South Carolina § 41-18-60 - Application for permit; duration; revocation.

§ 41-18-60. Application for permit; duration; revocation.

(A) Before commencement of the operation of a permanent or temporary device, the owner or lessee shall make written application to the director for a permit to operate. The permit is valid for a period of up to one year expiring on December thirty-first of the year issued.

(B) No temporary device may be used at any time or location unless prior notice of intent to use the device has been given to the director. Notice of planned schedules must:

(1) be in writing;

(2) identify the temporary device;

(3) state the intended dates and locations of use; and

(4) be mailed to the director at least seven days before the first intended date of use.

However, the director may waive the requirements enumerated in this subsection.

(C) A permit to operate must be issued to the owner or lessee of an amusement device when:

(1) written application has been made to the director;

(2) the amusement device has passed all required inspections;

(3) the liability insurance required by Section 41-18-90 has been met in the amount prescribed.

(D) The director may revoke a permit issued pursuant to this chapter if it is determined that an amusement device is:

(1) being operated without the inspections required by Sections 41-18-70 and 41-18-80;

(2) being operated without the insurance required by Section 41-18-90;

(3) being operated with a mechanical, electrical, structural, design, or other defect which presents an excessive risk of serious injury to passengers, bystanders, operators, or attendants;

(4) being operated without the required documentation or paperwork; or

(5) being operated in a manner contrary to the operating fact sheets.

(E) Any other violation of this chapter may result in a revocation, if written notice of noncompliance is served upon the owner specifying a violation of this chapter and directing the owner to correct the violations within the period specified by the director. If the owner and the department fail to agree that the violations referred to in this section have been corrected, the department shall give notice of and provide a hearing for the owner to determine whether compliance has been met. The Administrative Procedures Act governs contested cases of this nature and any other contested cases arising under this chapter.

(F) Nothing in this chapter prevents an owner whose permit to operate an amusement device has been revoked pursuant to this section from reapplying for a permit in accordance with this chapter, except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter. Upon application to have a revoked permit reinstated under this section, the department shall inspect the amusement ride in question as promptly as practicable, but in no case more than seventy-two hours after the submission of the application.

HISTORY: 1985 Act No. 103, SECTION 2; 1993 Act No. 144, SECTION 3, eff June 14, 1993; 1998 Act No. 283, SECTION 1, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on April 8, 1998).

Effect of Amendment

The 1993 amendment, in subsection 1 replaced "one year" with "up to one year expiring on December thirty-first of the year issued"; in subsection 2 changed 15 days to 7 days; in subsection 4, paragraph (c) added "electrical", "or other" preceding "defect", and "bystanders, operators, or attendants" and added paragraphs (d) and (e); in subsection 5, in the first sentence substituted "the period specified by the commissioner" for "thirty days of receipt of the notice", and after "1977" added "as amended"; and in subsection 6 replaced "practical" with "practicable".

The 1998 amendment substituted "director" for "commissioner" throughout the section, and made nonsubstantive changes.