Arizona Laws 49-284. Notice; reportable quantities; penalties
A. Notwithstanding any other requirement of state or federal law, any person who is the owner or operator of a facility shall, as soon as the person has knowledge of any release, other than a release in compliance with the limits or conditions in a federal or state permit, of a hazardous substance from such facility, immediately notify the director of the release if either:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 49-284
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- CERCLA: means the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, as amended (P. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Director: means the director of environmental quality or the director's designee. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Facility: means any land, building, installation, structure, equipment, device, conveyance, area, source, activity or practice. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- Fund: means the water quality assurance revolving fund established by section 49-282. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- Hazardous substance: means :
(a) Any substance designated pursuant to sections 311(b)(2)(A) and 307(a) of the clean water act. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Permit: means a written authorization issued by the director or prescribed by this chapter or in a rule adopted under this chapter stating the conditions and restrictions governing a discharge or governing the construction, operation or modification of a facility. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Person: means an individual, employee, officer, managing body, trust, firm, joint stock company, consortium, public or private corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association or state, a political subdivision of this state, a commission, the United States government or any federal facility, interstate body or other entity. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Release: means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment but excludes:
(a) Any release that results in exposure to persons solely within a workplace, with respect to a claim that such persons may assert against the employer of such persons. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
1. The release is in a quantity equal to or greater than that which is required to be reported to the national response center under section 103 of CERCLA (42 United States Code § 9603).
2. The release is in a quantity equal to or greater than that determined pursuant to subsection B of this section and the release was not reported to the national response center before August 13, 1986.
B. The director shall, by rule, establish reportable quantities for those hazardous substances for which such quantities have not been established under section 102 of CERCLA (42 United States Code § 9602). The director may determine that one single quantity shall be the reportable quantity for that hazardous substance, regardless of the medium into which the hazardous substance is released.
C. Any person who fails to immediately notify the director as provided in subsection A of this section is subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed ten thousand dollars. The attorney general may, and at the request of the director shall, commence an action in superior court to recover civil penalties provided by this subsection. All civil penalties assessed pursuant to this section shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the state general fund.
D. Notification received pursuant to this section or information obtained by the exploitation of such notification shall not be used against any reporting person in any criminal case, except a prosecution for perjury or for giving a false statement.