SR-700-004
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srhazmat
council Meeting: March 27, 1990
Santa Monica, California
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TO:
Mayor and city Council
FROM:
City staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Direct the City Attorney to Amend
Portions of the Santa Monica Municipal Code Relating to
Hazardous Materials Release Response Plans and Inventory.
INTRODUCTION
This report requests City Council to direct the city Attorney to
draft revisions of portions of the Santa Monica Municipal Code
relating to the Hazardous Materials Release Response Plans and
Inventory, as discussed below.
BACKGROUND
On February 10/ 19B7, the city of Santa Monica adopted an ordinance
dealing with the Hazardous Materials Release Response Plans and
Inventory.
This ordinance established procedures for businesses
which use hazardous materials to submit a business plan which
provides: 1) a list of hazardous materials used, stored and
disposed of in the course of their operations; 2) plans and
procedures for emergency response notification, mitigation and
evacuation; and 3) a description of training methods used for
employees who handle hazardous materials.
The
information
generated from the business plans is used in the City'S area plan
which
documents
the
emergency
response
and
preparedness
capabilities in the event of a release or threatened release of a
hazardous substance. The area plan is submitted to the California
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MflR '2 7 19~:nJ
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Office of Emergency Services and updated every three years.
Since the adoption of the City's hazardous materials ordinance,
federal and state legislation has been enacted which is more
stringent than the City's requirements. In order for the city to
retain the administrative authority for the program, Chapter 5,
section V of the Santa Monica Municipal Code, Hazardous Materials
Release Response Plans and Inventory, must be revised to comply
with both state and federal law. In addition, staff is
recommending that changes be made to clarify interpretive
ambiguities in the Code.
The principle recommended changes are presented below under two
sub-headings. The first sub-heading discusses code sections which
must be revised. The second sub-heading discusses sections which
need to be added to the ordinance. Each section indicates whether
the proposed revision is required due to new federal or State
regulations or is a staff recommendation to clarify existing
language.
Revisions to the Code
Section 5500 outlines the general purpose and intent of the
chapter. It currently states "...it is the intention of the City
of Santa Monica in passing this ordinance to fully implement and
build upon Chapter 6.95 of the Health and Safety Code...". Staff
is recommending that the section be revised to read "...it is the
intention of the City of Santa Monica in passing this ordinance
to fully implement all standards set forth by applicable state
and federal regUlations..."
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Section 5501 provides definitions of words and phrases used in
the ordinance. The following words and phrases should be defined
consistent with the recommendations below:
Abbreviated Business Plan - Specific sections of the Business
Plan form as defined by the Director of General Services.
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number A numeric
designation assigned by the American Chemical society1s
Chemical Abstracts Service which uniquely identifies a
specific chemical compound.
Consumer Quantity - The volume and type of hazardous materials
associated with use in non-commercial activities, and commonly
available to the general public in consumer packages in retail
outlets.
Dun and Bradstreet Number A unique nine-digit number
assigned by Dun and Bradstreet corporation to identify an
individual business.
Extremely Hazardous Substance - Any material listed as an
extremely hazardous substance in Appendix A of Part 355 of
Subchapter H of Chapter 1 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations or an acutely hazardous material, as defined in
Health and Safety Code section 25532.
Risk Management and Prevention Program All of the
administrative and operational programs of a business which
are designed to prevent extremely hazardous substance accident
risks, including, but not limited to, programs which design
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safety of new and existing equipment, standard operating
procedures, preventive maintenance programs, operator
training, accident investigation procedures, risk assessment
for unit operations or operating alternatives, emergency
response planning, and internal or external audit procedures
to ensure that these programs are being executed as planned.
Sensitive Facility - Schools, general acute care hospitals and
long-term health care facilities.
Significant Release A condition creating a substantial
probability of harm, when the probability and potential extent
of harm make it reasonably necessary to take immediate action
to prevent, reduce, or mitigate damages to persons, property,
or the environment.
Section 5501 (b) currently defines Ilbusiness" as an employer,
self-employed individual, trust, firm, organization, joint stock
company, corporation, partnership, or association. Staff is
recommending that the definition be revised to include government
agencies, schools, universities, special districts and any other
entity determined by the Director of General Services to pose a
hazardous materials handling risk.
Section 5502 (a) states IlAII business plans and the area plan
shall meet the minimum standards adopted by the state Office of
Emergency Services". The section should be revised to include
reference to the minimum standards established by the Federal
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, Title III.
