H*3907 Session 111 (1995-1996)
H*3907(Rat #0176, Act #0119 of 1995) General Bill, By
House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Similar(S 678)
A Bill to amend Title 44, Chapter 56, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
relating to hazardous waste, by adding Article 4 so as to provide for
drycleaning facility discharge rehabilitation, to create the Drycleaning
Facility Restoration Trust Fund and provide for its uses, to establish
procedures for receiving site rehabilitation funds, to require drycleaning
facilities to register and pay fees and to provide exceptions, to establish
surcharges for conducting a drycleaning business or for producing or importing
drycleaning solvents, to provide penalties, to establish the Drycleaning
Advisory Council and to provide for its membership and duties, and to repeal
this Act July 1, 2005, unless it is reauthorized.-amended title
03/30/95 House Introduced, read first time, placed on calendar
without reference HJ-5
04/05/95 House Debate adjourned until Thursday, April 6, 1995 HJ-22
04/06/95 House Point of order-House Rule 5.13-fiscal impact
statement needed HJ-46
04/11/95 House Objection by Rep. Simrill, Tucker, Kirsh,
Townsend, Neal, Limbaugh, Waldrop, Fleming,
Herdklotz & Elliott HJ-16
04/12/95 House Objection withdrawn by Rep. Fleming, Herdklotz,
Kirsh, Limbaugh, Simrill, Townsend & Waldrop HJ-73
04/19/95 House Objection withdrawn by Rep. Elliott HJ-29
04/25/95 House Debate interrupted HJ-25
04/25/95 House Amended HJ-27
04/25/95 House Read second time HJ-28
04/26/95 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-24
04/27/95 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-14
04/27/95 Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-14
05/01/95 Senate Recalled from Committee on Medical Affairs SJ-14
05/01/95 Senate Committed to Committee on Agriculture and Natural
Resources SJ-14
05/29/95 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Agriculture and Natural Resources SJ-10
05/30/95 Senate Amended SJ-77
05/30/95 Senate Read second time SJ-77
05/30/95 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
amendments SJ-77
06/01/95 Senate Amended SJ-19
06/01/95 Senate Read third time and returned to House with
amendments SJ-19
06/01/95 House Concurred in Senate amendment and enrolled HJ-65
06/06/95 Ratified R 176
06/12/95 Signed By Governor
06/12/95 Effective date 07/01/95
08/15/95 Copies available
08/15/95 Act No. 119
(A119, R176, H3907)
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 44, CHAPTER 56, CODE OF LAWS
OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO HAZARDOUS
WASTE, BY ADDING ARTICLE 4 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR
DRYCLEANING FACILITY DISCHARGE REHABILITATION, TO
CREATE THE DRYCLEANING FACILITY RESTORATION TRUST
FUND AND PROVIDE FOR ITS USES, TO ESTABLISH
PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING SITE REHABILITATION FUNDS,
TO REQUIRE DRYCLEANING FACILITIES TO REGISTER AND
PAY FEES AND TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONS, TO ESTABLISH
SURCHARGES FOR CONDUCTING A DRYCLEANING BUSINESS
OR FOR PRODUCING OR IMPORTING DRYCLEANING
SOLVENTS, TO PROVIDE PENALTIES, TO ESTABLISH THE
DRYCLEANING ADVISORY COUNCIL AND TO PROVIDE FOR ITS
MEMBERSHIP AND DUTIES, AND TO REPEAL THIS ACT JULY 1,
2005, UNLESS IT IS REAUTHORIZED.
Whereas, the General Assembly finds that:
(1) Drycleaning solvents have been discharged in the past at
drycleaning facilities as part of the normal operation of these
facilities.
(2) Discharges of drycleaning solvents at drycleaning facilities have
occurred and are occurring and that discharges pose a threat to the
quality of the groundwaters and inland surface waters of this State.
(3) Where contamination of the ground or surface water has occurred,
remedial measures have often been delayed for long periods while
determinations as to liability and the extent of liability are made and that
delays could result in the continuation and intensification of the threat to
the public health, safety, and welfare, in greater damage to the
environment, and in significantly higher costs to contain and remove the
contamination.
