Text: H01463 Text: H01465 Text: H01400 - H01499 Text: H Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Amend House File 681 as follows:
1 2 #1. By striking page 1, line 1, through page 10,
1 3 line 31, and inserting the following:
1 4 "Sec. ___. NEW SECTION. 455H.1 PURPOSE.
1 5 The purpose of this chapter is to promote
1 6 environmental compliance in the business community by
1 7 providing incentives to conduct environmental audits.
1 8 Sec. ___. NEW SECTION. 455H.2 APPLICABILITY.
1 9 This chapter applies to small businesses. For
1 10 purposes of this chapter, "small business" means a
1 11 person, corporation, partnership, or other entity
1 12 which employs one hundred or fewer individuals and
1 13 shall include all facilities and operations owned by
1 14 the entity.
1 15 Sec. ___. NEW SECTION. 455H.3 IMMUNITY.
1 16 A small business shall be immune from any
1 17 administrative or civil penalty or any criminal
1 18 penalties for negligent acts if the small business
1 19 meets all of the following criteria:
1 20 1. The small business makes a good faith effort to
1 21 comply with applicable local, state, and federal
1 22 environmental laws as demonstrated by either of the
1 23 following:
1 24 a. The small business receives onsite compliance
1 25 assistance from a government or government-supported
1 26 program that offers services to small businesses and
1 27 violations of local, state, and federal environmental
1 28 laws are detected during the compliance assistance.
1 29 If a small business requests from the department of
1 30 natural resources a period of time to remedy
1 31 violations after receiving compliance assistance from
1 32 a confidential assistance program, the small business
1 33 must promptly disclose the violations to the
1 34 department.
1 35 b. The small business conducts an environmental
1 36 audit and promptly reports all violations of local,
1 37 state, and federal environmental laws to the
1 38 department of natural resources discovered during the
1 39 audit.
1 40 In order to meet the criteria in this subsection,
1 41 all violations of local, state, and federal
1 42 environmental laws must be reported to the department
1 43 before the violation is otherwise discovered by or
1 44 reported to the department.
1 45 2. The small business has not been subject to an
1 46 information request, warning letter, notice of
1 47 violation, field citation, citizen suit, or other
1 48 enforcement action or received penalty mitigation for
1 49 any current violation within the past three years and
1 50 the small business has not been subject to two or more
2 1 enforcement actions for environmental violations
2 2 within the past five years.
2 3 3. The small business shall remedy any violations
2 4 of local, state, and federal environmental laws within
2 5 the shortest practicable time which shall not exceed
2 6 one hundred eighty days from the time the violation is
2 7 detected. However, the small business may request an
2 8 additional period of one hundred eighty days if the
2 9 small business demonstrates the violation cannot be
2 10 remedied by implementing pollution prevention
2 11 measures. For any violation which cannot be remedied
2 12 within ninety days from the time of detection, the
2 13 small business shall submit a written schedule to the
2 14 department of natural resources or the department
2 15 shall issue a compliance order with a schedule.
2 16 Remedying a violation includes, but is not limited to,
2 17 remediating any environmental harm associated with the
2 18 violation and implementing steps to prevent a
2 19 recurrence of the violation.
2 20 4. All of the following apply:
2 21 a. The violation has not caused actual serious
2 22 harm to public health, safety, or the environment.
2 23 b. The violation is not one that may present an
2 24 imminent and substantial endangerment to public health
2 25 or the environment.
2 26 c. The violation does not present a significant
2 27 health, safety, or environmental threat.
2 28 d. The violation does not involve criminal
2 29 conduct.
2 30 Sec. ___. NEW SECTION. 455H.4 ENVIRONMENTAL
2 31 AUDITS AND COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE.
2 32 1. An environmental audit is a systematic,
2 33 documented, periodic, and objective review by
2 34 regulated entities of facility operations and
2 35 practices related to meeting local, state, and federal
2 36 environmental laws.
2 37 2. Compliance assistance is information or
2 38 assistance provided by a governmental agency or
2 39 department or government-supported entity to help the
2 40 regulated community comply with legally mandated
2 41 environmental requirements. Compliance assistance
2 42 does not include enforcement inspections or
2 43 enforcement actions. If a small business requests
2 44 assistance from a governmental agency which is unable
2 45 to provide assistance, the governmental agency shall
2 46 provide a prompt response to the small business
2 47 indicating that such assistance is not available and
2 48 providing the names of other public and private
2 49 sources of assistance that may be available.
2 50 Sec. ___. NEW SECTION. 455H.5 ENFORCEMENT.
3 1 1. Violations detected through inspections or
3 2 field citations reported to an agency by a member of
3 3 the public or an employee of the small business,
3 4 identified in notices of citizen suits, or previously
3 5 reported to an agency or department as required by
3 6 applicable local, state, and federal environmental
3 7 laws, regulations, or permits remain enforceable.
3 8 2. A small business is subject to all applicable
3 9 enforcement response policies for all violations that
3 10 had been detected through compliance assistance
3 11 programs and were not remedied within the corrections
3 12 period.
3 13 3. The actions of the state in providing
3 14 compliance assistance is not a legal defense in any
3 15 enforcement action. This subsection does not limit
3 16 the state's discretion to use information relating to
3 17 violations revealed through compliance assistance as
3 18 evidence in subsequent enforcement actions."
3 19 #2. By renumbering as necessary.
3 20
3 21
3 22
3 23 BURNETT of Story
3 24 HF 681.209 77
3 25 tm/jj/28
Text: H01463 Text: H01465 Text: H01400 - H01499 Text: H Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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