Santa Clara County Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

The purpose of this chapter is the protection of health, life, resources and property through prevention and control of unauthorized discharges of hazardous materials.

(Ord. No. NS-517.72, § 2, 4-15-03)

(a) No person may cause, suffer or permit the storage of hazardous materials:

(1) In a manner which violates a provision of this chapter or any other local, federal or state statute, code, rule or regulation relating to hazardous materials; or

(2) In a manner which causes an unauthorized discharge of hazardous materials or poses a significant risk of such unauthorized discharge.

(b) The Director will have discretion to exempt an applicant from any specific requirement of this chapter which is not required pursuant to state or federal statute or regulation, or to require the applicant to meet additional or modified requirements, where such action would be appropriate and consistent with achieving the general obligation of this chapter for protecting public health, safety, and welfare.

(Ord. No. NS-517.72, § 2, 4-15-03)

(a) Any person who stores any material regulated by Section B11-280 which is not excluded by Section B11-281 must obtain and keep current a hazardous materials storage permit.

(b) All such hazardous materials must be contained in conformity with Article 3 of this chapter.

(c) The storage of such hazardous materials must be in conformance with the approved hazardous materials business plan or hazardous materials/waste registration form.

(Ord. No. NS-517.72, § 2, 4-15-03)

In addition to the definitions in Chapter I, the following are defined for purposes of this chapter:

(a) Abandoned, when referring to a storage facility, means out of service and not safeguarded in compliance with this chapter.

(b) Facility means a building or buildings, appurtenant structures, and surrounding land area used by a single business entity at a single location or site.

(c) Hazard class means explosives, blasting agents, flammable liquids, combustible liquids, flammable solids, oxidizers, organic peroxides, corrosive materials, flammable gases, nonflammable gases, poisons, poison gases, irritating materials, etiologic agents, radioactive materials, and other regulated materials (ORM). For purposes of this chapter, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) definitions in 49 CFR, Part 173, as amended, will be utilized; however, whenever the definitions in 49 CFR 173 refer to transportation or hazards associated with transportation, they will be deemed to refer to storage or other regulated activity under this chapter.

(d) Hazardous material means any material which is subject to regulation pursuant to Article 2 of this chapter. A mixture will be deemed to be a hazardous material if it either is a waste and contains any material regulated pursuant to Article 2 of this chapter, or is a nonwaste and contains one percent by volume or more of any material regulated pursuant to Article 2 of this chapter.

(e) Hazardous materials business plan means a document which meets the requirements of California Health and Safety Code § 25504, as amended, or if applicable, the notification made pursuant to Health and Safety Code § 25503.5(c)(6)(D), as amended.

(f) Officer means the employee assigned by the Director to administer this chapter or any designee of such employee.

(g) Permit means any hazardous materials storage permit issued pursuant to this chapter, as well as any additional approvals thereto.

(h) Permit quantity limit means the maximum amount of hazardous material that can be stored in a storage facility. Separate permit quantity limits will be set for each storage facility for which a permit is obtained in accordance with the requirements of this chapter.

(i) Pipes means pipeline systems which are used in connection with the storage of hazardous materials exclusively within the confines of a facility and which are not intended to transport hazardous materials in interstate or intrastate commerce or to transfer hazardous materials in bulk to or from a marine vessel.

(j) Primary containment means the first level of containment, i.e. the inside portion of that container which comes into immediate contact on its inner surface with the hazardous material being contained.

(k) Product-tight means impervious to the hazardous material which is contained, or is to be contained, so as to prevent the seepage of the hazardous material from the primary containment. To be product-tight, the container must be made of a material that is not subject to physical or chemical deterioration by the hazardous material being contained.

(l) Secondary containment means the level of containment external to and separate from the primary containment.

(m) Single-walled means construction with walls made of but one thickness of material. Laminated, coated or clad materials will be considered as single-walled.

(n) Storage facility means any one or combination of tanks, sumps, wet floors, waste-treatment facilities, pipes, vaults or other portable or fixed containers, used or designed to be used for the storage of hazardous materials at a facility.

(o) STP means standard temperature and pressure.

(p) Sump means a pit or well in which liquids collect.

(q) Unauthorized discharge means any release or emission of any hazardous material which does not conform to the provisions of this chapter, unless such release is in accordance with the release regulations of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and California Air Resources Board, with a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, with waste discharge requirements established by the Regional Water Quality Control Board pursuant to the Porter Cologne Water Quality Act, or with local sewer pretreatment requirements for publicly owned treatment works. Controlling agencies may differ for different local jurisdictions.

(r) Wet floor means a floor which is used to routinely collect, contain or maintain standing liquids or to transmit standing liquids on a more or less continuous basis.

(Ord. No. NS-517.72, § 2, 4-15-03)