(4) Resources must be generated by the drycleaning industry and
related industries in South Carolina to provide funds to rehabilitate sites
contaminated by the release of drycleaning solvents and to provide an
insurance pool for the purpose of defraying the cost of remediation or
cleanup for eligible members of the industries. Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
Trust Fund created; purpose, procedures; registration, fees, and
surcharges; Advisory Council created
SECTION 1. Title 44, Chapter 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"Article 4
Drycleaning Facility Restoration Trust Fund
Section 44-56-410. As used in this article:
(1) `Department' means the Department of Health and Environmental
Control.
(2) `Discharge' means leakage, seepage, or other release.
(3) `Drycleaning facility' means a commercial establishment located
in this State that operates or has at some time in the past operated in
whole or in part for the purpose of cleaning clothing and other fabrics
utilizing a process which involves the use of drycleaning solvents.
`Drycleaning facility' includes laundry facilities that are using or have
used drycleaning solvents as part of their cleaning process, but does not
include, textile mills or uniform rental and linen supply facilities.
(4) `Drycleaning solvents' means nonaqueous solvents used in the
cleaning of clothing and other fabrics and includes perchloroethylene
(also known as tetrachloroethylene) and Stoddard solvent, and their
breakdown products. `Drycleaning solvents' includes only solvents
originating from use at a drycleaning facility or by a wholesale supply
facility.
(5) `Dry drop-off facility' means a commercial retail store that
receives from customers clothing and other fabrics for drycleaning at an
off-site drycleaning facility and does not clean the clothing or fabrics at
the store utilizing drycleaning solvents.
(6) `Employee' means a natural person employed and paid by the
owner of a drycleaning facility for thirty-five or more hours a week for
forty-five or more weeks a year and on whose behalf the owner
contributes payments to the South Carolina Employment Security
Commission or Department of Revenue as required by law. Excluded
from the meaning of the term `employee' are owners of drycleaning
facilities and family members of owners, regardless of the level of
consanguinity, if the family members are not employed and compensated
pursuant to the definition of the term `employee' contained in this item.
Part-time employees who are employed and paid for fewer than
thirty-five hours a week for fewer than forty-five weeks a year must not
be deemed to be employees unless their hours and weeks of employment,
when combined with the hours and weeks of employment of another or
other part-time employee or employees, total thirty-five or more hours a
week for forty-five or more weeks a year.
(7) `Person' means any individual, partnership, corporation,
association, or other entity that is vested with ownership, dominion, or
legal or rightful title to the real property or which has a ground lease
interest in the real property on which a drycleaning or wholesale supply
facility is or has ever been located.
(8) `Wholesale supply facility' means a commercial establishment that
supplies drycleaning solvents to drycleaning facilities.
(9) `Insolvent' means the approved expenses of the Department of
Health and Environmental Control and the Department of Revenue as
well as the estimated cleanup costs are equal to or exceed the fund
balance and projected revenues through June 30, 2005.
Section 44-56-420. (A) There is created in the state treasury a
separate and distinct account called the `Drycleaning Facility Restoration
Trust Fund', revenue for which must be collected and enforced by the
Department of Revenue, and the fund must be administered by the
Department of Health and Environmental Control and expended for the
purposes of this article. However, the department may contract for the
administration of the fund or any part of the administration of the fund.
Judgments, recoveries, reimbursements, loans, and other fees and charges
related to the implementation of this section, the tax revenues levied,
collected, and credited pursuant to Section 44-56-480, and the registration
fees collected pursuant to Section 44-56-470 must be credited to the
fund. Charges against the fund must be made in accordance with the
provisions of this section. The State accepts no financial responsibility as
a result of the creation of the fund. The creation of the fund creates no
burden upon the State to provide monies for the fund by any mechanisms
other than as provided in this section. At no time shall monies from the
general fund be obligated to supplement the fund. The State may recover
to the fund any funds expended from the fund which were not utilized in
accordance with this article.
