Department of Pesticide Regulation

HEARING OFFICER ROUNDTABLE PROJECT WEB PAGE

The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is pleased to announce the completion of the Hearing Officer Roundtable Project Web page. You may recall the Hearing Officer and Investigation Roundtable discussions facilitated by former Hearing Officer and County Agricultural Commissioner, Mr. Jerry Benincasa during 2001 and 2002.

The Hearing Officer Roundtable Project is the follow-up document for those discussions addressing each of the questions, concerns, or issues presented by county staff to Mr. Benincasa during those discussions. Each section of the project has been reviewed and approved by DPR´s Office of Legal Affairs.

Addressing the issues led to development of other resource materials, such as the brochures entitled, "Preparing for Your Administrative Hearing" (now available through the forms requisition process); How to Read and Understand the Codes; Elements of the Violation Worksheets; and the Comparison Between Agricultural and Structural Civil Penalties including the Agricultural Civil Penalties/ Structural Civil Penalties ruler.

For your convenience, the project Web page can be downloaded by sections or as a single document at www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/county/training/hrngofcr/hearofficer.htm. There are no plans to provide this project in a paper version, as it will later be incorporated into the revised Hearing Sourcebook (available later this year).

Please share this information with members of your staff who prepare or review case files or act as your advocate or hearing officer in agricultural or structural civil penalty actions.

If you have any questions, please contact your Enforcement Branch Liaison.

cc:  Mr. Daniel J. Merkley, DPR Agricultural Commissioner Liaison (w/Enclosures)