issue to any person, upon the person's request, an opinion
with respect to the person's duties under a regulation of the
agency. The following shall apply:
(i) The opinion shall be provided within 20 business
days of the request, provided that the time may be
extended for good cause.
(ii) The opinion, or the agency's failure to provide
an opinion upon request, shall be a complete defense in
any enforcement proceeding initiated by the agency and
evidence of good faith conduct in any other civil or
criminal proceeding if the requester, at least 20
business days prior to the alleged violation, requested
written advice from the agency's regulatory compliance
officer in good faith, disclosed truthfully all the
material facts and committed the acts complained of
either in reliance on the advice, or because of the
failure of the agency to provide advice within 20
business days, or any later extended time, of the
request.
(4) To empower the regulatory compliance officer to
establish guidelines for waiving any fines or penalties that
the officer's agency would be authorized to impose on a
regulated entity for a violation of a statute or regulation
that the agency enforces if the entity reports a violation to
the regulatory compliance officer before a fine or penalty is
imposed on the entity. In order to be eligible for a waiver
of fines or penalties, the regulated entity must report to
the regulatory compliance officer the steps it has taken or
will take to remedy the violation.
(5) To empower the regulatory compliance officer to
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