For the purposes of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
COMMITTEE
The Oil and Toxic and Flammable Material Spillage Committee.
DISCHARGE
The release by any means or to relinquish control in a manner that could result in a release to the surface waters, groundwaters, surface of the ground or below ground.
FACILITY
Any object, container, tank, appliance, machinery or contrivance, or any part within or thereon which holds, stores, contains, conveys, transports or carries oil, toxic or flammable material.
FLAMMABLE MATERIAL
Any material having a flash point below 200° F.
OIL
Mineral or synthetic oil, including but not limited to petroleum, fuel oil, lubricating oil and oil refuse.
OWNER or OPERATOR
Any person owning, operating or leasing a vessel as a facility.
PERSON
Includes an individual, business, partnership, firm, corporation, concern, enterprise, trust, company, industry, association or public utility, except individuals on board a public vessel.
PUBLIC VESSEL
A vessel owned or chartered and operated by the United States or by a state or political subdivision thereof, except where such vessel is engaged in commercial activities.
REMOVE or REMOVAL
Refers to the taking of reasonable and appropriate measures to mitigate the damage or impact of the spillage or seepage of oil or toxic or flammable material to the environment of the Town or to the health and safety of the public.
SIGNIFICANT QUANTITY
A volume of oil or toxic or flammable material that, dependent upon the nature of the material and the environmental sensitivity of the area onto or into which it was spilled, would be likely to cause environmental damage or cause a hazard to public health or safety. A gallon or more would in most cases be considered a significant quantity.
SPILL, SPILLAGE
Any accidental, negligent or willful discharge of oil or toxic or flammable material into or onto any land or surface waters within the Town of Huntington.
TOWN
Town of Huntington.
TOXIC MATERIAL
Any material which because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness; or poses a substantial present or potential hazard to human health safety, or the environment.
TRANSFER
The movement of a fluid or material from any vessel or container to another.
VESSEL
Any watercraft or other contrivance, or any part within or thereon, used as a means to hold, store, contain, convey, transport or carry oil, toxic or flammable material on or across the water.
A. 
Any person owning or operating any vessel, vehicle or facility within the Town of Huntington from which oil, toxic or flammable material is spilled in significant quantities onto the land surface or into surface waters or onto any surface where there is a potential for contamination of ground or surface waters shall, as soon as he has knowledge of the spill, notify the Town of Huntington Department of Maritime Services of such spillage. If contact cannot be made with the Department of Maritime Services, said person shall immediately contact the Town's Department of Public Safety.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
B. 
Any person owning or operating any vessel, vehicle or facility within the Town of Huntington from which oil, toxic or flammable material is spilled in significant quantities and who fails to notify the Town of Huntington Department of Maritime Services or the Department of Public Safety of such spillage shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000 or be imprisoned for not more than one year, or shall be subject to both fine and imprisonment.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
C. 
Any person owning or operating any vessel, vehicle or facility within the Town of Huntington from which oil, toxic or flammable material is spilled shall be fully responsible for the containment, cleanup and removal, and for all costs incurred resulting from such spillage.
D. 
Any person owning or operating any vessel, vehicle or facility within the Town of Huntington from which oil, toxic or flammable material is spilled shall fully compensate the Town for all expenses incurred by the Town to contain and prevent the spilled material from contaminating or degrading the environment or from causing a hazard to public health or safety to clean up and remove the spilled material.
[Amended 9-14-2021 by L.L. No. 50-2021]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person or business entity to spill or discharge any oil, toxic or flammable material of significant quantity into or onto any land or waters of the Town of Huntington.
B. 
Any person or entity convicted of violating this section shall be guilty of an offense which, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine of not less than five thousand ($5,000) dollars or more than nine thousand ($9,000) dollars or imprisonment for a period not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day's continued violation of this section shall constitute a separate additional violation. any person or entity found by the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication to have violated this section shall likewise be subject to a monetary penalty within the range of fines authorized herein.
C. 
In addition to the criminal and civil penalties set forth in subdivision (B), the Town Attorney is authorized to commence an action in the name of the Town in a court of competent jurisdiction seeking an injunction to enjoin any violation of and compel compliance with this section, seeking civil penalties in the amount of up to five thousand ($5000) dollars per day, or any part thereof, during which the violation has continued, and seeking any other remedies which the Town Attorney deems necessary and proper.
A. 
The Spillage Committee shall consist of the Director of the Department of Environmental Waste Management, the Director of the Department of Public Safety, the Director of the Department of Engineering Services, the Director of the Department of Maritime Services, the Coordinator for Emergency Preparedness, the Town Attorney, the Chief of the Bureau of Fire Prevention, the President of the Town of Huntington Fire Chief's Council or any designated representative(s) of a Committee member.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
B. 
The Director of the Department of Environmental Waste Management shall call and chair meetings of the Committee. Meetings may also be called at the request of any two Committee members and may be held as often as necessary.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
C. 
The Committee shall collect data, conduct investigations and prepare reports or cause to have the same accomplished as deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.
D. 
The Committee shall report its actions taken under this article and of its recommendations to the Town Board.
E. 
The Committee may from time to time, subject to and with the prior approval of the Town Board, enter into agreements with federal, state or county agencies or other municipalities, offloading or transfer facilities, groups or other persons for the purpose of coordinating and jointly using such equipment and material and personnel necessary to carry out the letter, spirit and intent of this article.
F. 
The Committee shall have such other and further powers necessary to implement and carry out the purpose of this article.
A. 
The Committee shall prepare a spill alert standard operating procedure and update it yearly or as otherwise deemed necessary. Such procedure shall:
(1) 
Contain names and telephone numbers of persons or agencies who must be notified in the event of a spill.
(2) 
Contain the actions to be taken by Town employees and departments when reporting, receiving notification of or responding to a spill.
(3) 
Contain a report form to be filled out by the ranking Town official at the scene of the spill and to be forwarded to the Committee. The report form shall contain, but not be limited to, the date and time of the spill, spill location, volume of material spilled, if known, names of agencies and official present, cause of spill, assessment of impact and action taken by Town or other agencies present.
(4) 
Be distributed to all Town departments and made available to outside agencies or persons upon request.
B. 
The Committee shall prepare a response program (Standard Operating Procedure - Emergency Action Plan) and develop such techniques as can be used for containment or cleanup of spilled oil, toxic or flammable materials.
C. 
The Department of Maritime Services shall be the Town agency designated to provide quick response to spills so as to prevent or mitigate impacts to the environment.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
D. 
The Committee shall recommend the purchase of equipment and have available at all times the necessary materials for the purpose of absorbing and containing any oil, toxic or flammable materials as a result of a spill or seepage into or upon Town lands or surface waters.
E. 
The Director of the Town of Huntington Department of Environmental Waste Management shall be authorized to purchase such materials as the Committee recommends from funds established by the Town Board for such purpose. The Director of Environmental Waste Management will also submit operating or capital budget requests for the Committee to the Supervisor.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
F. 
The Committee shall institute any other programs necessary to carry forward, enforce and implement the intent of this article.
A. 
Any person that causes to have oil, toxic or flammable material in excess of two thousand five hundred (2,500) gallons transferred over or under the surface of the navigable waters of the Town of Huntington, or over which the Town of Huntington has jurisdiction, from a barge or vessel into an onshore or offshore structure shall first obtain a permit from the Town of Huntington Department of Maritime Services, or such other person as may be designated by the Committee, for each transfer, and shall give not less than four hours' notice to the Department of Maritime Services prior to each transfer.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
(1) 
Application for a transfer permit shall be made to the Department of Maritime Services upon an application form as designated by the Department of Environmental Waste Management. Upon the approval of said application and the payment of a fee for each permit, the Town Department of Maritime Services shall issue a permit for each approved transfer. The fees for each permit shall be one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00) for on-shore facilities and two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) for off-shore facilities. For the convenience of an applicant, multiple permits may be applied for and approved to meet the annual transfer needs of said applicant, subject to the right of the Department of Maritime Services to revoke said permits upon twenty-four (24) hours' notice to the applicant.
[Amended 11-2-2023 by L.L. No. 25-2023]
(2) 
Upon notification, a representative from the Department of Maritime Services or any representative or agency that the Committee may designate as an inspection officer shall inspect any unloading/transferring operation or facility. Each operations inspection shall be performed during the time of a transfer and may, at the discretion of the inspector, continue through the entire unloading or transferring of oil, toxic or flammable material. Failure of the inspector to arrive at the appointed hour shall not restrain the permittee from unloading or transferring.
