[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Board of the Charter Township
of Cascade as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted 2-14-1996 by Ord. No. 3-1996 (Part 101 of the 1991
Compilation of Ordinances)]
In order to protect the Township from extraordinary expenses
resulting from the utilization of Township resources to respond to
an incident involving hazardous materials, the Township Board authorizes
the imposition of charges to recover reasonable and actual costs incurred
by the Township in responding to call for assistance in connection
with a hazardous materials incident or release (or potential release)
or the event arising from such a release or incident.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any accident, emergency, occurrence, incident or activity
where a release of hazardous materials occurs or might occur as those
terms are defined.
Includes, but is not limited to, a chemical that is a combustible
liquid, a flammable gas, explosive, flammable, poison, an organic
peroxide, an oxidizer, pyrophoric, unstable reactive, or water reactive.
Any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying,
discharging, injecting, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment.
"Release" shall also include situations where any of the events in
the preceding sentence appear reasonably imminent or where there is
a high probability that a release will occur.
Any individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership,
commercial entity, consortium, joint venture, government entity, or
any other legal entity that is responsible for a release of a hazardous
material, either actual or threatened, or is an owner, tenant, occupant,
or party in control of a property, vehicle, or item, onto which or
from which hazardous materials release.
The Township is hereby empowered to recover from any responsible
party whose acts cause the hazardous material emergency expenses incurred
by the Township (listed below) due to a release or hazardous materials
incident. The Township shall determine the responsible party or parties
for the emergency and shall notify it/them, by first-class mail, of
the expenses for which it/they are liable.
The party or parties alleged to be responsible may appeal the
Township's decision to the Township Board. The appeal shall be
filed not more than 15 days from the date of mailing of the notice
of liability. The Township Board shall hold a public hearing to consider
any issues raised by the appeal. At this public hearing, the appealing
party and the Township shall be entitled to present evidence in support
of their respective positions. The appealing party shall bear the
burden of proof. The Township Board shall, after the hearing, issue
a decision assessing responsibility and expenses.
Where the Township becomes involved in a call for assistance
in connection with a hazardous materials incident or a release, actual
costs incurred by the Township in responding to such a call may be
imposed upon the responsible party or parties, including but not limited
to:
A.
Charges for each pumper required, in the opinion of the officer in
command, to stand by at the hazardous materials incident.
B.
Charges for each water tender required, in the opinion of the officer
in command, to be utilized in responding to the hazardous materials
incident.
C.
Charges for each additional Fire Department vehicle required, in
the opinion of the officer in command, to be utilized in responding
to the hazardous materials incident.
D.
All personnel-related costs incurred by the Township as a result
of responding to the hazardous materials incident. Such costs may
include, but are not limited to, wages, salaries and fringe benefits
and insurance for full-time and part-time firefighters, overtime pay
and related fringe benefit costs for hourly employees, and fire run
fees paid to on-call firefighters. Such personnel-related charges
shall commence after the first hour that the Fire Department has responded
to the hazardous materials incident and shall continue until all Township
personnel have concluded hazardous materials incident-related responsibilities.
E.
Other expenses incurred by the Township in responding to the hazardous
materials incident, including but not limited to rental or purchase
of machinery, equipment, labor, consultants, legal and engineering
fees, medical and hospitalization costs, and the replacement costs
related to disposable personal protective equipment, extinguishing
agents, supplies, water purchased from municipal water systems and
meals and refreshments for personnel while responding to the hazardous
materials incident.
F.
Charges to the Township imposed by any local, state, or federal government
entities related to the hazardous materials incident.
G.
Costs incurred in accounting for all hazardous material incident-related
expenditures, including billing and collection costs.
Following the conclusion of the hazardous materials incident,
the Township Fire Chief (or his or her designee) shall submit a detailed
listing of all known expenses to the Township Treasurer, who shall
prepare an invoice to the responsible party for payment. The Township
Treasurer's invoice shall demand full payment within 30 days
of receipt of the bill. Any additional expenses that become known
to the Township following the transmittal of the bill to the responsible
party shall be billed in the same manner on a subsequent bill to the
responsible party. For any amounts due that remain unpaid after 30
days, the Township shall impose a late charge of 1% per month, or
fraction thereof.
The Township may pursue any other remedy or may institute any
appropriate action or proceeding, in a court of competent jurisdiction
to collect charges imposed under this chapter. In addition to the
above, the Township may, at its sole option and discretion, add any
and all unreimbursed costs of cleanup and restoration as mentioned
in this chapter to the tax roll (via a lien) of the affected property
if one or more responsible parties own(s) the affected property, and
to levy and collection of real property taxes. The recovery of charges
imposed under this chapter does not limit the liability of responsible
parties under local ordinance or state or federal law, rule or regulation.
