(1) Within fifteen days after receiving a notice of penalties, the miner or permit holder may request the department to mitigate the penalty. The application must be in writing and delivered to the department at the following address:
Manager
Division of Geology and Earth Resources
Department of Natural Resources
P.O. Box 47007
Olympia, WA 98504-7007
(2) Upon receipt of the application for mitigation, the penalty may be reduced, dismissed, or left unaltered at the discretion of the department.
(3) The department shall give the miner or permit holder written notice of its decision within thirty days.
(4) If the department refuses to dismiss the penalty, a miner or permit holder may appeal the penalty to the pollution control hearings board as follows:
(a) Any such appeal must be received by the pollution control hearings board within thirty days after the miner or permit holder receives the written notice in response to the application for mitigation of the penalty;
(b) A copy of the appeal must be delivered to the department at the address given in subsection (1) of this section within the same thirty-day period; and
(c) The miner or permit holder must comply with the rules for appeals to the pollution control hearings board set out in chapter
371-08 WAC.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 78.44.040, 34.05.220, 43.21C.135 and 78.44.250. 94-14-051, § 332-18-05007, filed 6/30/94, effective 8/2/94.]