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The purpose of this chapter is to establish a uniform city-wide program for protection of the environment from releases of hazardous materials to be administered by existing governmental agencies. The city’s Fire Department shall serve as the lead agency in the administration and enforcement of this chapter.
(Prior Code, § 121.05) (Ord. 13-2000, passed 8-21-2000)
(A) Notice upon discovery. Whenever a release (other than an authorized release) of any hazardous material, in a quantity which exceeds the reportable quantity occurs on any facilities of any kind, the person in charge, upon discovery of such release, or evidence of mere having been a release, even though it has apparently been controlled, shall immediately cause notice of the existence of such release, the circumstances of same, and the location thereof to be given to the Emergency Services Dispatches Office (county 911 center).
(B) Emergency telephone number. The notice required by this section, in the city, shall be given by telephoning “911” or other such emergency telephone number as designated. This one call meets the requirement of notifying local agencies. This shall not be construed as meeting the reporting requirements outlines in applicable state and federal legislation.
(C) Duty to control release. The requirements of this section shall not be construed to forbid any person on or about the facilities from using all diligence necessary to control such release prior to the notification of “911”, especially if such efforts may result in the containment of the release and/or the abatement of extreme hazard to the employees or the general public. Delays in reporting releases due to in-house notification of off-site owners/supervisors shall not be acceptable and may result in penalties.
(D) Accidental air releases. Accidental air releases in excess of the reportable quantities of listed hazardous materials, on file in the City Clerk’s office, or, if unlisted (as prescribed in § 119.04 of this chapter), shall be reported under the requirements of this section unless a different reportable quantity has been established under a previous agreement between the LEPC and the particular facility.
(E) Duty to report to state or federal agencies. No statement contained in this section shall be construed to exempt or release any person from any other notification or reporting procedure required by any state or federal agency.
(Prior Code, § 121.06) (Ord. 13-2000, passed 8-21-2000)
(A) Information and data provided by any person or obtained from any report, questionnaire, permit application, permit and monitoring program, and from inspections shall not be made available to the public or any other governmental agency, unless required by law.
(1) Upon submission of information in any form, it shall be the obligation of the submitter to separate all confidential and trade secret material from any material subject to disclosure under the law.
(2) Any requests made under the law for information containing confidential or trade secrets shall be brought to the attention of the person requesting confidentiality of its trade secrets by certified mail, return receipt requested. The notification shall advise the person requesting confidentiality of the decision of the administering agency regarding release of the confidential information. In no event will such confidential information be released until five days have elapsed from date notice is sent by registered mail.
(3) Within 72 hours after receipt of notification, the person requesting confidentiality of its trade secrets shall have the burden to initiate appropriate actions at law or otherwise to protect its confidential or trade secrets from disclosure, and must demonstrate that public disclosure of confidential or trade secrets is likely to cause substantial harm to his or her competitive position.
(4) Any individual who releases information containing confidential or trade secrets in violation of the law or this section shall be subject to disciplinary action by his or her employer for malfeasance, misfeasance and willful neglect of official duties, and may further be guilty of misuse of confidential information under KRS 522.040.
(B) The provisions of this section shall in no way prohibit the exchange of information, confidential or otherwise, between public agencies when the exchange is serving a legitimate governmental need or is necessary in the performance of a legitimate government function.
(Prior Code, § 121.07) (Ord. 13-2000, passed 8-21-2000)
(A) Notice. Upon notification or discovery of any violation of the provisions of this chapter, the city’s Fire Department shall immediately investigate the site upon which the violation is located. If a violation exists, a notice describing the violation shall be served upon the person who is responsible for the facilities upon which die violation has occurred, if the identity of the person is known. The notice shall also include the following, if applicable:
(1) A statement that the situation must be abated within the period of time prescribed by the city’s Fire Department, giving the person responsible for the release the option to initiate clean-up and disposal; provided that, no unreasonable delay or damage to the public is the result thereof;
(2) A statement that if the situation is not remedied within the prescribed period of time, administering agency with jurisdiction may proceed to secure appropriate public or private assistance to correct the violation;
(3) A statement that the person shall be liable for any costs incurred by public agencies associated with their responses, except for those costs that are associated with a normal emergency response;
(4) A statement that the nature of hazardous materials emergency response is outside the definition of “normal emergency response” for local government agencies as outlined in division (A)(3) above;
(5) A statement that if the administering agency, with jurisdiction, has secured correction of the violation, a bill shall be sent charging the person the amount of costs and expenses incurred by the governmental agency in securing the correction of the violation; and
(6) A statement that penalties may be levied for violations that have occurred.
(B) Governmental response. In cases where the identity of a person who is responsible for facilities upon which a violation has occurred is not known at the time a violation is reported, the city or any governmental agency with jurisdiction in the city may take reasonable steps to abate any problem and may take reasonable steps to clean-up the area affected to assure continuing safety of the public and the environment. When the identity of the person responsible for the facility is determined, a bill shall be sent to the person for the costs for correcting the violation according to the provisions of division (A) above.
(C) Injunctive relief. The city is empowered to seek injunctive relief for violations of this chapter should other means prove ineffective and a threat to public health and safety exists.
(Prior Code, § 121.08) (Ord. 13-2000, passed 8-21-2000)
(A) Establishment and empowerment. The Appeals Board shall serve as the Board of Appeals in actions relative to violations of this chapter.
(B) Appeal. The Board, in hearing an appeal, shall recommend to the city that the administering agency’s action be modified, upheld, or dismissed or that a fine or penalty levied upon a person for violation of any provision of this chapter be set aside, modified or left intact.
(Prior Code, § 121.10) (Ord. 13-2000, passed 8-21-2000)
It shall be an affirmative defense to any enforcement action, other than an action for violation of § 119.06 of this chapter, including recovery of clean-up costs pursuant to this chapter, if a person can prove that a release of hazardous materials was caused solely by:
(A) An act of God;
(B) An act of war;
(C) Negligence on the part of the city;
(D) An act or omission of a third party; or
(E) Any combination of the foregoing clauses.
(Prior Code, § 121.11) (Ord. 13-2000, passed 8-21-2000)
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