(3) 
In the event that no oil, toxic or flammable material is unloaded or transferred at a facility within any one-month period, an inspection officer shall nevertheless make no less than one (1) inspection per month.
B. 
No transfer of oil, toxic or flammable material of any quantity shall be made from a shoreside vehicle at any time across or under navigable waters of the Town of Huntington to any vessel or barge without securing a transfer permit from the Committee.
C. 
It shall be the obligation and duty of the person or persons unloading or transferring oil, toxic or flammable material to provide at its own cost and expense the necessary transportation to have an inspection officer brought to the vessel that is unloading or transferring such material.
D. 
It shall be the obligation and duty of the person or persons unloading or transferring oil, toxic or flammable material to immediately return the inspection officer to the place of embarkation when the inspection officer is completely satisfied the safe unloading or transfer of material has been completed.
E. 
The inspecting officer shall have free access to move about the vessel and its immediate area in such a manner as to conduct his surveillance in an unhindered manner.
F. 
The presence of the inspecting officer shall in no manner relieve the permittee of any violation that may be incurred during the unloading or transferring operation.
G. 
The inspecting officer shall have the discretionary authority to prevent the transfer in the event that he finds unsatisfactory conditions for the safe transfer of oil, toxic or flammable material as specified in this article. The inspecting officer shall have the right to order the unloading or transfer to be stopped in the event that during the unloading or transfer he finds that a condition has arisen that will prevent the safe transfer of oil, toxic or flammable material as specified in this article.
H. 
The inspecting officer shall forward a written report to the Committee of all inspections. The report shall contain the following information or any additional information that may be required by the Committee:
(1) 
Name of tanker and port of registry.
(2) 
Type of oil, toxic or flammable material and quantity, in gallons, unloaded or transferred.
(3) 
Name of operations supervisor.
(4) 
Condition of the facility, platform, dock and vessel at the time of unloading or transfer.
(5) 
Detailed log of all events that occur.
A. 
All facilities requiring inspection pursuant to § 120-32 of this article shall have the following safety devices in place and in good working order:
(1) 
Storage tank level indicators.
(2) 
Storage tank high alarm switches.
(3) 
Storage tank high level alarm switches designed to shut down any pump that is transferring oil, toxic or flammable material into any tank which reaches the high level tank, or appropriate administrative control as approved by the Director of Environmental Waste Management.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
(4) 
Storage tank vapor and liquid relief valves and vacuum breakers and/or vents which comply with industry standards.
(5) 
Check valves in lines between ship and tanks must be provided to prevent drainage of the tanks in the event that the lines or connecting hoses are broken to come loose from the ship.
(6) 
Sufficient diked area volumes must be provided around each storage tank to safely contain the entire tank volume plus ten percent (10%), inclusive of standing surface water.
(7) 
Pumps must be provided to remove water from the diked area, which will be regularly inspected to make sure no water is inside the diked area. In addition, the dikes shall be regularly inspected for leakage or deterioration.
B. 
Regular visual inspection and testing of safety equipment shall be performed by the operator of a facility that requires Town inspection pursuant to § 120-32 of this article and shall occur at the request of a Town Inspector not more often than every thirty (30) days.
[Amended 11-6-2019 by L.L. No. 56-2019; 9-14-2021 by L.L. No. 50-2021]
In addition to any other penalties hereinabove provided for, any person convicted of an offense for violating any provision of this article may be fined not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.) or may be imprisoned for a period not to exceed fifteen (15) days, or may be punished by both fine and imprisonment. Each day or part thereof the violation continues shall constitute a separate offense punishable in like manner. Any person by the Bureau of Administrative Adjudication to have violated a provision of this article shall likewise be subject to a monetary penalty in an amount within the range of fines authorized herein.
[Amended 7-13-2021 by L.L. No. 35-2021]
This article shall be enforced by the Department of Maritime Services and any other agency the Town Board of Huntington may designate, in their discretion.
This article shall be construed to be ancillary to and supplementing any other laws now in force affecting or tending to affect the purposes set forth in § 120-28, Report of spillage required; penalties; cleanup requirements, of this article.