Revision: Jan. 21, 2010, midnight
HB 677-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2005 SESSION
05/10
HOUSE BILL 677-FN
AN ACT establishing fees and reporting requirements for the storage of hazardous materials.
SPONSORS: Rep. S. L’Heureux, Merr 9; Rep. Palangas, Hills 12
COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture
This bill:
I. Establishes reporting requirements for the storage of hazardous materials.
II. Establishes storage fees for hazardous materials.
III. Authorizes the department of safety to issue grants, funded by the storage fees, to regional hazardous materials mitigation teams.
This bill is a request of the department of safety.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
05-0455
05/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT establishing fees and reporting requirements for the storage of hazardous materials.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraphs; Rulemaking and Reporting; Hazardous Materials Storage; Hazardous Materials Mitigation Teams. Amend RSA 21-P:14 by inserting after paragraph IX the following new paragraphs:
X. The commissioner of safety shall adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, to establish a hazardous materials reporting procedure and fees for non-governmental persons and entities that store quantities of hazardous materials, pursuant to RSA 21-P:15-c.
XI. The commissioner of safety shall adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, to establish minimal requirements for the recognition of state and regional hazardous materials mitigation teams and their eligibility for grants in aid under RSA 21-P:15-d.
2 New Subdivision; Hazardous Materials Reporting and Storage Fees. Amend RSA 21-P by inserting after section 15-a the following new subdivision:
Hazardous Material Reporting Requirements and Fees
21-P:15-b Definitions. In this subdivision:
I. “Commissioner” means the commissioner of safety, or his or her designee.
II. “Department” means the department of safety.
III. “Extremely hazardous substance” means any substance listed in the appendices to 40 C.F.R. part 355.
IV. “Facility” means all buildings, equipment, structures, and other stationary items that are located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites and that are owned or operated by the same person, or by any person that controls, is controlled by, or under common control with, such person. For purposes of emergency notification of release of a hazardous material or substance, the term includes motor vehicles, rolling stock, and aircraft.
V. “Hazard category” means any of the following, as defined in 29 C.F.R. section 1910.1200:
(a) Immediate (acute) health hazard, including: highly toxic, toxic, irritant, sensitizer, corrosive, and other hazardous chemicals that cause an adverse effect to a target organ and which effect usually occurs rapidly as a result of short term exposure, and is of short duration.
(b) Delayed (chronic) health hazard, including: carcinogen, and other hazardous chemicals that cause an adverse effect to a target organ and which generally occurs as a result of long term exposure and is of long duration.
(c) Fire hazard, including flammable, combustible liquid, pyrophoric, and oxidizer.
(d) Sudden release of pressure, including explosive and compressed gases.
(e) Reactive, including unstable reactive, organic peroxide, and water reactive.
VI. “Hazardous chemical or substance” means any chemical or substance, including pesticides, which is a physical hazard or health hazard, except that such terms do not include the following substances:
(a) Any food, food additive, color additive, drug, or cosmetic regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
(b) Any substance present as a solid in any manufactured item except to the extent that exposure to the substance does not occur under normal conditions of use.
(c) Any substance to the extent that it is used in routine agricultural operations by private farmers. Commercial farmers and dealers are not exempt from the reporting requirement of this subdivision.
(d) Any chemical or substance for which a material safety data sheet is required under federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulation 29 C.F.R. section 1910.1200.
VII. “Health hazard” means a chemical for which there is statistically significant evidence based on a study conducted in accordance with established scientific principles that acute or chronic health effects may occur in exposed individuals. The term includes chemicals that are carcinogens, toxic or highly toxic agents, reproductive toxins, irritants, corrosives, sensitizers, hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins, neurotoxins, agents that act on the hematopoietic system, and agents that damage the lungs, skin, eyes, or mucous membranes.
VIII. “Inventory form” means a tier 2 emergencies and hazardous chemical inventory form or tier 2 pesticide inventory form, as specified by the department.
IX. “Material safety data sheet” or “MSDS” means the document required under 29 C.F.R. section 1910.1200(g).
X. “Physical hazard” means a chemical or substance for which there is scientifically valid evidence that it is a combustible liquid, compressed gas, explosive, flammable, organic peroxide, oxidizer, pyrophoric, or unstable or water-reactive chemical or substance.
XI. “Petroleum products and fuels” means gasoline, kerosene, number 2 heating oil, kerosene base jet fuel, diesel fuel, number 4, 5 and 6 residual oil for utility or non-utility use, liquefied petroleum gas, and natural gas.
XII. “Research laboratory” means a workplace or work area of a workplace used primarily for research, development, non-routine testing, or experimentation activity in which hazardous chemicals are used, provided, however, that a research activity shall not be involved in the production or manufacture of goods for direct commercial sale.
XIII. “State emergency response commission (SERC)” means the commission created by executive order of the governor to carry out the requirements of Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA).
21-P:15-c Hazardous Material Reporting; Fees.
I. In consultation with the state emergency response commission, the commissioner shall adopt rules under RSA 541-A establishing a hazardous material reporting procedure for the storage of hazardous materials as required by this subdivision. The rules shall comply with The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. section 9601 et seq., including Title III of the act, authorizing The Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, 42 U.S.C. section 1101 et seq.
