Page 99 - BCCGA Best Practices Version 3.0

98 British Columbia Common Ground Alliance
6-4 PENALTIES
PRACTICE STATEMENT: Compliance programs include penalties for violations
of the damage prevention laws or regulations.
PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: There are specific provisions within the context of
the regulations for penalties for failure to comply with the damage prevention
laws and regulations. There is a penalty system that will include enforcement
education as an alternative or supplement to other penalties. This penalty
system also has a tiered structure to account for the level of severity or repeat
offenses (e.g., Legal Orders, Tickets, and Administrative Penalties). Violations
could entail actual infrastructure damage as well as near-miss situations. The
BCCGA should assess and integrate the key learnings from these analyses into
its public awareness and education programs. The penalty system, however,
does not allow any violator or class of violators to be shielded from the
consequences of a violation (i.e. all stakeholders should be accountable).
REFERENCE: Regulation 20.79 (WorkSafeBC), Safety Standards Act and Gas
Safety Regulation (British Columbia Safety Authority)
6-5 ENFORCEMENT BY EXISTING AUTHORITY
PRACTICE STATEMENT: Statutes specify an authority body and gives it the
resources to enforce the law.
PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: Enforcement authorities have the resources to
enforce the damage prevention laws and regulations. Experience has shown
enforcement of laws and regulations that did not identify a specific authority
have not been effective. An authority of such has the following characteristics:
Ÿ A process for receiving reports of violations from any stakeholder
Ÿ An operating budget source other than revenue from fines, excluding fines
as a source of income for the authority
Ÿ Stakeholder involvement in periodic review and modification of
enforcement processes
Ÿ Resources to respond to notifications of alleged violations in a timely
manner
Ÿ A method of investigating alleged violations prior to issuing a notice of
probable violation
Ÿ An initial informal means of contesting a notice of violation, and