{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-224.46-580","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 224.46-580","heading":"Development of statewide programs -- Responsibilities of cabinet --","body":"Hazardous waste assessment -- Waiver -- Hazardous waste management fund -\n- Pollution prevention fund -- Response actions to release of waste -- Post-\nclosure site integrity.\n(1) The General Assembly declares that it is the purpose of this section to promote the\ndevelopment of statewide programs, under the responsibility of a single agency,\nwhich are intended to protect the health of the citizens and the environment of the\nCommonwealth from present and future threats associated with the management of\nhazardous wastes and the release of toxic chemicals regulated under Title III,\nSection 313 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986,\nincluding disposal, treatme nt, recycling, storage, and transportation. The intent of\nthe General Assembly is to add to and coordinate, and not replace, existing efforts\nand responsibilities in the areas of hazardous waste management, toxic chemical\nmanufacture, processing, or other use, and to leave the primary burden and\nresponsibility for hazardous waste and toxic chemical reduction on private industry;\nand further to finance assistance and coordination by imposing assessments on the\ngeneration of hazardous waste. The assessments are intended to produce a reduction\nin waste generated; to promote the use of new techniques in recycling, treatment,\nand alternatives other than land disposal; and to place the burden of financing\nadditional hazardous waste management activities necessaril y undertaken by state\nagencies on the users of those products associated with the generation of hazardous\nwaste. The General Assembly further finds that Kentucky's industries need\nassistance in developing and implementing pollution prevention goals and tha t a\nfund should be established to provide technical and financial assistance to those\nindustries.\n(2) The Energy and Environment Cabinet is given the authority to administer the\nprovisions and programs of this section and the responsibility to achieve the\npurposes of this section.\n(3) In addition to all specific responsibilities contained elsewhere in this chapter, the\ncabinet shall:\n(a) Respond effectively and in a timely manner to emergencies created by the\nrelease of hazardous substances, as defined in K RS 224.1 -400, into the\nenvironment. The cabinet shall provide for adequate containment and removal\nof the hazardous substances in order that the threat of a release or actual\nrelease of the substance may be abated and resultant harm to the environment\nminimized. The provisions of KRS 45A.695 to 45A.725 may be suspended by\nthe cabinet if necessary to respond to an environmental emergency;\n(b) Provide for post -closure monitoring and maintenance of hazardous waste\ndisposal sites upon termination of post -closure monitoring and maintenance\nresponsibilities by persons permitted to operate the facility pursuant to this\nchapter; and\n(c) Identify, investigate, classify, contain, or clean up any release, threatened\nrelease, or disposal of a hazardous substance where r esponsible parties are\neconomically or otherwise unavailable to properly address the problem and\nthe problem represents an imminent danger to the health of the citizens and\nthe environment of the Commonwealth.\n(4) The cabinet shall have the authority to fi nance the nonfederal share of the cost for\nclean up of sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation\nand Liability Act of 1980 (Pub. L. No. 96-510).\n(5) The cabinet shall recover, when possible, actual and necessary expenditures\nincurred in carrying out the duties under this section. Any expenditures recovered\nshall be placed in the hazardous waste management fund.\n(6) It is the expressed purpose of this section to accomplish effective hazardous waste\nand toxic chemical management that results in a reduction of the generation of\nhazardous wastes and the release of toxic chemicals within the Commonwealth;\nfurther, it is a purpose of this chapter to allocate a portion of the cost of\nadministering necessary governmental programs related to hazardous waste and\ntoxic chemical management to those industries whose products are reasonably\nrelated to the generation of hazardous waste.\n(7) There is hereby imposed upon every person engaged within this state in the\ngeneration of hazardous waste an an nual hazardous waste assessment to be\ndetermined pursuant to this section according to the quantity by weight of\nhazardous waste generated, except that no assessment shall be levied against\ngenerators for any quantity of \"special wastes,\" waste oil, or spe nt material from air\npollution control devices controlling emissions from coke manufacturing facilities.