SP0397, LD 1128, item 1, An Act To Make Minor Changes and Corrections to Statutes Administered by the Department of Environmental Protection

An Act To Make Minor Changes and Corrections to Statutes Administered by the Department of Environmental Protection

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §343-H, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2009, c. 121, §4, is repealed.

Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §353, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2007, c. 655, §1, is further amended to read:

9. Finance charges. In addition to other remedies specifically authorized in this Title, the department shall charge interest at a rate of 15% per annum, unless the commissioner finds the amount too small or the likelihood of recovery too uncertain, and may pursue enforcement, including, but not limited to, penalties pursuant to section 349 and suspension or revocation pursuant to section 341-D 342, subsection 3 11-B for the failure of a licensee to pay any portion of licensing fees owed by the date due.

Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §353-A, sub-§8, as amended by PL 2007, c. 589, §3 and affected by §9, is further amended to read:

8. Nonpayment of fee. Failure to pay the annual fee within 60 days of the anniversary date of a license is sufficient grounds for revocation of the license under section 341-D 342, subsection 3 11-B.

Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §353-B, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 794, Pt. B, §7, is amended to read:

5. Nonpayment of fees. Failure to pay an annual fee within 30 days of the anniversary date of a license is sufficient grounds for revocation of the license, permit or privilege under section 341-D 342, subsection 3 11-B.

Sec. 5. 38 MRSA §420-B, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2007, c. 565, §5, is further amended to read:

4. Executive summary. No later than March 31st of each year April 30th in the first regular legislative session, the commissioner shall report provide an executive summary on the monitoring program to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources matters and marine resources matters. This report executive summary must contain:

A. At the start of each 5-year period, the 5-year monitoring plan;

B. The annual work program for the past year and the current year;

C. The commissioner's conclusions as to the levels of toxic contamination in the State's waters and fisheries; and

D. Any trends of increasing or decreasing levels of contaminants found ; and .

E. The results of the dioxin monitoring program required under subsection 1-A.

Sec. 6. 38 MRSA §464, sub-§3, ¶C, as affected by PL 1989, c. 890, Pt. A, §40 and amended by Pt. B, §55, is repealed.

Sec. 7. 38 MRSA §570-K, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2005, c. 212, §1, is further amended to read:

5. Spill prevention and control. An aboveground oil storage facility used in the marketing and distribution of oil to others must be operated in compliance with the federal requirements for the preparation and implementation of spill prevention control and countermeasure plans under 40 Code of Federal Regulations, 112 in effect on April 17, 2003. Failure to comply with those federal requirements in accordance with the deadlines set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency constitutes a violation of this Title. If the department believes that a facility's plan does not satisfy those federal requirements, the department shall request an opinion from the United States Environmental Protection Agency as to the legal adequacy of the plan and any amendment necessary to bring the facility into compliance with those federal requirements. The department shall prepare educational and technical materials for use by facilities affected by this subsection. The commissioner shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources matters by January 15, 2006 and on that date every 2 years thereafter on activities undertaken by the department under this subsection.

Sec. 8. 38 MRSA §1310-N, sub-§6-D, as amended by PL 2001, c. 212, §5, is further amended to read:

6-D. Solid waste facilities licensed under rules valid on or after May 24, 1989. A solid waste facility license issued under applicable solid waste management rules valid on or after May 24, 1989 remains in effect unless modified , under section 341-D, subsection 3 or revoked or suspended under section 341-D 342, subsection 3 11-B. These licensees must:

A. Comply with applicable operating rules adopted by the board;

B. Comply with annual facility reporting rules adopted by the board; and

C. Beginning 5 years after the date of issuance of the license, pay an annual facility reporting fee established by the commissioner. The annual fee established in this paragraph must be an amount equal to 20% of the relicensing fee that would have applied to that facility.

Notwithstanding the terms of this subsection, a license issued to a solid waste facility that is not a solid waste landfill may be voluntarily surrendered by the license holder upon department approval.

