GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1989

S	1 

SENATE BILL 130

Short Title:  Ocean Dumping Prohibited.	(Public)
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Sponsors: Senators Basnight; and Rauch.
─────────────────────────────────────── 
Referred to:  Marine Resources.
─────────────────────────────────────── 

February 7, 1989

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT THE DUMPING OF INFECTIOUS WASTE PRODUCTS INTO THE OPEN WATERS OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND STATE WATERS AND TO STRENGTHEN THE SOLID WASTE PROGRAM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 143-213(9) reads as rewritten:
"(9)	Whenever reference is made in this Article to the ‘discharge of waste,' it shall be interpreted to include spillage, leakage, pumping, placement, emptying or dumping, and the discharge of waste into any unified sewerage system or arrangement for sewage disposal, which system or arrangement in turn discharges the waste into the waters of the State.”
Sec. 2.  G.S. 143-213(18) reads as rewritten: 
	"(18) ‘Waste' shall mean and include the following:
a.	‘Sewage,' which shall mean water-carried human waste discharged, transmitted, and collected from residences, buildings, industrial establishments, or other places into a unified sewerage system or an arrangement for sewage disposal or a group of such sewerage arrangements or systems, together with such ground, surface, storm, or other water as may be present.
b.	‘Industrial waste' shall mean any liquid, solid, gaseous,  or other waste substance or a combination thereof resulting from any process of industry, manufacture, trade or business, or from the development of any natural resource.
c.	‘Other waste' means sawdust, shavings, lime, refuse, offal, oil, tar chemicals, and all other substances, except industrial waste and sewage, which may be discharged into or placed in such proximity to the water that drainage therefrom may reach the water.
d.	‘Toxic waste' means that waste, or combinations of wastes, including disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformities, in such organisms or their offspring.
e.	‘Infectious waste' means a solid waste that was or is capable of producing an infectious disease.  The types of waste designated as infectious are: microbiological waste, pathological waste, blood products, sharps, and medical waste.
f.	‘Medical waste' means used lab and patient-care materials or equipment, packaging for medical equipment or drugs, and includes such items as disposable gloves, slides, blood bags, syringe covers, antiseptic applicators, plastic drug bottles, and medical masks.
	g.	‘Microbiological waste' means and includes cultures and stocks of etiologic agents.  The term includes cultures of specimens from medical, pathological, pharmaceutical, research, commercial, and industrial laboratories.
	h.	‘Pathological waste' means and includes human tissues, organs, body parts, secretions and excretions, blood and body fluids that are removed during surgery and autopsies; and the carcasses and body parts of all animals that were exposed to pathogens in research, that were used in the production of biologicals or in the in vivo testing of pharmaceuticals, or that died of known or suspected infectious disease.
	i.	‘Blood products' means all bulk blood and blood products.
	j.	‘Sharps' means and includes needles, syringes, and
	scalpel blades."
Sec. 3.  Article 21 of Chapter 143 is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 143-214.2A.  Prohibited disposal of infectious waste.
(a)	Violation.  It is unlawful for any person to engage in conduct which causes or results in the dumping, discharging, or disposal of any infectious waste in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean over which the State has jurisdiction or the waters of the State.
(b)	Civil Penalty.
(1)	A civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) may be assessed by the Commission against any person for a first violation of this section and an additional penalty of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) may be assessed for each day during which the violation continues.  A civil penalty of not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) may be assessed by the Commission for a second or further violation and an additional penalty of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) may be assessed for each day during which the violation continues.  No penalty shall be assessed until the person alleged to be in violation has been notified of the violation.
