(a) At the close of the hearing or proceeding, the hearing officer shall make findings of fact and a recommendation as to the appropriate penalty or fine to be assessed or any other action to be taken. The proposed findings of fact and recommendation shall be transmitted to the commission for approval and simultaneously mailed or delivered to the parties to the proceeding. The parties shall have an opportunity to respond in writing, in the form of a brief, to the findings of fact and recommendation of the hearing officer, and such written response shall be directed to the commission for its consideration within 15 days after the submission of the hearing officer's recommendation to the commission. In their brief submitted in response to the findings of fact and recommendation of the hearing officer, the parties may not submit or discuss evidence which is not a part of the official record of the hearing or proceeding. The commission shall act on the findings of fact and recommendation as expeditiously as possible. The commission may affirm or reverse the findings of fact and recommendation of the hearing officer in whole or in part, or it may remand and/or dismiss the proceeding based upon the record produced at the hearing.

(b) The assessment of civil penalties under the applicable law and procedures shall not preclude the referral of an appropriate violation to a prosecutor for prosecution of criminal charges, except where the violation is of General Municipal Law, section 813(13).

(c) If the alleged violation has been established, and the commission determines in light of all the circumstances that the violation is not serious enough to warrant assessment of a civil penalty, or if the imposition of civil penalties is not otherwise authorized by law, the commission in its discretion may take such other action as appropriate, including but not limited to a written admonition or a recommendation that disciplinary action be taken or a referral to a prosecutor for prosecution of criminal charges. The commission may forward a copy of such admonition or recommendation for disciplinary action to the individual's appointing authority, as appropriate.