(B) Whenever incidents of contamination by drycleaning solvents
related to the operation of drycleaning facilities or wholesale supply
facilities pose a threat to the environment or the public health, safety, or
welfare, the department shall obligate monies available in the fund
pursuant to this section to provide for:
(1) the prompt investigation and assessment of the contaminated
sites; however, the owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or
wholesale supply facility or a person must pay for the cost of the
investigation and assessment up to the amount of the owner's, operator's,
or person's deductible, and the department only shall provide monies that
exceed the owner's, operator's, or person's deductible; however, in order
to receive these monies the owner, operator, or person must comply with
this article and the regulations promulgated under this article;
(2) the expeditious treatment, restoration, or replacement of potable
water supplies;
(3) the rehabilitation of contaminated drycleaning facility sites,
which consist of rehabilitation of affected soil, groundwater, and surface
waters, using the most cost-effective alternative that is reliable and
feasible technologically and that provides adequate protection of the
public health, safety, and welfare and minimizes environmental damage
in accordance with the site selection and rehabilitation criteria established
by the department, except that nothing in this article may be construed to
authorize the department to obligate funds for payment of costs which
may be associated with, but are not integral to, site rehabilitation;
(4) the maintenance and monitoring of contaminated sites;
(5) the inspection and supervision of activities described in this
section;
(6) the expenses of administering the fund by the department
including the employment of department staff to carry out the
department's duties described in this article; however, the department
may exclude five percent of the average annual collections of the fund or
the amount required to fund four employees and the administrative costs
associated with these employees, whichever is greater;
(7) the payment of reasonable costs of restoring property so as to
assure public health and safety, as determined by the department.
(C) The fund may not be used to:
(1) restore sites which are contaminated by solvents normally used
in drycleaning operations if the activities at a site are not related to the
operation of a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility;
(2) restore sites that are contaminated by drycleaning solvents being
transported to or from a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility
or that are contaminated as a result of the delivery of drycleaning
solvents to a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility on or after
July 1, 1995, if the contamination resulted from gross negligence;
(3) fund any costs related to the restoration of a site that is proposed
for listing or is listed on the State Priority List or on the National Priority
List pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended by the Superfund
Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, or any site that is
required to obtain a permit pursuant to the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, as amended;
(4) pay any costs associated with a fine, penalty, or action brought
against the owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or wholesale
supply facility or a person under local, state, or federal law;
(5) pay any costs incurred before July 1, 1995, for the remediation
of a contaminated site;
(6) pay any costs to landscape or otherwise artificially improve a
contaminated site;
(7) pay any costs related to the restoration of a wholesale supply
storage site which is contaminated by hydrocarbon-based chemicals other
than Stoddard;
(8) pay any costs related to contamination assessment where no
contamination from drycleaning solvents is discovered;
(9) pay any costs for work not approved by the department in
accordance with this article or regulations promulgated pursuant to this
article;
(10) restore sites that are uniform rental and linen supply facilities
unless the site was operated as a drycleaning facility on July 1, 1995, and
has participated in the fund;
(11) restore sites that are no longer operated as drycleaning
facilities or coin-operated drycleaning facilities where the owner or
person has not paid a registration fee for the site pursuant to Section
44-56-470(B) and has not been involved in the drycleaning industry after
October 1, 1995.
(D) The department shall promulgate regulations that provide for an
initial contamination assessment to determine whether a drycleaning
facility or wholesale supply facility is contaminated by drycleaning
solvents. Payment for the initial assessment is as provided for in
subsection (B), and site rehabilitation portions of the program must be
administered through direct payments to contractors actually
accomplishing the site rehabilitation and not through reimbursement to
drycleaning or wholesale supply facility owners, operators, or persons.
All services related to site rehabilitation must be preapproved by the
department before performance in order to receive payment for services
rendered.
