§ 68-212-110 — Fees - Consequences of failure to pay

Tennessee § 68-212-110

• Jurisdiction: Tennessee
• Title: 68

Text

(a) The board shall establish a schedule of fees for hazardous waste generators, hazardous waste transporters, operators of hazardous waste transfer facilities; applicants and holders of permits for the storage, reclamation, treatment or disposal of hazardous waste; and for the generation, storage, transportation, reclamation or treatment of those hazardous secondary materials that, if discarded, would be identified as spent materials, listed by-products or listed sludges. The board shall not establish fees for those hazardous secondary materials that are reclaimed and returned to the original process or processes in which they were generated where they are reused in the production process; provided, that only tank storage is involved and the entire process through completion of reclamation is closed by being entirely connected with pipes or other comparable enclosed means of conveyance. To establish an incentive to minimize risk to public health and the environment, the board shall consider the following factors in establishing the fees: (1) Off-site versus on-site facility; (2) Facility design capacity; and (3) Storage or treatment operation versus disposal operation. (b) Expenditures of such fees collected shall be restricted to operations of the hazardous waste management program established pursuant to this part. (c) Upon failure or refusal of an operator of a facility, transporter, or generator to pay a fee lawfully levied within a reasonable time allowed by the commissioner, the commissioner then may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for a judgment and seek execution of such judgment. (d) Failure of a permit applicant to pay the required fee shall constitute grounds for denial of a permit. Failure of a permittee to pay the required annual fee shall constitute grounds for revocation of the permittee's permit. (e) If any part of any fee imposed under this part is not paid on or before its due date, a penalty of five percent (5%) of the amount due shall at once accrue and be added thereto. Thereafter, on the last day of each month during which any part of any fee or any prior accrued penalty remains unpaid, an additional penalty of five percent (5%) of the then unpaid balance shall accrue and be added thereto; however, the total of the penalties and interest that accrue pursuant to this section shall not exceed three (3) times the amount of the original fee. At the commissioner's sole discretion, the commissioner may reduce the penalties that otherwise accrue pursuant to this section or chapter 203 of this title if, in the commissioner's opinion, the failure to pay fees was due to inadvertent error or excusable neglect; however, in no event shall the penalties be reduced to an amount less than ten percent (10%) per annum, plus statutory interest. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the issuance of a commissioner's order for the payment of a fee or a late payment penalty.

Legislative History

Acts 1977, ch. 175, § 9; 1980, ch. 899, § 13; 1981, ch. 174, §§ 21-23; T.C.A., § 53-6310; Acts 1983, ch. 317, § 3; 1984, ch. 908, §§ 3, 4, 6; 1986, ch. 644, § 9; 1989, ch. 321, § 13; 1991, ch. 417, § 8; T.C.A., § 68-46-110; Acts 1992, ch. 827, § 1; 2007, ch. 362, § 17; 2009, ch. 531, § 8.