A. Definitions: As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
CITY: The city of Taylorville.
CLEANUP: Includes all the activities necessary to contain, collect, analyze, treat, disperse, remove and dispose of hazardous materials and/or environmentally damaging substances, in a proper manner, and to restore the site to preincident condition.
COSTS: All expenses incurred by the Taylorville fire department or the city and any other public agency assisting as a result of any mitigating or remediating actions. Costs include, but are not limited to, contractual services, wages, salaries, damaged or destroyed equipment, spill control supplies, protective clothing, firefighting or vapor suppressing foam, medical care and medical supplies. Costs include expenses incurred by the city for the supervision and verification of mitigating or remediating activities. Costs shall not include the expense of actual fire suppression services and emergency medical services which are normally or usually provided to the public by the Taylorville fire department, except as those costs directly relate to hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances, such as mitigating and remediating activities by the Taylorville fire department hazardous material response, and firefighting foam operations at petroleum spills and fires. The billing for such fees and charges shall be done by the city clerk's office; and the city's fire chief and/or respective superintendent shall promptly report to the city clerk the detail of services, the name and address of the owner(s) and/or occupant(s) of the property and/or the name and address of the person(s), business(es), or other entity(ies) for whom such services were rendered, the amount of fees and charges due hereunder, and the name and address of any applicable accident, casualty, or fire insurance company for such owner(s) and/or occupant(s) and/or person(s) and/or business(es) and/or entity(ies) if identified to the fire chief and/or respective superintendent. Charges for equipment used are taken from the Illinois department of transportation's schedule of average annual equipment ownership expense.
ENVIRONMENTALLY DAMAGING SUBSTANCES: Any substance spilled or released into the environment in sufficient quantity so as to cause actual or potential human health problems if not dealt with by remedial action, or to contaminate air, land or water.
FACILITY: Any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline including, but not limited to, any pipe into a sewer or publicly owned treatment works, well, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, above and below ground storage container, tank, motor vehicle, truck trailer, rolling stock or aircraft, or any site or area where a hazardous material has been deposited, stored, disposed of, abandoned, placed, or otherwise come to be located.
FIRE CHIEF: The chief of the Taylorville fire department or his designee.
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS: Any material, substance or mixture of materials or substances which are toxic, flammable, corrosive, explosive, carcinogenic or radioactive including, but not limited to, any substance or material which is designated a hazardous material pursuant to the "hazardous materials transportation act" (49 USCA, section 1901 et seq.) in a quantity and form which may pose substantial present or potential hazard to human health, property or the environment when improperly released, treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed. Hazardous materials also includes hazardous substances and hazardous wastes.
HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES: Any substance designated under the clean water act and comprehensive environmental response, compensation and liability act (CERCLA) (423 USC section 6901 et seq.) regulated by the United States environmental protection agency because of public health and safety concerns.
HAZARDOUS WASTE: Discarded material under resource conservation and recover act (RCRA) (42 USC section 6901 et seq.) regulated by the United States environmental protection agency because of public health and safety concerns.
INCIDENT: A fire, a release or threatened release of hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances.
MITIGATING: Any action consistent with permanent, remedy taken instead of, or in addition to, removal actions in the event of a release or threatened release of a hazardous material into the environment, to prevent or minimize the release of hazardous materials so that they do not migrate to cause a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, property or the environment. The term includes, but is not limited to, such actions at the location of the release or storage, confinement, containment, perimeter protection using dikes, trenches, or ditches, clay cover, neutralization, cleanup of released hazardous materials or contaminated materials, recycling or reuse, diversion, destruction, segregation of reactive wastes, repair or replacement of leaking containers, collection of leachate and runoff, on site treatment or incineration, provision of alternate water supplies, and any monitoring reasonably required to assure that such actions protect the public health and welfare and the environment.
MUTUAL AID: Any action taken by the Taylorville fire department or any other public agency pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement, including, but not limited to, any agreement that is part of Christian County SOS Association.
PERSON: Any individual, business, firm, partnership, corporation, association, trust, estate, joint venture or other legal entity, or their legal representative, agent or assign.
