[Ord. No. 8748, 11-22-2021]
A. Purpose. The purposes of this Section are:
1.
To adopt standards for identifying dangerous levels of toxic
chemicals and residue associated with the presence or production of
methamphetamine; and
2.
To establish protocols whereby the building safety personnel
may cooperate with and rely on law enforcement and emergency agencies
when applying property maintenance and safety standards to order or
cause the abatement of contamination in structures due to the presence
or production of methamphetamine.
B.
Definitions. For purposes of this
Section, the words or terms listed below are defined as follows:
DEPARTMENT
The Department of Public Works of the City of Florissant.
METHAMPHETAMINE
Dextro methamphetamine, levo methamphetamine, and unidentified
isomers of the same, any racemic mixture of dextro/levo methamphetamine,
or any mixture of unidentified isomers of methamphetamine. The term
includes derivatives, conjugates, oxides and reduced forms of the
basic structure associated with the formation of methamphetamine.
For the purposes of this protocol, this term includes amphetamine,
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
QUALIFIED COMPANY or QUALIFIED CONTRACTOR
A company or contractor that tests structures for the presence
of unsafe contamination and/or abates such unsafe contamination and
that:
1.
Complies with the guidelines of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Voluntary Guidelines for Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup
(August 2009);
2.
Complies with the regulations of the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor relating
to hazardous waste operations and emergency response, including 29
Code of Federal Regulations Section 1910.120;
3.
Requires that at least one (1) employee or supervisor assigned
to and on duty at any work site shall have completed the forty (40)
hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HASWOPER)
training [Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 29
CFR 1910]; and
4.
Requires its personnel to complete a clandestine drug lab assessment
and decontamination course offered by a sponsor acceptable to a regional
drug task force and/or the department.
UNSAFE CONTAMINATION
The presence of chemicals in a structure at levels exceeding the levels for such chemicals as provided in Subsection
(C) below.
C. Unsafe Contamination. A structure will be considered unsafe for purposes
of the Property Maintenance Code of the City of Florissant if it is
found to contain any of the chemicals listed below at exposure limits
above the levels listed below established by the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):
1.
Red Phosphorus — any amount.
2.
Iodine Crystals C0.1 ppm (1 mg/m3).
3.
Sulfuric Acid TWA 1 mg/m3.
4.
Hydrogen Chloride C 5 ppm (7 mg/m3).
5.
Hydrochloric Acid (Hcl gas) - C 5 ppm (7 mg/m3).
6.
Methamphetamine — in a concentration equal to or greater
than 1.5 ugram/100 cm2.
7.
Lead And Mercury. If it is determined that the phenyl-2-propanone
(P2P) method of methamphetamine manufacturing was used, surface levels
for lead in excess of 20 u/ft2 and vapor samples for Mercury in excess
of 50 ng/m3.
D. Closure And Abatement Orders Upon Report And Investigation By Law
Enforcement Or Emergency Agencies.
1.
When a law enforcement or emergency agency reports to the department
that a structure in the City has been used for the production of methamphetamine
or as a storage facility for methamphetamine or chemicals used in
the manufacturing of methamphetamine, the department may order that
structure closed pursuant to the emergency measures provided in the
City's property maintenance and/or safety codes. The department
shall rescind such an order if the law enforcement or emergency agency
later reports that after testing and investigation it has not found
unsafe contamination in that structure.
2.
When a law enforcement or emergency agency reports to the department
that it has found unsafe contamination in a structure in the City
that has been used for the production of methamphetamine or as a storage
facility for methamphetamine or chemicals used in the manufacturing
of methamphetamine, the department shall order that structure closed
pursuant to the emergency measures provided in the City's property
maintenance and/or safety codes.
E. Supplementary Notice And Instructions.
1.
While closure and abatement orders pursuant to the emergency
measures provided in the City's property maintenance and/or safety
codes may be posted, the department shall also attempt to contact
the owner of record of the affected property, or the owner's
agent, by personal service, first class mail or by posting on the
property or publication if mail is returned as undelivered.
2.
Such notice shall direct the owner to contact the department
within twenty (20) calendar days to establish a schedule for decontaminating
the structure, and further advise the owner that failure to contact
the department within that time specified may result in a request
to disconnect utility services in order to ensure that the structure
is not re-occupied until it is decontaminated.
3.
Such notice shall also inform the owner that if the owner contacts
the department within the time specified in the notice, the owner
may request to have the structure retested, but such retesting must
be performed as follows.
a.
The owner must employ the services of a qualified company or
contractor to perform sampling and to analyze the samples.
b.
An inspector for the department must be present when the qualified
company or contractor takes samples and the owner shall pay an inspection
fee of forty dollars ($40.00), payment of which must be made prior
to the appointment for taking samples.
c.
Sampling and testing shall be performed in accordance with the
appropriate sections of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Voluntary
Guidelines for Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup (August 2009).
d.
The qualified company or contractor engaged by the owners must
report the results of its analysis of the samples taken to the department.
F. Decontamination.
1.
If unsafe contamination exists in a structure, the owner shall
hire a qualified contractor or company to decontaminate the structure
and advise the department of the schedule for decontamination.
2.
The schedule for the work and evidence that the qualified contractor
or company meets the requirements of this Section must be submitted
for approval to the department within twenty (20) calendar days of
the receipt of notice. Approval will be based solely on the timeliness
of the schedule and the qualifications of the contractor. Approval
or rejection of the schedule will be provided within a reasonable
time of submission. If rejected the owner will be informed, in writing,
of specific reasons for the rejection and will be required to amend
the schedule or the proposed qualified contractor or company. Decontamination
shall be performed in accordance with the appropriate sections of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Voluntary Guidelines for
Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup (August 2009).
3.
If the owner of property determined to have unsafe contamination
fails to voluntarily abate that contamination, the department may
serve a notice of violation and proceed in accordance with provisions
for abatement of unsafe conditions or structures in the City's
property maintenance and/or safety codes. The department may request
disconnection of the utility services until the decontamination is
complete.
4.
Post Decontamination Sampling. Following the completion of the
work, the owner shall notify the department that work is complete
and the owner must provide written test results as evidence that the
property is compliant with this regulation. The post remediation sampling
and testing must be performed by a qualified contractor or company
other than and independent of the contractor or company that performed
the decontamination, and that sampling and testing must be done in
accordance with the appropriate sections of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Voluntary Guidelines for Methamphetamine Laboratory
Cleanup (August 2009).
G. Final Action. After the property has been decontaminated and the
department is in possession of evidence that the pertinent chemical
levels are below unsafe contamination levels, the structure will be
considered safe and suitable for performance of a full inspection
for an occupancy permit. If utility services have been disconnected,
the department will notify the utilities that the unsafe condition
has been mitigated and service can be restored. The property owner
shall be responsible for any reconnection fees.