(1) The board may grant a licensee's application for advice and consultation as provided in RCW 69.50.342(3) and visit the licensee's licensed premises in order to provide such advice and consultation. Advice and consultation services are limited to the matters specified in the request affecting the interpretation and applicability of the standards in this chapter to the conditions, structures, machines, equipment, apparatus, devices, materials, methods, means, and practices in the licensee's licensed premises. The board may provide for an alternative means of affording consultation and advice other than on-site consultation.

(2) The board must make recommendations on eliminating areas of concern disclosed within the scope of the on-site consultation. A visit to a licensee's licensed premises may not be considered an inspection or investigation under this chapter. During the visit, the board may not issue notices or citations and may not assess civil penalties. However, if the on-site visit discloses a violation with a direct or immediate relationship to public safety and the violation is not corrected, the board may investigate.

(3) This section does not provide immunity to a licensee who has applied for consultative services from inspections or investigations conducted under this chapter or from any inspection conducted as a result of a complaint before, during, or after the provision of consultative services.

(4) This section does not require an inspection of a licensee's licensed premises that has been visited for consultative purposes. However, if the premises are inspected after a visit, the board may consider any information obtained during the consultation visit in determining the nature of an alleged violation and the amount of penalties to be assessed, if any.

(5) Rules adopted under RCW 69.50.562 must provide that violations with a direct or immediate relationship to public safety discovered during the consultation visit must be corrected within a specified period of time and an inspection must be conducted at the end of that time period.

(6) All licensees requesting consultative services must be advised of this section and the rules adopted by the board relating to the voluntary compliance program. Valuable formulae or financial or proprietary commercial information records received during a consultative visit or while providing consultative services in accordance with this section are not subject to inspection pursuant to chapter 42.56 RCW.

(7) The board may adopt rules on the frequency, manner, and method of providing consultative services to licensees. Rules may include scheduling of consultative services and prioritizing requests for the services while maintaining the enforcement requirements of this chapter.

Findings—2019 c 394: See note following RCW 69.50.563.