(E) If the committed money in the fund exceeds the current fund
balance and the department declares a site is an emergency, the owner or
operator of the drycleaning facility, wholesale facility, or person is liable
for the cost of that cleanup. However, once the fund has funds available,
the owner, operator, or person who paid for the approved cleanup must
be reimbursed for the costs incurred to clean up the site through annual
payments which may not exceed five percent of the total fund's average
annual balance if the cleanup complies with the provisions of this article
or regulations promulgated under this article. The fund may not obligate
itself for more than it is estimated to generate through surcharges, annual
fees, and registration fees.
Section 44-56-430. (A) If the State Treasurer determines that the fund
is insolvent, an environmental surcharge must be levied on every owner,
operator, or person participating in the fund at a rate of one-half percent
on all gross sales for a minimum of one year. When the State Treasurer
determines that the fund is solvent the one-half percent surcharge must be
suspended.
(B) The surcharge imposed by this section is due on the first day of
the month succeeding the month in which the charge is imposed and
must be paid before the twenty-first day of each month. The surcharge
must be reported on forms and in the manner prescribed in regulation by
the Department of Revenue. The proceeds of the surcharge, after
deducting the administrative costs incurred by the Department of
Revenue in administering, auditing, collecting, distributing, and enforcing
the surcharge, must be remitted to the State Treasurer and credited to the
fund and must be used as provided in Section 44-56-420. For the
purposes of this section, the proceeds of the surcharge include all funds
collected and received by the Department of Revenue including interest
and penalties on delinquent surcharges.
(C) The Department of Revenue shall administer, collect, and enforce
the surcharge imposed under this section pursuant to the procedures for
administration, collection, and enforcement of the general stated sales tax
imposed under Title 12, except as provided in this subsection. These
procedures include, but are not limited to, those regarding the filing of
consolidated returns, the granting of sale for resale exemptions, and the
interest and penalties on delinquent taxes. The surcharge must not be
included in the computation of estimated taxes, and the dealer's credit for
collecting taxes or fees does not apply.
Section 44-56-440. (A) The Board of the Department of Health and
Environmental Control shall establish a moratorium on administrative and
judicial actions by the department concerning drycleaning facilities and
wholesale supply facilities resulting from the discharge of drycleaning
solvents to soil or waters of the State. This moratorium applies only to
those facilities deemed eligible as defined in this section. The board may
review and determine the appropriateness of the moratorium at least
annually. This review shall include, but is not limited to, consideration
of these factors:
(1) the solvency of the fund as described in Section 44-56-420;
(2) prioritization of the sites;
(3) public health concerns related to the sites;
(4) eligibility of the sites;
(5) corrective action plans submitted to the department.
After review, the board may suspend all or a portion of the moratorium
if necessary.
(B) A drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility that is being
operated as a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility at the time
a request for determination of eligibility is filed and at which there is
contamination from drycleaning solvents is eligible under this section
regardless of when the contamination was discovered if the drycleaning
facility or wholesale supply facility:
(1) has been registered with the Department of Revenue;
(2) is determined by the department to be in compliance with
department regulations regulating drycleaning facilities or wholesale
supply facilities;
(3) has third-party liability insurance when and if the insurance
becomes available at a reasonable cost, as determined by the Department
of Insurance and if the insurance covers liability for contamination that
occurred both before and after the effective date of the policy;
(4) has provided documented evidence of contamination by
drycleaning solvents;
(5) after December 1, 1996, demonstrates current certification
pursuant to Section 44-56-470(D);
(6) has not been operated in a grossly negligent manner at any time
after November 18, 1980.
(C) A drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility that ceases to
be operated as a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility before
July 1, 1995, and before the time a request for determination of
eligibility is filed at which there is contamination from drycleaning
solvents is eligible under this section regardless of when the
contamination was discovered provided the owner or operator of the
drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility or person provides
documented evidence of the contamination by drycleaning solvents.
(D) A drycleaning facility that has been contaminated as a result of
the discharge of drycleaning solvents by a supplier of solvents during the
delivery of drycleaning solvents to a drycleaning facility first must utilize
the insurance of the supplier to the full extent of the coverage for site
rehabilitation before any funds may be expended from the fund for the
rehabilitation of that portion of the site which was contaminated by the
discharge during delivery.