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Section 5503 (a) establishes the criteria that determines which
business is required to submit a business plan. currently, the
section states "Any business...which handles a hazardous material
which has a quantity at anyone time during the reporting year
equal to, or greater than, a total weight of 500 pounds, or a
total volume of 55 gallons, or 200 cubic feet at standard
temperature and pressure for compressed gas, shall establish and
implement a business plan... II. The word "total" as used above
could be interpreted to refer to each individual hazardous
material. For example, it could be argued that a business with
499 pounds of one type of hazardous material and 499 pounds of
another type of hazardous material is not required to submit a
business plan. However, the business has a considerable amount
of hazardous materials on site which may cause a threat to City
emergency response personnel and the environment. staff is
recommending that the word "total" be replaced with the word
lIaggregate" thereby eliminating any potential ambiguity.
staff is further recommending that language be added stating that
businesses whose aggregate hazardous materials are less than the
totals discussed above, but are greater than consumer quantities
which are defined in section 5501, are required to submit an
abbreviated business plan. The abbreviated business plan, as
defined in Section 5501, is comprised of selected sections from
the business plan as determined by the Director of General
Services.
The above changes to Section 5503 (a) are not required by either
federal or state law. Staff is recommending that the changes be
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made in order to ensure that the Hazardous Materials Release
Response and Inventory program is providing the highest degree of
protection from hazardous material emergencies in the community.
In addition, the information generated from the abbreviated
business plan will be used for several of the City I S
environmental programs such as the Industrial Waste Program and
the Hazardous Waste Minimization Program.
Section 5503(b) (1) exempts businesses from submitting a business
plan if they handle hazardous materials contained solely in a
consumer product for direct distribution to, and use by, the
general public in consumer quantities. The subsection was
intended to exempt businesses such as auto supply stores, pool
supply stores, etc. which sell hazardous materials to individual
consumers in small quantities. However, the subsection may be
interpreted to exempt a business which handles and uses a large
volume of consumer-packaged hazardous materials even though they
are not intended to be sold to or used by the general public in
its original form. For example, a business which uses chlorine
for a process may store hundreds of one-gallon bottles of
chlorine on-site, which may be considered to be a hazardous
material contained solely in a consumer product, and therefore be
exempt from submitting a business plan. Currently the section
states "Hazardous material contained solely in a consumer
product...is exempt from the business plan...II. Staff is
recommending that it be revised to read "Retailers who handle
hazardous materials in quantities less than the quantities
specified in Section 5503(a) (less than 55 gallons or 500 pounds
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or 200 cubic feet of gas) which are contained solely in a
consumer product... are exempt from the business plan. II This
language clarifies that those businesses which handle and use
large quantities of hazardous materials contained in consumer
products would be required to submit a business plan.
section 5504(b). Section 5504 establishes the requirements for
business plans. Subsection (b) refers to a business' proximity
to II. . . residential areas and other populations. . . II when
developing emergency response plans. Reference to sensitive
facilities must be included in section 5504 (b) to be in
compliance with state law which requires that the business plan
also address the business' proximity to sensitive facilities
defined in section 5501 as schools, general acute care hospitals
and long term health care facilities.
section 5504(b) (4) requires that a list of all emergency
equipment be submitted as part of the business plan. Part of the
emergency equipment includes "...at least twenty-five pounds of
an absorbent material to control the release of the hazardous
material. II This requirement is not sufficient to handle large
spills. Staff is recommending that section be revised as to
require as emergency equipment 1I...at least twenty-five pounds of
absorbent or the amount of absorbent sufficient to control the
complete release of the largest container of hazardous materials,
whichever is greater (excluding underground tanks).1I
Section 5505(a) states that liOn or before September I, 1987, each
handler shall submit its business plan to the Department..." As
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currently written, this section, when read with section 5505(g)
permits a business to operate and handle hazardous materials for
60 days without submitting a business plan. Staff is
recommending that Section 5503 (a) be revised to read "Prior to
handling of any hazardous material at a business, each handler
shall submit its business plan to the Department." Staff is
recommending that section 5505(g) be deleted, as the conditions
it addresses are addressed in Section 5505(a).
