AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 914 WHICH ESTABLISHED A HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES USER FEE TO BE UTILIZED TO TRAIN PERSONNEL, PURCHASE SPECIALIZED EMERGENCY RESPONSE EQUIPMENT, AND IMPROVE THE HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES RESPONSE CAPABILITY WITHIN CHARLESTON COUNTY.
WHEREAS, the General Assembly of South Carolina, in enacting South Carolina Code S4-9-25, has authorized counties to enact regulations, resolutions and ordinances in order to safeguard the health, security and general welfare of their citizens; and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly of South Carolina, in enacting South Carolina Code S4-9-30, has authorized counties to assess uniform service charges for public safety; to implement and enforce the powers granted to counties; and to provide penalties for violations thereof not to exceed the penalties imposed by Magistrates Court; and
WHEREAS, Charleston County Government, acting by and through its County Council, is empowered to enact and amend Ordinance 914 which regulates Hazardous Substances User Fees in Charleston County.
It is hereby found and declared by Charleston County Council, the governing body of Charleston County, South Carolina as follows:
This determination is to ensure that the location of these facilities is known in case of an emergency.
This Ordinance shall apply to all substances within Charleston County that, if accidentally released, may pose a threat or be harmful to human health, safety, animals, crops, water systems or other elements of the environment. Substances so designated may include, but are not limited to, explosives, radioactive materials, etiologic agents, flammable and combustible liquids, solids and gases, poisons, oxidizing substances, and corrosive substances.
For the purposes of this Ordinance, the following definitions shall apply:
Any facility which stores substances covered by this Ordinance must annually file a Tier II report with the Charleston County LEPC and pay a hazardous substance user fee according to the following schedules. The listed fees are per chemical or substance reported in the Tier II report. The Tier II report must be submitted prior to March 1 of each year.
Any facility that meets more than one of the reporting, will be assessed a single fee in accordance with the following hierarchy:
For example, a facility which submits a Tier II report and possesses a UST permit will only be assessed a fee in accordance with their Tier II submittal.
Total average daily amounts pursuant to Tier II Report:
(01) Less than 99 lbs. $ 70
(02) 100-999 lbs. $100
(03) 1,000-9,999 lbs. $130
(04) 10,000-99,999 lbs. $200
(05) 100,000-999,999 lbs. $270
(06) Greater than 1,000,000 lbs. $400
Total average daily amounts pursuant to Tier II Report:
(01, 02, 03) - Less than 10,000 lbs. $ 70
(04) 10,000-99,999 lbs. $130
(05) 100,000-999,999 lbs. $270
(06) Greater than 1,000,000 lbs. $400
The maximum total fee for any facility reporting under Tier II: $10,000
Flat Annual Fee for UST Permits (PER LOCATION): $400
For purposes of this Ordinance only, the term "hazardous substances" does not include:
All facilities affected by this Ordinance who submit a Tier II Report are required to clearly mark containers or areas where hazardous substances are stored in order to increase the effectiveness and safety of first response personnel. Use of the NFPA 704 marking system is required.
The Charleston County Hazardous Materials Division will be responsible for overseeing and implementing the administration of this Ordinance.
All fees collected shall be paid to the County Treasurer and placed in an account established exclusively for hazardous substance purposes.
The funds generated by this Ordinance will be disbursed in accordance with a budget adopted annually by the Charleston County Council. Prior to Charleston County Council's adoption of the recommended Hazardous Materials Division's budget, the following procedure shall be utilized:
In the event of a spill or release of any hazardous or extremely hazardous substance which would require any resources in Charleston County to be committed, the party or parties responsible for such incident, including any facility covered by a Mutual Aid Agreement, shall pay all costs incurred by Charleston County, and/or any other duly-authorized responding agency in its efforts to mitigate any risk to life, property and/or the environment caused by the incident. Cost recovery shall include incidents not located at a facility as defined in this Ordinance if Charleston County resources have been expended at the incident. Charges shall be assessed based on the base salary of the responding agency's employees, responding agency's vehicles (transportation), and other specialized materials and/or machinery used during the operation. Charges for special equipment, including, but not limited to, backhoes, bulldozers and aircraft shall be based on the actual cost incurred including, but not limited to, salaries, fringe benefits and depreciation.
Costs incurred shall be presented to the Incident Commander at the conclusion of each incident, and a formal request for payment shall be supplied to the Incident Commander within a reasonable time after the conclusion of the incident, such date to be determined by the Incident Commander. Charges shall be collected by the responding agency, or by the Charleston County Hazardous Materials Division if requested to do so by the Incident Commander. If the Incident Commander of the authorized responding agency wishes to prepare such reimbursement, the County will submit a "costs incurred" bill to the Incident Commander.
Any facility or person violating any provision of this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to all applicable civil and/or criminal fines. Each violation shall be considered a separate offense.
Failure to pay all or any part of the correct hazardous substance user fee by August 1 of each year will result in a 5 percent late penalty of the unpaid fee each month or portion thereof after the due date until paid. Penalties shall not exceed 100 percent of the original hazardous material user fee. If a facility or person fails to make full payment, including late fees after 60 days, the Hazardous Materials Division may proceed to collect in the same manner as prescribed by law for the collection of other fees.
A facility regulated by this Ordinance that disagrees with the assessment of the hazardous substances user fee may appeal the assessment to the Business License/User Fee Appeals Board. A user fee may be appealed only by payment in full of the user fee under protest by August 1 of the billing year. A written Notice of Appeal must be received by the Business License/User Fee Appeals Board no later than August 15 of the billing year and be accompanied by a $25.00 fee that will be used to partially defray the cost incurred in connection with the administration of appeals. This fee will be refunded in the event of final resolution of the appeal in favor of the Appellant.
If any section, subsection or clause of this Ordinance is found to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the validity of the remaining sections, subsections and clauses shall not be affected thereby.