RELEASE: Any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, escaping, emptying, discharging, injecting, leaching, dumping or disposing, exploding or burning of a hazardous material into or on any land, air, water, well, stream, sewer or pipe so that such hazardous material or any constituent thereof may enter the environment.
REMEDIATING: The cleanup or removal of released hazardous materials from the environment, such actions as may be necessary or appropriate to monitor, assess and evaluate the release or threat of release of hazardous materials, the disposal of removed material, or the taking of such action as may be necessary to prevent, minimize or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare of the environment. The term also includes, but is not limited to, security fencing, provision of alternative water supplies, and temporary evacuation of threatened individuals.
RESPONSE: Any mitigating or remediating action taken, initiated or coordinated by the Taylorville fire department or city of Taylorville.
RESPONSIBLE PARTY:
1. The owner and operator of a facility or vessel from which there is a fire or release or substantial threat of release of a hazardous material or environmentally damaging substance;
2. Any person who, at the time of disposal, transport, storage or treatment of a hazardous material or environmentally damaging substance owned or operated the facility, or vehicle used for such disposal, transport, treatment or storage from which there was a fire, release or substantial threat of a release of any such hazardous material, or environmentally damaging substances;
3. Any person who by contract, agreement, or otherwise has arranged with another party or entity for transport, storage, disposal or treatment of hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances;
4. Any person who accepts or accepted any hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances for transport to disposal, storage or treatment sites from which there is a fire, release or substantial threat of release of hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances;
5. In the case of an abandoned facility or vehicle any person owning or operating the abandoned facility or any person who owned or operated or otherwise controlled activities at the abandoned facility immediately prior to abandonment;
6. In the case of a land trust owning or operating a facility or vehicle the person owning the beneficial interest in the land trust.
B. Prohibited Acts: No person shall cause, threaten or allow the release of hazardous materials into the environment unless such release is in accordance with an appropriate permit granted by the Illinois environmental protection agency or other state or federal agency having primary jurisdiction over the release and such release is in such place and manner as will not create a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, property or the environment. Any prohibited release is hereby declared a public nuisance. This shall be an absolute liability offense.
C. Response Authority:
1. The fire chief or his authorized representative shall have authority to respond to any release or threatened release of hazardous materials within the territory of the Taylorville fire department or affecting the public water supply, wells or sewage treatment works located within the city or pursuant to any lawful intergovernmental agreement to which the city is a party. This authority includes, but is not limited to, remedial action and removal.
2. The fire chief shall have primary authority to respond to any release or threatened release of hazardous materials as described above. The fire chief shall report any release or threatened release of hazardous materials to all appropriate federal, state and local public health, safety and emergency agencies within twenty four (24) hours of any substantial release of hazardous materials. The fire chief shall relinquish his response authority at such time, if, as the federal, state or local public health, safety or emergency agency having primary jurisdiction over the release or threatened release has assumed responsibility for response to the release or threatened release.
3. The fire chief, during such time as response authority is vested in him, shall be authorized to utilize all Taylorville fire department personnel and equipment and he may, in his sole discretion, take such mitigating or remediating action as he may deem necessary or appropriate to respond to the release or threatened release of hazardous material.
4. All responding personnel shall cooperate with and operate under the direction of the fire chief or other person then exercising response authority under this section until such time as the person exercising such response authority has determined that the response is complete or responsibility for response is assumed by the federal, state or local public health, safety or emergency agency having primary jurisdiction over the release or threatened release.
5. The person exercising response authority under this section shall coordinate and/or cooperate with other federal, state or local public health, safety or emergency agencies involved in response to the release or threatened release of hazardous materials.
