[Adopted 10-14-1997 by Ord. No. 97-33[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance superseded former
Art. III, Reimbursement for equipment services, adopted 8-13-1985
by Ord. No. 85-16, as amended.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The Borough of Paramus, including its employees, agents,
officers and officials.
Any items used to extinguish or prevent any hazardous material
fire, stop or contain any release involving any hazardous material,
which cannot be reused or cannot be replenished without cost after
a particular incident. These expendable items include but are not
limited to fire-fighting foam, chemical extinguishing agents, absorbents
and absorbent materials, sand, recovery drums and any protective equipment
and clothing, to include but not restricted to fire fighting turnout
gear, breathing apparatus, chemical protective suits, boots, gloves
and goggles and any other item owned or controlled by the Borough
of Paramus or its employees, agents, officers and/or officials. Expendable
items shall also include any miscellaneous expenses incurred by the
Borough of Paramus resulting from such a release, including but not
limited to overtime wages paid to its employees, costs of medical
and hospital treatment for injuries sustained by employees, agents
or servants of the Borough, vehicle response hours, monitoring devices,
decontamination equipment, communications expenses and meals.
Any material, solid, liquid or gas, in any quantity, listed
as such under the NFPA Guide of Hazardous Materials, the Department
of Transportation Guide Book, the list of hazardous substances and
toxic pollutants as adopted by the Federal Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), pursuant to Sections 307 and 311 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act of 1972, as amended by the Clean Water Act of
1977 (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.), any hospital or medical
waste, including but not limited to, syringes, bandages and discarded
pharmaceutical products, and any other material which may be an unreasonable
risk to life, property or the environment.
Any natural person or individual, or any firm, partnership,
association, limited partnership, association, limited partnership,
proprietorship, corporation or any other business entity or any governmental
agency or entity.
Any intentional or unintentional action or omission resulting
in the releasing, spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying
or dumping of hazardous substances anywhere within the Borough of
Paramus or any other location outside of the Borough where the Paramus
Fire Department is requested for assistance.
Any motorized equipment, registered or unregistered, including
but not limited to a passenger car, motorcycle, truck, tractor trailer,
construction equipment, farm machinery, watercraft, aircraft and train.
Any container, drum, box, cylinder or tank used to hold or
to contain or carry or store any hazardous material, whether or not
said container was manufactured for the containment of a hazardous
material.
A.
This article provides for the reimbursement for, or
the replacement of, any and all equipment utilized by the Borough
of Paramus, for costs expended, without regard to ownership, for the
purpose of mitigating, controlling or containing any incident in which
a hazardous material is involved in fire, leak, release or spill,
or where the potential thereof exists, or for the prevention of same.
B.
This article also provides for the reimbursement for
the expenses incurred by the Borough for the overtime wages paid to
its employees, agents or servants and the costs of medical or hospital
treatment for injuries sustained by any employee, agent or servant
of the Borough resulting from an incident involving a hazardous material
and any miscellaneous expenses incurred by the Borough from an incident
involving a hazardous material.
C.
This article mandates the reimbursement to the Borough
of Paramus for any expendable items used by the Borough or any of
its employees, agents, servants, officers or officials, in extinguishing
any hazardous material fire, stopping or containing, or controlling,
or mitigating any spill, release, or leak of any hazardous material.
A.
The discharge of hazardous substances is prohibited,
unless the responsible party is in compliance with the conditions
of a federal or state permit.
B.
Any person who may be subject to liability for a discharge
or becomes aware of a discharge which has occurred shall immediately
notify the Borough of Paramus Police Department at 262-3400.
C.
Whenever a hazardous material is discharged, the Borough
of Paramus may, in its discretion, act to remove or arrange for the
removal of such discharge.
D.
Any person who has discharged a hazardous material
which has been or shall be removed by the Borough of Paramus shall
be strictly liable, jointly and severally, without regard to fault,
for all cleanup and removal costs.
Reimbursement to the Borough for any incurred
expenses shall be made by the following parties:
A.
The owner, operator or party responsible for any vehicle
or vessel containing hazardous material involved in any fire or release
on public or private property, whether stationary or in transit, whether
accidental, through negligence or a criminal act.
B.
The owner or person responsible for any property from
which any fire or release of hazardous material emanates, whether
accidental, through negligence or criminal act.
Any person responsible for a fire or release
of a hazardous material must provide reimbursement for services rendered
by any recovery company, towing company, or other technical assistance
called by the Borough to handle such an incident. Vehicles involved
in such a fire or release may be impounded by the Borough until such
time as arrangements have been made to reimburse the Borough, recovery
company, towing company or technical assistance for their expenditures
under the terms of this article.
A.
Any party responsible for a fire or release involving a hazardous material as set forth in § 265-31 shall reimburse the Borough of Paramus for the full cost for all expenses incurred in the extinguishment of any fire or mitigation or cleanup of any release within a period of 45 days after receipt of an itemized bill for the Borough of Paramus Fire Department. This bill shall be forwarded to the responsible party within 10 working days of the incident and shall indicate the fair market value of any items specified to be replaced from a nationwide vendor's catalogue or submitted receipts. Items not listed as fair market value shall be billed in accordance with the following schedule of fees:
B.
Replacement of any item is permitted, provided that
it meets the specifications established by the Paramus Fire Department.
Any government agency outside the Borough of
Paramus which requests the assistance of the Fire Department Hazardous
Materials Response Team shall be responsible for the reimbursement
of the costs incurred in the mitigation of the fire or release of
a hazardous material. The governmental agency shall not be responsible
to reimburse the Borough for any vehicle response hours or other routine
expenses which are consistent with mutual aid responses.
[Amended 3-14-2006 by Ord. No. 06-2]
Any person or party responsible for any fire or release of any hazardous material who fails to reimburse the Borough within the time set forth in this article shall be subject to the penalties provided by § 1-15 of this Code.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent
with the provisions of this article are hereby repealed as to such
inconsistencies only.
This article shall take effect immediately upon
final passage and publication as required by law.
