) collection of annual fees of up to $0.10 per outgoing locate request issued to each individual underground facility owner by a notification center. The fee must be based on the number of outgoing locate requests that an underground facility owner received in the previous 12-month period.

(d) procedures, including but not limited to application and filing requirements for mediation and the review of disputed penalties; and

(e) procedures for grant funding authorized in 69-4-528. The rules for grant funding must include but are not limited to:

(i) eligibility requirements for notification centers applying for grants;

(ii) criteria for awarding grants; and

(iii) reporting procedures for grant recipients.

(3) Rules must be adopted pursuant to the Montana Administrative Procedure Act.

(4) The department may take into account and rely on findings made by a notification center or other nonprofit entities to assist in making determinations necessary for the assessment of a civil penalty.

History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 326, L. 2017.