§ 509-j. Compliance required. (a) Every motor carrier, its officers,
agents, representatives, and employees responsible for the management,
maintenance, operation or driving of motor vehicles, or the hiring,
supervising, training, assigning, or dispatching of drivers, shall be
instructed in and comply with this article.

(b) Nothing contained herein shall prevent a motor carrier or
political subdivision from imposing qualifications that are more
stringent than those contained in this article or from disqualifying a
person who has been issued a conditional or restricted use license
pursuant to the provisions of article twenty-one or twenty-one-A of this
chapter.

(c) Every motor carrier shall submit an affidavit to the commissioner
attesting to compliance with this article. Such affidavit shall be
submitted annually, in a manner prescribed by regulations of the
commissioner, and shall include as an attachment thereto a copy of the
report required by subdivision seven of section five hundred nine-d of
this chapter.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of any other article of this law,
where an affidavit is not submitted pursuant to this section, the
commissioner may, in his discretion, suspend the registration of the
vehicle or the vehicles or deny registration or renewal to the vehicle
or vehicles owned or operated by the motor carrier or suspend the motor
carrier's privilege of operation in this state. Such suspension or
denial shall only remain in effect as long as the motor carrier fails to
submit such affidavit.

(e) The commissioner or any person deputized by the commissioner, may
require any motor carrier to pay to the people of this state a civil
penalty, if after the motor carrier has had an opportunity to be heard,
the commissioner finds that the motor carrier has violated any provision
of this article or regulations promulgated therein, or has made any
false statement or misrepresentation on any affidavit of compliance
filed with the commissioner or with respect to violations of paragraphs
(i) and (ii) of subdivision one, paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision
two, and subdivisions three, four and five of section five hundred
nine-d, section five hundred nine-g, section five hundred nine-h and
subdivision two of section five hundred nine-l of this article the
commissioner may in lieu of or in addition to a civil penalty suspend
all of a motor carrier's registrations. Any civil penalty assessed for a
first violation shall not be less than five hundred dollars nor greater
than two thousand five hundred dollars for each violation, false
statement or representation found to have been made or committed, and
for a second or subsequent violation, not arising out of the same
incident, all of which were committed within a period of eighteen
months, shall not be less than five hundred dollars nor greater than
five thousand dollars for each violation, false statement or
representation found to have been made or committed. If the registrant
fails to pay such penalty within twenty days after the mailing of such
order, postage prepaid, certified and addressed to the last known place
of business of such registrant, unless such order is stayed by an order
of a court of competent jurisdiction, the commissioner may revoke the
vehicle registrations or out of state registration privilege of
operation in the state of such motor carrier or may suspend the same for
such periods as the commissioner may determine. Civil penalties assessed
under this subdivision shall be paid to the commissioner for deposit
into the state treasury, and unpaid civil penalties may be recovered by
the commissioner in a civil action in the name of the commissioner.

(f) As an alternative to civil action under subdivision (e) of this
section and provided that no proceeding for judicial review shall then
be pending and the time for initiation of such proceeding shall have
expired, the commissioner may file with the county clerk of the county
in which the registrant is located a final order of the commissioner
containing the amount of the penalty assessed. The filing of such final
order shall have the same force and effect as a judgment duly docketed
in the office of a county clerk and may be enforced in the same manner
and with the same effect as that provided by law.

(g) Upon the suspension of a vehicle registration pursuant to
subdivision (d) or (e) of this section, the commissioner shall have the
authority to deny a registration or renewal application to any other
person for the same vehicle and may deny a registration or renewal
application for any other motor vehicle registered in the name of the
applicant where the commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that
such registration or renewal will have the effect of defeating the
purposes of this article. Such suspension or denial shall remain in
effect only as long as the suspension entered pursuant to subdivision
(d) or (e) of this section remains in effect.