Chapter 711 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

HB 2821

Relating to Board of Boiler Rules; amending ORS 480.600.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 480.600 is amended to read:

480.600. (1) The permit fee established under ORS 480.510 to 480.665, for a quantity of pressure vessels available for inspection at the same location, shall be fixed by the Board of Boiler Rules at cost, in accordance with the time required to conduct the inspection and the inspector's mileage to the place of inspection. However, in no case shall the total payment be more than the total of the individual pressure vessel fees fixed by ORS 480.510 to 480.665.

(2) The owner or user of any vessel which is to be inspected during the inspection period under the provisions of ORS 480.570 shall pay to the Department of Consumer and Business Services a special permit fee of $25, except that the department may require payment of a permit fee as provided in ORS 480.595 where it finds the vessel to be in violation of the minimum safety standards during the inspection period. In addition, for a quantity of pressure vessels inspected at the same location, the board may establish a different special permit fee which recognizes the lower costs of handling, but in no such case shall the total payment be more than the total of individual pressure vessel fees fixed by ORS 480.510 to 480.665.

(3) If there is a lengthened inspection interval under ORS 480.560 (2), the permit fee interval shall be lengthened correspondingly.

(4) Whenever an insurance company notifies its insured that it will no longer insure a boiler or pressure vessel, or that insurance on a boiler or pressure vessel is no longer in force, the insurance company shall also notify the chief boiler inspector, in a form and manner prescribed by the chief boiler inspector, of the description and vessel registration numbers of the boilers or pressure vessels for which insurance is canceled or suspended or is not to be renewed.

(5) Whenever an owner or user of a boiler or pressure vessel fails to pay any fee required by this chapter within 60 days after the date of depositing written notification in the United States mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to the last-known address of the owner or user, the fee shall be considered delinquent and the fee shall be [doubled] increased by an amount equal to 50 percent of the original fee. The court may award reasonable attorney fees to the department if the department prevails in an action to collect a fee required by this chapter. The court may award reasonable attorney fees to a defendant who prevails in an action to collect a fee required by this chapter if the court determines that the department had no objectively reasonable basis for asserting the claim or no reasonable basis for appealing an adverse decision of the trial court.

Approved by the Governor July 14, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 15, 1999

Effective date October 23, 1999

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