Section 5505(a) also states that if staff determines a business
plan submitted by an existing business to be deficient in any
way, a corrected business plan must be submitted within thirty
days of notification. staff is recommending that the time be
changed from thirty days to five working days.
section 5505(C) states that "whenever a substantial change in the
handler's operations occurs which requires a modification of its
business plan, the handler shall submit a copy of the plan
revisions to the Department within thirty days of the operational
change." As in section 5505(a), staff believes that the
thirty-day deadline should be changed to a five working-day
deadline.
Section 5507(a) requires that specific emergency response
activities be implemented in the event of a release or threatened
release of a hazardous material. Staff recommends that emergency
measures be implemented in the event of a significant release or
threatened significant release, as defined in Section 5501. This
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will avoid unnecessary emergency response actions in minor
spills.
section 5507(a) (1) requires that a release or a threaatened
release of a hazardous material be reported to the Santa Monica
Police Department, the General Services Department, and to the
state Office of Emergency services (OES). staff recommends that
it be amended to read that in the event of any significant
release or threatened significant release, the Santa Monica Fire
Department, the General Services Department and the OES be
notified immediately. Established city policy requires that the
Fire Department be lead emergency response agency in hazardous
materials emergencies. Additionally, federal legislation
requires that the local emergency planning committee be notified
immediately of an extremely hazardous material release or
threatened release. This section should include this provision.
sections 5507 (a) (6) , (a) (9) (A) currently specify
response procedures involving only hazardous waste.
recommending that the reference be changed to
materials, which would include hazardous waste, so
procedures would apply to all types of hazardous
accidents.
emergency
Staff is
hazardous
that the
materials
Section 5509. Staff recommends that all references to hazardous
substance pe changed to hazardous materials.
section 5510 currently requires businesses to submit new
hazardous materials inventory forms or amendments to existing
forms within 30 days of becoming a handler or handling increased
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amounts of a hazardous material previously reported. As stated
in the discussion of revisions to sections 5505(a), (c)&(g)
regarding business plan deadlines, staff recommends that the
thirty-day deadline be changed to a five working-day deadline to
mitigate the potential threat to emergency response personnel and
the environment.
Additions to the Code
The following provisions are recommended to be added to Section V
of the Santa Monica Municipal Code:
state law requires that if a business which handles hazardous
materials rents or leases space it must notify the property owner
that hazardous materials are on-site. A section must be added to
include this provision.
Federal law requires that if the business has a
Bradstreet Number, it be included in the business
section must be added to include this provision.
Dun
plan.
and
A
Federal law requires that each chemical, raw material, chemical
component and waste component listed on the business plan be
identified by a Chemical Abstract Service Registry number. staff
recommends that this requirement be added as Section 5509(h).
State law requires that any business handling an extremely
hazardous material as listed in federal regulations be required
to fill out an Extremely Hazardous Substance Registration Form
(EHSRF). The form shall include the name, quantity, physical
state and unit of measure of each extremely hazardous substance
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and a description of the process and equipment which uses the
extremely hazardous substance. Information generated from the
EHSRF identifies businesses which are required to establish a
Risk Management and Prevention Program. staff is recommending
that a Section 5510.1 be added to establish the authority to
require a Risk Management and Prevention Program from any
business handling an extremely hazardous substance in quantities
greater than the amounts specified in Section 25531-25541 of the
California Health and Safety Code.
New federal legislation requires that the inventory form be
revised to include the physical state (pure, mix, solid, liquid,
or gas) of each hazardous materials handled by the business.
Staff is recommending that a new subsection be added to include
the above requirement.
New federal legislation requires that the inventory form be
revised to include the health hazard level (immediate or delayed)
of each hazardous material handled by the business. Staff is
recommending that a new subsection be added to include the above
requirement.
Staff recommends that penalties, including fines and criminal or
civil action, be assessed against businesses who do not submit
business plans and fees in a timely manner.
The above staff recommendations ensure that the City's ordinance is
in compliance with mandated State and federal standards and
enhances the City's proactive approach to community and
environmental protection from hazardous materials emergencies. In
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addition, these recommended changes will strengthen the City's
proactive program for safeguarding the community and environment
from hazardous materials releases emergencies.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no budget/financial impact resulting from this report.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City council direct the city Attorney to
amend Chapter 5 of Section 5 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code
consistent with the recommendations in this report.
prepared by: Stan Scholl, Director of General Services
Byron Gaines, Utilities Manager
Jean Higbee, Administrative Analyst
Brian Johnson, Environmental Coordinator
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