(a) Any hearing required under this article shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and the department shall have all powers granted by those provisions.
(b) In making a determination, the administrative law judge shall consider the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, the violator’s past and present efforts to prevent, abate, or clean up conditions posing a threat to the public health and safety or the environment, the violator’s ability to pay the proposed penalty, and the prophylactic effect that imposition of the proposed penalty will have on both the violator and on the regulated community as a whole.