5832239 Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Department of - Notice of Emergency Rulemaking - 16 DCMR 32 (3200.1 & 3201.1)  

  • DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS

     

    NOTICE OF EMERGENCY RULEMAKING

     

    The Director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), pursuant to authority set forth in Section 104 of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Civil Infractions Act of 1985, effective October 5, 1985 (D.C. Law 6-42; D.C. Official Code § 2-1801.04 (2012 Repl.)); D.C. Official Code § 47-2851.20 (2015 Repl.);  and Mayor’s Order 99-68, dated April 28,1999; hereby gives notice of the adoption, on an emergency basis, the following amendment to Chapter 32 (Civil Infractions: Schedule of Fines) of Title 16 (Consumers, Commercial Practices, and Civil Infractions) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).  

     

    The emergency rulemaking creates a Class VI infraction to conform to the fine amounts set forth in the Sale of Synthetic Drugs Temporary Amendment Act of 2015, effective October 21, 2015 (D.C. Law 21-0034; 62 DCR 10898 (August 14, 2015)).

     

    This emergency rulemaking is necessary to the immediate preservation of the public welfare to enable swift processing of fines prescribed in the Synthetic Drugs Emergency Amendment Act of 2015.   The need for emergency action was legislatively adopted in Sale of Synthetic Drugs Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2015, effective June 30, 2015 (R21-0141; 62 DCR 9707 (July 17, 2015)).  Identical language was adopted on July 10, 2015 in a Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking, published at 62 DCR 10430 (July 31, 2015). 

     

    This emergency rulemaking was adopted December 4, 2015, and became effective on that date. The emergency rulemaking shall remain in effect for up to one hundred and twenty (120) days or until April 2, 2016, unless earlier superseded by publication of a Notice of Final Rulemaking in the D.C. Register.

     

    Chapter 32, CIVIL INFRACTIONS: SCHEDULE OF FINES, of Title 16 DCMR, CONSUMERS, COMMERCIAL PRACTICES, AND CIVIL INFRACTIONS, is amended as follows:

     

    Section 3200, CLASSES OF INFRACTIONS, is amended as follows:

     

    Subsection 3200.1 of is amended by adding a paragraph (f) to read as follows:

     

    (f)        Class 6 – Infractions that involve synthetic drug sale, intent to sell, or possession in violation of D.C. Official Code § 47-2844(a-2)(1A).

     

    Section 3201, FINE AMOUNTS, is amended as follows:

     

    Subsection 3201.1 is amended by adding a new paragraph (f) to read as follows:

     

    (f)        For Class 6 infractions, the fines are as follows:

               

    (1)        For the first offense                                        $10,000; and

    (2)        For the second and subsequent offenses        $20,000.