(a) Hazardous substances and hazardous wastes present in the community may pose acute and chronic health hazards to individuals who live and work in the City and County of San Francisco, and who are exposed to such substances as a result of fires, spills, industrial accidents, or other types of releases or emissions.
(b) The people who live and work in the City and County of San Francisco have a right and need to know of the use and potential hazards of hazardous materials in the community in order to plan for and respond to potential exposure to such materials.
(c) Information on the location, type, and the health risks of hazardous materials used, stored, or disposed of in the City and County of San Francisco is not now available to firefighters, health officials, planners, elected officials, and residents.
(d) This information is necessary to enable public officials to protect adequately the public health, safety and welfare of residents of the City and County of San Francisco.
(e) It is the intent of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco in adopting this Article to recognize the community's right to and need for information on the storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials in the City and to establish a system for the orderly provision of such information.
(f) It is further the intent of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco that the system of disclosure set forth in this Article shall provide the information essential to firefighters, health officials, planners, elected officials and residents in meeting their responsibilities to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community and to safeguard life and property from the hazards arising from the storage, handling and use of hazardous materials while protecting trade secrets to the extent compatible with the protection of the public health, safety and welfare.
(g) It is further the intent of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco to conform the provisions of this Article to California law regulating underground storage tanks and hazardous materials release response plans as provided in Chapters 6.7 and 6.75 and Article 1 of Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the California Health and Safety Code, which chapters are incorporated into this Article by reference, and to provide for additional stricter local requirements in accordance with Sections 25299.2 and 25500 of the California Health and Safety Code.
(h) It is the further intent of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco to recognize that the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section has been certified by the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency as a Certified Unified Program Agency as provided in Chapter 6.11 of Division 20 of the California Health and Safety Code. In accordance with that certification, it is the further intent of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco to conform this Article to provide the Department of Public Health with the authority necessary to carry out the Department's responsibilities under Chapter 6.11 of Division 20 of the California Health and Safety Code.
(Added by Ord. 164-92, App. 6/10/92; amended by Ord. 399-97, App. 10/17/97)