- Committee -

SCS/SB 577 - This act establishes a Dry Cleaning Solvent Environmental Response Trust Fund to provide moneys for investigation, assessment, and remediation of releases of solvents from dry cleaning facilities. The Fund is administered by the Hazardous Waste Management Commission.

The act requires the Hazardous Waste Management Commission to establish, within one year, standards for new dry cleaning facilities, including requirements for solvent delivery, solvent storage, solvent disposal, prohibition of solvent discharges and containment structures for dry cleaning units. The Commission shall meet with industry and interested parties prior to initial rulemaking. The Commission shall establish a schedule for upgrading existing dry cleaning facilities to the new standards within three years and shall determine facility closure procedures and appropriate completion requirements for corrective actions in response to a release.

Payments from the Fund for any particular contamination site may not exceed a total of $2 million and may not exceed twenty-five percent of the moneys in the Fund during any fiscal year. There is a $10,000 deductible for active facilities and a $20,000 deductible for abandoned sites. Moneys from the Fund may not be used if the release was caused by illegal operating practices, if the facility operator obstructs actions by the Department of Natural Resources, or if the operator is in arrears for payments to the Fund. An owner or operator must meet performance standards to participate in the fund.

Operators of active facilities must register annually with the Department and pay an annual registration surcharge to the Fund. The surcharge is set at $500 for small facilities, $1000 for medium facilities and $1500 for large facilities.

Sellers of drycleaning solvents must pay a solvent surcharge of $10 per gallon for chlorinated solvents and 50 cents per gallon for nonchlorinated solvents, collected quarterly. All surcharges are subject to a late fee of 15% plus 10% per annum interest on unpaid balances. If the unobligated balance of the Fund exceeds $5 million, the facility registration and solvent surcharges are not collected until the Fund balance falls below $2 million.

Violators of any provisions of this act are subject to civil penalties of up to $500 per violation, payable to the Fund.

The act contains a sunset clause which will terminate the provisions of the act on August 28, 2007.

OTTO FAJEN