(2)	The Commission, or its delegate, shall determine the amount of the civil penalty proposed to be assessed under this section and shall make written demand for payment upon the person responsible for the violation, and shall set forth in detail the violation for which the penalty has been invoked.  The notice shall set forth the opportunity for a contested case proceeding under Chapter 150B.  The proposed penalty set forth in the notice issued by the Commission, or its delegate, shall become the final civil penalty unless it is increased or decreased by the Commission in the final agency decision of a contested case proceeding requested pursuant to Chapter 150B.  If payment is not received or equitable settlement reached within 30 days after demand for payment is made, the Secretary shall refer the matter to the Attorney General for the institution of a civil action in the name of the State in the superior court of the county in which the discharge of waste or the damages to resources occurred or in Wake County if the discharge or resource damage occurs in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
(3)	In determining the amount of the penalty, the Commission, or its delegate, shall consider the degree and extent of harm caused by the violation, the cost of rectifying the damage, the amount of money the violator saved by his noncompliance, whether the violation was committed willfully, and the prior record of the violator in complying or failing to comply with this Article.  
(c)	Criminal Penalties.
(1)	Except as provided in subdivisions (2) and (3) a person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per day of the violation.
(2)	A person who willfully violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment not to exceed one year, a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per day of the violation, or both in the discretion of the court.
(3)	A person who  violates this section and in so doing releases infectious waste that creates a substantial risk of physical injury to any person who is not a participant in the offense is guilty of a Class I felony punishable by imprisonment not to exceed four years, a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per day of the violation, or both in the discretion of the court.
(d)	Restoration of Waters.
(1)	Any person having control over infectious waste discharged in violation of this section shall immediately undertake to collect, remove, and dispose of the infectious waste discharged and to restore the area affected by the discharge as nearly as may be to the condition existing prior to the discharge.  If it is not feasible to collect and remove the infectious waste, the person responsible shall take all practicable actions and measures to otherwise contain, treat, and disperse the infectious waste; but no chemical or other dispersants or treatment materials which will be detrimental to the environment or natural resources shall be used for such purposes unless they shall have been previously approved by the Commission.
(2)	Notwithstanding the requirements of subdivision (1), the Department is authorized and empowered to utilize any staff, equipment and materials under its control or supplied by other cooperating State or local agencies, and to contract with any agent or contractor that it deems appropriate to take such actions as are necessary, to collect, investigate, perform surveillance over, remove, contain, treat or disperse or dispose of infectious waste discharged into the waters of the State in violation of this section, and to perform any necessary restoration.  The Secretary shall keep a record of all expenses incurred in carrying out any project or activity authorized under this section, including actual expenses incurred for services performed by the State's personnel and for use of the State's equipment and material.
(3)	Every person owning or having control over infectious waste discharged in violation of, or in circumstances likely to constitute a violation of this section, upon discovery that the discharge of infectious waste has occurred, shall immediately notify the Department, or any of its agents or employees, of the nature, location and time of the discharge and of the measures which are being taken or are proposed to be taken to contain, remove, treat and dispose of the infectious waste.  The agent or employee of the department receiving the notification shall immediately notify the Secretary or such member of the permanent staff of the Department as the Secretary may designate.
(4)	Any person who discharges infectious waste in violation of this section or violates any order or rule of the Commission regarding the prohibitions concerning infectious waste, or fails to perform any duty imposed regarding infectious waste, and in the course thereof causes the death of, or injury to fish, animals, vegetation or other resources of the State, or otherwise causes a reduction in the quality of the waters of the State below the standards set by the Commission, or causes the incurring of costs by the State for the containment, removal, treatment, or dispersal, or disposal of such infectious waste, shall be liable to pay the State damages.  Such damages shall be an amount equal to the cost of all reasonable and necessary investigations made or caused to be made by the State in connection with such violation and the sum of money necessary to restock such waters, replenish such resources, contain, remove, treat, or disperse, or dispose of such infectious waste, or otherwise restore such waters and adjacent lands prior to the injury as such condition is determined by the Commission in conference with the Wildlife Resources Commission, the Marine Fisheries Commission, and any other State agencies having an interest affected by such violation (or by the designees of any such boards, commissions, and agencies).
(5)	Upon receipt of the estimate of damages caused, the Department shall give written notice by registered or certified mail to the person responsible for the death, killing, or injury to fish, animals, vegetation, or other resources of the State, or any reduction in quality of the waters of the State, or the costs of the removal, treatment or disposal of such discharge, describing the damages and their causes with reasonable specificity, and shall request payment from such person.  Damages shall become due and payable upon receipt of such notice.  The Environmental Management Commission, if collection or other settlement of the damages is not obtained within a reasonable time, shall bring a civil action to recover such damages in the superior court in the county in which the discharge of waste or the damages to resources occurred, or in Wake County if the discharge or resource damage occurs in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  The assessment of damages is not a contested case under G.S. 150B-23.
(6)	‘Person having control over infectious waste' shall mean, but shall not be limited to, any person using, storing, or transporting infectious waste immediately prior to a discharge of such waste into the waters of the State, and specifically shall include carriers and bailees of such infectious waste."
Sec. 4. G.S. 76-40 reads as rewritten:
"§ 76-40. Navigable waters; certain practices regulated.
(a)	It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to place, deposit, leave or cause to be placed, deposited or left, either temporarily or permanently, any trash, refuse, rubbish, garbage, debris, rubble, scrapped vehicle or equipment or other similar waste material in or upon any body of navigable water in this State; ‘waste material' shall not include spoil materials lawfully dug or dredged from navigable waters and deposited in spoil areas designated by the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development; violation of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment for up to six months, or both, in the discretion of the court.
(a1)	It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to place, deposit, leave or cause to be placed, deposited, or left, either temporarily or permanently, any infectious waste as defined in G.S. 143-213(18) in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean over which the State has jurisdiction or the navigable waters of this State.
(1)	Except as provided in subdivisions (2) and (3) a person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per day of the violation.
(2)	A person who willfully violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment not to exceed one year, a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per day of the violation, or both in the discretion of the court.
(3)	A person who violates this subsection and in so doing releases infectious waste that creates a substantial risk of physical injury to any person who is not a participant in the offense is guilty of a Class I felony punishable by imprisonment not to exceed four years, a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per day of the violation, or both in the discretion of the court.
(b)	No person, firm or corporation shall erect upon the floor of, or in or upon, any body of navigable water in this State, any sign or other structure, without having first secured a permit to do so from the appropriate federal agencies (which would include a permit from the State of North Carolina) or from the Department of Administration, or from the agency designated by the Department to issue such permit. Provided, however, this subsection shall not apply to commercial fishing nets, fish offal, ramps, boathouses, piers or duck blinds placed in navigable waters. Any person, firm or corporation erecting such sign or other structure without a proper permit or not in accordance with the specification of such permit shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned for up to six months, or both, in the  discretion of the court. The State may immediately proceed to remove or cause to be removed such unlawful sign or structure after five days' notice to the owner or erector thereof and the cost of such removal by the State shall be payable by the person, firm or corporation who erected or owns the unlawful sign or other structure and the State may bring suit to recover the costs of the removal thereof.
(c)	Whenever any structure lawfully erected upon the floor of, or in or upon, any body of navigable water in this State, is abandoned, such structure shall be removed by the owner thereof and the area cleaned up within 30 days of such abandonment; failure to comply with this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and upon conviction the owner of the abandoned structure shall be fined up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned for not over six months, or both, in the discretion of the court. The State may, after 10 days' notice to the owner or erector thereof, remove the abandoned structure and have the area cleaned up and the cost of such removal and cleaning up by the State shall be payable by the owner or erector of the abandoned structure and the State may bring suit to recover the costs thereof.
(d)	For purposes of this section, the term ‘navigable waters' shall not include any waters within the boundaries of any reservoir, pond or impoundment used in connection with the generation of electricity, or of any reservoir project owned or operated by the United States.
(e)	The provisions of this section, in the coastal waters of this State, shall be enforced by the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development. In the inland waters of the State, the provisions of this section shall be enforced by the Wildlife Resources Commission. The Department of Natural Resources and Community Development and the Wildlife Resources Commission shall cooperate with the Environmental Management Commission in the enforcement of this section.”
Sec. 5.  G.S. 75A-10 is amended by adding a new section to read:
"( d)	No person shall place, throw, deposit, or discharge or cause to be placed, thrown, deposited, or discharged on the waters of this State or into the inland lake waters of this State any infectious waste as defined by G.S. 143-213(18)e. which renders the waters unsightly, noxious, or otherwise unwholesome so as to be detrimental to the public health or welfare or to the enjoyment and safety of the water for recreational purposes."
Sec. 6.  G.S. 75A-18 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( d)	A person who:
(1)	Violates G.S. 75A-10(d) is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per day of the violation, except as provided in subdivisions (2) and (3);
(2)	Willfully violates G.S. 75A-10(d) is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment not to exceed one year, a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per day of the violation, or both in the discretion of the court.
(3)	Violates G.S. 75A-10(d) and in so doing releases infectious waste that creates a substantial risk of physical injury to any person who is not a participant in the offense is guilty of a Class I felony punishable by imprisonment not to exceed four years, a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per day of the violation, or both in the discretion of the court."
Sec. 7.  G.S. 130A-290 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-290. Definitions.
The following definitions shall apply throughout this Article:
	(1)	‘Blood products' means all bulk blood and blood products.
	(1a)	‘Comprehensive hazardous waste treatment facility' means a facility designated as such by the Governor's Waste Management Board, meeting the following criteria:
a.	It is a commercial facility that accepts hazardous waste from the general public for treatment;
b.	It has the capacity and capability to treat and dispose of hazardous waste on at least an intrastate regional basis; and
c.	Its location will substantially facilitate treatment of hazardous waste for the State of North Carolina.
	(1b)	‘Disposal' means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or on any land or water so that the solid waste or any constituent part of the solid waste may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwaters.
	(1c)	‘Commercial' when applied to a hazardous waste facility, means a hazardous waste facility that accepts hazardous waste from the general public or from another person for a fee.
(2)	‘Federal act' means the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, P.L. 94-580, as amended.
(3)	‘Garbage' means all putrescible wastes, including animal offal and carcasses, and recognizable industrial by-products, but excluding sewage and human waste.
(4)	‘Hazardous waste' means a solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may:
a.	Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness; or
b.	Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of or otherwise managed.
(5)	‘Hazardous waste facility' means a facility for the storage, collection, processing, treatment, recycling, recovery or disposal of hazardous waste.
(6)	‘Hazardous waste generation' means the act or process of producing hazardous waste.
(7)	‘Hazardous waste landfill facility' means any facility or any portion of a facility for disposal of hazardous waste on or in land in accordance with rules adopted under this Article.
(7a)	‘Hazardous waste long-term storage facility' means a facility as defined in G.S. 143B-470.2(5).
(7b)	‘Hazardous waste management program' means the program and activities within the Department pursuant to Part 2 of this  Article, for hazardous waste management.
(8)	‘Hazardous waste management' means the systematic control of the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery and disposal of hazardous wastes.
(8a)	‘Hazardous waste treatment facility' means a facility as defined in G.S. 143B-470.2(3).
	(8a1)	‘Infectious waste' means a solid waste capable of producing an infectious disease.  The types of waste designated as infectious are:  microbiological waste, pathological waste, blood products, sharps, and medical waste.
(8b)	‘Landfill' means a disposal facility or part of a disposal facility where waste is placed in or on land and which is not a land treatment facility, a surface impoundment, an injection well, a hazardous waste long-term storage facility or a surface storage facility.
(8c)	‘Long-term retrievable storage' means storage in closed containers in facilities (either above or below ground) with (i) adequate lights, (ii) impervious cement floors, (iii) strong visible shelves or platforms, (iv) passageways to allow inspection at any time, (v) adequate ventilation if underground or in closed buildings, (vi) protection from the weather, (vii) accessible to monitoring with signs on both individual containers and sections of storage facilities, and (viii) adequate safety and security precautions for facility personnel, inspectors and invited or permitted members of the community.
