STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 52nd Legislature (2009)

SENATE BILL 511	By:	Aldridge

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to environment and natural resources; amending Section 6, Chapter 243, O.S.L. 2006 (27A O.S. Supp. 2007, Section 2-7-405), which relates to authority to employ or contract with remediation service of choice; adding requirement for certain highway remediation and cleanup service operators; providing for rotation of certain service calls; requiring certain law enforcement agencies to keep certain rotation logs and list of calls; requiring certain notification prior to removal from rotation lists; stating requirements for operators to be placed on rotation logs; stating exception; requiring rotation logs to be placed in certain locations; requiring the Department of Public Safety to establish certain geographical areas of rotation for certain service calls; requiring rotation logs to be available for public inspection; requiring officers to use cleanup service providers in certain locations; stating exceptions; providing for codification; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     AMENDATORY     Section 6, Chapter 243, O.S.L. 2006 (27A O.S. Supp. 2007, Section 2-7-405), is amended to read as follows:
Section 2-7-405.  The provisions of this act the Oklahoma Highway Remediation and Cleanup Services Act shall not preclude any person in need of any highway remediation or cleanup service from employing or contracting with any licensed highway remediation service of choice, except where hazardous conditions exist which pose an imminent threat to human health or the environment, in which case a law enforcement officer may contact any available highway remediation and cleanup service operator or any other provider of a needed service, as provided in Section 2 of this act, as the officer deems necessary as safety and time conditions warrant.
SECTION 2.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2-7-406 of Title 27A, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A.  Unless otherwise regulated by the governing body of the political subdivision, the highway remediation and cleanup service operator requested by the political subdivision of this state for the removal or remediation of spills of hazardous materials shall be from the licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operator whose location is nearest to the hazardous condition.  Requests for service shall be alternated or rotated among all such licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operators as nearly as possible which are located within a reasonable radius of each other.  In cities of less than fifty thousand (50,000) population, all such licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operators located near or in the city limits of such cities shall be considered as being equal distance and shall be called on an equal basis as nearly as possible.  The police chief of any municipality and the county sheriff of each county shall keep rotation logs on all requested cleanups, except where there are insufficient licensed highway remediation or cleanup service operators available to rotate such services.  Rotation logs shall be made available for public inspection upon request.  Any calls made from cell phones or two-way radios by any law enforcement officer or employee of any municipality or county to any highway remediation service shall be listed on the rotation or call logs and made available for public inspection.  A highway remediation and cleanup service operator shall not be removed from rotation without notification to the highway remediation and cleanup operator stating the reason for removal from the rotation log.  All notification for removal from a rotation log shall be mailed to the highway remediation and cleanup service owner at least ten (10) days before removal from the rotation log and shall state the procedure and requirements for reinstatement.
B.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Public Safety and any municipality, county or other political subdivision of this state shall not place any highway remediation and cleanup service operator upon an official rotation log for the performance of services carried out pursuant to the request of or at the direction of any law enforcement officer of the Department of Public Safety or municipality, county or political subdivision unless the service meets the following requirements:
1.  Principal business facilities are located within Oklahoma;
2.  Tow trucks are registered and licensed in Oklahoma; and
3.  Owner is a resident of the State of Oklahoma or the service is an Oklahoma corporation.
In the event licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operator is not located within a county, a highway remediation and cleanup service that is located outside of the county or this state and does not meet the above qualifications may be placed on the rotation log for the county or any municipality or political subdivision located within the county.
C.  Upon receipt of a list of licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operators from the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Public Safety shall place a licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operator on the Highway Patrol Rotation Log in a geographical area in which the place of business and the primary storage facility of the highway remediation and cleanup service are located.  Upon further request of a highway remediation and cleanup service operator, the Department of Environmental Quality may authorize the Department of Public Safety to place a highway remediation and cleanup service on the Highway Patrol Rotation Log in a geographical area in which the place of business and the primary storage facility of the highway remediation and cleanup service are located if the highway remediation and cleanup service is in proximity to and within a reasonable radius of the boundary of the district.  When a highway remediation and cleanup service operator is placed on the rotation log, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the highway remediation and cleanup service and the troop commanders in that geographical area.
D.  The Commissioner of Public Safety or the Department of Public Safety shall be responsible for establishing geographical areas of rotation and for notifying each highway remediation and cleanup service operator of the geographical areas of rotation to which the service is assigned, and shall make all rotation logs available for public inspection.
E.  Each officer of the Department of Public Safety shall use the services of the licensed highway remediation and cleanup service whose location is nearest to the hazardous condition.  The requests for services shall be alternated or rotated among all licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operators who are located within a reasonable radius of each other as nearly as possible.  In cities of less than fifty thousand (50,000) population, all licensed highway remediation and cleanup service operators located near or in the city limits of such cities shall be considered as being equal distance and shall be called on an equal basis as nearly as possible.  In counties bordering other states, if the officer deems safety and time considerations warrant, the officer may call a highway remediation and cleanup service that is not on the rotation log.
SECTION 3.  It being immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its passage and approval.

52-1-904	MJM	2/17/2009 10:37:53 AM