2004 Minnesota Statutes

     115E.03 Duty to prepare for response to discharges. 

    Subdivision 1.    General preparedness.  A person who 
 owns or operates a vessel or facility transporting, storing, or 
 otherwise handling hazardous substances or oil or who is 
 otherwise in control of hazardous substances or oil shall be 
 prepared at all times to rapidly and thoroughly recover 
 discharged hazardous substances or oil that were under that 
 person's control and to take all other actions necessary to 
 minimize or abate pollution of land, waters, and air of the 
 state and to protect the public's safety and health. 

    Subd. 2.    Specific preparedness.  The following 
 persons shall comply with the specific requirements of 
 subdivisions 3 and 4 and section 115E.04: 

    (1) persons who own or operate a vessel that is constructed 
 or adapted to carry, or that carried, oil or hazardous 
 substances in bulk as cargo or cargo residue; 

    (2) persons who own or operate railroad car rolling stock 
 transporting an aggregate total of more than 100,000 gallons of 
 oil or hazardous substance as cargo in Minnesota in any calendar 
 month; 

    (3) persons who own or operate facilities containing 
 1,000,000 gallons or more of oil or hazardous substance in tank 
 storage at any time; 

    (4) persons who own or operate facilities where there is 
 transfer of an average monthly aggregate total of more than 
 1,000,000 gallons of oil or hazardous substances to or from 
 vessels, tanks, rolling stock, or pipelines, except for 
 facilities where the primary transfer activity is the retail 
 sales of motor fuels; 

    (5) persons who own or operate hazardous liquid pipeline 
 facilities through which more than 100,000 gallons of oil or 
 hazardous substance is transported in any calendar month; and 

    (6) persons required to demonstrate preparedness under 
 section 115E.05. 

    Subd. 3.    Level of preparedness.  A person described 
 in subdivision 2 shall maintain a level of preparedness that 
 ensures that effective response can reliably be made to worst 
 case discharges. 

    Subd. 4.    Demonstration of satisfactory preparedness.  
 A person required to maintain preparedness under subdivision 2 
 may demonstrate satisfactory preparedness to the commissioner of 
 the lead agency through one or a combination of the following 
 means: 

    (1) adequate response personnel and equipment in the usual 
 employ of the person; 

    (2) adequate response personnel and equipment available 
 from for-hire cleanup contractors with arrangements made for 
 their deployment; 

    (3) adequate response personnel and equipment from a 
 response cooperative or community awareness and emergency 
 response organization meeting guidelines prepared by the lead 
 agency with arrangements made for their deployment; or 

    (4) adequate response personnel and equipment of local, 
 state, or federal public sector response organizations with 
 arrangements made for their deployment. 

    Subd. 5.    Department of Transportation.  The 
 commissioner of transportation may examine the evidence of 
 financial responsibility required under section 1016 of the Oil 
 Pollution Act of 1990 for a vessel and may apply the sanctions 
 in that section.  

    HIST: 1991 c 305 s 3; 1993 c 341 art 2 s 1