Table of Contents
Introduction
Hefty toll may implied by the hazardous material spills on the entire set of involved parties. Legal liabilities, frustration and cleanup bills for affected property owners make their contribution on the problems, associated with spills, expanding (Noll et al., 2014). In case the owners of hazardous enterprises are aware of their responsibilities regarding the release of hazardous materials, and if they know in which manner it is premised to react in case of incident occurrence, the option of required cleanup effort and subsequent cost, which is associated with the incident minimization, may be obtained. In cases when there is no option of total elimination of the spills, it is essential to minimize the instances and to simplify the cleanups though the set of the steps.
In the scope of this paper, the following aspects of hazmat management would be discussed - allocation of responsibility for hazardous impacts of hazmat, federal regulations of hazardous substance, classification of hazmat, and hazmat costs.
Allocation of Responsibility for Hazardous Impacts of Hazmat
Liability and responsibility for the set of the efforts, which should be undertaken for minimization of the hazardous impacts of the chemical manufacturing enterprise, lies on the hazardous material owner and on the entity, which is initially set as responsible for the release. In addition, the responsibility for the loss may be put on the insurance providers, but at the same time, they are not directly responsible for the spill cleanup (Burke, 2009).
The set of environmental statutes, issued by the federal government, specifically define the hazardous materials and substances. At the same time, significant quantity of the chemical substances, which may pose the risk for the environment and for the human health in the case of their exposure, are considered as hazardous substances.
Federal Regulations of Hazardous Substance
After release of a hazardous substance into environment takes its place or the substantial threat is posed by it to the environment, the fact of release may be stated. Environment in this case includes groundwater, surface water, surface, drinking water supply, ambient air, subsurface strata, storm sewer, and dry gullies that discharge to surface waters.
In cases when release exceeds or equals the premised quantity of the substance, which is set by the Code of Federal Regulations, it should be properly reported. For instance, in many states, the regulation of the petroleum products in terms of reportable quantity us is established at the rate of 25 gallon or a quantity, which is for placing sheen on water.
The regulation of Asbestos-containing materials is conducted in the following manner – in cases when the material, which contains more than 1% asbestos, is disturbed, this occasion should be reported immediately (Jaffin, 2013).
The core responsibility in this case lies on the hazardous substance owner. In addition, it may include an individual who is responsible for the spill. It is essential to put an emphasis on the fact that such a title cannot be transferred to another entity, nor its elimination is possible. While discussing the hazmat management program and its impact on the safety and cost in a workplace environment, it is essential to put an emphasis on the fact that the hazardous substances releases may take their place both in the fixed facilities and in the timeframe of transportation. The majority of spills are released to the soil and soak it before the surface water is reached, in other cases, these spills are released within the facility confines. More than 50% of the spills are fuel spills, which are mainly caused by the ruptured fuel tanks. Such occasions are considered as relatively simple in terms of their cleanup. Those hazardous substances, which are released to sewer systems surface waters or drinking water supplies, or make their negative impact on the groundwater, need the specialized expertise and equipment. The Clean Water Act states that the set of the penalties may be applied to the enterprises – for instance, it may reach $25,000 per day of violation.
Classification of Hazmat
The next issue to be outlined in the scope of this paper is the list of the wastes that have been determined by EPA as hazardous. They are the following: K-list (specific industries wastes); F-list (industrial and manufacturing processes wastes); and P- and U-lists (commercial chemical products wastes)
In addition, there are characteristic wastes, which are not included to the above listed classification, but exhibit corrosivity, ignitability, ignitability, or reactivity. Universal wastes include the pesticides, batteries, lamps (such as fluorescent bulbs) and mercury-containing equipment (such as hermostats). Mixed wastes contain both hazardous and radioactive waste components (US Environment Protection Agency, 2014).
Hazmat costs
The next issue to be discussed is the costs of wastes for the enterprise responsible for hazardous materials. The costs for cleaning up the spills of hazardous material are significant. More than that, in case an enterprise lacks the proper equipment or experience in this area, the costs for the clean-up party may increase dramatically.
The process of determining specific cleanup measures should be mainly grounded on the assessing the method effectiveness, its costs and regulators and properly owner’s needs and requirements satisfaction (Wetzel, 2013).
Conclusion
To conclude, it is essential to put an emphasis on the fact that motivation of people and different entities for being prepared to the potential disaster and to its outcomes is an effective tool for managing the outcomes of emergency case because awareness of the core principles of disaster management skills would assist people in being useful when the time of the practical application of these skills comes.