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(a) The Biological Agent Detector User shall pay a fee for each Biological Agent Detector in order to obtain and maintain a Certificate of Registration. In the year that a Person applies for a new Certificate of Registration, the fee for the Department of Public Health shall be $3,140 for the first fixed position Biodetector and $200 for each additional fixed position Biodetector deployed within the same building. In the year that a Person applies for a new Certificate of Registration for a mobile Biodetector, the fee shall be $3,140 for each building where the Biological Agent Detector User plans to deploy the mobile Biodetector. The fee for the Fire Department shall be $220 per Biodetector, with $110 for each additional hour of review or inspection per Biodetector after the initial two hours. The Detector User must renew the Certificate of Registration annually as provided in this Article, and pay the fees for each Biological Agent Detector for the Certificate of Registration to remain valid. The fee for the Department of Public Health after the first year that a fixed position Biodetector is approved shall be $392 for the first fixed position Biodetector, and $50 for each additional fixed position Biodetector deployed within the same building. The fee for mobile devices after the first year the device is approved shall be $392 for each mobile device. The fee for the Fire Department in the years after an initial approval shall be $110 per Biodetector per hour of review or inspection. The fees shall be paid to the aforementioned Departments before the City approves or renews the Certificate of Registration and the Detector User activates or continues operation of the Biological Agent Detector.
(b) Beginning with fiscal year 2012-2013, fees set forth in this Article may be adjusted each year, without further action by the Board of Supervisors, as set forth in this Section.
Not later than April 1, the Director and the Chief shall report to the Controller the revenues generated by the fees for the prior fiscal year and the prior fiscal year's costs of operation, as well as any other information that the Controller determines appropriate to the performance of the duties set forth in this Article.
Not later than May 15, the Controller shall determine whether the current fees have produced or are projected to produce revenues sufficient to support the costs of providing the services for which the fees are assessed and that the fees will not produce revenue that is significantly more than the costs of providing the services for which the fees are assessed.
The Controller shall, if necessary, adjust the fees upward or downward for the upcoming fiscal year as appropriate to ensure that the program recovers the costs of operation without producing revenue which is significantly more than such costs. The adjusted rates shall become operative on July 1.
Any Person required to obtain a Certificate of Registration under this Article shall notify the Director within 10 days of any relevant or material change in the information contained in the application or of other relevant circumstances, including but not limited to, if the Person acquires an additional Biological Agent Detector, ceases to possess a Biological Agent Detector, or modifies the training, notification, or response plans for the Biological Agent Detector. Upon notification of such change, the Director may suspend, revoke, or amend the registration or direct that the Certificate of Registration holder submit an application for a new registration. If Director instructs a Person to submit an application for a new registration, that Person must do so within 30 days of the mailing of the notice by the Director.
Any Person required to register under this Article must allow inspections by any City agency of the location or building containing the Biological Agent Detector, either pursuant to the application process or after the issuance of the Certificate of Registration.
Any Person who already possesses a Biological Agent Detector as of the date this Article becomes effective must submit an application for a Certificate of Registration within 90 days of the effective date of this ordinance. Following a denial, an applicant may resubmit an application or remove the Biological Agent Detector within 30 days. If a Person's third application is denied, that Person is barred from resubmitting another application and must permanently remove the Biological Agent Detector within 30 days.
(a) A Biological Agent Detector User shall:
(1) Maintain the Biological Agent Detector so as to minimize or eliminate false alarms;
(2) Make every reasonable effort to have a responder to the Biological Agent Detector's location within 10 minutes of when the Biological Agent Detector alarm is activated to:
(A) Provide access to the Biological Agent Detector location;
(B) Assist with the assessment of the situation; or
(C) Provide alternative security for the Biological Agent Detector location; and,
(3) Not activate a Biological Agent Detector for any reason other than an occurrence of an event that the Biological Agent Detector system was intended to report.
(b) A Biological Agent Detector User shall adjust the mechanism or cause the mechanism to be adjusted so that a Biological Agent Detector signal shall not be audible to the general public.
(c) A Biological Agent Detector User shall maintain at each Biological Agent Detector location a set of written operating instructions for each Biological Agent Detector system in a location and manner acceptable to the Fire Department and the Department of Public Health.
(d) A Biological Agent Detector User shall maintain at each fire alarm annunciator panel signage explaining that there is a Biological Agent Detector in the building. The signage shall also contain a map or directions to explain the locations of the devices.
False alarms are prohibited.
(a) Enforcement. Biological Agent Detector Users who violate this Article or any regulations enacted under Section 3519 shall be liable for administrative or civil penalties. The Director may assess administrative penalties following an administrative hearing. Civil penalties may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the City and County of San Francisco by the City Attorney in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) False Alarm Penalty. A Biological Agent Detector User shall pay penalties for each False Alarm as follows:
First False Alarm: Up to $5,000.
Second False Alarm: Up to $7,500.
Third And Each Subsequent False Alarm: Up to $10,000.
(c) Other Violations. Any Person who violates any other provision of this Article or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to this Article may be subject to an administrative or civil penalty of up to $500 per day of violation.
(d) Factors For Setting Penalty. In assessing the amount of the administrative or civil penalty, the Director or Court shall consider any one or more of the relevant circumstances presented by any of the parties to the case, including but not limited to the following: the nature and seriousness of the misconduct, the number of violations, the persistence of the misconduct, the length of time over which the misconduct occurred, the willfulness of the defendant's misconduct, and the defendant's assets, liabilities, and net worth.
(e) Presumption of Noncompliance in Civil Cases. In addition to any other penalties provided in this Article, any Person or entity served with a notice or order by the Director setting forth the nature of the violation of this Article, demanding correction of such violation, and specifying the time within which such violation must be corrected, shall be presumed, in civil proceedings, to have failed to comply with that notice or order at and after the time given in that notice or order for correction of such violation, after the time specified in the order has expired without correction of the violation.
(f) In any civil or administrative proceeding to collect penalties under this Article, the Court or Hearing Officer may award the City costs and fees, including but not limited to attorneys' fees.
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