(E) If an eligible drycleaning or wholesale owner or operator or
person applies for monies from the fund before:
(1) October 1, 1997, the deductible is one thousand dollars;
(2) October 1, 1998, the deductible is five thousand dollars;
(3) October 1, 1999, the deductible is ten thousand dollars;
(4) October 1, 2000, the deductible is fifteen thousand dollars;
(5) October 1, 2001, the deductible is twenty thousand dollars.
If an owner, operator, or person applies after October 1, 2001, the
deductible is twenty-five thousand dollars.
If a contaminated site which is no longer operated as a drycleaning
facility or coin-operated drycleaning facility, or both, and the owner or
former owner or person is involved in the drycleaning industry
subsequent to July 1, 1995, and has paid a registration fee pursuant to
Section 44-56-470(B), the deductible is fifteen thousand dollars.
(F) An owner of a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility or
person seeking eligibility under this subsection shall submit an
application for determination of eligibility to the department on forms
provided by the department. The department shall review the application
and request any additional information within ninety days. The
department shall notify the applicant within one hundred eighty days as
to whether the facility is eligible.
(G) Eligibility under this subsection applies to the site of the
drycleaning facilities or wholesale supply facilities. A determination of
eligibility or ineligibility is not affected by the subsequent conveyance of
the ownership of the drycleaning facilities or wholesale supply
facilities.
(H) This section does not apply to a site where the department has
been denied site access to implement this section or to drycleaning
facilities owned or operated by a local government or by the state or
federal government.
(I) A site owned by an owner of a drycleaning facility or a person at
any time subsequent to October 1, 1995, who misrepresents the number
of employees upon which the registration fee provided for in Section
44-56-460 is based is not eligible for funds under this section.
Section 44-56-450. (A) In order to identify drycleaning facilities and
wholesale suppliers which have experienced contamination resulting from
the discharge of drycleaning solvents and to assure the most expedient
rehabilitation of these sites, the owners and operators of drycleaning
facilities and wholesale suppliers and persons are encouraged to detect
and report contamination from drycleaning solvents related to the
operation of drycleaning facilities or wholesale supply facilities. Forms
must be distributed to owners and operators of drycleaning and wholesale
supply facilities and to persons. The Department of Revenue shall use
reasonable efforts to identify and notify drycleaning and wholesale supply
facilities of the registration requirements by certified mail, return receipt
requested. The Department of Revenue shall provide to the Department
of Health and Environmental Control a copy of each applicant's
registration materials within thirty working days of the receipt of the
materials.
(B) A report of drycleaning solvent contamination at a drycleaning
facility made to the department by a person in accordance with this
article or regulations promulgated under this article may not be used
directly as evidence of liability for the discharge in a civil or criminal
trial arising out of the discharge.
Section 44-56-460. (A) The fund must be used to rehabilitate sites
that pose a significant threat to the public health, safety, or welfare. The
department shall promulgate regulations to establish priorities for
state-conducted rehabilitation at contaminated drycleaning facilities or
wholesale supply facilities sites based upon factors that include, but are
not limited to:
(1) the degree to which human health, safety, or welfare may be
affected by exposure to the contamination;
(2) the size of the population or area affected by the
contamination;
(3) the present and future uses of the affected aquifer or surface
waters, with particular consideration as to the probability that the
contamination is substantially affecting or will migrate to and
substantially affect a known public or private source of potable water;
and
(4) the effect of the contamination on the environment.
(B) Nothing in this subsection may be construed to restrict the
department from modifying the priority status of a drycleaning facility or
wholesale supply facility rehabilitation site where conditions warrant.
