292.51(3)
(3) Provision of funding under
sub. (2) or
(2m) is not evidence of liability or an admission of liability for any environmental contamination.
292.51(4)
(4) In carrying out its regulatory and enforcement duties, the department may not base its treatment of a person on whether the person did or did not provide funding under
sub. (2).
292.51 History
History: 1995 a. 27;
1995 a. 227 s.
824; Stats. 1995 s. 292.51;
1997 a. 27.
292.53
292.53
Availability of environmental insurance. The department, in cooperation with the department of administration, may undertake activities to make private environmental insurance products available to encourage and facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated property. The department of natural resources may negotiate with, select, and contract with one or more insurers to provide insurance products under this section, subject to the approval of the department of administration under
s. 16.865 (5).
292.53 History
History: 2003 a. 315.
292.55
292.55
Requests for liability clarification and technical assistance. 292.55(1)(a)
(a) The department may, upon request, assist a person to determine whether the person is or may become liable for the environmental pollution of a property.
292.55(1)(b)
(b) The department may, upon request, assist in, or provide comments on, the planning and implementation of an environmental investigation of a property or the environmental cleanup of a property.
292.55(1)(c)
(c) The department may determine whether further action is necessary to remedy environmental pollution of a property.
292.55(1)(d)
(d) The department may issue a letter to a person seeking assistance under this subsection concerning any of the following:
292.55(1)(d)1.
1. The liability of a person owning or leasing a property for environmental pollution of the property.
292.55(1)(d)2.
2. The type and extent of environmental pollution of a property.
292.55(1)(d)4.
4. Any other matter related to the request for assistance under this subsection.
292.55(2)
(2) The department may assess and collect fees from a person to offset the costs of providing assistance under
sub. (1). The department shall promulgate rules for the assessment and collection of fees under this subsection. Fees collected under this subsection shall be credited to the appropriation account under
s. 20.370 (2) (dh).
292.55 History
History: 1997 a. 27.
292.55 Cross-reference
Cross-reference: See also ch.
NR 749, Wis. adm. code.
292.57
292.57
Database of properties with residual contamination. 292.57(1)(1) In this section, "groundwater standard" means an enforcement standard, as defined in
s. 160.01 (2), or a preventive action limit, as defined in
s. 160.01 (6).
292.57(2)(a)(a) The department may promulgate a rule specifying a fee for placing information into a database concerning a property on which a groundwater standard is exceeded, a property on which residual contamination is present in soil, or a property that is subject to
s. 292.12 (3) (b). The department may also specify a fee for modifying information in the database.
292.57 History
History: 1999 a. 9;
2005 a. 25,
418.
292.65
292.65
Dry cleaner environmental response program. 292.65(1)(b)
(b) "Case closure letter" means a letter provided by the department that states that, based on information available to the department, no further remedial action is necessary with respect to a dry cleaning product discharge.
292.65(1)(d)
(d) "Dry cleaning facility" means a facility for cleaning apparel or household fabrics for the general public using a dry cleaning product, other than a facility that is one of the following:
292.65(1)(d)2.
2. A facility that is located on a U.S. military installation.
292.65(1)(d)6.
6. A facility that is located at a prison or other penal institution.
292.65(1)(d)7.
7. A facility that is located at a nonprofit hospital or at another nonprofit health care institution.
292.65(1)(d)8.
8. A facility that is located on property that is owned by the federal government or by this state or that is located on property that was owned by the federal government or by this state when the facility was operating.
292.65(1)(e)
(e) "Dry cleaning product" means a hazardous substance used to clean apparel or household fabrics, except for a hazardous substance used to launder apparel or household fabrics.
292.65(1)(ek)
(ek) "Formal wear" includes tuxedos, suits and dresses, but does not include costumes, table linens and household fabrics.
292.65(1)(em)
(em) "Formal wear rental firm" means a facility that rents formal wear to the general public and dry cleans only the formal wear that it rents to the general public.
292.65(1)(gm)
(gm) "Immediate action" means a remedial action that is taken within a short time after a discharge of dry cleaning product occurs, or after the discovery of a discharge of dry cleaning product, to halt the discharge, contain or remove discharged dry cleaning product, or remove contaminated soil or water in order to restore the environment to the extent practicable and to minimize the harmful effects of the discharge to air, lands, and waters of the state and to eliminate any imminent threat to public health, safety, or welfare.
292.65(1)(gs)
(gs) "Interim action" means a remedial action that is taken to contain or stabilize a discharge of a dry cleaning product, in order to minimize any threats to public health, safety, or welfare or to the environment, while other remedial actions are being planned.
292.65(1)(gv)
(gv) "Launder" means to use water and detergent as the main process for cleaning apparel or household fabrics.
292.65(1)(h)2.
2. A subsidiary or parent corporation of the person specified under
subd. 1.
292.65(1)(h)3.
3. A person who operated a dry cleaning facility that ceased operating before October 14, 1997.
292.65(1)(h)4.
4. A person who operated a dry cleaning facility that ceased operation after October 13, 1997, but that was licensed under
s. 77.9961 (2) before it ceased operation.
292.65(1)(i)1.
1. A person who owns, or has possession or control of, and who receives or received direct or indirect consideration from the operation of, any of the following:
292.65(1)(i)1.b.
b. A dry cleaning facility that has ceased operation but that, if it ceased operation on or after October 14, 1997, was licensed under
s. 77.9961 (2) before it ceased operation.
292.65(1)(i)2.
2. A subsidiary or parent corporation of the person specified under
subd. 1.
292.65(1)(i)3.
3. A person who owns the property on which one of the following is located:
292.65(1)(i)3.b.
b. A dry cleaning facility that has ceased operation but that was licensed under
s. 77.9961 (2) before it ceased operation and was licensed and operating while the person owned the property.