Sec. 9. 38 MRSA §1319-O, as amended by PL 2005, c. 549, §6, is further amended to read:

§ 1319-O. Rule-making authority; hazardous waste, waste oil and biomedical waste

1. Hazardous waste. Rulemaking This subsection governs rulemaking for hazardous waste shall be as follows.

A. The board commissioner may adopt and amend rules identifying hazardous waste. It is the intent of the Legislature that the board commissioner shall identify as hazardous waste those substances that are identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in proposed or final regulations. The Legislature also intends that the board commissioner may identify as hazardous waste, in accordance with paragraph B subparagraph (2), other substances in addition to those identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Further, the Legislature intends that a substance that has been identified as a hazardous waste by the board must commissioner may be removed from identification only by further rulemaking by the board commissioner.

Hazardous waste may be identified as follows.

(1) The board commissioner may identify any substance as a hazardous waste if that substance is identified as hazardous by particular substance, by characteristic, by chemical class or as a waste product of a specific industrial activity in proposed or final rules of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(2) The board commissioner may identify any substance as a hazardous waste if the board commissioner, after evaluation based on existing data or data reasonably extrapolated from previously conducted studies using similar classes of substances or compounds under similar circumstances, has determined that the substance is an acute or chronic toxin causing significant potential adverse public health or environmental effects. An acute or chronic toxin may include the characteristics of:

(a) Carcinogenicity;

(b) Mutagenicity;

(d) Infectiousness.

Rules adopted under this subparagraph must be submitted to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over natural resources for review. These rules remain in effect until 90 days after adjournment of the next regular session of the Legislature unless adopted by legislative enactment.

(3) Whenever the board commissioner proposes to adopt or amend rules identifying hazardous waste or removing hazardous waste from identification, it the comissioner shall hold a public hearing.

(4) In addition to hazardous waste identified under subparagraphs (1) and (2), the Legislature identifies the following chemicals, materials, substances or waste as being hazardous waste:

(a) Polychlorinated biphenyls and any substance containing polychlorinated biphenyls.

B. The board commissioner may adopt rules relating to the handling of hazardous waste, including, but not limited to:

(1) Containerization and labeling of hazardous waste, consistent with applicable rules of other federal and state agencies;

(2) Reporting of handling of hazardous waste; and

(3) Waste which that is not compatible.

C. The board commissioner may adopt rules relating to transportation of hazardous waste, including, but not limited to:

(1) Licensing of transporters of hazardous waste, conveyances used for the transportation of hazardous waste and the operators of these conveyances; and licensing fees shall must be paid to the Maine Hazardous Waste Fund; and

(2) A manifest system for hazardous waste which that takes into consideration the requirements of the United States Resources Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, Public Law 94-580, as amended, and this subchapter.

D. The board commissioner may adopt rules relating to the interim and final licensing and operation of waste facilities for hazardous waste, including, but not limited to:

(1) Standards for the safe operation and maintenance of the waste facilities, including, but not limited to, record keeping, monitoring before and during operation of the facility and after its termination of use or closure, inspections and contingency plans to minimize potential damage from hazardous waste;

(2) The training of personnel and the certification of supervisory personnel involved in the operation of the waste facilities;

(3) The termination, closing and potential future uses of the waste facilities;

(4) Rules equivalent to regulations of the United States Environmental Protection Agency that provide for licensing or permitting by rule; and

(5) Corrective action for all releases of hazardous waste or constituents from any solid waste management unit at a treatment, storage or disposal facility seeking a permit under this subchapter, regardless of the time waste was placed in the unit. For purposes of this paragraph, "solid waste management unit " includes any waste pile, landfill, surface impoundment or land treatment facility from which hazardous constituents might migrate, regardless of whether the unit was intended for the management of solid or hazardous wastes.

