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2020 SESSION

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SB 769 Environmental proceedings; findings of fact.

Introduced by: Bryce E. Reeves | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE: (all summaries)

Environmental proceedings; findings of fact. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to give deference to findings of fact by a presiding officer based on the evidence presented in any formal proceeding where the parties are operating under a consent decree. The bill directs a court to give deference to a factual recommendation by a hearing officer, and creates a rebuttable presumption with respect to such facts. The bill requires that the Director of the Department give the factual and legal basis for the decision to revoke or amend a solid waste management permit.

The bill also directs a court, hearing any decision on review for a formal proceeding initiated prior to July 1, 2020, in which DEQ rejected a recommendation from a hearing officer or presiding officer and for which a final adjudication has not been rendered, to remand the proceeding to establish the findings of fact by a presiding officer explicitly based on the evidence presented at the hearing and to establish the factual and legal basis for the decision prior to rendering such final adjudication.


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