S.C. Code Ann. § 44-56-420 – Drycleaning Facility Restoration Trust Fund established

(A) There is created in the state treasury a separate and distinct account called the "Drycleaning Facility Restoration Trust Fund", revenue for which must be collected and enforced by the Department of Revenue, and the fund must be administered by the Department of Health and Environmental Control and expended for the purposes of this article. However, the department may contract for the administration of the fund or any part of the administration of the fund. Judgments, recoveries, reimbursements, loans, and other fees and charges related to the implementation of this section, the tax revenues levied, collected, and credited pursuant to Section 44-56-480, and the registration fees collected pursuant to Section 44-56-470 must be credited to the fund. Charges against the fund must be made in accordance with the provisions of this section. The State accepts no financial responsibility as a result of the creation of the fund. The creation of the fund creates no burden upon the State to provide monies for the fund by any mechanisms other than as provided in this section. The State may recover to the fund any funds expended from the fund which were not utilized in accordance with this article.
(B) If incidents of contamination by drycleaning solvents related to the operation of drycleaning facilities or wholesale supply facilities pose a threat to the environment or the public health, safety, or welfare, the department shall obligate monies available in the fund pursuant to this section to provide for:
1. (1) the prompt investigation and assessment of the contaminated sites; however, the owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility or a property owner must pay for the cost of the investigation and assessment up to the amount of the owner's, operator's, or property owner's deductible, and the department only shall provide monies that exceed the owner's, operator's, or property owner's deductible; however, in order to receive these monies the owner, operator, or property owner must comply with this article and the regulations promulgated pursuant to this article;
2. (2) the expeditious treatment, restoration, or replacement of potable water supplies;
3. (3) the rehabilitation of contaminated drycleaning facility sites, which consist of rehabilitation of affected soil, groundwater, and surface waters, using the most cost-effective alternative that is reliable and feasible technologically and that provides adequate protection of the public health, safety, and welfare and minimizes environmental damage in accordance with the site selection and rehabilitation criteria established by the department, except that nothing in this article may be construed to authorize the department to obligate funds for payment of costs which may be associated with, but are not integral to, site rehabilitation;
4. (4) the maintenance and monitoring of contaminated sites;
5. (5) the inspection and supervision of activities described in this section;
6. (6) the expenses of administering the fund by the department including the employment of department staff to carry out the department's duties described in this article; however, the department may exclude five percent of the average annual collections of the fund or the amount required to fund four employees and the administrative costs associated with these employees, whichever is greater;
7. (7) the payment of reasonable costs of restoring property so as to assure public health and safety, as determined by the department.
(C) The fund may not be used to:
1. (1) restore sites which are contaminated by solvents normally used in drycleaning operations if the activities at a site are not related to the operation of a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility;
2. (2) restore sites that are contaminated by drycleaning solvents being transported to or from a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility or that are contaminated as a result of the delivery of drycleaning solvents to a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility on or after July 1, 1995, if the contamination resulted from gross negligence;
3. (3) fund any costs related to the restoration of a site that is proposed for listing or is listed on the State Priority List or on the National Priority List pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, or any site that is required to obtain a permit pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended;
4. (4) pay any costs associated with a fine, penalty, or action brought against the owner or operator of a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility or a property owner under local, state, or federal law;
5. (5) pay any costs incurred before July 1, 1995, for the remediation of a contaminated site;
6. (6) pay any costs to landscape or otherwise artificially improve a contaminated site;
7. (7) pay any contamination assessment or costs restoration before the actual date of the first payment of registration fees for the site pursuant to Section 44-56-470(B);
8. (8) pay any costs related to contamination assessment where no contamination from drycleaning solvents is discovered;
9. (9) pay any costs for work not approved by the department in accordance with this article or regulations promulgated pursuant to this article;
10. (10) restore sites that are uniform rental and linen supply facilities unless the site was operated on or after July 1, 1995, as a drycleaning facility for garments or fabrics belonging to the public and has participated in the fund;
11. (11) restore sites that are no longer operated as drycleaning facilities or coin-operated drycleaning facilities where the owner, operator, or property owner has not paid a registration fee for the site pursuant to Section 44-56-470(B) and has not been involved in the drycleaning industry after October 1, 1995.
(D) The department shall promulgate regulations that provide for an initial contamination assessment to determine whether a drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility is contaminated by drycleaning solvents. Payment for the initial assessment is as provided for in subsection (B), and site rehabilitation portions of the program must be administered through direct payments to contractors actually accomplishing the site rehabilitation and not through reimbursement to drycleaning or wholesale supply facility owners, operators, or property owners. All services related to site rehabilitation must be preapproved by the department before performance in order to receive payment for services rendered.
(E) If the committed money in the fund exceeds the current balance and the department declares a site is an emergency or the amount committed to a site has reached the maximum allowable expenditure for any one site in a given year and the department declares the site is an emergency, the department may use other funds to pay the cost of that cleanup. However, once the fund has an available uncommitted balance, the department's other sources of money that paid for the approved emergency cleanup may be reimbursed for the costs incurred through annual payments which may not exceed five percent of the total fund's average annual balance. The fund may not obligate itself for more than it is estimated to generate through surcharges, annual fees, and registration fees.