Santa Clara County Municipal Code Art. 5 Responsibilities

(a) Liquids and solids at STP. As soon as any person in charge of a storage facility or responsible for emergency response for a facility has knowledge of any confirmed or unconfirmed unauthorized discharge of a hazardous material which is liquid or solid at STP, such person must take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery and containment and cleanup of such discharge and must notify the Director of the occurrence as required by this subsection.

(1) Confirmed unauthorized discharge.

a. Recordable unauthorized discharge. Any recordable unauthorized discharge must be contained and safely disposed of in an appropriate manner by the permittee, and such occurrence and the response thereto must be recorded in the facility's monitoring records. A recordable unauthorized discharge is any unauthorized discharge of a hazardous material which meets all of the following criteria:

(i) The discharge is from a primary containment to a secondary containment or to a rigid aboveground surface covering capable of containing the discharge until cleanup of the hazardous material is completed; and

(ii) The permittee is able to adequately clean up the discharge before it escapes from such secondary containment or such aboveground surface; but if the cleanup requires more than eight hours, it becomes a reportable discharge in accordance with Section B11-305(a)(1)b, below; and

(iii) There is no increase in the hazard of fire or explosion, nor is there any production of a flammable or poisonous gas, nor is there any deterioration of such secondary containment or such rigid above-ground surface.

An otherwise recordable unauthorized discharge does not need to be recorded if the discharge is not the result of the deterioration or failure of the primary container and the quantity discharged is less than one ounce by weight, and can be cleaned up within 15 minutes.

b. Reportable unauthorized discharge. Any unauthorized discharge which is not determined to be recordable under Subsection B11-305(a)(1)a, above, must be reported to the Director immediately. The reporting party must provide information to the Director relating to the ability of the permittee to contain and dispose of the hazardous material, the estimated time it will take to complete containment and disposal, and the degree of hazard created. The Director may verify that the hazardous material is being contained and appropriately disposed. The Director, at any time upon a determination that the permittee is not adequately containing and disposing of such hazardous material, has the power and authority to undertake and direct an emergency response in order to protect the public health and/or safety.

(2) Unconfirmed unauthorized discharge.

a. Indication of loss in inventory records. Whenever a material balance or other inventory record, employed as a monitoring technique indicates a loss of hazardous material, and no unauthorized discharge has been confirmed by other means, the permittee will have five working days to determine whether or not there has been an unauthorized discharge. If before the end of such period it is determined that there has been no unauthorized discharge, an entry explaining the occurrence must be made in the facility's monitoring records. Where the permittee has not been able, within such period, to determine that there has been no unauthorized discharge, an unauthorized discharge is deemed confirmed and the permittee must proceed in accordance with Subsection B11-305(a)(1)b, above.

b. Test results. Whenever any test results suggest a possible unauthorized discharge, and no unauthorized discharge has been confirmed by other means, the permittee will have five working days to retest. If second test results obtained within that period establish that there has been no unauthorized discharge, the results of both tests must be recorded in the facility's monitoring records. If it has not been established within such period that there has been no unauthorized discharge, an unauthorized discharge is deemed confirmed and the permittee must proceed in accordance with Subsection B11-305(a)(1)b, above.

(b) Gases at STP. Any person in charge of a storage facility or responsible for emergency response for a storage facility, who has knowledge of any unauthorized discharge of a hazardous material which is a gas at STP, must immediately report such discharge to the Director if such discharge presents a threat of imminent danger to public health and safety.

(Ord. No. NS-517.72, § 2, 4-15-03)

Any person responsible for storing the hazardous material must institute and complete all actions necessary to remedy the effects of any unauthorized discharge, whether sudden or gradual. The Director must undertake actions to remedy the effects of such unauthorized discharge only if he or she determines that it is reasonably necessary under the circumstances to do so. The responsible party will be liable to reimburse the County for all costs incurred by the County in remedying the effects of such unauthorized discharge, including the costs of fighting fires to the extent allowed by law. This responsibility is not conditioned upon evidence of willfulness or negligence of the party storing the hazardous material(s) in causing or allowing such discharge. Any responsible party who undertakes action to remedy the effects of unauthorized discharge(s) will not be barred by this chapter from seeking to recover appropriate costs and expenditures from other responsible parties except as provided by Section B11-307.

(Ord. No. NS-517.72, § 2, 4-15-03)

The permittee must indemnify, hold harmless and defend the County against any claim, cause of action, disability, loss, liability, damage, cost or expense, howsoever arising, which occurs by reason of an unauthorized discharge in connection with the permittee's operations under this permit, except as arises from the County's sole willful act or sole active negligence.

(Ord. No. NS-517.72, § 2, 4-15-03)