Napa County Municipal Code Art. VI Enforcement

A. The county shall have the right to inspect the records, vehicles, equipment, supplies, and personnel of the permittee whenever the county deems such inspection necessary.

B. The permittee shall cooperate with the county, in any investigation of possible violations of this ordinance and shall make all dispatch logs and similar dispatch records, including audio recordings, available for inspection and copying at reasonable times at the permittee's regular place of business. All audio recordings shall remain available for a minimum of one hundred eighty days from the date the recording was made.

C. The permittee shall allow the county to inspect, on a pre-announced or unannounced basis, all ambulances used to provide ambulance service. The inspections should be held, whenever possible, during normal business hours at the ambulance operations center. The purpose of such inspections is to determine if the ambulance and its equipment and supplies are in good working order, properly maintained and equipped for the provision of ambulance service for which it is permitted. The ambulance inspection will be for all equipment identified in the county's policies, which has not been inspected by the CHP under the California Code of Regulations, Title 13, Motor Vehicles, Division 2, Chapter 2, Article 1, Sections 1103 and 1103.2.

D. The permittee shall inform the county of any suspension and/or revocation of their California Highway Patrol Ambulance Service License, or Vehicle Certificate, or Authorized Emergency Vehicle Permit for any of their vehicles.

(Ord. No. 1464, § 1, 12-8-2020)

A. Any user of a permitted ambulance service contending that the user received unsatisfactory services may file a written complaint with the county. Such written complaints shall set forth the allegations. The county shall notify the permittee of the complaint and provide the permittee with all relevant non-confidential information about the complaint.

B. The county shall conduct an investigation of the allegations in the written complaint to determine the validity of said allegations. If the allegations are found to be valid, the county shall take actions to secure compliance with the provisions of this chapter and any established ambulance regulations.

C. If the county is unable to secure compliance, it will initiate action to penalize, suspend or revoke the Certificate of Operation.

(Ord. No. 1464, § 1, 12-8-2020)

A. The county may suspend or revoke an ambulance company's Certificate of Operation for:

1. Violating any provision, regulation, law, including local, state or federal standards or ordinances; or

2. Failure to make and retain records showing its operations in any area covered by this ordinance, including but not limited to dispatching, response, personnel, vehicles, medical treatment or billing, or failure to make such records available for inspection by the county; or

3. Accepting an emergency or non-emergency call when it is either unable or unwilling to provide the requested service, or fails to inform the person requesting such service of any delay; or

4. Failure to pay any fine issued pursuant to this section within thirty business days.

B. Suspension is not a condition precedent to revocation.

C. Fines:

1. Fines may be issued by the county for:

a. Failure to provide required clinical or operational reports, including dispatch records;

b. Failure to comply with requirements for personnel, equipment, and vehicles;

c. Failure to comply with any other section of this ordinance or any regulation adopted pursuant to this ordinance.

2. Exceptions shall be granted for records destroyed by fire, explosion, or theft beyond the reasonable control of the permittee; a declaration of local, state, or federal emergency impacting the permittee's resources; and/or acts of God.

3. Failure to remit amount of fine levied within thirty days of adoption of a resolution of findings on appeal to the board may result in revocation of the Certification of Operation.

D. Violations:

1. Except as otherwise provided, any permittee who violates any provision of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor as provided under subsection (B) of Section 1.20.150 of this code, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail and a fine of up to one thousand dollars, or both.

2. A permittee who violates provision of this ordinance shall be subject to a fine:

a. Not exceeding one hundred dollars for a first violation.

b. Not exceeding two hundred dollars for a second violation of the same section.

c. Not exceeding five hundred dollars for each additional violation within one year of the same section.

d. Notwithstanding the fines set forth in subsections (D)(2)(a) through (D)(2)(c) above, a permittee who violates any provision of this ordinance shall be subject to fines otherwise set or modified by future amendments to Section 25132 of the Government Code.

3. A violation period is defined as each day or portion thereof that a permittee is in violation of this ordinance.

4. The county or designee is hereby authorized to institute and pursue, in the name of the county, pursuant to the provisions of Section 25132 of the Government Code, civil actions for the recovery of fines for violations of this ordinance.

