Current through Reg. 49, No. 52; December 27, 2024
(a) The responsible
person shall immediately abate and contain the spill or discharge and cooperate
fully with the executive director and the local incident command system. The
responsible person shall also begin reasonable response actions which may
include, but are not limited to, the following actions:
(1) arrival of the responsible person or
response personnel hired by the responsible person at the site of the discharge
or spill;
(2) initiating efforts to
stop the discharge or spill;
(3)
minimizing the impact to the public health and the environment;
(4) neutralizing the effects of the
incident;
(5) removing the
discharged or spilled substances; and
(b) Upon request of the local government
responders or the executive director, the responsible person shall provide a
verbal or written description, or both, of the planned response actions and all
actions taken before the local governmental responders or the executive
director arrive. When the agency on-scene coordinator requests this
information, it is subject to possible additional response action requirements
by the executive director. The information will serve as a basis for the
executive director to determine the need for:
(1) further response actions by the
responsible person;
(2) initiating
state funded actions for which the responsible person may be held liable to the
maximum extent allowed by law; and
(3) subsequent reports on the response
actions.
(c) Except for
discharges or spills occurring during the normal course of transportation about
which carriers are required to file a written report with the U.S. Department
of Transportation under
49 CFR
§171.16, the responsible person shall submit
written information, such as a letter, describing the details of the discharge
or spill and supporting the adequacy of the response action, to the appropriate
TNRCC regional manager within 30 working days of the discovery of the
reportable discharge or spill. The regional manager has the discretion to
extend the deadline. The documentation shall contain one of the following
items:
(1) A statement that the discharge or
spill response action has been completed and a description of how the response
action was conducted. The statement shall include the initial report
information required by §
327.3(c)
of this title (relating to Notification Requirements). The executive director
may request additional information. Appropriate response actions at any time
following the discharge or spill include use of the Texas Risk Reduction
Program rules in Chapter 350 of this title (relating to Texas Risk Reduction
Program).
(2) A request for an
extension of time to complete the response action, along with the reasons for
the request. The request shall also include a projected work schedule outlining
the time required to complete the response action. The executive director may
grant an extension up to six months from the date the spill or discharge was
reported. Unless otherwise notified by the appropriate regional manager or the
Emergency Response Team, the responsible person shall proceed according to the
terms of the projected work schedule.
(3) A statement that the discharge or spill
response action has not been completed nor is it expected to be completed
within the maximum allowable six month extension. The statement shall explain
why completion of the response action is not feasible and include a projected
work schedule outlining the remaining tasks to complete the response action.
This information will also serve as notification that the response actions to
the discharge or spill will be conducted under the Texas Risk Reduction Program
rules in Chapter 350 of this title (relating to Texas Risk Reduction
Program).
