4. a. The commission shall establish by regulation, in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.), a schedule of bus safety out-of-service violations and applicable sanctions and penalties for buses operating with bus safety out-of-service violations. The regulations shall promote uniformity with national safety standards. The regulations shall establish penalties for category 1 and category 2 safety violations which shall be proportional with the severity of such violations as determined by the commission. The bus operator shall be responsible for all penalties.

b. The schedule of bus safety out-of-service violations shall establish and specify those violations which the commission determines to be category 1 violations, and shall further establish and specify the monetary civil penalty for category 1 violations. The monetary civil penalties established and specified by the commission in the schedule shall be proportional to the nature, severity and repetition of the violation. The minimum monetary civil penalty for a category 1 violation shall be $300 and the maximum monetary civil penalty for a category 1 violation shall be $5,000.

c. The schedule of bus safety out-of-service violations shall establish and specify those violations which the commission determines to be category 2 violations, and shall further establish and specify the monetary civil penalty for category 2 violations. The monetary civil penalties established and specified by the commission in the schedule shall be proportional to the nature, severity and repetition of the violation. The maximum monetary civil penalty for a category 2 violation shall be $500.

L.1995,c.225,s.4; amended 2003, c.13, s.95.