Criteria for determining completion of site rehabilitation program tasks
and site rehabilitation programs must be based upon the factors set forth
in subsection (A)(1) and these factors:
(1) individual site characteristics, including natural rehabilitation
processes;
(2) applicable state water quality standards;
(3) whether deviation from state water quality standards or from
established criteria is appropriate, based upon the degree to which the
desired rehabilitation level is achievable and can be reasonably and
cost-effectively implemented within available technologies or control
strategies, except that, where a state water quality standard is applicable,
the deviation may not result in the application of standards more stringent
than the standard;
(4) it is recognized that restoration of groundwater resources
contaminated with certain drycleaning solvents, such as
perchloroethylene, may not be achievable using currently available
technology. In situations where available technology is not anticipated to
meet water quality standards, the department, at its discretion, is
encouraged to use innovative technology including, but not limited to,
technology which has been field tested through the federal innovative
technology program and which has engineering and cost data
available;
(5) nothing in this section may be construed to restrict the
department from temporarily postponing completion of a site
rehabilitation program for which drycleaning restoration funds are being
expended whenever the postponement is considered necessary in order to
make funds available for rehabilitation of a drycleaning facility or
wholesale supply facility site with a higher priority status;
(6) the department shall provide the rehabilitation of eligible
drycleaning facilities and wholesale supply facilities consistent with this
subsection. Nothing in this article subjects the department to liability for
any action that may be required of the owner, operator, or person by a
private party or a local, state, or federal governmental entity.
(C) The department may not expend from the fund yearly more than
five percent of the average collected annual balance of the fund to pay
for the costs at any one eligible site for the activities described in Section
44-56-420(B).
(D) The department shall promulgate regulations necessary for the
implementation of this section.
(E) The department shall create a mechanism in which consultants'
credentials, work objectives and plans, proposed costs ranging from
assessment, cleanup, and monitoring are outlined and submitted in
writing for the department's approval. The department shall establish a
list of those vendors who are qualified to perform work to be financed by
the fund. Vendors must be recertified every two years.
Section 44-56-470. (A) For each drycleaning facility owned and in
operation, the owner or operator of the facility or person shall register
with and pay initial registration fees to the Department of Revenue by
October 1, 1995, and pay annual or quarterly renewal registration fees as
established by the department in regulation. The fee must be
accompanied by a notarized certification from the owner, on a form
provided by the department, certifying the number of employees
employed by the owner for the twelve-month period preceding payment
of the fee.
(B) An initial and annual registration fee for each drycleaning facility
with:
(1) up to four employees is seven hundred fifty dollars;
(2) five to ten employees is one thousand, five hundred dollars;
(3) eleven or more employees is two thousand, two hundred fifty
dollars.
The fee must be paid within thirty days after receipt of billing by the
department.
(C) Revenue derived from the registration fees must be submitted to
the State Treasurer and credited to the Drycleaning Facility Restoration
Trust Fund.
(D) Before December 1, 1996, an owner or operator of a drycleaning
facility or person shall receive certification from the International
Fabricare Institute, the Neighborhood Cleaners Association, or some other
comparable nationally recognized drycleaning industry association
certifying that the operator has demonstrated a level of competency to
operate a drycleaning facility in accordance with the highest standards of
the drycleaning industry.
(E) Before January 1, 1997, an owner or operator of a drycleaning
facility or person shall install dikes or other containment structures
around each machine or item of equipment in which drycleaning solvents
are used and around an area in which solvents or waste containing
solvents are stored. The dikes or containment structures must be capable
of containing one-third of the capacity of the total tank capacity of each
machine. To the extent practicable, an owner of a drycleaning facility or
person shall seal or otherwise render impervious those portions of all
diked floor surfaces upon which any drycleaning solvents may leak, spill,
or otherwise be released.
(F) For drycleaning facilities that commence operating after July 1,
1995, the owners or operators of these facilities or persons, before the
commencement of operations, shall install beneath each machine or item
of equipment in which drycleaning solvents are used a rigid and
impermeable containment vessel capable of containing one-third of the
total tank capacity of each machine.
(G) A person or the owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or
wholesale supply facility at which there is a spill of more than the
federally mandated reportable quantity of drycleaning solvent outside of a
containment structure, after July 1, 1995, shall report the spill to the
department immediately upon the discovery of the spill and comply with
existing emergency response regulations.
(H) Failure to comply with the requirements of this section constitutes
gross negligence with regards to determining site eligibility.