\nThe assessment shall not be imposed upon any person for any quantities of\nhazardous waste generated by others for which that person is a secondary hand ler\nthat stores, processes, or reclaims the waste. The assessment shall be reported and\npaid to the Energy and Environment Cabinet for the generation of hazardous waste\non an annual basis on January 1 of each year. The payment shall be accompanied by\na rep ort or return in a form that the cabinet may prescribe. If a federal law is\nenacted which accomplishes or purports to accomplish the purposes set forth in this\nsection and which levies an assessment or tax upon any business assessed pursuant\nto this sectio n, the amount of the assessment to be levied upon the business under\nthis section shall be reduced by the amount of the federal assessment or tax upon\nthe business. The reduction shall only be authorized when funds raised by the\nfederal assessment or tax a re made available to the state for any of the activities to\nbe funded under this section. If federal moneys are available to carry out the duties\nimposed by subsection (3) of this section, the assessment shall cease to be levied\nand collected until such ti me as federal moneys are no longer available to the\nCommonwealth for these purposes. The assessment shall be charged against\ngenerators of hazardous waste until June 30, 2032. After this date, no further\nhazardous waste management assessment shall be charg ed against generators. The\nhazardous waste assessment shall be waived for any generator owing less than fifty\ndollars ($50) for the year. However, a return must be filed by generators to whom a\npayment waiver applies.\n(8) The assessment on generators shall be one and two -tenths cents ($0.012) per pound\nif the waste is liquid, or two -tenths of a cent ($0.002) per pound if the waste is\nsolid.\n(a) Hazardous waste that is injected into a permitted underground injection well\nshall be assessed on a dry weight basis;\n(b) Hazardous waste treated, detoxified, solidified, neutralized, recycled,\nincinerated, or disposed of on -site shall be assessed at one -half (1/2) of the\nappropriate rate, except for recycled waste used in the steel m anufacturing\nprocess which shall be exempt;\n(c) Waste that is subject to regulation under Section 402 or 307B of the Federal\nClean Water Act shall be exempt;\n(d) Emission control dust and sludge from the primary production of steel that is\nrecycled by high  temperature metals recovery or managed by stabilization of\nmetals shall be exempt; and\n(e) Waste that is delivered from the generator to an on -site or off -site industrial\nboiler or furnace and burned for energy recovery in accordance with state and\nfederal laws and regulations shall be assessed at one -half (1/2) of the\nappropriate rate.\n(9) Except for waste brought into the state by a company to an affiliated manufacturing\nfacility of the company receiving the waste, any person who transports hazardous\nwaste into the state for land disposal or treatment which is generated outside of the\nstate shall pay an assessment to the hazardous waste facility which first receives the\nwaste for storage, treatment, or land disposal. The assessment rate shall be identical\nto the rate described in subsection (8) of this section. The facility shall remit the\nassessment to the cabinet on an annual basis on January 1 of each year. The\npayment shall be accompanied by a return the cabinet shall prescribe.\n(10) If any generator o r hazardous waste facility subject to the provisions of subsection\n(8) or (9) of this section fails or refuses to file a return or furnish any information\nrequested in writing by the cabinet, the cabinet may, from any information in its\npossession, make an  estimate and issue an assessment against the generator or\nhazardous waste facility and add a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of\nthe assessment so determined. This penalty shall be in addition to all other\napplicable penalties in this chapter.\n(11) If any generator or hazardous waste facility subject to the provisions of subsection\n(8) or (9) of this section fails to make and file a return required by this chapter on or\nbefore the due date of the return or the due date as extended by the cabinet, unless it\nis shown to the satisfaction of the cabinet that the failure is due to reasonable cause,\nfive percent (5%) of the assessment found to be due by the cabinet shall be added to\nthe assessment for each thirty (30) days or fraction thereof elapsing between the due\ndate of the return and the date on which it is filed, but the total penalty shall not\nexceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the assessment.