In order to reduce the danger to the public health, safety and welfare from the leaks and spills of hazardous substances, these regulations are promulgated to establish responsibility for the treatment, removal and cleanup of hazardous substance spills within the City limits.
For purposes of this chapter the following terms are defined:
1. “Cleanup” means actions necessary to contain, collect, control, identify, analyze, clean up, treat, disperse, remove or dispose of a hazardous substance or hazardous waste.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 455B.381[1])
2. “Hazardous condition” means any situation involving the actual, imminent or probable spillage, leakage, or release of a hazardous substance onto the land, into a water of the State or into the atmosphere which creates an immediate or potential danger to the public health or safety.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 455B.381[4])
3. “Hazardous substance” means any substance or mixture of substances that presents a danger to the public health or safety and includes, but is not limited to, a substance that is toxic, corrosive, or flammable, or that is an irritant or that generates pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means. “Hazardous substance” may include any hazardous waste identified or listed by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, or any toxic pollutant listed under section 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended to January 1, 1977, or any hazardous substance designated under Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended to January 1, 1977, or any hazardous material designated by the Secretary of Transportation under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 455B.381[5])
4. “Hazardous waste” means a waste or combination of wastes that, because of its quantity, concentration, biological degradation, leaching from precipitation or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, has either of the following effects:
A. Causes or significantly contributes to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness.
B. Poses a substantial danger to human health or the environment.
“Hazardous waste” may include, but is not limited to wastes that are toxic, corrosive or flammable or irritants, strong sensitizers or explosives. It does not include (a) agricultural wastes, including manures and crop residues that are returned to the soil as fertilizers or soil conditioners; or (b) source, special nuclear or by-product material as defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
5. “Responsible person” means a person who at any time produces, handles, stores, uses, transports, refines, or disposes of a hazardous substance or hazardous waste, the release of which creates a hazardous condition, including bailees, carriers, and any other person in control of a hazardous substance or hazardous waste when a hazardous condition occurs, whether the person owns the hazardous substance or waste or is operating under a lease, contract, or other agreement with the legal owner of the hazardous substance or waste.
(Code of Iowa, Sec. 455B.381[7])
Whenever a hazardous condition is created so that a hazardous substance or waste or a constituent of the hazardous waste or substance may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including ground waters, the responsible person shall cause the condition to be remedied by a cleanup, as defined in the preceding section, as rapidly as feasible to an acceptable, safe condition, and restore the affected area to its state prior to the hazardous condition as far as practicable. The costs of cleanup shall be borne by the responsible person. If the responsible person does not cause the cleanup to begin in a reasonable time in relation to the hazard and circumstances of the incident, the City may, by an authorized officer, give reasonable notice, based on the character of the hazardous condition, said notice setting a deadline for accomplishing the cleanup or the City may proceed to procure cleanup services. If the cost of the cleanup is beyond the capacity of the City to finance, the authorized officer shall report to the Council and immediately seek any State or Federal funds available for said cleanup.
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