Amendment of Penalty Schedule for Violations of Certain Provisions of Health Code and Other Health-Related Provisions of Law
Rule status: Proposed
Agency: DOHMH
Comment by date: March 10, 2025
Rule Full Text
Ch.-7-NOI_Adding-Fixed-Penalties_2-5-25.pdf
The NYC Health Department is proposing to amend the Penalty Schedule of Appendix 7-A of Chapter 7 of Title 24 of the RCNY to provide a penalty schedule for certain violations enforced by the NYC Health Department in order to provide fixed, consistent civil penalties. The assessment of penalties for violations without a fixed penalty is determined at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings when the violation is sustained. These violations correspond to provisions in: (i) Health Code Articles 141 (Water Supply Safety Standards), 143 (Disposal of Sewage), 161 (Animals), 165 (Bathing Establishments), 167 (Bathing Beaches), 175 (Radiation Control) and 177 (Tanning Facilities); (ii) Subchapter 3 (Rental Horse Licensing and Protection Law) of Chapter 3 (Licenses and Permits) of Title 17 of the New York City Administrative Code; and (iii) Chapter 4 (Health, Safety and Well-being of Rental Horses) of Title 24 of the RCNY.
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Send comments by
- Email: [email protected]
- Fax: 1 (347) 396-6087
- Mail: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Gotham Center, 42-09 28th Street, 14th floor, Room/Floor: CN30 ; Long Island City, New York 11101-4132
Public Hearings
Date
March 10, 2025
10:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Location
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Comments are now closed.
Online comments: 3
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Adeniyi Akinmade
Comment added March 5, 2025 12:21pmThe TLC is a kangaroo court that is over regulating the industry with excessive rules. Free market is what I support, not dictatorship.
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MIKE DAVIS
Comment added March 10, 2025 3:44pmPLEASE ENSURE THAT OUR CITY DOES NOT DO AWAY WITH THE LAW REQUIRING OUR DOMESTIC WATER TANKS TO BE CLEANED AND SANITIZED ANNUALLY BY LOCAL PROFESSIONALS! THIS IS THE WATER THAT COMES THROUGH OUR FAUCETS AND OUR SHOWERS AND BATHS, AND NOT REQUIRING ANNUAL CLEANINGS WILL MOST CERTAINLY COMPROMISE OUR HEALTH AS NYC RESIDENTS !
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D. Bierman
Comment added March 10, 2025 4:34pmI would like to reiterate my comments from today’s public hearing regarding the changes to the NYC Health Code, specifically the proposed penalty schedule for violations of Article 175 and to add one more for consideration.
1. I believe the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s [DOHMH] current inspection regime, typically involving an initial inspection of a licensee/registrant and a re-inspection should any violations be found, is adequate to ensure compliance with Article 175. Furthermore licensees/registrants are invoiced for these inspections and are therefore presumably cost-neutral to the DOHMH. I am uncertain that additional financial penalties will increase compliance or demonstrably improve public safety.
2. The ambiguity of how many of the proposed violation descriptions are written opens the door to potentially problematic subjective interpretation. In lieu of indicating xxxx is “inadequate” or xxyy is “not adequate” (see “175.12(c)-(e) X-ray film processing facilities are inadequate” or “175.49(d) Operator protection is not adequate” as examples of poorly written descriptions), violation descriptions should be phrased with more specificity and or include a code reference (see “175.48(g)(2) Radiographic system subject to the requirements of 175.48(g)(2), does not comply with the field limitation and alignment requirements of this subdivision” and “175.55(c)(3) CT unit was not calibrated prior to human use or annually or whenever components changed that could affect dose as examples of unambiguous violation descriptions that should be used as examples for other descriptions).
3. Service of process per 48 RCNY 6-08(b)(1)(ii) can be problematic, especially at larger organizations with multiple sites within NYC. Service per 48 RCNY 6-08(b)(1)(i) is preferable, but if the DOHMH prefers the aforementioned, to ensure licensees/registrants are actually notified of an OATH summons, inspectors intending to issue a summons should request licensees/registrants provide an email so that an electronic copy of the summons can be provided in addition to the mailed copy. Doing so will be more efficient for OATH, inspectors and licensees/registrants by reducing the amount of defaulted summonses that were never received and have to be reopened per 48 RCNY 6-21(e).