292.31 Environmental repair.
292.33 Local government cost recovery cause of action.
292.35 Local governmental unit negotiation and cost recovery.
292.37 Confidentiality of records.
292.41 Abandoned containers.
292.51 Cooperative remedial action.
292.53 Availability of environmental insurance.
292.55 Requests for liability clarification and technical assistance.
292.57 Database of properties with residual contamination.
292.63 Petroleum storage remedial action; financial assistance.
292.64 Removal of abandoned underground petroleum storage tanks.
292.65 Dry cleaner environmental response program.
292.68 Reimbursement for disposal of PCB contaminated sediment.
292.70 Indemnification for disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls.
292.72 Brownfields revolving loan program.
SUBCHAPTER III
ENFORCEMENT; PENALTIES
292.94 Fees related to enforcement actions.
292.95 Review of alleged violations; environmental repair and cost recovery.
292.98 Violations and enforcement; environmental repair and cost recovery.
DEFINITIONS
292.01
292.01
Definitions. In this chapter:
292.01(1s)
(1s) “Contaminated sediment" means sediment that contains a hazardous substance.
292.01(2)
(2) “Department" means the department of natural resources.
292.01(3)
(3) “Discharge" means, but is not limited to, spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying or dumping.
292.01(3m)
(3m) “Engineering control" means an object or action designed and implemented to contain contamination or to minimize the spread of contamination, including a cap, soil cover, or in-place stabilization, but not including a sediment cover.
292.01(4)
(4) “Environmental pollution" means the contaminating or rendering unclean or impure the air, land or waters of the state, or making the same injurious to public health, harmful for commercial or recreational use, or deleterious to fish, bird, animal or plant life.
292.01(5)
(5) “Hazardous substance" means any substance or combination of substances including any waste of a solid, semisolid, liquid or gaseous form which may cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness or which may pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics. This term includes, but is not limited to, substances which are toxic, corrosive, flammable, irritants, strong sensitizers or explosives as determined by the department.
292.01(6)
(6) “Hazardous waste" means any solid waste identified by the department as hazardous under
s. 291.05.
292.01(7)
(7) “Landfill" means a solid waste facility for solid waste disposal.
292.01(8)
(8) “Lender" means a bank, credit union, savings bank, savings and loan association, mortgage banker or similar financial institution, the primary business of which is to engage in lending activities or an insurance company, pension fund or government agency engaged in secured lending.
292.01(9)
(9) “Lending activities" means advancing funds or credit to and collecting funds from another person; entering into security agreements, including executing mortgages, liens, factoring agreements, accounts receivable financing arrangements, conditional sales, sale and leaseback arrangements and installment sales contracts; conducting inspections of or monitoring a borrower's business and collateral; providing financial assistance; restructuring or renegotiating the terms of a loan obligation; requiring payment of additional interest; extending the payment period of a loan obligation; initiating foreclosure or other proceedings to enforce a security interest in property before obtaining title; requesting and obtaining the appointment of a receiver; and making decisions related to extending or refusing to extend credit.
292.01(10)
(10) “Long-term care" means the routine care, maintenance and monitoring of a solid or hazardous waste facility following closing of the facility.
292.01(11)
(11) “Municipality" means any city, town, village, county, county utility district, town sanitary district, public inland lake protection and rehabilitation district or metropolitan sewage district.
292.01(13)
(13) “Person" means an individual, owner, operator, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, association, municipality, interstate agency, state agency or federal agency.
292.01(15)
(15) “Preventive measures" mean the installation or testing of equipment or devices, a designated way of performing a specified operation or the preparation of an emergency response plan.
292.01(16)
(16) “Representative" means any person acting in the capacity of a conservator, guardian, court-appointed receiver, personal representative, testamentary trustee of a deceased person, trustee of a living trust, or fiduciary of real or personal property.
292.01(17)
(17) “Secretary" means the secretary of natural resources.
292.01(17g)
(17g) “Sediment" means particles in the bed of a navigable water up to the ordinary high-water mark that are derived from the erosion of rock, minerals, soil, and biological materials and from chemical precipitation from the water column and that are transported or deposited by water.
292.01(17m)
(17m) “Sediment cover" means a layer of uncontaminated sand or similar material that is deposited on top of contaminated sediment.
292.01(18)
(18) “Site or facility" means, except in
s. 292.35, an approved facility, an approved mining facility, a nonapproved facility or a waste site.
292.01(21)
(21) “Waste site" means any site, other than an approved facility, an approved mining facility or a nonapproved facility, where waste is disposed of regardless of when disposal occurred or where a hazardous substance is discharged before May 21, 1978.
REMEDIAL ACTION
292.11
292.11
Hazardous substance spills. 292.11(2)(a)(a) A person who possesses or controls a hazardous substance or who causes the discharge of a hazardous substance shall notify the department immediately of any discharge not exempted under
sub. (9).