(9)	‘Manifest' means the form used for identifying the quantity,  composition and the origin, routing and destination of hazardous waste during its transportation from the point of generation to the point of disposal, treatment or storage.
	(9a)	‘Medical waste' means used lab and patient-care materials or equipment, packaging for medical equipment or drugs, and includes such items as disposable gloves, slides, blood bags, syringe covers, antiseptic applicators, plastic drug bottles, and medical masks.
(9b)	‘Microbiological waste' means and includes cultures and stocks of etiologic agents.  The term includes cultures of specimens from medical, pathological, pharmaceutical, research, commercial, and industrial laboratories.
(10)	‘Natural resources' means all materials which have useful physical or chemical properties which exist, unused, in nature.
	(11)	‘Open dump' means a solid waste disposal site which is not a sanitary landfill.
(11a)	‘Pathological waste' means and includes human tissues, organs, body parts, secretions and excretions, blood and body fluids that are removed during surgery and autopsies; and the carcasses and body parts of all animals that were exposed to pathogens in research, were used in the production of biologicals or in the in vivo testing of pharmaceuticals, or that died of know or suspected infectious disease.  
(12)	‘Person' means an individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, unit of local government, State agency, federal agency or other legal entity.
(13)	‘Recycling' means the process by which recovered resources are transformed into new products so that the original products lose their identity.
(14)	‘Refuse' means all nonputrescible waste.
(15)	‘Resource recovery' means the process of obtaining material or energy resources from discarded solid waste which no longer has any useful life in its present form and preparing the solid waste for recycling.
(15a)	‘Reuse' means a process by which resources are reused or rendered useable.
(16)	‘Sanitary landfill' means a facility for disposal of solid waste on land in a sanitary manner in accordance with the rules concerning sanitary landfills adopted under this Article.
(16a)	‘Septage' means solid waste that is a fluid mixture of untreated and partially treated sewage solids, liquids and sludge of human or domestic origin which is removed from a septic tank system.
(16b)	‘Septage management firm' means a person engaged in the business of pumping, transporting, storing, treating or disposing septage.  The term does not include public or community sanitary sewage systems that treat or dispose septage.   
(16c)	‘Sharps' means and includes needles, syringes, and scalpel blades.
	(17)	‘Sludge' means any solid, semisolid or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, institutional or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility, or any other waste having similar characteristics and effects.
(18)	‘Solid waste' means any hazardous or nonhazardous garbage, refuse or sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility, domestic sewage and sludges generated by the treatment thereof in sanitary sewage collection, treatment and disposal systems, and other material that is either discarded or is being accumulated, stored or treated prior to being discarded, or has served its original intended use and is generally discarded, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, institutional, commercial and agricultural operations, and from community activities. The term includes infectious waste. The term does not include:
a.	Fecal waste from fowls and animals other than humans;
b.	Solid or dissolved material in:
1.	Domestic sewage and sludges generated by treatment thereof in sanitary sewage collection, treatment and disposal systems which are designed to discharge effluents to the surface waters;
2.	Irrigation return flows; and
3.	Wastewater discharges and the sludges incidental to and generated by treatment which are point sources subject to permits granted under Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (P.L. 92-500), and permits granted under G.S. 143-215.1 by the Environmental Management Commission. However, any sludges that meet the criteria for hazardous waste under the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (P.L. 94-580), as amended, shall also be a solid waste for the purposes of this Article;
c.	Oils and other liquid hydrocarbons controlled under Article 21A of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. However, any oils or other liquid hydrocarbons that meet the criteria for hazardous waste under the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (P.L. 94-580), as amended, shall also be a solid waste for the purposes of this Article;
d.	Any source, special nuclear or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 2011).
e.	Mining refuse covered by the North Carolina Mining Act, G.S. 74-46 through 74-68 and regulated by the North Carolina Mining Commission (as defined under G.S. 143B-290). However, any specific mining waste that meets the criteria for hazardous waste under the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (P.L. 94-580), as amended, shall also be a solid waste for the purposes of this Article.
