376.303 Powers and duties of the Department of
Environmental Protection. ---
(1) The department has the power and the duty to:
(a) Establish rules, including, but not limited to, construction
standards, permitting or registration of tanks, maintenance and installation
standards, and removal or disposal standards, to implement the intent of ss.
376.30-376.319 and to regulate underground and aboveground facilities and
their onsite integral piping systems. Such rules may establish standards for
underground facilities which store hazardous substances or pollutants, and
marine fueling facilities and aboveground facilities, not covered by chapter
377, which store pollutants. Beginning January 1, 1991, the department shall
register bulk product facilities and shall issue annual renewals of such
registrations. Requirements for facilities with underground storage tanks
having storage capacities over 110 gallons that store hazardous substances
shall not be effective until January 1, 1991. The department shall maintain a
compliance verification program for this section, which may include
investigations or inspections to locate improperly abandoned tanks. The
department may contract with other governmental agencies or private
consultants to perform compliance verification activities. The contracts may
provide for an advance of working capital to local governments to expedite the
implementation of the compliance verification program. Counties with permit or
registration fees for storage tanks or storage tank systems are not eligible
for advance funding for the compliance verification program.
(b) Establish by rule a registration fee schedule for all storage
systems regulated under this act sufficient to cover all costs associated with
registration.
1. Revenues derived from fees imposed upon petroleum storage systems
shall be deposited in the Inland Protection Trust Fund. All other revenues
derived from such fees shall be deposited into the Water Quality Assurance
Trust Fund.
2. The fee schedule shall provide as follows:
a. For new facilities, an initial registration fee of $50 per tank
is due and payable within 30 days after receipt of notification by the
department.
b. For facilities at which tanks are replaced, a tank replacement
fee of $25 per tank is due and payable within 30 days after receipt of
notification by the department.
c. An annual renewal fee of $25 per tank is due and payable by July
1 of each year, except that stationary tanks of 110 gallons or less at
nonresidential locations and agricultural tanks of 550 gallons or less shall
not be assessed the fee.
d. Any payment made more than 30 days after the date it is due is
delinquent and the registrant must pay an additional fee of $20 for each tank
with respect to which any payment is delinquent.
e. Bulk product facilities shall be assessed a registration fee and
an annual renewal fee not to exceed $1,000 per tank.
3. The department may also assess fees retroactively against late
registrants for tanks for which a registration fee should have been paid
beginning on or after July 1, 1986. Annual registration fees for all regulated
tanks shall continue to accrue forward from the date of registration until
tank removal or closure. Payment is due within 30 days of receipt of
notification by the department.
4. The department shall notify each registrant of the annual fee
requirement no later than June 1 of each year. Fees are due and payable by
July 1. For each regulated facility registered with the department under this
section, a registration placard shall be issued to the tank's owner listing
the number of tanks registered and the amount of registration fees paid, to be
displayed in plain view at the office, kiosk, or other suitable location at
the facility where the tanks are located.
(c) Establish a registration program for aboveground hazardous
substance tanks and compression vessels.
1. Owners or operators shall register their tanks and vessels with
the department by December 31, 1992, pay initial registration fees by July 1,
1993, and pay annual renewal registration fees by July 1, 1994, in accordance
with the requirements of this subsection. Flow-through process tanks,
liquefied petroleum gas tanks, hydraulic lift tanks, electrical equipment
tanks, storage tanks containing hazardous wastes as defined under Subtitle C
of the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act, stormwater tanks, wastewater
collection or discharge systems, or storage tanks located entirely within a
building or portion of a building with an impervious floor that contains no
valves or drains that would allow a discharge from the system are not required
to register. Pollutant tanks required to be registered under s. 376.303(1)(b)
or s. 376.323 shall not be required to be registered under this paragraph. The
department shall, whenever possible, accept electronically transmitted
registration data.
2. Registration fees.
a. Owners of tanks or vessels shall submit to the department an
initial registration fee of $50 per tank or vessel. The fee shall be paid
within 30 days after receipt of billing by the department.
b. Owners of tanks or vessels shall submit an annual renewal
registration fee of $25 per tank or vessel within 30 days after receipt of
billing from the department.
c. Total annual registration fees for initial fees or renewals
shall not exceed $2,500 per facility.
d. Revenues derived from such fees shall be deposited into the
Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund.
(d) Establish a registration program for drycleaning facilities and
wholesale supply facilities.