292.11(2)(b)
(b) Notification received under this section or information obtained in a notification received under this section may not be used against the person making such a notification in any criminal proceedings.
292.11(2)(c)
(c) The department shall designate a 24-hour statewide toll free or collect telephone number whereby notice of any hazardous discharge may be made.
292.11(2)(d)
(d) The department shall report notifications that it receives under this subsection related to discharges of agricultural chemicals, as defined in
s. 94.73 (1) (a), to the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection. The department shall report notifications under this paragraph according to a memorandum of understanding between the department and the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection under
s. 94.73 (12).
292.11(3)
(3) Responsibility. A person who possesses or controls a hazardous substance which is discharged or who causes the discharge of a hazardous substance shall take the actions necessary to restore the environment to the extent practicable and minimize the harmful effects from the discharge to the air, lands or waters of this state.
292.11(4)(a)(a) The department may require that preventive measures be taken by any person possessing or having control over a hazardous substance if the department finds that existing control measures are inadequate to prevent discharges.
292.11(4)(b)
(b) The department shall specify necessary preventive measures by order. The order shall be effective 10 days after issuance, unless the person named requests a hearing, in which case no order may become effective until the conclusion of the hearing.
292.11(5)(a)(a) After consultation with other affected federal, state and local agencies and private organizations, the department shall establish by rule criteria and procedures for the development, establishment and amendment of a contingency plan for the undertaking of emergency actions in response to the discharge of hazardous substances.
292.11(5)(b)1.
1. Provide for efficient, coordinated and effective action to minimize damage to the air, land and waters of the state caused by the discharge of hazardous substances;
292.11(5)(b)2.
2. Include containment, clean-up and disposal procedures;
292.11(5)(b)3.
3. Provide for restoration of the lands or waters affected to the satisfaction of the department;
292.11(5)(b)4.
4. Assign duties and responsibilities among state departments and agencies, in coordination with federal and local agencies;
292.11(5)(b)5.
5. Provide for the identification, procurement, maintenance and storage of necessary equipment and supplies;
292.11(5)(b)6.
6. Provide for designation of persons trained, prepared and available to provide the necessary services to carry out the plan; and
292.11(5)(b)7.
7. Establish procedures and techniques for identifying, locating, monitoring, containing, removing and disposing of discharged hazardous substances.
292.11(6)
(6) Hazardous substances spills; appropriations and related provisions. 292.11(6)(a)(a)
Contingency plan; activities resulting from discharges. The department may utilize moneys appropriated under
s. 20.370 (2) (dv) and
(my) in implementing and carrying out the contingency plan developed under
sub. (5) and to provide for the procurement, maintenance and storage of necessary equipment and supplies, personnel training and expenses incurred in identifying, locating, monitoring, containing, removing and disposing of discharged substances.
292.11(6)(b)
(b)
Limitation on equipment expenses. No more than 25 percent of the moneys available under the appropriation under
s. 20.370 (2) (dv) or
(my) during any fiscal year may be used for the procurement and maintenance of necessary equipment during that fiscal year.
292.11(6)(c)1.1. Reimbursements to the department under
sub. (7) (b) shall be credited to the environmental fund for environmental management.
292.11(6)(c)2.
2. Reimbursements to the department under section 311, federal water pollution control act amendments of 1972,
P.L. 92-500, shall be credited to the appropriation under
s. 20.370 (2) (my).
292.11(7)
(7) Removal or other emergency action. 292.11(7)(a)(a) Subject to
s. 94.73 (2m), in any case where action required under
sub. (3) is not being adequately taken or the identity of the person responsible for the discharge is unknown, the department or its authorized representative may identify, locate, monitor, contain, remove or dispose of the hazardous substance or take any other emergency action which it deems appropriate under the circumstances.
292.11(7)(b)1.1. The person who possessed or controlled a hazardous substance which was discharged or who caused the discharge of a hazardous substance shall reimburse the department for actual and necessary expenses incurred in carrying out its duties under this subsection.
292.11(7)(b)2.
2. If the department authorizes reimbursement under
subd. 1. to be paid over time, it shall require monthly payments of interest, at a rate determined by the department, on the unpaid balance of the reimbursement.
292.11(7)(c)
(c) Subject to
s. 94.73 (2m), the department, for the protection of public health, safety or welfare, may issue an emergency order or a special order to the person possessing, controlling or responsible for the discharge of hazardous substances to fulfill the duty imposed by
sub. (3).
292.11(7)(d)1.1. The department may negotiate and enter into an agreement containing a schedule for conducting nonemergency actions required under
sub. (3) with a person who possesses or controls a hazardous substance that was discharged or who caused the discharge of a hazardous substance if the discharge does not endanger public health.
292.11(7)(d)1m.
1m. The department may negotiate and enter into an agreement containing a schedule for conducting nonemergency actions required under
sub. (3) with a local governmental unit, as defined in
sub. (9) (e) 1., that is acting on behalf of owners of contaminated property within one of the following:
