[Adopted 12-2-1991 by Ord. No. 91-7]
This article is enacted under the authority of RSA 31:39, RSA 41:11
and RSA 47:17, VI.
The purpose of this article is to provide for the control and containment
of hazardous materials and to require the users and suppliers or manufacturers
of any hazardous material to pay for all services provided by the City of
Franklin in relation to the control and containment of hazardous materials.
The purpose of this article is not to impose upon the city, or any of its
officers and agents, any obligation to secure or remove any hazardous material
from the city once safe containment of the material is made, and nothing in
this article is intended to relieve any owner or person in possession of hazardous
material of any obligation imposed by state or federal law, and specifically
nothing in the article shall be deemed to permit the possession, storage or
use of hazardous materials except in conformance with all federal, state and
local laws.
This article shall apply to all incidents involving hazardous waste
or hazardous materials within the boundaries of the City of Franklin and to
all persons who may possess such materials found within the city, except as
prevailing state or federal laws or regulations may take precedence and control
over such incident or person. (See RSA 146-A, RSA 147 and RSA 265:115 through
265:118 for examples of such prevailing state law at the time this article
is adopted.)
For the purpose of this article, the following definitions apply:
Those substances or materials in such quantity and form which may
pose an unreasonable risk to health and safety or property and environment,
which may include but are not limited to explosives, radioactive materials,
etiologic agents, flammable liquids or solids, combustible liquids or solids,
poisons, oxidizing or corrosive materials and compressed gases which are listed
by the Materials Transportation Bureau of the United States Department of
Transportation in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations and any amendment
thereto.
Any individual, corporation, partnership, trust or other legal entity.
Any person who manufactures or transports or owns, uses, handles,
stores or has the legal authority to control hazardous materials, specifically
including his or her officers, directors, employees and agents.
Any person who causes or has knowledge of any discharge or release of
hazardous materials from their safe container, in any manner which poses an
actual or potential threat to people, animals, wildlife, vegetation, property
or the environment, shall immediately report the incident to the Franklin
Fire Department.
The Franklin Fire Department shall promptly respond to each reported
incident and take such action as is necessary to protect public health, safety,
property and the environment.
The user or transporter of a hazardous material which is intentionally or accidentally discharged or released within the City of Franklin shall, in addition to reporting the accident as required by § 181-9, take immediate action to cause the discharge or release to be cleaned up in an environmentally safe and scientifically sound manner and to restore the site and the surrounding environment. The user or transporter shall be liable for all cost incurred by the Fire Department or any other agency, firm, corporation or individual employed to assist with the containment, control and cleanup of the hazardous materials and restoration of the site and surrounding area.
The intentional discharge or release of a hazardous material within
the City of Franklin is strictly prohibited.
A.
Any person who fails to report, as required by § 181-9 above, shall be assessed a civil forfeiture not to exceed $1,000. Each twenty-four-hour period that the incident is not reported constitutes a separate violation.
B.
Any person who intentionally discharges or releases,
or causes another to discharge or release, any hazardous materials from their
safe container, in any manner which poses an actual or potential threat to
people, animals, wildlife, vegetation, property or the environment, shall
be assessed a civil forfeiture not to exceed $1,000. Each twenty-four-hour
period that a person fails to take action to cause the discharge or release
of a hazardous material to be cleaned up shall constitute a separate violation.
All cost and civil forfeitures collected under this article shall be
placed in the general fund to offset appropriations used in the control and
containment of a hazardous materials incident.
The Chief of the Franklin Fire Department shall be responsible for enforcing
this article.
