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H. 4582
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Leach and Brady
Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\12082ac06.doc
Introduced in the House on February 2, 2006
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary
Summary: Clandestine Methamphetamine Lab Site Remediation Act
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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2/2/2006 House Introduced and read first time HJ-1
2/2/2006 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-2
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 11 TO CHAPTER 56, TITLE 44 TO ENACT "THE CLANDESTINE METHAMPHETAMINE LAB SITE REMEDIATION ACT" SO AS TO REQUIRE LAW ENFORCEMENT TO QUARANTINE PROPERTY ON WHICH A LAB IS OPERATED FOR THE UNLAWFUL MANUFACTURING OF METHAMPHETAMINE, TO FILE A NOTICE OF A METHAMPHETAMINE LAB SITE QUARANTINE WITH THE REGISTER OF DEEDS FOR RECORDING, AND TO SUBMIT A LIST OF METHAMPHETAMINE LAB SITES TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO MAINTAIN A LISTING OF THESE PROPERTIES, WHICH MUST BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, TO REGISTER PERSONS AND ENTITIES ENGAGING IN CLEANUP AND REMEDIATION OF METHAMPHETAMINE LAB SITES, AND TO PROMULGATE IN REGULATION REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION TO REMEDIATE METHAMPHETAMINE LAB SITES AND GUIDELINES FOR REMEDIATION; TO REQUIRE PROPERTY OWNERS TO REMEDIATE SUCH PROPERTY ON WHICH METHAMPHETAMINE LAB SITES ARE OPERATED AND TO AUTHORIZE PERSONS CONVICTED OF MANUFACTURING METHAMPHETAMINE TO PAY RESTITUTION FOR EXPENSE INCURRED BY PUBLIC ENTITIES FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSES TO SUCH SITES AND TO PROPERTY OWNERS FOR REMEDIATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Clandestine Methamphetamine Lab Site Remediation Act".
SECTION 2. Chapter 56, Title 44, of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 44-56-1010. For purposes of this article:
(1) 'Clandestine lab site' means any structure or outdoor location occupied or affected by conditions or chemicals typically associated with the unauthorized manufacturing of methamphetamine or where are kept, stored, or located any of the devices, equipment, things, or substances used for the unauthorized manufacture of methamphetamine.
(2) 'Department' means the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
(3) 'Methamphetamine' has the same meaning as provided for in Article 3, Chapter 53, Title 44.
(4) 'Remediation' means proper cleanup, treatment, decontamination, or containment of hazardous substances or methamphetamine at or in a clandestine lab site and may include demolition or disposal of structures or other property when necessary.
Section 44-56-1020. (A) A law enforcement officer who arrests a person at a clandestine lab site, or has evidence that a clandestine lab site exists at a location, shall quarantine the location where the clandestine lab site is located. The law enforcement agency shall post signs indicating that the property has been quarantined and is prohibited from being occupied or used until it has been remediated in accordance with the Department of Health and Environmental Control's clandestine lab site remediation guidelines.
(B) If any real property, or any structure or room in any structure on any real property, is quarantined by a local law enforcement agency pursuant to this section, the local law enforcement agency quarantining the property shall file with the register of deeds, for recording, an affidavit of methamphetamine lab quarantine in the county in which the real property or any portion of the real property lies.
(C) A notice in a form substantially as follows is sufficient to comply with subsection (B):
Notice is hereby given that an illegal laboratory for the manufacture of methamphetamine was seized at the location describe below on ( date ) . This real property has been quarantined by ( name of local law enforcement agency ) pursuant to the South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 44-56-1020. The property is to remain quarantined and is prohibited from being occupied or used until it has been assessed and remediated in accordance with the Department of Health and Environmental Control's clandestine lab site remediation guidelines.
Name of Property Owner or Owners: _____________________
Property Address: ____________________________________
____________________________________________________
Apartment or Unit Number (if applicable): _________________
Description of Property Sufficient to Identify: _______________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Name of Person and Agency Giving Notice: ________________
__________________________ _____________ _____
Signature of Person Giving Notice Title/Position Date'.
Section 44-56-1030. (A) Within seven days of quarantining a property pursuant to Section 44-56-1020, the law enforcement agency that quarantined the property shall transmit to the department at least the following information regarding the site:
(1) the date the quarantine was placed on the property;
(2) the county;
(3) the address;
(4) the name of the owner of the site; and
(5) a brief description of the site, such as single family home, apartment, motel, wooded area, etc.
