[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the Township of Montclair as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire Department — See Ch. 27.
Fire prevention — See Ch. 153.
[Adopted 1-26-1993 by Ord. No. 93-3 (Art. I of Ch. 120 of the 1979 Code)]
The purpose of this article is to provide for the registration and identification of all premises upon which are located hazardous substances and chemicals that have the potential of causing serious harm to the welfare and safety of the residents of the Township of Montclair. A computerized information emergency response management system is required to organize and immediately access the data relative to hazardous substances and chemicals in order to better provide for the public safety and the welfare of township residents.
Any person, firm, partnership or corporation required to file a SARA Title III, § 311-312, Right-to-Know information form, as required by Title III of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, shall be made part of the computerized information emergency response management system and shall be responsible for complying with the provisions of this article.
Any person, firm, partnership or corporation to whom the provisions of this article apply as set forth above shall pay to the Township an annual registration fee of $30 on or before March 1 of each year. In addition, a fee of $5 per page of SARA Title II, § 311-312 documentation, shall be paid to the Township of Montclair. Any person, firm, partnership or corporation who or which files after March 1 of each year will be required to pay an annual registration fee of $60 and $10 per page of SARA Title III, § 311-312 documentation.
It shall be the duty of the Fire Department of the Township of Montclair to enforce the provisions of this article, and the Chief of the Department or his or her designee as enforcement officer shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with the same.
[Amended 4-10-2007 by Ord. No. 07-17]
Any person who violates any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000, imprisonment in the county/municipal jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, or a period of community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof as determined by the Municipal Court Judge. Each day on which a violation of an ordinance exists shall be considered a separate and distinct violation and shall be subject to imposition of a separate penalty for each day of the violation as the Municipal Court Judge may determine.
[Adopted 8-24-1993 by Ord. No. 93-30 (Art. II of Ch. 120 of the 1979 Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
COLLECTION AGENCY
The Township of Montclair.
DISCHARGE
Any intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting in the releasing, spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying or dumping of hazardous substances into any waters which flow within the jurisdiction of the Township.
EXPENDABLE ITEMS
Any items used to extinguish or prevent any hazardous material fire or stop or contain any leak, release or spill involving any hazardous material which cannot be reused or cannot be replenished without cost after that particular incident. These expendable items include but are not limited to fire-fighting foam, chemical extinguishing agents and absorbent materials, sand, recovery drums and any protective equipment and clothing to include but not restricted to chemical protective suits, chemical protective gloves, goggles and any other item owned or controlled by the Township of Montclair or its employees, agents, officers and/or officials.
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL
Any material, solid, liquid or gas, listed as such under the National Fire Protection Association Guide of Hazardous Materials, the Department of Transportation Guidebook, the list of hazardous substances adopted by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendment of 1972, as amended by the Clean Water Act of 1977 (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.), and the list of toxic pollutants designated by Congress or the EPA pursuant to Section 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and any hospital or medical waste, including but not limited to syringes, bandages and discarded pharmaceutical products.
VEHICLE
Any motorized equipment, registered or unregistered, including but not limited to a passenger car, motorcycle, truck, tractor trailer, construction equipment, farm machinery, watercraft, aircraft and trains.
VESSEL
Any container, drum, box, cylinder or tank used to hold or contain or carry or store any hazardous materials, whether or not said container was manufactured for the containment of a hazardous material.
A. 
This article provides for the reimbursement for or the replacement of any and all equipment utilized by the Township of Montclair for costs expended, without regard to ownership, for the purpose of mitigating, controlling or containing any incident in which a hazardous material is involved in a fire, leak, release or spill, or where the potential thereof exists, or for the prevention of the same.
B. 
This article also provides for the reimbursement for the expenses incurred by the Township for wages, regular or overtime, paid to its employees, agents or servants as a result of an incident involving a hazardous material, fire, leak, release or spill of a hazardous material and for costs of medical and hospital treatment for injuries incurred by agents, servants and employees of the Township of Montclair.
C. 
This article mandates reimbursement to the Township of Montclair and for any expendable items used by the Township or any of its employees, agents, servants, officers or officials in extinguishing any hazardous material fire or stopping or containing or controlling or mitigating any spill, release or leak of any hazardous material.
A. 
The discharge of hazardous substances is prohibited. This section shall not apply to the discharge of hazardous substances pursuant to and in compliance with the conditions of a federal or state permit.
B. 
Any person who may be subject to liability for a discharge or becomes aware of a discharge which occurred prior to or after the effective date of this article shall immediately notify the Township of Montclair Emergency Management Coordinator.
C. 
Whenever any hazardous substance is discharged, the Township may, at its discretion, act to remove or arrange for the removal of such discharge.
D. 
Any person who has discharged a hazardous substance or is in any way responsible for any hazardous substance which has been or shall be removed by the Township of Montclair shall be strictly liable, jointly and severally, without regard to fault, for all cleanup and removal costs and shall be liable for the wages, regular and overtime, paid and the costs of medical and hospital treatment for injuries incurred by the agents, servants and employees of the Township of Montclair.
Reimbursement to the Township of Montclair for expendable items used shall be made by the owner or operator of the property or vehicle responsible for the hazardous material fire, leak or spill of hazardous material; the owner or person responsible for the vessel containing the hazardous material involved in such fire, leak or spill on public or private property, whether stationary or in transit and whether accidental or through negligence; the owner or person responsible for any property from which any leak or spill of hazardous material emanates, whether accidental or through negligence; and the person responsible for the hazardous material fire, leak or spill of hazardous material on public or private property, whether accidental or through negligence.
Any person causing any hazardous material fire, leak, spill or release involving a hazardous material must provide reimbursement for services rendered by any recovery company, towing company or any other technical assistance called for by the Township to handle such incident. In the event of a vehicle having been responsible for an incident, such vehicle shall be impounded until such time as it has been deemed safe to proceed by the incident commander in conjunction and cooperation with the Township of Montclair Hazardous Materials Unit and until such time as arrangements have been made to reimburse the Township and the towing company for their expenditures under the terms of this article.
The person or entity responsible for any fire, leak or spill of hazardous materials shall reimburse the Township the full price of expendable items and costs hereto used to extinguish such fire or to stop or contain such leak or to control such spill within 45 days after receipt of a bill therefor. The collecting agency shall utilize its best efforts to collect costs hereunder and shall reimburse its agents or the local units of the amount collected. In the event that the collecting agency is not able to collect said costs or only a portion thereof, the collecting agency shall not be responsible to its agents or the local units for the full amount of the same.
[Amended 5-23-2000 by Ord. No. 00-19]
The person or entity responsible for any fire, leak or spill of hazardous material who fails to reimburse the Township within the time required shall be subject to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000 per day for each day that the bill from the Township remains unpaid or to imprisonment for a period of not more than six months, or both. Each day of the violation shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.