Current Status Introducing Body:Senate Bill Number:83 Primary Sponsor:Land Committee Number:12 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Hazardous Waste Disposal Authority Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Labor, Commerce & Industry Computer Document Number:OLDVS/LIBX/2388 Introduced Date:Jan 08, 1991 Last History Body:Senate Last History Date:Jan 08, 1991 Last History Type:Introduced and read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Land Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN
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83 Senate Jan 08, 1991 Introduced and read first 12
time, referred to Committee
83 Senate Sep 17, 1990 Prefiled, referred to 12
Committee
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TO AMEND TITLE 44, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 58 SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE SOUTH CAROLINA HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL AUTHORITY AND TO PROVIDE FOR ITS POWERS AND DUTIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. (A) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) the State is responsible for promoting and preserving an environment that is conducive to public health and welfare, and preventing the creation of nuisances and the destruction or depletion of our natural resources;
(2) manufacturing processes from which all of South Carolina benefits, through the creation of jobs and the provision of useful and beneficial goods, necessarily creates now and will create for the foreseeable future some quantity of hazardous waste;
(3) the proper management of hazardous waste, consistent with the State's responsibilities to its citizens and to its environment, requires that proper facilities be provided for technically sound treatment, destruction, long-term storage, or disposal;
(4) sites suitable for such facilities, taking into account geographical, geological, hydrological, meteorological, and sociological factors, are necessarily limited;
(5) the State is obligated to certify to the President of the United States pursuant to Section 104(c)(9) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, that it will have adequate waste disposal capacity for the next twenty years.
(B) The General Assembly further finds that in order to effect these objectives of subsection (A), it is necessary to establish a hazardous waste disposal facility, and to establish an administrative entity with the technical expertise to operate and manage the facility.
(C) The General Assembly further finds that such facility should be operated for the benefit of the citizens of the State and consistently with the goals established for protection of the public health, the environment, and the requirements for management of hazardous waste.
SECTION 2. Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 44-58-10. This chapter may be cited as the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Disposal Authority Act of 1991.
Section 44-58-20. The definitions in Section 44-56-20 apply to this chapter. Also, as used in this chapter:
(1) 'Authority' means the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Disposal Authority.
(2) 'Board' means the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Authority Board.
(3) 'Hazardous waste disposal facility' means a facility or part of a facility at which hazardous waste is intentionally placed into or on any land or water and at which waste remains after closure, or in which hazardous waste is incinerated, but does not include facilities at which hazardous waste is stored for ninety days or less pursuant to R.61-79, Section 262.34(a) of the South Carolina Code of Regulations.
(4) 'Hazardous waste treatment facility' means a facility in which hazardous waste is subjected to any method, treatment, or process, including but not limited to, neutralization and thermal treatment designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize the hazardous waste, or so as to render the waste nonhazardous; or safer to transport, store, or dispose of; or amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume.
(5) 'Project' means one or a combination of two or more of the following: the design, construction, operation, or management of one or more hazardous waste treatment or disposal facilities, located in this State, and the design, construction, operation, or management to apply to all real property, structures, and facilities of every kind necessary or convenient for the efficient operation of the facility or facilities.
Section 44-58-30. There is created the South Carolina Hazardous Waste Disposal Authority which shall have a governing board consisting of seven members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate as follows: one from each congressional district of the State, and one from the State at large. Members shall serve for terms of four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify, except that of the original appointees, three must be appointed for terms of two years and four must be appointed for three years. All vacancies must be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the unexpired portion of the term only. A chairman, and other officers as the board considers necessary, must be elected annually by the board from its membership, except that initially the chairman must be appointed by the Governor.
To assist the board, it shall establish a citizen's advisory council in the form it considers appropriate, taking into account the population, community needs, and locations of existing and proposed hazardous waste disposal facilities. Members of the citizen's advisory council shall receive only mileage expenses. The advisory council shall consult and advise the board on matters referred to it by the board.
