Current Status Bill Number:3907 Ratification Number:176 Act Number:119 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19950330 Primary Sponsor:Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee HANR 20 All Sponsors:Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee Drafted Document Number:br1\18315ac.95 Companion Bill Number:678 Date Bill Passed both Bodies:19950601 Date of Last Amendment:19950601 Governor's Action:S Date of Governor's Action:19950612 Subject:Drycleaning facility discharge rehabilitation
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
------ 19950612 Act No. A119
------ 19950612 Signed by Governor
------ 19950606 Ratified R176
House 19950601 Concurred in Senate amendment,
enrolled for ratification
Senate 19950601 Amended, read third time,
returned to House with amendment
Senate 19950530 Amended, read second time,
ordered to third reading
with notice of general amendments
Senate 19950529 Committee report: Favorable with 01 SANR
amendment
Senate 19950501 Committed to Committee 01 SANR
Senate 19950501 Recalled from Committee 13 SMA
Senate 19950427 Introduced, read first time, 13 SMA
referred to Committee
House 19950426 Read third time, sent to Senate
House 19950425 Amended, read second time
House 19950419 Objection withdrawn by Representative Elliott
House 19950412 Objection withdrawn by Representative Townsend
Waldrop
Simrill
Limbaugh
Fleming
Kirsh
Herdklotz
House 19950411 Objection by Representative Simrill
Tucker
Kirsh
Townsend
Neal
Limbaugh
Waldrop
Fleming
Herdklotz
Elliott
House 19950405 Debate adjourned until
Thursday, 19950406
House 19950330 Introduced, read first time
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
(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:
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.