(B) The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall maintain a listing of all clandestine lab site properties reported by law enforcement agencies that have been quarantined. The listing must be available for public inspection and must be posted on the department 's website. Properties must be removed from the listing when a law enforcement agency provides the department with a certification that the property has been remediated and is safe for human use and that the quarantine has been lifted in accordance with this article.
Section 44-56-1040 (A) Once a property has been quarantined, a party having a right, title, or interest in the quarantined property, including any lienholders, is responsible for having the property remediated in accordance with the department's clandestine lab remediation guidelines, and the property must remain quarantined until a person or entity registered with the department pursuant to Section 44-56-1050 has completed remediation of the property and has certified to the law enforcement agency that the property has been remediated and is safe for human use. The certification must be notarized and attested to by two witnesses.
(B) Upon receipt of the certification, the law enforcement agency and shall file with the register of deeds, for recording, the certification in the county in which the real property or any portion of the real property lies and shall remove the quarantine from the property. After the certification has been filed and the quarantine removed, the law enforcement agency shall provide a copy of the certification to the department, and the department shall remove the property from its listing of clandestine lab sites.
(C) A form substantially as follows is sufficient to comply with subsection (A):
Notice is hereby given that the real property, quarantined by (name of local law enforcement agency), pursuant to the South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 44-56-1020, at the location described below, has been remediated by a person or entity registered with the Department of Health and Environmental Control pursuant to Section 44-56-1050 as qualified to perform clean-up of property used to manufacture methamphetamine. I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the real property at the location was remediated in accordance with Clandestine Lab Site Remediation guidelines of the Department of Health and Environmental Control and is safe for human use, guidelines as currently are in effect.
Name of Property Owner or Owners: _______________________ Property Address: ______________________________________ _____________________________________________________ Apartment or Unit Number (if applicable): __________________ Description of Property Sufficient to Identify: ________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Name of person or entity registered with the Department of Health and Environmental Control to perform Clandestine Lab Site Remediation: __________________________________________
_________________________ ______________
Signature of Registered Person Date Subscribed to and sworn before me this _____day of________________,
__________________________________
Notary Public for: ___________________
My Commission expires: ______________
Witnesses:___________________ _____________________
____________________________ _____________________
Signatures of Witnesses Date _________________'.
Section 44-56-1050. A person or entity who engages in, or offers to engage in the remediation of clandestine lab sites, shall register with the Department of Health and Environmental Control. The department shall promulgate regulations specifying the requirements for registration as a person or entity who engages in clandestine lab site remediation and shall maintain, and make available to the public, a registry of persons and entities who meet these requirements and who have registered with the department. (B) Persons or entities registered with the department pursuant to subsection (A) shall perform clandestine lab site remediation in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the department in regulation.
Section 44-56-1060. (A) No person may inhabit quarantined property, offer such property to the public for temporary or indefinite habitation, or remove any signs or notices of the quarantine.
(B) A person who wilfully violates subsection (A) is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be fined not more that five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than 90 days or both.
Section 44-56-1070. (A) A person who has an interest in property quarantined pursuant to this article may petition the court of the county in which the property is located requesting that the court order the quarantine of the property be lifted because:
(1) the property was wrongfully quarantined; or
(2) the property has been properly remediated and that it is now safe for human use but the law enforcement agency who imposed the quarantine refuses to lift it.
(B) The court shall take such proof as it considers necessary to rule upon a petition filed pursuant to this section and, after hearing such proof, may grant the petition and lift the quarantine or deny the petition and keep the quarantine in place.
Section 44-56-1080. (A) A court may require a person convicted of manufacturing or attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, where the response to the crime involved an emergency response, to pay restitution to all public entities that participated in the response. The restitution ordered may cover the reasonable costs of their participation in the response.
(B) In addition to the restitution authorized in subsection (A), a court may require a person convicted of manufacturing or attempting to manufacture methamphetamine to pay restitution to a property owner who incurred remediation costs because of the crime.
(C) For purposes of this section, 'emergency response' includes, but is not limited to, removing and collecting evidence, securing the site, removal, remediation, and hazardous chemical assessment or inspection of the site where the relevant offense or offenses took place, regardless of whether these actions are performed by the public entities themselves or by private contractors paid by the public entities, or the property owner.
Section 44-56-1090. The department shall promulgate regulations as required by this article and as are necessary to carry out it's responsibilities under this article. "
SECTION 3. This act takes effect July 1, 2006.
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