1. (A)

   1. (1) For each drycleaning facility in operation, the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility shall register with and pay initial registration fees to the Department of Revenue by October 1, 1995, and pay annual or quarterly renewal registration fees as established by the Department of Revenue. The fee must be accompanied by a notarized certification from the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility, on a form provided by the Department of Revenue, certifying the number of employees employed by the owner, or operator of the drycleaning facility and his dry drop-off facilities, for the twelve-month period preceding payment of the fee.
   2. (2) For each drycleaning facility in operation that was established after October 1, 1995, the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility shall register with and pay initial registration fees to the Department of Revenue, and pay annual or quarterly renewal registration fees as established by the Department of Revenue. The fee must be accompanied by a notarized certification from the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility, on a form provided by the Department of Revenue, certifying the number of employees employed by the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility and his dry drop-off facilities for the twelve-month period preceding payment of the fee.
   3. (3) If the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility does not register a facility under the provisions of this section, the property owner of the facility may register the facility. Upon registration by the property owner, the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility must be notified by the Department of Revenue of the registration and the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility must comply with all applicable provisions of this article, including the payment of subsequent renewal fees imposed under subsection (B).
   4. (4) To register a facility, the property owner must obtain a notarized certification from the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility, on a form provided by the Department of Revenue, certifying the number of employees employed by the owner or operator of the drycleaning facility and his dry drop-off facilities for the twelve-month period preceding payment of the fee and must remit the fee imposed pursuant to subsection (B). If the property owner is unable to obtain information as to the number of employees at the facilities, the property owner must remit the fee imposed pursuant to subsection (B)(3) in order to register the facility.

2. (B) An initial and annual registration fee for each drycleaning facility with:

   1. (1) up to four employees is seven hundred fifty dollars;
   2. (2) five to ten employees is one thousand five hundred dollars;

   3. (3) eleven or more employees is two thousand two hundred fifty dollars.

      Exempt from the fee imposed pursuant to this section are drycleaning facilities in existence before July 1, 1995, that possess a Drycleaning Facility Exemption Certificate issued by the Department of Revenue on or after July 1, 2009, and drycleaning facilities in existence before January 1, 1940, that have drycleaned only with nonhalogenated cleaners.

3. (C) The provisions of Title 12 apply to the collection and enforcement of the fees by the Department of Revenue.
4. (D) The Department of Revenue must retain funds for the costs incurred to collect and enforce the fund which may include a part-time employee with the related expenses for audit purposes. The funds withheld must not exceed the actual costs to administer, collect, and enforce the fund. The proceeds of the registration fee, after deducting the costs incurred by the Department of Revenue in auditing, collecting, distributing, and enforcing the registration fee, must be remitted to the State Treasurer and credited to the fund and must be used as provided in Section 44-56-420. For the purposes of this section, the proceeds of the registration fee include all funds collected and received by the Department of Revenue, including interest and penalties on delinquent fees.
5. (E) Revenue derived from the registration fees must be submitted to the State Treasurer and credited to the Drycleaning Facility Restoration Trust Fund.

6. (F) Before May 24, 2005, an owner or operator of a drycleaning facility in operation before November 24, 2004, shall install dikes or other containment structures around each machine or item of equipment in which drycleaning solvents are used and around an area in which solvents or waste containing solvents are stored. The containment must meet the following criteria:

   1. (1) the dikes or containment structures must be capable of containing one-third of the capacity of the total tank capacity of each machine;
   2. (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. (3) all diked containment areas must be sealed or otherwise made impervious to the drycleaning solvents in use at the facility, including floor surfaces, floor drains, floor joints, and inner dike walls;
   4. (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 solvents may leak, spill, or otherwise be released;
   5. (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. (6) materials used in constructing the containment structure or sealing the floors must be capable of withstanding permeation by drycleaning solvents in use at the facility for not less than seventy-two hours.
7. (G) For drycleaning facilities that commence operating on or after November 24, 2004, the owners or operators of these facilities or property owners, before the commencement of operations, shall install beneath each machine or item of equipment in which drycleaning solvents are 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. Dikes or containment structures must be installed before delivery of any drycleaning solvents to the facility. All dikes or containment structures shall meet all criteria of Section 44-56-470(F).
8. (H) A 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.
9. (I) Failure to comply with the requirements of this section constitutes gross negligence with regard to determining site eligibility.
10. (J) Effective January 1, 2010, all halogenated solvents must be delivered by a closed-loop delivery system.

HISTORY: 1995 Act No. 119, Section 1; 1998 Act No. 419, Part II, Section 64B; 2000 Act No. 317, Section 1; 2004 Act No. 237, Section 7, eff May 24, 2004; 2009 Act No. 14, Section 1, eff May 6, 2009.