292.65(1)(j)
(j) "Program year" means the period beginning on July 1, and ending on the following June 30.
292.65(1)(L)
(L) "Service provider" means a consultant, testing laboratory, monitoring well installer, soil boring contractor, other contractor or any other person who provides a product or service for which an application for reimbursement has been or will be filed under this section, or a subcontractor of such a person.
292.65(1)(m)
(m) "Subsidiary or parent corporation" means a business entity, including a subsidiary, parent corporation or other business arrangement, that has elements of common ownership or control or that uses a long-term contractual arrangement with a person to avoid direct responsibility for conditions at a dry cleaning facility.
292.65(3)(a)(a) The department shall promulgate rules for the administration of the program under this section.
292.65(3)(am)1.1. The department shall establish a method for determining the order in which it pays awards under this section. Except as provided in
subd. 2., the method shall be based on environmental factors and on the order in which applications are received.
292.65(3)(am)2.
2. The department shall pay an award for immediate action activities before it pays other awards.
292.65(3)(b)
(b) The department shall promote the program under this section to persons who may be eligible for awards.
292.65(3)(c)
(c) The department shall allocate 9.7% of the funds appropriated under
s. 20.370 (6) (eq) in each fiscal year for awards for immediate action activities and applications that exceed the amount anticipated.
292.65(3)(d)
(d) The department shall keep records and statistics on the program under this section and shall periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
292.65(3)(e)
(e) No later than January 1, 2002, the department shall complete a review of the program under this section and shall submit a report on the results of the review to the joint committee on finance and to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature, as determined by the speaker of the house and the president of the senate, under
s. 13.172 (3). The report shall include the department's recommendations for changes to the program. The review shall include consideration of whether the program should be expanded or ended, whether the program should be incorporated into a broader program of financial assistance for the remediation of environmental contamination and whether private insurance coverage should be required for any dry cleaning facilities.
292.65(4)(a)(a)
General requirements. To be eligible for an award under this section, the owner or operator of a dry cleaning facility shall comply with
pars. (b),
(c),
(e),
(f) and
(j) and the other requirements of this section applicable to the owner or operator.
292.65(4)(b)
(b)
Report. An owner or operator shall report a dry cleaning product discharge to the department in a timely manner, as provided in
s. 292.11.
292.65(4)(c)1.1. An owner or operator shall notify the department, before conducting a site investigation or any remedial action activity, of the potential for submitting an application for an award under this section, except as provided in
subd. 2.
292.65(4)(c)2.
2. Subdivision 1. does not apply to an owner or operator who began a site investigation or remedial action activity before October 14, 1997.
292.65(4)(d)
(d)
Information from department. When an owner or operator notifies the department under
par. (c) 1., the department shall provide the owner or operator with information on the program under this section and the department's estimate of the eligibility of the owner or operator for an award under this section.
292.65(4)(e)
(e)
Investigation. After notifying the department under
par. (c) 1., if applicable, and before conducting remedial action activities, an owner or operator shall complete an investigation to determine the extent of environmental impact of the dry cleaning product discharge, except as provided in
pars. (g) and
(h).
292.65(4)(f)
(f)
Remedial action plan. After completing the investigation under
par. (e) and before conducting remedial action activities, an owner or operator shall prepare a remedial action plan, based on the investigation under
par. (e), that identifies specific remedial action activities proposed to be conducted, except as provided in
pars. (g) and
(h).
292.65(4)(g)
(g)
Immediate action. An owner or operator is not required to complete an investigation or prepare a remedial action plan before conducting an immediate action activity if the department determines that an immediate action is necessary.
292.65(4)(h)
(h)
Interim action. An owner or operator is not required to complete an investigation or prepare a remedial action plan before conducting an interim action activity if the department determines that an interim action is necessary.
292.65(4)(i)
(i)
Review of site investigation and remedial action plan. The department shall, at the request of an owner or operator, review the site investigation results and the remedial action plan and advise the owner or operator on the adequacy of the proposed remedial action activities in meeting the requirements of this section. The department shall complete the review of the site investigation and remedial action plan within 45 days. The department shall also provide an estimate of when funding will be available to pay an award for remedial action conducted in response to the dry cleaning product discharge.
292.65(4)(j)
(j)
Remedial action. The owner or operator shall conduct all remedial action activities that are required under this section in response to the dry cleaning product discharge, including all of the following:
292.65(4)(j)1.
1. Recovering any recoverable dry cleaning product from the environment.
292.65(4)(j)2.
2. Managing any residual solid or hazardous waste in a manner consistent with local, state and federal law.
292.65(4)(k)
(k)
Agents. An owner or operator may enter into a written agreement with another person under which that other person acts as an agent for the owner or operator in conducting the activities under
pars. (e) to
(j). If an agreement is entered into under this paragraph, all requirements applicable to an owner or operator under
par. (m) and
subs. (8) (a),
(8m), and
(12) apply to the agent. The owner or operator or the agent may submit the application for an award under this section.
292.65(4)(L)
(L)
Awards for dry cleaning facilities on tribal trust lands. The owner or operator of a dry cleaning facility located on trust lands of an American Indian tribe may be eligible for an award under this section if the owner or operator otherwise satisfies the requirements of this subsection and complies with the rules promulgated under this section and any other rules promulgated by the department concerning dry cleaning facilities.
292.65(4)(m)
(m)
Notification of applications and receipt of funds. An owner or operator shall notify the department of any application, including any insurance claim, made to obtain funds to cover eligible costs or to obtain a tax credit based on eligible costs, the status of the application, and, if the owner or operator has received any funds or any tax credit arising from the application, the amount of funds or tax credit received.
292.65(5)
(5) Enhanced pollution prevention measures.
