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COMMITTEE REPORT
May 17, 2000
S. 1279
S. Printed 5/17/00--H.
Read the first time April 25, 2000.
To whom was referred a Bill (S. 1279), to amend Section 44-56-470, as amended, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, relating to registration and fees for drycleaning facilities, etc., respectfully
That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and recommend that the same do pass:
CHARLES R. SHARPE, for Committee.
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 THE DATE BY WHICH A DRYCLEANING FACILITY OWNER OR OPERATOR MUST RECEIVE CERTAIN CERTIFICATIONS AND THE DATE BY WHICH THEY MUST INSTALL CONTAINMENT STRUCTURES AROUND EQUIPMENT ITEMS IN WHICH DRYCLEANING SOLVENTS ARE USED; AND TO AMEND ACT 119 OF 1995, RELATING TO DRYCLEANING FACIITY 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:
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, 1999 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 July 1, 1999 January 1, 2002, an owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or person 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 diked 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, 1995 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."
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, 1997 2002, the deductible is one thousand dollars;
(2) October 1, 1998, the deductible is five thousand dollars;
(3) October 1, 1999 2003, 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
(3) October 1, 2004, the deductible is twenty-five 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.
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."
SECTION 3. Section 3 of Act 119 of 1995 is deleted.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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