1. Owners or operators of drycleaning facilities and wholesale
supply facilities and real property owners suppliers shall jointly register
each facility owned and in operation with the department by June 30, 1995, pay
initial registration fees by December 31, 1995, and pay annual renewal
registration fees by December 31, 1996, and each year thereafter, in
accordance with this subsection. If the registration form cannot be jointly
submitted, then the applicant shall provide notice of the registration to
other interested parties. The department shall establish reasonable
requirements for the registration of such facilities. The department shall
use reasonable efforts to identify and notify drycleaning facilities and
wholesale supply facilities of the registration requirements by certified
mail, return receipt requested. The department shall provide to the Department
of Revenue a copy of each applicant's registration materials, within 30
working days of the receipt of the materials. This copy may be in such
electronic format as the two agencies mutually designate.
2.
a. The department shall issue an invoice for annual registration
fees to each registered drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility by
December 31 of each year. Owners of drycleaning facilities and wholesale
supply facilities shall submit to the department an initial fee of $100 and an
annual renewal registration fee of $100 for each drycleaning facility or
wholesale supply facility owned and in operation. The fee shall be paid within
30 days after receipt of billing by the department.
b. Revenues derived from registration and renewal fees shall be
deposited into the Hazardous Waste Management Trust Fund to be used as
provided in s. 376.3078.
(e) Establish a technical advisory committee composed of
knowledgeable participants from the department, local governments, regulated
industries, and environmental interests for the purpose of recommending
legislation for the regulation of aboveground storage tank systems and
compression vessels containing hazardous substances and pollutants.
(f) Submit proposed legislation to the President of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1, 1994.
(g) Provide for the development and implementation of criteria and
plans to prevent and meet occurrences of pollution of various kinds and
degrees.
(h) Establish a requirement that any facility covered by this act be
subject to complete and thorough inspections at reasonable times. Any facility
which has discharged a pollutant in violation of the provisions of ss.
376.30-376.319 shall be fully and carefully monitored by the department to
ensure that such discharge does not continue to occur.
(i) Keep an accurate record of the costs and expenses incurred for
the removal of prohibited discharges and, except as otherwise provided by law,
thereafter diligently pursue the recovery of any sums so incurred from the
person responsible or from the United States Government under any applicable
federal act, unless the department finds the amount involved too small or the
likelihood of recovery too uncertain.
(j) Bring an action on behalf of the state to enforce the liabilities
imposed by ss. 376.30-376.319. The provisions of ss. 403.121, 403.131,
403.141, and 403.161 apply to enforcement under ss.
376.30-376.319.
(2) The powers and duties of the department under ss.
376.30-376.319 shall extend to the land mass of the state not described in ss.
376.011-376.21.
(3)
(a) The department may inspect the installation of any pollutant
storage tank. Any person installing a pollutant storage tank, as defined in s.
489.105(17), shall certify that such installation is in accordance with the
standards adopted pursuant to this section. The department shall promulgate a
form for such certification which shall at a minimum include:
1. A signed statement by the certified pollutant storage systems
contractor, as defined in s. 489.105(3)(p), that such installation is in
accordance with standards adopted pursuant to this section; and
2. Signed statements by the onsite persons performing or supervising
the installation of a pollutant storage tank, which statements shall be
required of tasks that are necessary for the proper installation of such
tank.
(b)
1. The department shall, to the greatest extent possible, contract
with local governments to provide for the administration of its
responsibilities under this subsection. Such contracts may allow for
administration outside the jurisdictional boundaries of a local government.
However, no such contract shall be entered into unless the local government is
deemed capable of carrying out such responsibilities to the satisfaction of
the department.
2. To this end, the department shall inform local governments as to
the provisions of this section and as to their options hereunder. At its
option, any local government may apply to the department for such purpose on
forms to be provided by the department and shall supply such information as
the department may require.
(c) The department may enjoin the installation or use of any
pollutant storage tank that has been or is being installed in violation of
this section or chapter 489.
(d) No new or replaced tanks at bulk product facilities may be put
into service or filled with pollutants until the facility has been inspected
by the department and determined to be in compliance with department rules
adopted pursuant to this chapter. During routine compliance inspections, the
department will verify that a facility has a current spill prevention and
response certificate issued by the Department of Environmental
Protection.
(4) The department may require a property owner to provide site
access for activities associated with contamination assessment or remedial
action. Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit an action by the
property owner to compel restoration of his or her property or to recover
damages from the person responsible for the polluting condition requiring
assessment or remedial action activities.
History: s. 84, ch. 83-310; s. 9, ch. 84-338; s. 12, ch. 86-159; s. 2, ch.
87-374; s. 17, ch. 88-156; s. 1, ch. 88-331; s. 6, ch. 89-143; s. 3, ch.
89-188; s. 23, ch. 90-54; s. 5, ch. 92-30; s. 27, ch. 93-166; s. 5, ch.
94-355; s. 298, ch. 94-356; s. 1015, ch. 95-148; s. 2, ch.
95-239.