GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	1 

SENATE BILL 1165

Short Title:  Resident Inspector Prgm. Amends.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Senator Tally.
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Referred to:  Rules Suspended; Passed 1st; Referred to Environment and Natural Resources.
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May 12, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR REFUND OR FEES IN EXCESS OF THE AMOUNT NEEDED TO OPERATE THE RESIDENT INSPECTORS PROGRAM AND TO REVISE THE METHOD BY WHICH RESIDENT INSPECTORS ARE ASSIGNED.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 130A-295.02 reads as rewritten:
"§ 130A-295.02.  Resident inspectors required at commercial hazardous waste facilities; recovery of costs for same.
(a)	The Division shall employ full-time resident inspectors for each commercial hazardous waste facility located within the State.  Such inspectors shall be employed and assigned so that at least one inspector is on duty at all times during which any component of the facility is in operation, is undergoing any maintenance or repair, or is undergoing any test or calibration.  Resident inspectors shall be assigned to commercial hazardous waste management facilities so as to protect the public health and the environment, to monitor all aspects of the operation of such facilities, and to assure compliance with all laws and rules administered by the Division and by any other division of the Department.  Such inspectors may also enforce laws or rules administered by any other agency of the State pursuant to an appropriate memorandum of agreement entered into by the Secretary and the chief administrative officer of such agency.  The Division may assign additional resident inspectors to a facility depending upon the quantity and toxicity of waste managed at a facility, diversity of types of waste managed at the facility, complexity of management technologies utilized at the facility, the range of components which are included at the facility, operating history of the facility, and other factors relative to the need for on-site inspection and enforcement capabilities.  The Division, in consultation with other divisions of the Department, shall define the duties of each resident inspector and shall determine whether additional resident inspectors are needed at a particular facility to meet the purposes of this section.
(b)	The Division shall establish requirements pertaining to education, experience, and training for resident inspectors so as to assure that such inspectors are fully qualified to serve the purposes of this section.  The Division shall provide its resident inspectors with such training, equipment, facilities, and supplies as may be necessary to fulfill the purposes of this section.
(c)	As a condition of its permit, the owner or operator of each commercial hazardous waste facility located within the State shall provide and maintain such appropriate and secure offices and laboratory facilities as the Department may require for the use of the resident inspectors required by this section.
(d)	Resident inspectors assigned to a commercial hazardous waste facility shall have unrestricted access to all operational areas of such facility at all times.  For the protection of resident inspectors and the public, the provisions of G.S. 143-215.107(f) shall not apply to commercial hazardous waste facilities to which a resident inspector is assigned.
(e)	No commercial hazardous waste facility shall be operated, undergo any maintenance or repair, or undergo any testing or calibration unless an inspector employed by the Division is present at the facility.
(f)	The requirements of this section are intended to enhance the ability of the Department to protect the public health and the environment by providing the Department with the authority and resources necessary to maintain a rigorous inspection and enforcement program at commercial hazardous waste management facilities.  The requirements of this section are intended to be supplementary to other requirements imposed on hazardous waste facilities.  This section shall not be construed to relieve either the owner or the operator of any such facility or the Department from any other requirement of law or to require any unnecessary duplication of reporting or monitoring requirements.
(g)	For the purpose of enforcing the laws and rules enacted or adopted for the protection of the public health and the environment, resident inspectors employed pursuant to this section may be commissioned as special peace officers as provided in G.S. 113-28.1.  The provisions of Article 1A of Chapter 113 of the General Statutes shall apply to resident inspectors commissioned as special peace officers pursuant to this subsection.
(h)	The Department shall determine the full cost of the employment and assignment of resident inspectors at each commercial hazardous waste facility located within the State.  Such costs shall include, but are not limited to, costs incurred for salaries, benefits, travel, training, equipment, supplies, telecommunication and data transmission, offices and other facilities other than those provided by the owner or operator, and administrative expenses.  The Department shall establish and revise as necessary a schedule of fees to be assessed on the users of each such facility to recover the actual cost of the resident inspector program at that facility.  The operator of each such facility shall serve as the collection agent for such fees, shall account to the Department on a monthly basis for all fees collected, and shall deposit with the Department all funds collected pursuant to this section within 15 days following the last day of the month in which such fees are collected.  All fees collected by the Department under this section shall be deposited in a separate nonreverting fund within the Department.  Funds in excess of the actual cost of the resident inspectors program may be credited or refunded to the commercial hazardous waste facilities on an equitable basis.
(i)	The Division shall establish and revise as necessary a program for assigning resident inspectors to commercial hazardous waste facilities so that scheduled rotation or equivalent oversight procedures ensure that each resident inspector will maintain adequate objectivity.  For purposes of this subsection, 'commercial hazardous waste facility' means that facility and any other commercial hazardous facility which is operated by the same business entity or by a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of that business entity.  As used in this subsection, the words 'affiliate,' 'parent,' and 'subsidiary' have the same meaning as in 17 Code of Federal Regulations § 240.12b-2 (1 April 1990 Edition).
(j)	For purposes of this subsection, special purpose commercial hazardous waste facilities include: a facility that manages limited quantities of hazardous waste; a facility that limits its hazardous waste management activities to reclamation or recycling, including energy or materials recovery or a facility that stores hazardous waste primarily for use at such facilities; or a facility that is determined to be low risk under rules adopted by the Commission pursuant to this subsection.  The Commission shall adopt rules establishing reasonable times and frequencies for the presence of a resident inspector on less than a full-time basis at special purpose commercial hazardous waste facilities.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection shall establish classifications of special purpose hazardous waste facilities based on factors including, but not limited to, the size of the facility, the type of treatment or storage being performed, the nature and volume of waste being treated or stored, the uniformity, similarity, or lack of diversity of the waste streams, the predictability of the nature of the waste streams and their treatability, whether the facility utilizes automated monitoring or safety devices that adequately perform functions that would otherwise be performed by a resident inspector, the fact that reclamation or recycling is being performed at the facility, and the compliance history of the facility and its operator.  Special purpose commercial hazardous waste facilities shall be subject to inspection at all times during which the facility is in operation, undergoing any maintenance or repair, or undergoing any test or calibration. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection shall specify a minimum number of inspections during such times as the facility is subject to inspection.  Commercial hazardous waste facilities that utilize hazardous waste as a fuel source shall be inspected a minimum of 40 hours per week.  The Department shall maintain records of all inspections at special purpose commercial hazardous waste facilities.  Such records shall contain sufficient detail and shall be arranged in a readily understandable format so as to facilitate determination at any time as to whether the special purpose commercial hazardous waste facility is in compliance with the requirements of this subsection and of rules adopted pursuant to this subsection."
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective 30 June 1993.