69-4-522. Duties of department — rulemaking. (1) The department shall:

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(a)assess civil penalties pursuant to 69-4-524 and 69-4-525;

(b)maintain incident reports;

(c)collect fees from underground facility owners in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to 69-4-502(4)(a) and subsection (2)(c) of this section;

(d)collect fines for failures to file incident reports in accordance with 69-4-529;

(e)award grants in accordance with 69-4-528; and

(f)conduct mediation and contested cases regarding disputed civil penalties in accordance with 69-4-526.

(2)The department shall adopt rules to implement this part. Rules must provide for the:

(a)assessment and collection of civil penalties provided for in 69-4-524 and 69-4-525;

(b)reporting and collection of incident reports pursuant to 69-4-529;

(c)collection of annual fees of up to $0.10 per outgoing locate request issued to each individual underground facility owner by a notification center. The fee must be based on the number of outgoing locate requests that an underground facility owner received in the previous 12-month period.

(d)procedures, including but not limited to application and filing requirements for mediation and the review of disputed penalties; and

(e)procedures for grant funding authorized in 69-4-528. The rules for grant funding must include but are not limited to:

(i)eligibility requirements for notification centers applying for grants;

(ii)criteria for awarding grants; and

(iii)reporting procedures for grant recipients.

(3)Rules must be adopted pursuant to the Montana Administrative Procedure Act.

(4)The department may take into account and rely on findings made by a notification center or other nonprofit entities to assist in making determinations necessary for the assessment of a civil penalty.