E. The board commissioner may adopt rules relating to evidence of financial capacity of hazardous waste facilities' owners or operators, and of those who transport hazardous waste, to protect public health, safety and welfare and the environment, including, but not limited to:

(1) Liability insurance;

(2) Bonding; and

(3) Financial ability to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements or conditions.

Evidence of financial capacity required by the board commissioner may include one, or any combination, of the following: insurance, guarantee, surety bond, letter of credit or qualification as a self-insurer. In establishing the required evidence of financial capacity to further the purposes of this subchapter, the board commissioner may specify policy or other contractual terms, conditions or defenses that are necessary or that are unacceptable.

F. By January 1, 2000, the board shall adopt, at a minimum, the universal waste rules, excluding pesticides, promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as defined in 40 Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 9, 260, 261, 262, 264, 265, 266, 268, 270 and 273.

2. Waste oil. Rulemaking This subsection governs rulemaking for waste oil shall be as follows: .

A. The board commissioner may adopt rules relating to the transportation, collection and storage of waste oil to protect public health, safety and welfare and the environment. The rules may include, without limitation, rules requiring licenses for waste oil dealers and the location of waste oil storage sites that are operated by waste oil dealers, evidence of financial capability and manifest systems for waste oil. A person licensed by the department to transport or handle hazardous waste is not required to obtain a waste oil dealer's license, but the hazardous waste license must include any terms or conditions determined necessary by the department relating to the transportation or handling of waste oil ; and .

B. The board commissioner may adopt rules relating to the registration, design and operation of used oil collection centers for the purposes of section 1319-Y. Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are major substantive rules as defined in the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A.

3. Handling and disposal of biomedical waste. The board commissioner shall adopt rules relating to the packaging, labeling, handling, storage, collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of biomedical waste, including infectious and pathogenic waste, to protect public health, safety and welfare and the environment.

A. The rules must include, without limitation:

(1) Registration of biomedical waste generators;

(2) Handling of biomedical waste by generators;

(3) Licensing of biomedical waste transporters and the conveyances used for the transportation of biomedical waste;

(4) Implementation of a biomedical waste tracking or manifest system;

(5) Establishment of treatment and disposal standards; and

(6) Categories of biomedical waste subject to regulation under this subsection, consistent with the provisions of section 1303-C, subsection 1-A.

B. The board commissioner shall adopt rules governing the siting, licensing, operational and record-keeping requirements for biomedical waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities.

C. The board commissioner shall require evidence of financial capacity.

D. The board commissioner may assess licensing and registration fees sufficient to pay for the department's administrative costs in regulating biomedical waste.

E. The rules must provide transportation and disposal options for persons who generate fewer than 50 pounds of sharps per month that allow:

(1) The generator or an employee of the generator to transport properly packaged sharps to a licensed biomedical waste disposal facility or another medical facility that has volunteered to serve as a collection point for sharps if no more than 50 pounds of sharps are transported in one trip; and

(2) The generator to mail properly packaged sharps to a licensed biomedical waste disposal facility in this State or a facility in another state if the carrier accepts those items and no more than 50 pounds are transported in any single package.

For purposes of this paragraph, "sharps" means items that may cause puncture wounds or cuts, including hypodermic needles, syringes, scalpel blades, capillary tubes and lancets, and "properly packaged" means packaged in accordance with department rules and rules or requirements imposed by the mail carrier.

SUMMARY

This bill makes changes to various reporting requirements in the environmental protection laws. It eliminates a biennial report to the Legislature by the directors of the Clean Government Initiative and regular reports by the Commissioner of Environmental Protection on the status of licensed discharges and oil spill prevention and control. Instead of requiring the commissioner to report annually to the Legislature on the surface water ambient toxic monitoring program, this bill requires a limited biennial executive summary. It changes a cross-reference to correct the citation. It changes rule-making authority regarding hazardous waste, waste oil and biomedical waste by moving authority from the Board of Environmental Protection to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.

SP0397 LD 1128	Session - 127th Maine Legislature		LR 538 Item 1
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