S 0140 General Bill, By Courtney and Leventis

Similar(S 334)
 A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 56, TITLE 44, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
 RELATING TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT BY ADDING
 ARTICLE 7 SO AS TO ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING FINANCIAL ASSURANCE FROM
 GENERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE OR A PROCESSOR OF TOXIC CHEMICALS AND TO PROVIDE
 PENALTIES.

   12/16/98  Senate Prefiled
   12/16/98  Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs
   01/12/99  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-57
   01/12/99  Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-57

TO AMEND CHAPTER 56, TITLE 44, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT BY ADDING ARTICLE 7 SO AS TO ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING FINANCIAL ASSURANCE FROM GENERATORS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE OR A PROCESSOR OF TOXIC CHEMICALS AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 56, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 7

Section 44-56-610. For the purposes of this article:

(1) 'Clean-up' means testing a site to determine the presence of hazardous waste or toxic chemicals and any response action necessary to remedy actual or potential damage to public health, public welfare, or the environment.

(2) 'Person' means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity.

(3) 'Toxic Chemical' means a chemical subject to Section 313 of the Federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

(4) The definitions in Section 44-56-20 apply.

Section 44-56-620. (A) No person may generate more than one thousand kilograms of hazardous waste for which an EPA identification number is required, and the department may not issue an EPA identification number to any such person, until the person has provided the department with financial assurance as required by this section.

(B) No person may manufacture, process, or use in a manufacturing process any toxic chemical until the person has provided the department with financial assurance as required by this section.

(C)(1) Financial assurance required by this section must be a bond, escrow, insurance coverage, or other financial assurance for use by the department in a form and amount which the department determines is sufficient to guarantee the availability of adequate funds for clean-up of the site and of any adjoining land to which contamination may have migrated from the site.

(2) The amount of the financial assurance required by the department must bear a reasonable relation to the potential clean-up costs arising from the activities of the person. In determining the amount of the financial assurance, the department shall consider:

(a) the amount and type of hazardous waste to be generated or toxic chemical to be manufactured, processed, or used;

(b) the person's plans for handling, storing, transporting, and disposal of the hazardous waste or toxic chemical, insofar as the activity affects the potential for contamination of the site;

(c) physical characteristics of the site that affect the ease of testing for the presence of hazardous waste or toxic chemicals, the ease of cleaning up the site, and the potential for migration to adjoining land; and

(d) other factors affecting the probable costs of properly closing the facility.

(3) The financial assurance may not be in the form of a corporate guarantee unless after paying the amount of the financial assurance:

(a) the corporation would be able to pay its debts as they become due in the usual course of business; and

(b) the corporation's total assets would be equal to or more than the sum of its total liabilities plus (unless the articles of incorporation permit otherwise) the amount that would be needed, if the corporation were to be dissolved at the time of payment of the financial assurance, to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of shareholders whose preferential rights are superior to the department's rights.

(D) Financial assurance as required by this section must be maintained until cessation, closure, abandonment, or interruption of operation of the facility and thereafter until the department determines that the site and adjoining land to which substances may have migrated from the site are not contaminated by hazardous waste or toxic chemicals arising from the activities of the person. A site is contaminated if hazardous wastes, including toxic chemicals that are contained on the site or have been released into the environment, are present on the site in an amount such that response action is required in order to remedy actual or potential damage to public health, the public welfare, or the environment.

(E) This section applies only to a person who, after December 31, 1999:

(1) generates more than one thousand kilograms per month of hazardous waste and who is required to obtain an EPA identification number; or

(2) commences the manufacture, processing, or use of a toxic chemical or adds a new manufacturing process that uses one or more toxic chemicals.

Section 44-56-630. An officer or board member of a corporation, or a partner or owner of an unincorporated business, who has actual or constructive knowledge that the corporation or business has failed to report to the department as required by Section 44-56-130(1) or has failed to provide the department with financial assurance as required by Section 44-56-620, who fails to take reasonable action to assure compliance with these requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than twenty-five thousand dollars a day or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

Section 44-56-640. The department may promulgate regulations necessary for the implementation of this article."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect January 1, 2000.