[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of County
Commissioners of Doña Ana County as indicated in article histories.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 3-30-1999 by Ord. No. 178-99]
This article applies to all persons, business
entities or facilities located within the unincorporated areas of
Doña Ana County which use, store, manufacture, dispose or dispense
of the chemical/hazardous materials identified herein.
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
The Supervisor of Emergency Management or his/her
designee shall have the primary responsibility in developing the standards
and procedures for the purpose of chemical hazardous material emergency
management within Doña Ana County. All such policies and procedures
developed by the Office of Emergency Management shall be incorporated
into the County's Emergency Operation Plan (EOP). The Chairperson
of the Board of County Commissioners is hereby designated to approve
proposed amendments to the EOP and to sign same.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
- CFR
- The Code of Federal Regulations.[Added 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
- CLEAN AIR ACT, REGULATION CAA 112(R) (CAA)
- A federal mandate which requires all owners or operators of a stationary facility to develop and implement safety guidelines for all activities involving certain amounts of extremely hazardous substances (EHS) stored or handled at their site in quantities as defined by SARA Title III.
- EMERGENCY OPERATION PLAN (EOP)
- A master plan previously referred to as the "All Hazard Emergency Plan," developed to ensure readiness in the event of a technological or natural disaster, including chemical or hazardous material spills, and to coordinate the various resources available within the community in order to manage the scene and protect life and property.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND COMMUNITY RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT (EPCRA)
- Title III of the Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act (SARA), which requires communities to identify use or storage of hazardous chemicals by local facilities and which requires communities to develop emergency plans in case of a significant release.
- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)
- The federal agency which defines, mandates, and enforces EPCRA and the Clean Air Act 112(R) (CAA).
- EMERGENCY RESPONSE PERSONNEL
- Those personnel required to mitigate a hazardous materials incident.
- EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE (EHS)
- Any one of 356 hazardous chemicals on a list compiled by EPA to provide a focus for state and local emergency planning activities.[1]
- HAZARDOUS MATERIALS EMERGENCY RESPONSE (HMER)
- The emergency response plan that dictates the amount of resources necessary to mitigate a variety of chemical releases dependent on certain factors such as type of chemical released, amount released, estimated public population which could be affected, etc.
- LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE (LEPC)
- A local committee required by SARA Title III and appointed by the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), responsible for developing and implementing response plans to chemical/hazardous materials emergencies. The emergency response personnel appointed to the LEPC represent fire, law enforcement, medical, public health, emergency management, hospital, public works, environmental, facility owners and operators, private citizens and chief elected officials. The County's Office of Emergency Management serves on the Executive Board of the LEPC.
- NFPA 704, IDENTIFICATION OF THE FIRE HAZARDS OF MATERIALS
- A system of readily recognizable and easily understood markings, which will give at a glance a general idea of the inherent hazards of any material and the order of severity of these hazards as they relate to fire response.
- REPORTABLE QUANTITY (RQ)
- An amount of a Superfund hazardous substance or extremely hazardous substance that, if released, must be reported under the emergency release reporting requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act or those of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).
- RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN (RMP)
- A facility plan which may be required by the EPA, depending upon quantities used, stored, manufactured, dispensed or disposed, evaluating the worst-case scenario risk to the public from hazardous materials located within that facility and mapping out the potentially affected areas and procedure the facility will follow to mitigate the incident.
- THRESHOLD PLANNING QUANTITY (TPQ)
- The amount of an extremely hazardous substance present at
a facility above which the facility's owner/operator must give emergency
planning notification to the SERC and LEPC through the Supervisor
of Emergency Management.[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
- TIER II FORM
- An annual inventory form adopted by SARA Title III and the
New Mexico Hazardous Chemical Information Act, NMSA § 74-4E-1
et seq., that is used by the facility in fulfilling the reporting
requirements.[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Appendix 1, List of Extremely Hazardous
Substances, included at the end of this chapter.
The LEPC shall evaluate and establish resources
necessary to prepare and respond to potential chemical accidents within
Doña Ana County. The LEPC, including any subcommittees appointed
thereby, shall:
A.
Identify hazardous cargo transportation routes through
Doña Ana County.
B.
