Environmental Contamination Ordinance
- SECTION I. PURPOSE
- SECTION II. AUTHORITY
- SECTION III. ADOPTION OF RULES AND AMENDMENTS
- SECTION IV. APPLICABILITY
- SECTION V. DEFINITIONS
- SECTION VI. PROHIBITIONS
- SECTION VII. PERMITS
- SECTION VIII. POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF INSPECTIONS, AND INPECTION PROVISIONS
- SECTION IX. ENFORCEMENT
- SECTION X. APPEALS
- SECTION XI. SEVERABILITY
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING PUBLIC HEALTH PROTECTION RELATED TO LEAD,
CADMIUM, TRICHLORO-ETHYLENE AND OTHER IDENTIFIED CONTAMINANTS
SECTION I. PURPOSE. The purpose of
this ordinance is to provide for regulation of use, and mandatory
testing of soil on designated properties located within the County.
Certain Regulated Contaminants, as herein defined, have been
identified in soil and in groundwater on both residential and
commercial properties within the County. Most, if not all of these
residential properties known to have been contaminated have been
remediated to site-specific standards. Very few commercial
properties have been remediated. New residential construction
continues in areas of possible contamination. Regulated Contaminants
pose a real threat to the health and well-being of individuals who
are exposed to soil and water having elevated levels of the
contaminants. In particular, children are at risk from long-term
exposure to such Regulated Contaminants causing brain dysfunction
and possible death. The County has identified certain areas where
the Regulated Contaminants exceed allowable levels in residential
yard soil or in groundwater. Such areas have been identified by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Missouri Department
of Natural Resources (MDNR). This statute is intended to protect the
general health of citizens, particularly children, from unnecessary
exposure to contamination.
SECTION II. AUTHORITY. This ordinance is enacted pursuant to Section 192.300, R.S.Mo., and is not in conflict with any rules or regulations authorized by the State Department of Health & Senior Services.
SECTION III. ADOPTION OF RULES AND AMENDMENTS. The Jasper County Health Department shall promulgate rules to require testing of soil and groundwater in private wells, which can be more restrictive than state guidelines per R.S.Mo. § 192.290.
SECTION IV. APPLICABILITY.
For the purposes of well testing requirements these regulations
apply to all real property in the County. For soil testing
requirements these regulations apply to the Superfund designated
areas that generally include properties from Kansas State Line on
the West to County Road 170 on the East and Newton County Line on
the South to Highway M on the North. For soil testing, areas within
these boundaries that are known to be non-contaminated will be
exempted from the requirements of this ordinance. These areas will
be designated using existing EPA and MDNR testing data and
supplemented with local testing data. These areas will be reviewed
annually as EPA/MDNR continue cleanup in the county. Maps depicting
these potential contamination areas will be publicly available and
updated annually.
Applicability of this ordinance will cease 6 months after completion
by the EPA of Operable Unit 1 remediation project, which includes
remediation of all lead mining and milling wastes and soil that
exceed concentrations constituting a risk to residents.
SECTION V. DEFINITIONS. The
following words and phrases used within this Ordinance have the
following meanings:
5.01 Department: The County Health Department.
5.02 Commission: The County Commission.
5.03 County: Jasper, County, Missouri, a first class county.
5.04 The Health Officer: The Administrator of the County
Health Department
or an
authorized representative.
5.05 Contaminated Soil: soil having concentrations of
Regulated Contaminants
which exceed
allowable levels established by the EPA, MDNR, or the State
or County
Department of Health.
5.06 Person: An individual, corporation or other legal
entity.
5.07 Stop Order: A written order issued by the County Health
Officer, or a
designated
representative, to stop all construction, installation, modification
or occupation
of any dwelling, child occupied facility or recreation area in
areas of
known contamination if in violation of this ordinance.
5.08 Required Soil Testing: Soil tests which conform to the
requirements of the
EPA and the
MDNR for the presence of Regulated Contaminants.
