N.J. Admin. Code § 7:14-8.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024

Section 7:14-8.4 - Procedures to request an adjudicatory hearing to contest an administrative order, a notice of civil administrative penalty assessment, or a notice of civil administrative cost assessment; procedures for conducting adjudicatory hearings

(a) To request an adjudicatory hearing to contest an administrative order, a notice of civil administrative penalty assessment, or a notice of civil administrative cost assessment issued by the Department pursuant to the Water Pollution Control Act, the New Jersey Underground Storage of Hazardous Substances Act, or the Water Supply and Wastewater Operators' Licensing Act, the violator shall submit the original request in writing to the Department at New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Administrative Hearings and Dispute Resolution, ATTENTION: Adjudicatory Hearing Requests, 401 E. State Street, Mail Code 401-07A, PO Box 420, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0420 and a copy of the request to the enforcement bureau which issued the enforcement document. Any written request shall include the following information:

1. The name, address, and telephone number of the violator and its authorized representative;

2. The date the violator received the enforcement document being contested;

3. A copy of the enforcement document and a list of all issues being appealed;

4. The violator's defenses to each of the findings of fact stated in short and plain terms;

5. An admission or denial of each of the findings of fact. If the violator is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of a finding, the violator shall so state and this shall have the effect of a denial. A denial shall fairly meet the substance of the findings denied. When the violator intends in good faith to deny only a part or a qualification of a finding, the violator shall specify so much of it as is true and material and deny only the remainder. The violator may not generally deny all of the findings but shall make all denials as specific denials of designated findings. For each finding the violator denies, the violator shall allege the fact or facts as the violator believes it or them to be;

6. Information supporting the request and specific reference to or copies of other written documents relied upon to support the request;

7. An estimate of the time required for the hearing (in days and/or hours);

8. A request, if necessary, for a barrier-free hearing location for physically disabled persons;

9. Proof of compliance with all of the requirements in 7:14A-6.10 if the violator intends to:

i. Raise an affirmative defense to liability for a civil administrative penalty pursuant to 7:14-8.5(a) or 8.16(a) for the violation of an effluent limitation on the basis that a violation of an effluent limitation occurred as a result of an upset, an approved anticipated bypass or unanticipated bypass, a testing laboratory error, or a permitted groundwater remedial action; and

ii. To request that the Department determine through an administrative hearing whether or not it agrees with the violator's allegations concerning the matter; and

10. For a notice of civil administrative penalty assessment pursuant to 7:14-8.9(e), the following as applicable:

i. Documentation of compliance with the requirements in 7:14-8.9(e) that the violator notify the Department in writing, within 30 days after the date the violator was required to submit the information to the Department, of extenuating circumstances that prevented timely submission of a complete discharge monitoring report;

ii. Documentation of the violator's correction of the violation by submitting the omitted information within 10 days after the violator's receipt of the notice of the omission; a violator's failure to comply with the notice requirements in 7:14-8.9(e) will be a waiver of the violator's right to correct the violation within the required 10-day period and thus avert liability; or

iii. Documentation that the violator complied with 7:14-8.9(e) 3, if the violator intends to contest a civil administrative penalty assessed pursuant to 7:14-8.9(e) based on the existence of extenuating circumstances beyond the violator's control; if the violator fails to submit the required information within this 30-day period, the violator shall have waived its right to contest the civil administrative penalty in this manner and be barred from doing so; and

11. A statement as to whether the violator agrees to the Department's holding the request for 90 days prior to referral to the Office of Administrative Law for purposes of allowing time to negotiate a settlement of the dispute as provided by 1:1-8.1(b).

(b) The Department shall deny the hearing request if the Department does not receive a complete hearing request pursuant to (a) above within 20 days after receipt by the violator of the Notice of a Civil Administrative Penalty Assessment, the Administrative Order, or Notice of Civil Administrative Cost Assessment being challenged. A violator's failure to notify the Department in writing, within the 30 days allotted under (a)10i above, of the existence of extenuating circumstances which prevented timely submission of a complete discharge monitoring report, shall be grounds for the Department to deny any hearing request on a notice of civil administrative penalty assessment pursuant to 7:14-8.9(e).

(c) All adjudicatory hearings held pursuant to this section shall be conducted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, 52:14B-1 et seq., and the Uniform Administrative Procedure Rules, N.J.A.C. 1:1.

N.J. Admin. Code § 7:14-8.4

Amended by R.1991 d.378, effective 8/5/1991.
See: 23 N.J.R. 1089(a), 23 N.J.R. 2366(a).
Added "or a notice of civil administrative cost assessment" to heading and in (a) and (b).
Added (a)7, 8, 9.
In (b), added "A violator's failure ... pursuant to N.J.A.C. 7:14-8.9(e)".
Deleted (c).
Recodified existing (d) as (c).
Administrative Change in (a).
See: 23 N.J.R. 3325(b).
Administrative Correction to N.J.A.C. 7:14-8.4(a)9i and ii.
See: 23 N.J.R. 3754(a).
Administrative Correction to N.J.A.C. 7:14-8.4(a)9ii.
See: 25 N.J.R. 2862(b).
Amended by R.1995 d.162, effective 3/20/1995.
See: 26 N.J.R. 4912(a), 27 N.J.R. 1265(a).
Amended by R.1999 d.32, effective 1/19/1999.
See: 30 N.J.R. 1356(a), 31 N.J.R. 157(a).
In (a), deleted "and Energy" following "Environmental Protection" and updated the address in the introductory paragraph and deleted a former 9.
Amended by R.1999 d.163, effective 5/17/1999.
See: 31 N.J.R. 508(b), 31 N.J.R. 1314(b).
Rewrote (a).
Amended by R.2007 d.234, effective 8/6/2007.
See: 38 N.J.R. 2919(a), 39 N.J.R. 3298(a).
In (b), substituted "(a)10i" for "(a)8i".

Administrative Change, 55 N.J.R. 528(a), effective 2/23/2023