South Carolina General Assembly
113th Session, 1999-2000

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Bill 1279


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      1279
Ratification Number:              348
Act Number:                       317
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 Senate
Introduced Date:                  20000323
Primary Sponsor:                  Leventis
All Sponsors:                     Leventis
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\gjk\21136sd00.doc
Date Bill Passed both Bodies:     20000524
Date of Last Amendment:           20000420
Governor's Action:                S
Date of Governor's Action:        20000530
Subject:                          Drycleaning facilities, regulation of; 
                                  Restoration Trust Fund, Laundry, DHEC, 
                                  Businesses and Corporations


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
------  20000616  Act No. A317
------  20000530  Signed by Governor
------  20000525  Ratified R348
House   20000524  Read third time, enrolled for
                  ratification
House   20000523  Read second time
------  20000519  Scrivener's error corrected
House   20000517  Committee report: Favorable            20 HANR
House   20000425  Introduced, read first time,           20 HANR
                  referred to Committee
------  20000424  Scrivener's error corrected
Senate  20000420  Amended, read third time, 
                  sent to House
Senate  20000406  Read second time, notice of
                  general amendments
Senate  20000329  Committee report: Favorable            13 SMA
Senate  20000323  Introduced, read first time,           13 SMA
                  referred to Committee


              Versions of This Bill
Revised on March 29, 2000 - Word format
Revised on April 20, 2000 - Word format
Revised on April 24, 2000 - Word format
Revised on May 17, 2000 - Word format
Revised on May 19, 2000 - Word format

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A317, R348, S1279)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 44-56-470, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO REGISTRATION AND FEES FOR DRYCLEANING FACILITIES, SO AS TO REVISE DATES BY WHICH A DRYCLEANING FACILITY OWNER OR OPERATOR MUST RECEIVE CERTAIN CERTIFICATIONS OR INSTALL CERTAIN CONTAINMENT STRUCTURES, DIKES, OR VESSELS, AND TO FURTHER PROVIDE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THESE CONTAINMENT STRUCTURES, DIKES, OR VESSELS; TO AMEND SECTION 44-56-440, RELATING TO MORATORIUMS ESTABLISHED ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL ACTIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL CONCERNING DRYCLEANING FACILITIES AND WHOLESALE SUPPLY FACILITIES RESULTING FROM THE DISCHARGE OF DRYCLEANING SOLVENTS INTO THE SOIL OR WATERS OF THIS STATE, AND THE DRYCLEANING FACILITY RESTORATION TRUST FUND FOR SITE REHABILITATION, SO AS TO REVISE THE DEDUCTIBLES REQUIRED OF A FACILITY APPLYING FOR MONIES FROM THE FUND, AND TO PROVIDE FOR A REFUND OF CERTAIN PREVIOUSLY INCURRED AND APPROVED ASSESSMENTS OR REMEDIAL COSTS; AND TO AMEND ACT 119 OF 1995, RELATING TO DRYCLEANING FACILITY RESTORATION, THE DRYCLEANING RESTORATION TRUST FUND, AND THE REGULATION AND REGISTRATION OF DRYCLEANING FACILITIES, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION WHICH REPEALS THE ACT ON JULY 1, 2005.

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

Dates and requirements revised

SECTION 1. Section 44-56-470 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 419 of 1998, is further amended to read:

"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 July 1, 2002, 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, 2002, an owner or operator of a drycleaning facility in operation before July 1, 2000, 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 containment must meet the following criteria:

(1) the dikes or containment structures must be capable of containing one-third of the capacity of the total tank capacity of each machine;

(2) dikes or containment structures around areas used for storage of solvents or waste containing solvents must be capable of containing one hundred percent of the volume of the largest container stored or retained in the containment structure;

(3) all diked containment areas must be sealed or otherwise made impervious to the drycleaning solvents in use at the facility, including floor surfaces, floor drains, floor joints, and inner dike walls;

(4) to the extent practicable, an owner of a drycleaning facility or person shall seal or otherwise render impervious those portions of all floor surfaces upon which any drycleaning solvents may leak, spill, or otherwise be released;

(5) containment devices must provide for the temporary containment of accidental spills or leaks until appropriate response actions are taken by the owner/operator to abate the source of the spill and remove the product from all areas on which the product has accumulated; and

(6) materials used in constructing the containment structure or sealing the floors must be capable of withstanding permeation by drycleaning solvents in use at the facility for not less than seventy-two hours.

(F) For drycleaning facilities that commence operating on or after July 1, 2000, 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 hundred percent of the volume of the largest single tank in the machine or piece of equipment or one-third of the total tank capacity of each machine, whichever is greater. Dikes or containment structures must be installed before delivery of any drycleaning solvents to the facility. All dikes or containment structures shall meet all criteria of Section 44-56-470(E).

(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 regard to determining site eligibility."

Deductibles revised; refunds

SECTION 2. Section 44-56-440(E) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 119 of 1995, is amended to read:

"(E) If the facility started operation before July 1, 2000, and an eligible drycleaning or wholesale owner or operator or person applies for monies from the fund on or before:

(1) October 1, 2002, the deductible is one thousand dollars;

(2) October 1, 2003, the deductible is ten thousand dollars;

(3) October 1, 2004, the deductible is twenty-five thousand dollars.

An eligible drycleaning facility that has applied for monies from the fund prior to the effective date of this paragraph shall have a deductible of one thousand dollars regardless of any deductible previously assigned to the facility based on its application date or type of site. Any approved assessment or remedial costs in excess of one thousand dollars previously incurred by the owner, operator, or person shall be refunded, without interest, to such party by the department."

Repeal date deleted

SECTION 3. Section 3 of Act 119 of 1995 is deleted.

Time effective

SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 25th day of May, 2000.

Approved the 30th day of May, 2000.

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