5.09 Required Water Well Testing: Water quality tests which
conform to the
requirements
of the EPA and MDNR for water quality testing for Regulated
Contaminants.
5.10 Regulated Contaminants: Those contaminants in the soil
or water well
which are
regulated by federal, state or local laws and those contaminants
which the EPA
or MDNR finds may be hazardous to public health.
Contaminants
shall specifically include: Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic,
Trichloroethylene ("TCE"), and any other heavy metal, organic
solvent which
is known to be, or suspected to be, present in County soils or
water wells
and which may cause harm to human health and well-being.
5.11 Qualified Testing Lab: Any testing facility which has
been approved by the
County, EPA or the
MDNR as qualified to test for the Regulated Contaminants.
5.12 Soil Barriers: any artificial or man-made structure,
marker or indicator
which has
been placed in the soil for the purpose of notifying a Person of
the presence
of Regulated Contaminants.
5.13 Water Well: Any Domestic Well, High Yield Well or
Multiple Family
Well, as
defined at 10 CSR 23-1.030, or converted Test Wells authorized
under 10 CSR
23-6.020. Water Wells do not include public drinking water
systems, or
private lines accessing public drinking water systems which are
regulated
pursuant to 10 CRS 60-1.010.
5.14 Dwelling: either:
(a) A
dwelling, including attached structures such as porches and stoops;
or
(b) A
dwelling unit in a structure that contains more than one separate
residential
dwelling unit and in which each such unit is used or occupied or
intended to be
used or occupied, in whole or in part, as the home or residence of
one or more persons.
5.15 Child Occupied Facility: a building or portion thereof
visited regularly by
the same
child who is six or fewer years of age including, but not limited
to,
day care
centers, preschools and kindergarten classrooms. For the purposes
of this
subdivision, "visited regularly" means a minimum of two visits on
different
days within any week, provided that each visit lasts at least three
hours and the
combined weekly visits last at least six hours and the
combined
annual visits last at least sixty hours.
5.16 Recreational Area: areas such as parks or ball fields
where children are
likely to
congregate. This includes the portions of commercial or industrial
properties
that offer recreation areas where children are likely to congregate.
SECTION VI. PROHIBITIONS. No
person shall:
6.01 Construct a dwelling or dwelling unit or other child
occupied facility or
recreational
area as defined in this ordinance without first
determining
whether the property upon which the activity is to
occur is
property which has previously been identified as having soil
contamination
or which has been partially remediated for any Regulated
Soil
Contaminant.
6.02 Remove soil/mining waste from any contaminated mining
site or chat pile
for use in
violation of EPA/MDNR standards for use as identified in EPA
Mine Waste
Fact Sheet dated February 2003 and other relevant documents.
6.03 Sell, assign, give or otherwise transfer real property
without providing
written
notice to the buyer, assignee or transferee of the presence and
concentration
of Regulated Contaminants in the soil or groundwater if testing has
occurred.
6.04 Sell, assign, give or otherwise transfer real property
with a water well as
defined
herein without first conducting Required Testing for groundwater,
and providing
written results from a qualified testing lab to the Department
and to the
buyer, assignee or the transferee.
6.05 Falsify, tamper with, alter, purify or cause any
activity to occur which will materially
affect test
samples nor falsify, tamper with or alter soil or water test
results.
6.06 Knowingly withhold any information from the Department
regarding soil or
water test
sampling or test results.
6.07 Inhabit a new structure before properly abating all
identified soil hazards in
accordance
with EPA standards as identified in EPA document Superfund
Lead
Contaminated Residential Sites Handbook, August 2003, Directive #
OSWER
9285.7-50 and summarized in Attachment A of this ordinance.
SECTION VII. PERMITS.
7.01 Building Permit: any person wishing to establish a
dwelling, child occupied
facility or
recreation area on property within Jasper County shall apply to
the County
for a Building Permit except for property within political
jurisdictions
which issue building permits with the minimum requirements
of all State
and County requirements for the issuing of building permits. A
permit will
be issued when all county offices which govern property use
have approved
the permit application.