Section 44-56-480. (A) Beginning July 1, 1995, an environmental
surcharge is levied on the privilege of producing in, importing into, or
causing to be imported into the State perchloroethylene
(tetrachloroethylene) and Stoddard solvent. A surcharge of ten dollars
per gallon on perchloroethylene and two dollars per gallon on Stoddard
solvent is levied on each gallon to be used for drycleaning purposes
when first imported into or produced in the State. A drycleaning facility
not subject to this article pursuant to Section 44-56-485 may request a
statement of nonparticipation from the department so as to demonstrate
its status under this article and its exemption from the surcharge provided
for in this subsection.
(B) A person producing in, importing into, or causing to be imported
into this State perchloroethylene and Stoddard solvent for sale, use, or
otherwise must register with the Department of Revenue and become
licensed for the purposes of remitting the surcharge pursuant to this
section. The person must register as a producer or importer of
perchloroethylene or Stoddard solvent. Persons operating at more than
one location only are required to have a single registration. The fee for
registration is thirty dollars. Failure to timely register is a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, the person must be fined up to one thousand
dollars or imprisoned up to thirty days.
(C) The surcharge imposed by this section is due on the first day of
the month succeeding the month of production, importation, or removal
from a storage facility and must be paid on or before the twentieth day of
the month. The surcharge must be reported on forms and in the manner
prescribed by the Department of Revenue by regulation.
(D) An owner, operator, or person subject to the surcharge under this
section or a person who sells surcharge-paid perchloroethylene or
Stoddard solvent, other than a retail dealer, must separately state the
amount of the surcharge paid on a charge ticket, sales slip, invoice, or
other tangible evidence of the sale or must certify on the sales document
that the surcharge required pursuant to this section has been paid.
(E) All perchloroethylene and Stoddard solvent to be used for
drycleaning purposes which are imported, produced, or sold in this State
are presumed to be subject to the surcharge imposed by this section. An
owner, operator, or person, except the final retail consumer, who has
purchased perchloroethylene or Stoddard solvent for use in drycleaning
for sale, use, consumption, or distribution in this State must document
that the surcharge imposed by this section has been paid or must pay the
surcharge directly to the Department of Revenue in accordance with
subsection (C).
(F) The surcharge imposed by this section must be remitted to the
Department of Revenue. The payment must be accompanied by the
forms as the Department of Revenue prescribes. The proceeds of the
surcharge, after deducting the administrative costs incurred by the
Department of Revenue in administering, auditing, collecting,
distributing, and enforcing the surcharge, must be remitted by the
Department of Revenue to the State Treasurer to be credited to the
Drycleaning Facility Restoration Trust Fund and must be used as
provided in Section 44-56-420. For the purposes of this section, the
proceeds of the surcharge include all funds collected and received by the
Department of Revenue, including interest and penalties on delinquent
surcharges.
(G) The Department of Revenue shall administer, collect, and enforce
the surcharge authorized under this section pursuant to the same
procedures used in the administration, collection, and enforcement of the
general state sales tax imposed under Title 12 except as provided in this
section. Provisions of Title 12 regarding the department's authority to
audit and make assessments, the keeping of books and records, and
interest and penalties on delinquent taxes apply. The surcharge may not
be included in the computation of estimated taxes nor does the dealer's
credit for collecting taxes or fees apply to the surcharge.
(H) The Department of Revenue shall retain funds for the incremental
cost to administer the program. The Department of Revenue may
promulgate regulations and may prescribe and publish forms as may be
necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section. (I) The Department of Revenue may establish audit procedures and
assess delinquent surcharges.
(J) Perchloroethylene and Stoddard solvent used for drycleaning
exported from the first storage facility at which it is held in this State by
the producer or importer is exempt from the surcharge pursuant to this
section. Anyone exporting perchloroethylene or Stoddard solvent on
which the surcharge has been paid may apply for a refund or credit. The
Department of Revenue may require information as it considers necessary
in order to approve the refund or credit.