Review and disclose to the public, upon request, the
individual facilities' risk management plans identifying their respective
on-site and off-site risks, in order to update and coordinate the
Emergency Operations Plan, in accordance with EPA CAA 112(R).
C.
Assist with the training of emergency response personnel
through implementation of emergency responses and exercises, in conjunction
with the Office of Emergency Management.
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
The Doña Ana County Fire Emergency Services
shall provide initial response to incidents involving hazardous materials
and chemicals as mandated by the Hazardous Materials Emergency Response
Plan (HMER) of the New Mexico All Hazard Emergency Management Act
(NMSA § 12-10-1 et seq.), as amended, and by the County's
Emergency Operations Plan.
Emergency response personnel and industry personnel
should complete training and receive certification specified by the
New Mexico Department of Public Safety, consistent with directives
from the LEPC.
A.
Facilities which use, store, manufacture, dispose
or dispense possessing any EHS in an amount equal to or exceeding
the threshold planning quantities identified and defined within Appendix
A or Appendix B attached to EPCRA and CFR 40 Part 355, as amended
from time to time, collectively referred and incorporated herein as
Appendix 1,[1] and a required minimum threshold of 10,000 pounds for
chemicals listed in CFR 40 Part 302, Table 302.4, as amended from
time to time, also referred to and incorporated herein as Appendix
2,[2] must declare the inventory, on the Doña Ana County
Registered Businesses Storage of Hazardous Material/Chemical Facility
Inventory Form also, referred to and incorporated herein as Appendix
3,[3] to the Supervisor of Emergency Management or his/her designee
and may further be required by state and federal law to provide a
facility risk management plan.
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
B.
In addition to the disclosure and risk management
plan referenced above, facilities may also be subject to the state
requirement to file a Tier II form.
C.
An increase to a facility's EHS inventory which causes
the level of the EHS to meet or exceed the TPQ's reflected in Appendix
1, as amended from time to time, may necessitate the filing of an
initial disclosure, or an amendment to same. It may also necessitate
a risk management plan, or an amendment to same.
D.
The federal government amends the above referenced
list of Extremely Hazardous Substances and their Threshold Planning
Quantities and list of Hazardous Substances from time to time. The
intent of the ordinance is to require disclosures based upon the most
recent list of EHSs and TPQs. See Appendices 1 and 2 attached to this
chapter.
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
E.
All disclosures must be made within 15 days of the
acquisition of the chemical or hazardous material identified in Appendices
1 and 2, as may be amended from time to time. A copy of a sample disclosure
form is attached hereto at Appendix 3.[4]
[4]
Editor's Note: Appendixes 1, 2 and 3 are included at the end
of this chapter.
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
All sites containing any chemical or hazardous
material identified at Appendices 1 and 2[1] in an amount equal to or exceeding the TPQ shall be required
to post a placard identifying the nature of the hazard or chemical
present on the premises. The placard shall be metal and of a minimum
size of 15 inches by 15 inches. Each site shall display the placard
in a readily visible location for emergency responders. More than
one placard may be required to be posted, dependent upon the size
of the building or facility site, at the discretion of the Supervisor
of the Office of Emergency Management or his designee at the time
of the on-site inspection.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendixes 1 and 2 are included at the end
of this chapter.
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
Facilities using, storing or manufacturing,
disposing or dispensing the EHS or chemical materials in quantities
equal to or exceeding the TPQs shall permit inspection by the Supervisor
of the Office of Emergency Management or his/her designee to ensure
compliance with the disclosure requirements and with other federal
and state mandates relating to the safe storage of such materials.
A.
Failure of any person subject to this ordinance to
comply with the disclosure of chemical and/or hazardous inventory
required herein, including but not limited to, the failure to cooperate
with official inspections and/or the failure to provide a facility
risk management plan as required by EPA and/or the failure to post
the required identification placard, constitutes a threat to the health
and safety of first responders, the public and the environment. Said
violations shall be enforceable by prosecution in any court of competent
jurisdiction of the County.
C.
Prosecution of a violation of this article may be
commenced by the issuance of a citation charging the violation. Citations
may be issued by Codes Enforcement Officers of the County or by the
County's Supervisor of the Office of Emergency Management or his designee.
[Amended 9-27-2011 by Ord. No. 235-2011]