7.02 The Department shall provide to the applicant the
information necessary to perform
Required
Testing of the soil and/or water prior to disturbance, including the
contaminants
for which testing is required, a detailed description of the method
of acquiring
and shipping soil samples, a list of approved Testing Labs,
information
pertaining to
the possible human health hazards of Regulated Contaminants in soil
or water.
Additionally, requirements for remediation of contaminated soils in
accordance
with EPA
guidelines will be provided by the County.
SECTION VIII. POWERS AND AUTHORITY OF INSPECTORS, AND INSPECTION
PROVISIONS.
8.01 The Department reserves the right to establish and
modify inspection
procedures
and standards for construction as necessary due to changes in
Missouri
statutes, rules, regulations best practices, manufacturers
recommendations and precedence.
8.02 The Department, Health Officer or a representative of
the Health Officer shall
be permitted
to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation,
measurement,
sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this
ordinance.
This shall
include facilities permitted by another government entity. The
Department has
the right to
enter property at any reasonable time if there is the suspicion of a
violation of
this
ordinance.
8.03 Any person conducting, or having conducted on their
behalf, any Required Testing
as defined in
this ordinance shall provide the test results to the Department of
Health
within five
(5) days of receiving the test results. If the Department of Health
reasonably
determines
that a health hazard exists, based on the provided test results, the
Department
shall have
the right to conduct additional testing. Further, the Department
shall have the
responsibility as required by law to provide to the public any soil
or water test results in their
possession
upon request.
SECTION IX. ENFORCEMENT
9.01 Any person found to be violating any provision of this
ordinance in
allowing the
violation on their property shall be served by the Department
with a written
notice and/or Stop Order, stating the nature of the violation
and providing a
reasonable time limit, normally not to exceed 90 days, for
the satisfactory
correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of
time stated in such
notice, permanently cease all violation.
9.02 If violations of this ordinance continues the Department
may require closure
of any
property which the Department believes may present a health hazard
until such
time as Required Testing may be performed to determine the presence
of Regulated
Contaminants. The Department may suspend or revoke any permits,
including
building permits, issued to any person violating this Ordinance
until such
time that the
person complies with the Ordinance. All violations must be corrected
before a
permit can be issued or reinstated.
9.03 Any person who continues any violation beyond the time
limit provided for
in Section
9.01 may be charged with a class A misdemeanor and upon
conviction
thereof shall be fined as otherwise provided by law. Each day in
which any
violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
9.04 Any person violating any of the provisions of this
ordinance or allowing
violation(s)
on their property shall be liable to the County for expenses, loss
or damage
incurred by reason such violation.
SECTION X. APPEALS.
10.01 Any person aggrieved by any decision of the County
Health Officer or
Department
may appeal to the Appeals Board by filing a written
application
with the County Health Officer within thirty (30) days after
being
notified of the decision which is the subject of the appeal.
10.02 The Appeals Board shall schedule a hearing on appeal,
and shall give the
person notice of the date of hearing at least ten (10) days prior to
the
hearing date and give the person reasonable opportunity to be heard.
10.03 Appeal hearings to the Appeal Board shall be conducted
in accordance
with the
Commission's adopted rules and procedures. The Appeal Board
shall consist
of one County Commissioner, the Administrator, one
Environmental
Health Specialist, one soil scientist and one Citizen at
Large. The
Commissioner shall chair the board. The Administrator shall
schedule the
board hearings and determine the personnel makeup on the
board. The
decision of the Appeal Board is final unless overruled by a
court of law.
If the ruling of the Appeal Board is taken to court and the
ruling
prevails, any and all legal costs and personnel costs shall be paid
by
the
Appellant.
SECTION XI. SEVERABILITY.
11.01 If any article, chapter, section, clause or phrase of
this regulation is, for any
reason, held
to be invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such
decision
shall not affect the remaining portions of this regulation.
11.02 No statement contained in this article shall be
construed to interfere with
any
additional requirements that may be imposed by the Department.
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