53-2a-703. Hazardous materials emergency — Recovery of expenses.
| (1) |
Terms Used In Utah Code 53-2a-703- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Division: means the Division of Emergency Management created in Section 53-2a-103. See Utah Code 53-2a-102
- Expenses: means actual labor costs of government and volunteer personnel, and materials. See Utah Code 53-2a-102
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Hazardous materials emergency: means a sudden and unexpected release of any substance that because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics presents a direct and immediate threat to public safety or the environment and requires immediate action to mitigate the threat. See Utah Code 53-2a-102
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Political subdivision: means the same as that term is defined in Section 11-61-102. See Utah Code 53-2a-102
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
| (a) |
The Hazardous Chemical Emergency Response Commission may recover from those persons whose negligent actions caused the hazardous materials emergency, expenses directly associated with a response to a hazardous materials emergency taken under authority of this part, 1, or 2, that are incurred by:
| (ii) |
a political subdivision as defined in Section 53-2a-203; or |
| (iii) |
an interlocal entity, described in Section 11-13-203, providing emergency services to a political subdivision pursuant to written agreement. |
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| (b) |
The payment of expenses under this Subsection (1) is not an admission of liability or negligence in any legal action for damages. |
| (c) |
The Hazardous Chemical Emergency Response Commission may obtain assistance from the attorney general or a county attorney of the affected jurisdiction to assist in recovering expenses and legal fees. |
| (d) |
Any recovered costs shall be deposited in the General Fund as dedicated credits to be used by the division to reimburse an entity described in Subsection (1)(a) for costs incurred by the entity. |
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| (2) |
| (a) |
If the cost directly associated with emergency response exceeds all available funds of the division within a given fiscal year, the division, with approval from the governor, may incur a deficit in its line item budget. |
| (b) |
The Legislature shall provide a supplemental appropriation in the following year to cover the deficit. |
| (c) |
The division shall deposit all costs associated with any emergency response that are collected in subsequent fiscal years into the General Fund. |
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| (3) |
Any political subdivision may enact local ordinances pursuant to existing statutory or constitutional authority to provide for the recovery of expenses incurred by the political subdivision. |
Amended by Chapter 437, 2021 General Session
