South Carolina Code 48-43-560. Removal and abatement of discharge; use of federal funds; liability and rights of persons rendering assistance
(2) If the person causing a discharge, or the person in charge of facilities at which a discharge has taken place, fails to act, the Department may arrange for the removal of the pollutant, except that if the pollutant was discharged into or upon the navigable waters of the United States, the Department shall act in accordance with the national contingency plan for removal of such pollutant as established pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, and the costs of removal incurred by the Department shall be paid in accordance with the applicable provisions of the law. Federal funds provided under this act shall be used to the maximum extent possible prior to the expenditure of state funds.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 48-43-560
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Department: means the Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 48-43-510
- Discharge: shall include , but not be limited to, any spilling, leaking, seeping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping which occurs within the territorial limits of the State or outside of the territorial limits of the State and affects lands and waters within the territorial limits of the State. See South Carolina Code 48-43-510
- Discharge cleanup organization: means any group, incorporated or unincorporated, of owners or operators of waterfront terminal facilities in any port or harbor of the State, and any other person who may elect to join, organized for the purpose of containing and cleaning up discharges of pollutants through cooperative efforts and shared equipment and facilities. See South Carolina Code 48-43-510
- Person: means any individual, partnership, joint venture, corporation; any group of the foregoing, organized or united for a business purpose; or any governmental entity. See South Carolina Code 48-43-510
- Pollutant: means any emission that significantly derogates the quality of the air, water or land. See South Carolina Code 48-43-10
- Pollutants: shall include oil of any kind and in any form, gasoline, pesticides, ammonia, chlorine, and derivatives thereof. See South Carolina Code 48-43-510
- Pollution: means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere or waters of the States of any one or more substances or pollutants, in quantities which are or may be potentially harmful or injurious to human health or welfare, animal or plant life, or property or which may unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property, including outdoor recreation. See South Carolina Code 48-43-510
(3) In the event of discharge the source of which is unknown, any local discharge cleanup organization shall, upon the request of the Department or its designee, immediately contain and remove the discharge. No action taken by any person to contain or remove a discharge, whether such action is taken voluntarily or at the request of the Department or its designee, shall be construed as an admission of liability for the discharge.
(4) No person who, voluntarily or at the request of the Department or its designee, renders assistance in containing or removing pollutants shall be liable for any civil damages to third parties resulting solely from acts or omissions or such person in rendering such assistance, except for acts or omissions amounting to gross negligence or willful misconduct.
(5) Nothing in this article shall affect in any way the right of any person who renders assistance in containing or removing pollutants to reimbursement for the costs of the containment or removal under the applicable provisions of this article or the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended, or any rights which that person may have against any third party whose acts or omissions in any way have caused or contributed to the discharge of the pollutants.