\n(12) If the assessment imposed by this chapter, whether assessed by the cabinet or the\ngenerator, or an y installment or portion of the assessment is not paid on or before\nthe date prescribed for its payment, there shall be collected, as a part of the\nassessment, interest upon the unpaid amount at the rate of eight percent (8%) per\nannum from the date prescr ibed for its payment until payment is actually made to\nthe cabinet.\n(13) (a) There is hereby created within the State Treasury a trust and agency fund,\nwhich shall not lapse, to be known as the hazardous waste management fund.\nThe fund shall be deposited i n an interest -bearing account. The cabinet shall\nbe responsible for collecting and receiving funds as provided in this section\nand all such assessments collected or received by the State Treasury shall be\ndeposited in the hazardous waste management fund. A ll interest earned on the\nmoney deposited in the fund shall be deposited to the fund. When the State\nTreasurer certifies to the cabinet that the uncommitted balance of the\nhazardous waste management fund exceeds six million dollars ($6,000,000),\nassessments shall not be collected until the State Treasurer certifies to the\ncabinet that the balance in the hazardous waste management fund is less than\nthree million dollars ($3,000,000). The implementation of the cap on the fund\nshall be suspended from July 13, 1990, until July 1, 1991. In addition, for\nassessments paid after July 1, 1991, the cabinet shall refund or grant a credit\nagainst the next assessment to come due, on a pro -rated basis, any money\ncollected in one (1) year in excess of the cap.\n(b) In any fiscal year in which the fees assessed under this section total less than\none million eight hundred thousand dollars ($1,800,000) in fiscal year 2007 -\n2008 dollars, adjusted annually to reflect any increase in the cost -of-living\nindex, the difference between  the fee receipts and the adjusted minimum\nbalance shall be transferred from funds collected pursuant to KRS 224.60 -\n130.\n(c) The cabinet shall file with the Legislative Research Commission a biennial\nreport, beginning two (2) years after July 15, 2008, on the revenues and\nexpenditures of the fund.\n(14) There is hereby created within the State Treasury a trust and agency account, which\nshall not lapse, to be known as the pollution prevention fund. The fund shall be\nplaced in an interest-bearing account. The fund shall be administered by the Center\nfor Pollution Prevention. The cabinet shall remit to the fund each fiscal year twenty\npercent (20%) of the funds received by the hazardous waste management fund\nsubject to the enacted budget bill.\n(15) Upon request of the secretary, moneys accumulated in the hazardous waste\nmanagement fund shall be released in amounts necessary to accomplish the\nperformance of the duties imposed by subsection (3) of this section. However,\nmoneys from the fund shall not be used when f ederal moneys are available to carry\nout these duties, except when immediate action is required to protect public health\nor the environment, in which case the cabinet shall actively pursue reimbursement\nof the fund by any available federal moneys.\n(16) If any person responsible for a release or threatened release of a hazardous\nsubstance fails to take response actions or to make reasonable progress in\ncompleting response actions ordered by the cabinet, the cabinet may bring an action\nto compel performance o r may take appropriate response actions and order the\nresponsible person to reimburse the cabinet for the actual costs incurred by the\ncabinet.\n(17) If disposal activities have occurred at a hazardous waste site, the cabinet shall\nrecord, in the office of the county clerk in the county in which a waste site is\nsituated, a notice containing a legal description of the property that discloses to any\npotential transferee that the land was used to dispose hazardous waste and that\nfurther information on the hazardous waste site may be obtained from the cabinet.\n(18) No person shall affect the integrity of the final cover, liners, or any other\ncomponents of any containment system after closure of a hazardous waste site on or\nin which hazardous waste remains without prior written approval of the cabinet.","path":[],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53742","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:52:41Z","sha256":"463fcdce544c6059bf5b6644cf026dce3f9572b7ed120e48f39be00a93505c37","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-224.46-570","next":"us-ky/krs-224.46-590"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}