5. The county may also pursue injunctive relief and civil remedies and penalties provided for under subsections (A) and (B) of Section 1.20.155 of this code, including but not limited to civil penalties of up to one thousand dollars for each day or portion therefore, that a violation of this ordinance continues to persist.

6. Payment of any fine herein shall not relieve the permittee from the responsibility of correcting the violation.

7. As provided under Section 1.20.160 of this code, each and every day any violation of this ordinance, or of any condition of any permit or license or other entitlement issued by the county continues, shall, unless otherwise provided, constitute a distinct and separately punishable offense.

(Ord. No. 1464, § 1, 12-8-2020)

Before any suspension or revocation, the county shall give written notice to the permittee specifying the violations. The written notice shall provide the permittee a reasonable period of time (not less than five nor more than fifteen business days) to comply with the provisions in question or to show cause against suspension or revocation and set a date for hearing thereon.

(Ord. No. 1464, § 1, 12-8-2020)

A. If an applicant for a Certificate of Operation or an Ambulance Permit or a permittee is dissatisfied with any of the actions taken by the county pursuant to this chapter, that person may request an administrative hearing.

B. The request for an administrative hearing must be filed within ninety days of the date of the notice.

C. The hearing shall be held at an agency office. The EMS agency shall deliver by certified mail to the applicant or permittee a written notice of the time and place of the hearing no less than ten calendar days prior to the hearing.

D. Hearings conducted pursuant to this chapter shall be conducted before a County Hearing Officer designated by the county. All hearings shall be electronically recorded. Hearings need not be conducted according to the California Code of Evidence. Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining any direct evidence, but shall not be sufficient by itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions in courts of competent jurisdiction in this state. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the type of evidence on which reasonable persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make improper the admission of such evidence over objection in civil actions in courts of competent jurisdiction in this state. Irrelevant and unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded. The parties shall equally bear the expense of the Hearing Officer and the cost of the hearing. Each party shall bear its own expense.

E. At the hearing, the county has the burden of proof and may present evidence as to why such action should be taken and to answer the evidence presented by the permittee.

(Ord. No. 1464, § 1, 12-8-2020)

A. In order to hear and decide appeals of orders, decisions or determinations made by the Hearing Officer relative to the application and interpretation of the regulations adopted pursuant to Chapter 8.70, there shall be and is hereby created a Board of Appeals consisting of three voting members who are qualified by experience and training to pass upon matters pertaining to compliance with this chapter. None of the voting members shall be an employee of the county. The HHS director shall be an ex officio member of and shall act as secretary to the Board of Appeals but shall have no vote on any matter before the board. The Board of Appeals shall be appointed by the board of supervisors and shall hold office at its pleasure. The Board of Appeals shall adopt rules of procedure for conducting its business, shall render its decisions and findings in writing to the appellant, and may recommend to the board of supervisors such new procedures as are consistent with those decisions.

B. The Board of Appeals shall have no authority relative to interpretation of the administrative provisions of the various sections adopted in this title nor shall the Board of Appeals be empowered to waive the requirements of such codes.

C. Appeal from any finding of the Board of Appeals may be made by the applicant and shall be processed, heard and decided in the manner provided by Chapter 2.88 of this code.

(Ord. No. 1464, § 1, 12-8-2020)

The county may reduce the period of time for compliance under a suspension or revocation notice to no less than twenty-four hours and set the matter for hearing immediately upon expiration of the period when the county makes written preliminary findings that such action is necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare. When, as a result of such an emergency proceeding, a permit is suspended or revoked, the permittee may request an additional hearing at which the permittee will have the burden of establishing renewed compliance justifying reinstatement of the permit. Such additional hearings will be commenced within five days of the permittee's request. The request for, or the scheduling of, an additional hearing shall not stay operation of the suspension or revocation order.

(Ord. No. 1464, § 1, 12-8-2020)

At the conclusion of the hearings, the Hearing Officer or the Board of Appeals shall promptly prepare a written determination of the issues presented and the proposed findings. A copy of the decision shall be served on the parties by certified return receipt mail. Service of the decision shall be deemed complete at the time deposited in the mail.

(Ord. No. 1387, § 1, 12-17-2013)