(19)	‘Solid waste disposal site' means any place at which solid wastes are disposed of by incineration, sanitary landfill or any other method.
(20)	‘Solid waste generation' means the act or process of producing solid waste.
(21)	‘Solid waste management' means purposeful, systematic control of the generation, storage, collection, transport, separation, treatment, processing, recycling, recovery and disposal of solid waste.
(22)	‘Solid waste management facility' means land, personnel and  equipment used in the management of solid waste.
(23)	‘Storage' means the containment of solid waste, either on a  temporary basis or for a period of years, in a manner which does not constitute disposal.
(24)	‘Treatment' means any method, technique or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of any solid waste to neutralize the waste or to render the waste nonhazardous, safer for transport, amenable for recovery, amenable for storage or reduced in volume. The term includes any activity or processing designed to change the physical form or chemical composition of solid waste to render it nonhazardous.
(25)	‘Unit of local government' means a county, city, town or incorporated village.”
Sec. 8.  G.S. 130A-294(a) reads as rewritten:
	"(a) The Department is authorized and directed to engage in research, conduct investigations and surveys, make inspections and establish a statewide solid waste management program. Disposal of solid waste in or upon water in a manner that results in solid waste entering waters or lands of the State is unlawful. In establishing a program, the Department shall have authority to:
(1)	Develop a comprehensive program for implementation of safe and  sanitary practices for management of solid waste;
(2)	Advise, consult, cooperate and contract with other State agencies, units of local government, the federal government, industries and individuals in the formulation and carrying out of a solid waste management program;
(3)	Develop and adopt rules to establish standards for qualification as a waste ‘recycling, reduction or resource recovering facility' or as waste ‘recycling, reduction or resource recovering equipment' for the purpose of special tax classifications or treatment, and to certify as qualifying those applicants which meet the established standards. The standards shall be developed to qualify only those facilities and equipment exclusively used in the actual waste recycling, reduction or resource recovering process and shall exclude any incidental or supportive facilities and equipment;
(4)	Develop a permit system governing the establishment and operation of solid waste management facilities. No permit shall be granted for a sanitary landfill, excluding demolition landfills as defined in the rules of the Commission for Health Services, without the Department receiving the prior approval for such permit from the county where it is to be located, except if it is to be located within the corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction under Article 19 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes, of a city as defined in G.S. 160A-1(2), from the city where it is to be located or whose jurisdiction it is in. No permit shall be granted for a solid waste management facility having discharges which are point sources until the Department has referred the complete plans and specifications to the Environmental Management Commission and has received advice in writing that the plans and specifications are approved in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 143-215.1. In any case where the Department denies a permit for a solid waste management facility, it shall state in writing the reason for denial and shall also state its estimate of the changes in the applicant's proposed activities or plans which will be required for the applicant to obtain a permit.
	The issuance of permits for sanitary landfills operated by local governments is exempt from the environmental impact statements required by Article 1 of Chapter 113A of the General Statutes, entitled the North Carolina Environmental Policy Act of 1971. All sanitary landfill permits issued to local governments prior to July 1, 1984, are hereby validated notwithstanding any failure to provide environmental impact statements pursuant to the North Carolina Environmental Policy Act of 1971;".
Sec. 9.  G.S. 130A-22(a) reads as rewritten:
	"(a) The Secretary may impose an administrative penalty on a person who violates Article 9 of this Chapter, rules adopted by the Commission pursuant to Article 9, or any order issued under Article 9. Each day of a continuing violation shall constitute a separate violation. The penalty shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) per day in the case of a violation involving nonhazardous waste. The penalty shall not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per day in the case of a violation involving hazardous waste.  The penalty shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per day in case of a first violation involving infectious waste as defined in G.S. 143-213(18) and shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per day for a second or further violation involving infectious waste."
Sec. 10.  This act shall become effective October 1, 1989, and shall apply to violations occurring on or after that date.