(a) Any responsible person or an employee, authorized representative, agent, or designee of such person shall, upon discovery, immediately report any release or threatened release of a hazardous material to the fire department and the Office of Emergency Services (800/852-7550). The responsible person, the employee, authorized representative, agent, or designee of such person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the containment and/or cleanup of such discharge. This section shall not apply to any person engaged in the transportation of a hazardous material on a highway which is subject to, and in compliance with the requirements of Sections 2453 and 23112.5 of the Vehicle Code.
(b) The immediate reporting shall include as a minimum:
(1) The exact location of the release or threatened release;
(2) The name of the person reporting the release or threatened release;
(3) The hazardous materials involved in the release or threatened release;
(4) An estimate of the quantity of hazardous materials involved; and
(5) If known, the potential hazards presented by the hazardous material involved in the release or threatened release.
The reporting party shall provide information to the fire chief relating to the ability of the permittee to contain and dispose of the hazardous material, the estimated time it will take to complete containment and disposal, and the degree of hazard created. The fire chief may verify that the hazardous material is being contained and appropriately disposed. Whenever the fire chief determines that the permittee is not adequately containing and disposing of such hazardous material, the fire chief shall have the power and authority to undertake and direct an emergency response in order to protect the public health and/or safety.
(c) The immediate reporting pursuant to subsection (a) shall not be required if there is a reasonable belief that the release or threatened release poses no significant present or potential hazard to human health and safety, property, or to the environment.
(d) If the discharge does not require immediate reporting, but the discharge meets the following criteria, it must be recorded in the monitoring log, to be available for inspection by fire department or other agency inspection:
(1) The discharge is from a primary containment to a secondary containment or to a rigid aboveground surface covering capable of containing the discharge until clean-up of the hazardous material is completed.
(2) The permittee is able to adequately clean up the discharge before it escapes from such secondary containment or such aboveground surface (but if the clean-up requires more than eight hours, it becomes immediately reportable).
(3) There is no increase in the hazard of fire or explosion, nor is there any production of a flammable or poisonous gas, nor is there any deterioration of such secondary containment or such rigid aboveground surface.
(e) A discharge of other than the types described in subsections (a) and (e) need not be recorded or immediately reported if the discharge is not the result of the deterioration or failure of the primary container and the quantity discharged is less than one ounce by weight, and can be cleaned up within fifteen minutes.
(Ord. 4002 § 1 (part), 1990: Ord. 3435 § 1 (part), 1983)