Penalties for Not Submitting Annual BPD Test Report Reduced

DEP issued three violation notices to landlord for failing to submit three annual test reports for backflow prevention devices. Landlord explained at a hearing that the devices had been tested on May 31, 2017, before the first scheduled hearing date. Landlord asked for reduced penalties. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined it $1,500. Landlord appealed, and the total penalty was reduced to $150. Although the first hearing date had been rescheduled to July 13, 2017, landlord showed that it had cleared the violation before the first scheduled date. Applicable regulation 15 RCNY 20-04(e) required landlord to bring to the "hearing," not to the first scheduled hearing, proof of compliance. So the penalties for each violation should be reduced from $500 to $50.

Concord Associates LLC: ECB App. No. 1700921 (10/19/17) [3-pg. doc.]