D. Responsible Party Or Parties; Liability For Costs:
1. Notwithstanding any other provision or rule of law, and subject only to the defenses set forth in subsection E of this section, the following persons shall be jointly and severally liable for all costs of mitigating and remediating action incurred by the city as a result of a release or threatened release of a hazardous material:
a. The owner and operator of a facility or vessel from which there is a fire or release or substantial threat of release of a hazardous material or environmentally damaging substance;
b. Any person who, at the time of disposal, transport, storage or treatment of a hazardous material or environmentally damaging substance owned or operated the facility, or vehicle used for such disposal, transport, treatment or storage from which there was a fire, release or substantial threat of a release of any such hazardous material, or environmentally damaging substances;
c. Any person who by contract, agreement, or otherwise has arranged with another party or entity for transport, storage, disposal or treatment of hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances owned, controlled or possessed by such person at a facility owned or operated by another party or entity from which facility there is a release or substantial threat of a release of such hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances;
d. Any person who accepts or accepted any hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances for transport to disposal, storage or treatment sites from which there is a fire, release or a substantial threat of release of hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances;
e. In the case of an abandoned facility or vehicle any person owning or operating the abandoned facility or any person who owned or operated or otherwise controlled activities at the abandoned facility immediately prior to abandonment;
f. In the case of a land trust owning or operating a facility or vehicle the person owning the beneficial interest in the land trust.
E. Defenses: There shall be no liability under subsection D of this section for a person otherwise liable who can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the release or substantial threat of release of a hazardous material/substance and the damages resulting therefrom were caused solely by an act as enumerated in 415 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/22.2.
F. Costs And Penalties:
1. Any person who is liable for the release or threatened release of a hazardous material who fails without sufficient cause to pay for or provide mitigating or remediating action upon or in accordance with a notice and request of the Taylorville fire department, or in accordance with any order of any court having jurisdiction on the matter, shall be liable to the Taylorville fire department for any costs incurred by the Taylorville fire department as a result of such failure to provide or take such mitigating or remediating action, together with the cost of any removal or remedial action taken by the Taylorville fire department in accordance with this section, and all attorney fees and related legal costs incurred in connection therewith.
2. In addition, any such person shall be guilty of a violation of this section and shall be fined not less than four hundred dollars ($400.00) for each offense. A separate offense shall be deemed committed for each day on which a violation occurs or continues. If a violation is found to be the result of wilful and/or wanton conduct or gross negligence, or the person committing such violation attempts to evade responsibility hereunder by leaving the scene of the occurrence or by other means, that person shall be subject to a fine as provided for above or a fine in an amount equal to three (3) times the costs, including attorney fees and legal costs, for which it is liable under subsection F1 of this section, whichever is greater.
3. Charges for mitigating or remediating action when rendered by the Taylorville fire department or any other agency rendering mutual aid shall be as follows:
a. One hundred twenty five dollars ($125.00) for each hour or part thereof for each city firetruck or fire department vehicle.
b. Forty five dollars ($45.00) for each hour or part thereof for each city full time, and thirty five dollars ($35.00) for each hour or part thereof for each volunteer firefighter dispatched and/or recalled.
c. All hourly fees shall be rounded to the nearest one-fourth (1/4) hour with the time calculated from the time that each such fire department vehicle and each such personnel are dispatched from the city's fire station for such service(s) until such vehicle and personnel are returned to the city's fire station and subsequently released from the duties of the response.
d. In addition to such hourly rate fees, a charge shall be levied to reimburse the city for extraordinary expenses of materials used in rendering such service(s). Materials and equipment used, expended, depleted, destroyed or removed from service in accordance with federal, state or local ordinance as a result of the mitigation or remediation operations of or at the request of the city of Taylorville or any responding agency.
e. Each responsible party shall remit payment to the city of Taylorville treasurer within thirty (30) days upon written notification of cost.
G. Cleanup:
1. A responsible party or parties shall clean up the facility and site at which there has been a fire, release or threatened release of hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances. The removal shall be in accordance with state and federal laws, rules and regulations. The site shall be restored to preincident condition and meet Illinois environmental protection agency (IEPA) standards. The site shall, after cleanup, have a general good appearance and shall also be free of noticeable odors or liquid runoff. Any remediating actions shall prevent or minimize the release of hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances to prevent a substantial presence of potential hazard to human health, property or the environment.
2. The fire chief or his or her designee shall supervise and verify the adequacy of all remediating activities.
3. The fire chief or his or her designee shall have the authority to order the responsible party or parties of a fire, release or threatened release of hazardous materials to hire a cleanup contractor to clean up the site if the responsible party or parties are not equipped or prepared to properly handle hazardous materials or environmentally damaging substances. No person shall disobey the order of the fire chief or his or her designee. (Ord. 3297, 6-19-2006)