II. All employers and facilities that are required to prepare or have available materials safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals or substances under federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements or that store petroleum products and fuels in excess of 10,000 pounds shall comply with the reporting requirements of this section and the rules adopted thereunder.
III. Annually, employers, owners, or operators of a facility shall report the presence of hazardous chemicals or substances in each facility or workplace owned or controlled by them.
(a) Reports for January 1 through December 31 of each year shall be filed with the department on or before March 1 of the following year, on forms adopted by the department, except that all reports filed concerning pesticides shall be filed on forms specified by the department of agriculture, markets, and food.
(b) Material safety data sheets shall be submitted for each hazardous chemical or substance for which reporting is required. Submission of an MSDS for each substance may be waived by the department or, for pesticides, by the department of agriculture, markets, and food if the reporting party submits a list of hazardous chemicals or substances for which an MSDS is otherwise required, grouped by hazard category, the chemical name or common name of each such hazardous chemical or substances, and any hazardous component of each such chemical as provided on the MSDS.
(c) Inventory forms and MSDS or the list authorized in subparagraph (b) shall be submitted to the department, or for pesticides, to the department of agriculture, markets, and food, and the local fire department having jurisdiction over the workplace or facility. The department shall forward copies of the list to the state emergency response commission and to the local emergency planning committee, if any.
(d) An employer or facility that has submitted inventory forms pursuant to this section shall provide revised MSDS within 90 days after discovery of significant new information concerning the hazardous chemical for which the information was submitted.
(e) Requests for trade secret confidentiality status shall meet the requirements of 42 U.S.C. section 11042.
(f) Within 30 days of a request by the department on its own motion or acting on behalf of the state emergency response commission, the department of agriculture, markets, and food, a local emergency planning committee, or the fire department having jurisdiction over the facility or workplace, the employer shall submit the MSDS for any hazardous chemical or substance present at the facility or workplace regardless of quantity.
(g) Facilities having multiple research laboratories shall file a separate reporting form for each building containing a research laboratory.
IV. Each employer and facility that submits a report under this section shall pay a $50 annual registration fee to the department. In addition, they shall pay a fee for each reported hazardous chemical or substance by pound in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) 100 - 999: $25.
(b) 1,000 - 9,999: $40.
(c) 10,000 - 99,999: $60.
(d) 100,000 - 999,999: $200.
(e) Greater than 999,999: $500.
(f) Any extremely hazardous substance: $100 additional for each reportable quantity.
V. If the container and the hazardous chemical or substance are separately owned, the owner of the hazardous chemical or substance shall be responsible for the fees.
VI. Fees collected under this section shall be deposited in the fire standards and training and emergency medical services fund established in RSA 21-P:12-d. Funds collected under this section shall be budgeted by the commissioner for the employment of a hazardous materials coordinator in the division of fire safety, audit personnel and a grant specialist in the department, equipment, and reasonable supplies and expenses to support these positions, and with approval of the governor and council, to provide grants-in-aid to local or regional emergency planning committees and to state and regional hazardous materials mitigation teams under RSA 21-P:15-d.
21-P:15-d Hazardous Material Mitigation Teams; Grants. Each regional hazardous material mitigation team shall be entitled to an annual grant, pursuant to a grant award process established by the department by rule under RSA 541-A, and contingent upon adequate funds or anticipated funds being received from the fees collected under RSA 21-P:15-c. Prior to receiving a grant, each local or regional emergency planning committee shall be incorporated or affiliated with a regional hazardous materials mitigation team and agree to receive, hold, and disburse the grant moneys and document such transactions in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The financial records of any such committee and of any regional hazardous materials mitigation team shall be provided to the department upon request and shall be maintained for a minimum of 5 years.
21-P:15-e Enforcement; Penalties.
I. The department, or in the case of pesticides, the department of agriculture, markets, and food, is authorized to audit persons and entities that store hazardous materials in order to enforce compliance with this subdivision, and may inspect the facilities, books, and records of such persons and entities at reasonable times. The local fire department having jurisdiction may also conduct an on-site inspection of the facility or workplace at reasonable times. It shall be a misdemeanor for any natural person and a felony for any other person to willfully obstruct the department in carrying out its responsibilities under this subdivision.
II. Any person who violates any other provision of this subdivision or rule adopted hereunder shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $1,000 for each violation. Each day that a violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate violation.
21-P:15-f Exemption. Municipalities and other political subdivisions, state agencies, persons engaged in routine agricultural farming operations, non-profit agencies, and non-profit corporations are liable for the reporting requirements under RSA 21-P:15-c, III, but exempt from payment of the fees under RSA 21-P:15-c, IV. The New Hampshire national guard shall be exempt from RSA 21-P:15-c in its entirety.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2006.
LBAO
05-0455
2/1/05
HB 677-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing fees and reporting requirements for the storage of hazardous materials.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Office of Legislative Budget Assistant is unable to complete a fiscal note for this bill as it is awaiting information from the Departments of Safety and Environmental Services. When completed, the fiscal note will be forwarded to the House Clerk's Office.