Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Resources v. Landis

MYERS, Member,

SYNOPSIS

The board issues an adjudication determining the amount of civil penalties where the issue of liability has already been established in a partial default adjudication. Where the defendant was not permitted to offer any evidence at the merits hearing on the amount of penalties to be assessed as a sanction for his failure to comply with the board’s orders, and where the defendant fails to file any post-hearing brief, the board has before it only the Department of Environmental Resources’ evidence. DER’s calculations and rationale are advisory only, however, and are neither…