South Carolina Code 44-56-60. Annual evaluation; permit requirements; disposal limits; preference for in-state generated waste
(a)(1) In order to provide the General Assembly with the information it needs to accomplish the above goals, the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall evaluate annually the effects of new and existing waste management technologies, alternate methods of storage or disposal, recycling, incineration, waste minimization laws and practices, and other factors that tend to reduce the volume of hazardous waste. The results of the department’s evaluation must be reported to the General Assembly not later than February first of each year, beginning in 1991, in a form that will permit the General Assembly to determine whether or not hazardous waste landfill capacity in this State should be reduced.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-56-60
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Department: means the Department of Health and Environmental Control, including personnel thereof authorized by the board to act on behalf of the department or board. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20
- Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of any hazardous waste into or on any land or water so that such substance or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwater. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Hazardous waste: means any waste, or combination of wastes, of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous, or semisolid form which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may in the judgment of the department:
a. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20 - Permit: means the process by which the department can ensure cognizance of, as well as control over the management of hazardous wastes. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20
- Response action: is a ny cleanup, containment, inspection, or closure of a site ordered by the director as necessary to remedy actual or potential damages to public health, the public welfare, or the environment. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20
- Storage: means the actual or intended containment of wastes, either on a temporary basis or for a period of years, in such manner as not to constitute disposal of such hazardous wastes. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20
- Transport: means the movement of hazardous wastes from the point of generation to any intermediate points and finally to the point of ultimate treatment, storage or disposal. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20
- Treatment: means any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste, so as to neutralize such waste or so as to render such waste nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, reduced in volume, or suitable for final disposal. See South Carolina Code 44-56-20
(2) No person may construct, substantially alter, or operate a hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility or site, nor may a person transport, store, treat, or dispose of hazardous waste without first obtaining a permit from the department for the facility, site, or activity. Beginning July 1, 1990, permitted hazardous waste disposal sites are restricted to a rate of land disposal by burial not to exceed one hundred twenty thousand tons of hazardous waste for the twelve-month period ending July 1, 1991. On July 1, 1991, permitted hazardous waste disposal sites are restricted to a rate of land disposal by burial not to exceed one hundred ten thousand tons of hazardous waste for each twelve-month period thereafter within the permitted area of the site.
(3) During a twelve-month period, the commissioner may allow land disposal by burial in excess of the limitation upon certification of the department that:
(A) disposal by land burial from a particular site in South Carolina is necessary to protect the health and safety of the people of this State; or
(B) at least one hundred ten thousand tons of hazardous waste disposed of by land burial in this State during the twelve-month period was generated in South Carolina.
During each twelve-month period, a person operating a hazardous waste disposal facility or site shall reserve at least the same capacity to dispose of hazardous waste generated in South Carolina that was disposed of by burial at that facility or site during the previous year excluding capacity that was used to dispose of hazardous waste pursuant to subitem (A). No more hazardous waste from out of state shall be buried in South Carolina than was buried in the previous twelve-month period.
Certification must be issued to the party seeking to use land disposal of the waste, and the certification must be presented to the operator of the facility at the time of disposal. The facility shall submit this certification with its regular report to the department of permitted activity at the disposal site.
(b) Any person who:
1. Owns or operates a facility required to have a permit under this section which facility is in existence on the effective date of this section;
2. Has complied with the requirements of § 44-56-120; and
3. Has made an application for a permit under this section is deemed to have been issued the permit until such time as final administrative disposition of each application is made by the department, unless final administrative disposition of each application has not been made because of the failure of the applicant to furnish information reasonably required or requested in order to process the application.
(c) Before issuance of a permit, the Department shall require:
1. Evidence of liability coverage for sudden and nonsudden accidental occurrences in an amount the Department may determine necessary for the protection of the public health and safety, and the environment;
2. Evidence of financial assurance in the form and amount as the Department may determine to be necessary to ensure that, upon abandonment, cessation, or interruption of the operation of a facility or site, all appropriate measures are taken to prevent present and future damage to the public health and safety and to the environment. The Department shall assume continuing responsibility for environmental monitoring and for any response actions necessary to ensure the health and safety of the state’s citizens for any hazardous waste disposal or treatment sites permitted under this chapter when the facilities, sites, or activities close and all responsibilities required of any other party by any state or federal law or regulation cease. The Department’s responsibility for monitoring and response action is neither a limitation nor a termination of the liability of generators, transporters, or the operators of the facility under any provision of law or at common law.
3. Evidence of other financial assurance in such forms and amounts as the department determines to be necessary to ensure the adequate availability of funds for clean-up costs and restoration of environmental impairment arising from the facility.