(K) The Department of Revenue may authorize:
(1) a quarterly return and payment when the surcharge remitted by
the licensee for the preceding quarter did not exceed one hundred
dollars;
(2) a semiannual return and payment when the surcharge remitted by
the licensee for the preceding six months did not exceed two hundred
dollars;
(3) an annual return and payment when the surcharge remitted by
the licensee for the preceding twelve months did not exceed four hundred
dollars.
Section 44-56-485. (A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
article, this article does not apply to a drycleaning facility that is in
existence on July 1, 1995, that drycleans with Stoddard solvents or its
breakdown products only. However, an owner or operator of a facility or
person may elect to place the facility under the provisions of this article
by paying the required annual fee for the facility before October 1, 1995.
If an owner or operator of a facility or person does not elect to place a
facility under this article before October 1, 1995, the current or a future
owner or operator of the site or person is prohibited from receiving any
funds or assistance under this article. Failure to pay the required annual
fee by October 1, 1995, constitutes electing not to place a facility under
this article. Additionally, an owner, operator, or person who does not
elect to place a facility under this article is prohibited from receiving any
funds or assistance under this article for any site the owner, operator, or
person currently or previously operated or abandoned.
(B) A drycleaning facility in existence on July 1, 1995, that uses
perchloroethylene and Stoddard solvent or their breakdown products may
elect to remove the facility from the requirements of this article if the
election is made before October 1, 1995. Failure to pay the required
annual fee by October 1, 1995, constitutes electing to remove a facility
from the requirements of this article. An owner, operator, or person of a
facility using perchloroethylene and Stoddard solvents or their
breakdowns may not elect to remove a facility from the requirements of
this article for one solvent and not the other.
Section 44-56-490. (A) Whenever the department finds that a person
is in violation of a provision of this article or a regulation promulgated
under this article, the department may issue an order requiring the owner,
operator, or person to comply with the provision or regulation or the
department may bring civil action for injunctive relief in an appropriate
court of competent jurisdiction.
(B) An owner, operator, or person who violates a provision of this
article, a regulation promulgated under this article, or an order of the
department issued under subsection (A) is subject to a civil penalty not to
exceed ten thousand dollars for each day of violation.
(C) An owner, operator, or person who wilfully violates a provision
of this article, a regulation promulgated under this article, or an order of
the department issued under subsection (A) is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than twenty-five thousand
dollars per day of violation or imprisoned for not more than one year or
both.
Section 44-56-495. (A) There is created the Drycleaning Advisory
Council to advise the Department of Health and Environmental Control
on matters relating to regulations and standards which affect drycleaning
and related industries.
(B) The council is composed of:
(1) five representatives of the drycleaning industry;
(2) one representative of the wholesale industry;
(3) one representative of the real estate industry;
(4) one environmental engineer;
(5) one representative of the banking industry;
(6) two representatives from the Department of Health and
Environmental Control, one of whom must be an administrator and one
of whom must represent water quality control;
(7) a representative of the Department of Revenue;
(8) a representative of the Department of Insurance;
(9) a representative of the State Budget and Control Board;
(10) a representative of the Department of Natural Resources,
Division of Water Resources.
(C) Members enumerated in subsection (B)(1) through (5) may be
appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate and
shall serve terms of two years and until their successors are appointed
and qualify. The members enumerated in subsection (B)(6) through (10)
must be appointed by the respective directors or commissioner of the
appropriate agency, and all serve ex officio for terms of two years and
until their successors are appointed and qualify. The chairman of the
council must be elected by the members of the council at the first
meeting of each new term."
Advisory Council initial terms
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Section 44-56-490(C) of the 1976 Code,
as added by Section 1 of this act, the term for members initially
appointed to the Drycleaning Advisory Council is for three years and the
five representatives of the drycleaning industry must be appointed by the
Governor from nominations submitted by the South Carolina Drycleaning
Council, Inc.
Act subsequently to be repealed
SECTION 3. This act is repealed July 1, 2005, unless reauthorized by
the General Assembly.
Time effective
SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 1995.
Approved the 12th day of June, 1995. |