Section 44-58-40. The authority shall serve as the sole and exclusive agent to act for and on behalf of any department or agency of this State authorized in its own right to plan, construct, erect, acquire, own, repair, remodel, extend, improve, equip, operate, and manage the project; and shall also have the following powers:
(1) to sue and be sued;
(2) to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, purchase, hold, use, lease, mortgage, sell, transfer, and dispose of any property, real, personal, or mixed, or any interest therein;
(3) to build, construct, maintain, and operate hazardous waste treatment and disposal facilities, and all structures, appurtenances, ways and means necessary, convenient, useful, or customarily used in the treatment or disposal of hazardous waste;
(4) to apply for and to take whatever actions are necessary to secure all necessary permits, federal and state, for the construction and operation of any hazardous waste treatment or disposal facilities, including but not limited to, meeting all state and federal financial requirements for owners and operators of hazardous waste facilities, as may be permitted under the laws and regulations of this State;
(5) to recover energy and natural resources from the treatment of hazardous waste, and to distribute, sell, or otherwise dispose of energy or natural resources;
(6) to make rules for the management of its affairs;
(7) to appoint officers, agents, employees, and servants to prescribe their duties, and to fix their compensation;
(8) to fix, alter, charge, and collect fees and other charges for the use of their facilities of, or for the services rendered by, or for any commodities furnished by, the Authority, such rates to be sufficient to provide for payment of all expenses of the authority, the conservation, maintenance, and operation of its facilities and properties, the payment of principal and interest on its notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness or obligation and to fulfill the terms and provisions of any agreements made with the purchasers or holders of any such notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness or obligation;
(9) to borrow money, make and issue negotiable notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness, including refunding and advanced refunding notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness, of the authority; to secure the payment of such obligations or any part thereof by mortgage, lien, pledge, or deed of trust, on all or any of its property, contracts, franchises, or revenues, including the proceeds of any such refunding and advanced refunding notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness and the investments in which the proceeds are invested and the earning on and income therefrom; to invest its monies, including without limitation its revenues and the proceeds of the notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, in obligations of, or obligations the principal of and interest on which are guaranteed by or are fully secured by contracts with, the United States of America, in obligations of any agency, instrumentality, or corporation which has been or may be created by or pursuant to an act of Congress as an agency, instrumentality, or corporation thereof, in direct and general obligations of this State and in certificates of deposit issued by any bank, trust company, or national banking association. The authority, when investing in certificates of deposit, shall invest in certificates of deposit issued by institutions authorized to do business in this State if these institutions offer terms which, in the opinion of the authority, are equal to or better than those offered by other institutions; to make such agreements with the purchasers or holders of such notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness or with others in connection with any such notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, whether issued or to be issued, as the authority considers advisable; and in general to provide for the security for the notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness and the rights of the holders thereof. In the exercise of these powers to issue advanced refunding notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness the authority may, but is not required to avail itself of or comply with any of the provisions of the Advanced Refunding Act, Sections 11-21-10 to 11-21-80.
(10) without limitation of the foregoing, to borrow money from the United States government or any corporation or agency created, designed, or established by the United States;
(11) to make contracts of every name and nature and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient for the carrying on of its business;
(12) to have power of eminent domain;
(13) to mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber any or all of the property, real, personal, or mixed, or facilities, or revenues of the authority as security for notes, bonds, evidences of indebtedness, or other obligations of the authority; and
(14) to do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers granted to it by this chapter or any other law.
Section 44-58-50. (A) The authority shall guarantee that a disposal facility for hazardous waste is available for waste generated in this State and it may prescribe that all hazardous waste generated within a specified geographical area and placed in the waste stream for disposal must be delivered to a specific permitted disposal facility.
(B) The authority may determine that it is appropriate for it to displace any existing or potential competing system of hazardous waste management and disposal specified within a geographic area, including the entire State of South Carolina, and if it so determines, no person, firm, corporation, association, or entity within the specified geographic area may engage in any activities which compete with the operation of the authority.
Section 44-58-60. (A) No land may be used for a commercial hazardous waste landfill facility until fee simple title to the land has been conveyed to the authority.
(B) (1) In consideration for the conveyance of facilities in operation on the effective date of this chapter, the authority shall enter into a lease agreement with the grantor for a term equal to the estimated life of the facility in which the authority is the lessor and the grantor the lessee. The lease agreement shall specify that for an annual rent of fifty dollars, the lessee may use the land for the development and operation of a hazardous waste landfill facility. The lease agreement shall provide that the lessor or any person authorized by the lessor shall at all times have the right to enter without a search warrant or permission of the lessee upon any parts of the premises for monitoring, inspection, and all other purposes necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. The lessee shall remain fully liable for all damages, losses, personal injury, or property damage which may result or arise out of the lessee's operation of the facility, and for compliance with regulatory requirements concerning insurance, bonding for closure and post-closure costs, monitoring, and other financial or health and safety requirements as required by applicable laws and rules. The State, as lessor, is immune from liability except as otherwise provided by law. The lease must be transferable with the written consent of the lessor, which may not be unreasonably withheld. In the case of a transfer of the lease, the transferee is subject to all terms and conditions that the authority, as lessor, considers necessary to ensure compliance with applicable laws and rules. If the lessee or any successor in interest fails in any material respect to comply with any applicable law, rule, or permit condition, or with any term of condition of the lease, the authority may terminate the lease after giving the lessee written notice specifically describing the failure to comply and upon providing the lessee a reasonable time to comply. If the lessee does not effect compliance within the reasonable time allowed, the authority may reenter and take possession of the premises.
(2) Notwithstanding the termination of the lease by either party for any reason, the lessee remains liable for, and is obligated to perform, all acts necessary or required by law, rule, permit condition, or the lease for the permanent closure of the site until the site has been permanently closed or until a substituted operator has been secured and has assumed the obligations of the lessee.
(3) If changes in laws or rules applicable to the facility make continued operation by the lessee impossible or economically unfeasible, the lessee may terminate the lease upon giving the authority reasonable notice of not less than six months, in which case the lessor has the right to secure a substitute lessee and operator, or to operate the facility through its agents and servants.
(4) In the event of termination of the lease by the lessor as provided in subsection (B)(2) of this section, or by the lessee as provided in subsection (B)(3) of this section, the lessee must be paid the fair market value of any improvements made to the leased premises less the costs to the lessor resulting from termination of the lease and securing a substitute lessee or operator. The lessor has no obligation to secure a substitute lessee or operator and may require the lessee to close the facility permanently."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.