South Carolina § 44-56-480 - Containment structures.

§ 44-56-480. Containment structures.

(A) Owners or operators of existing drycleaning facilities shall install dikes or other containment structures around each machine or item of equipment in which drycleaning solvent is used and around an area in which solvents or waste containing solvents are stored. Owners or operators of new drycleaning facilities shall install containment structures before the commencement of operations and before delivery of any drycleaning solvent to the drycleaning facility. Owners or operators of operating drycleaning facilities shall maintain all containment structures while the drycleaning facility remains in operation and shall certify every five years, that the conditions at their drycleaning facility meet the requirements of subsection (A) by completing a certification form as required by the department. The containment must meet the following criteria:

(1) dikes or containment structures around machines:

(a) for existing drycleaning facilities the dikes or containment structures must be capable of containing one-third of the total tank capacity of each machine that does not have a rigid and impermeable containment vessel capable of containing one hundred percent of the volume of the largest single tank in the machine or piece of equipment or one-third of the total tank capacity of each machine, whichever is greater;

(b) for new drycleaning facilities, the owners or operators shall install beneath each machine or item of equipment in which drycleaning solvent is used a rigid and impermeable containment vessel capable of containing one hundred percent of the volume of the largest single tank in the machine or piece of equipment or one-third of the total tank capacity of each machine, whichever is greater;

(2) dikes or containment structures around areas used for storage of solvents or waste containing solvents must be capable of containing one hundred percent of the volume of the largest container stored or retained in the containment structure;

(3) all diked containment areas must be sealed or otherwise made impervious to the drycleaning solvent in use at the drycleaning facility, including floor surfaces, floor drains, floor joints, and inner dike walls;

(4) to the extent practicable, an owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or property owner shall seal or otherwise render impervious those portions of all floor surfaces upon which any drycleaning solvent may leak, spill, or otherwise be released;

(5) containment devices must provide for the temporary containment of accidental spills or leaks until appropriate response actions are taken by the owner/operator to abate the source of the spill and remove the product from all areas on which the product has accumulated; and

(6) materials used in constructing the containment structure or sealing the floors must be capable of withstanding permeation by drycleaning solvent in use at the drycleaning facility for not less than seventy-two hours.

(B) The property owner or the owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility at which there is a spill of more than the federally mandated reportable quantity of drycleaning solvent outside of a containment structure, after July 1, 1995, shall report the spill to the department immediately upon the discovery of the spill and comply with existing emergency response regulations.

(C) Effective January 1, 2010, all halogenated solvents must be delivered by a closed-loop delivery system.

(D) Failure to comply with the requirements of this section constitutes gross negligence that may permanently bar the drycleaning facility from receiving monies from the fund, and the moratorium provided for in Section 44-56-420(B) does not apply to this drycleaning facility.

HISTORY: 2013 Act No. 30, SECTION 1, eff May 21, 2013.

Editor's Note

Prior Laws: Former SECTION 44-56-480 was titled Surcharge on drycleaning solvent and halogenated drycleaning fluid, and had the following history: 1995 Act No. 119, SECTION 1; 2004 Act No. 237, SECTION 8, eff May 24, 2004; 2009 Act No. 14, SECTION 1, eff May 6, 2009.