Title 40

SECTION 261.410

261.410 Preparedness and prevention.

§ 261.410 Preparedness and prevention.

(a) Maintenance and operation of facility. Facilities generating or accumulating hazardous secondary material must be maintained and operated to minimize the possibility of a fire, explosion, or any unplanned sudden or non-sudden release of hazardous secondary materials or hazardous secondary material constituents to air, soil, or surface water which could threaten human health or the environment.

(b) Required equipment. All facilities generating or accumulating hazardous secondary material must be equipped with the following, unless none of the hazards posed by hazardous secondary material handled at the facility could require a particular kind of equipment specified below:

(1) An internal communications or alarm system capable of providing immediate emergency instruction (voice or signal) to facility personnel;

(2) A device, such as a telephone (immediately available at the scene of operations) or a hand-held two-way radio, capable of summoning emergency assistance from local police departments, fire departments, or state or local emergency response teams;

(3) Portable fire extinguishers, fire control equipment (including special extinguishing equipment, such as that using foam, inert gas, or dry chemicals), spill control equipment, and decontamination equipment; and

(4) Water at adequate volume and pressure to supply water hose streams, or foam producing equipment, or automatic sprinklers, or water spray systems.

(c) Testing and maintenance of equipment. All facility communications or alarm systems, fire protection equipment, spill control equipment, and decontamination equipment, where required, must be tested and maintained as necessary to assure its proper operation in time of emergency.

(d) Access to communications or alarm system. (1) Whenever hazardous secondary material is being poured, mixed, spread, or otherwise handled, all personnel involved in the operation must have immediate access to an internal alarm or emergency communication device, either directly or through visual or voice contact with another employee, unless such a device is not required under paragraph (b) of this section.

(2) If there is ever just one employee on the premises while the facility is operating, he must have immediate access to a device, such as a telephone (immediately available at the scene of operation) or a hand-held two-way radio, capable of summoning external emergency assistance, unless such a device is not required under paragraph (b) of this section.

(e) Required aisle space. The hazardous secondary material generator or intermediate or reclamation facility operating under a verified recycler variance under § 260.31(d) must maintain aisle space to allow the unobstructed movement of personnel, fire protection equipment, spill control equipment, and decontamination equipment to any area of facility operation in an emergency, unless aisle space is not needed for any of these purposes.

(f) Arrangements with local authorities. (1) The hazardous secondary material generator or an intermediate or reclamation facility operating under a verified recycler variance under § 260.31(d) must attempt to make the following arrangements, as appropriate for the type of waste handled at his facility and the potential need for the services of these organizations:

(i) Arrangements to familiarize police, fire departments, and emergency response teams with the layout of the facility, properties of hazardous secondary material handled at the facility and associated hazards, places where facility personnel would normally be working, entrances to roads inside the facility, and possible evacuation routes;

(ii) Where more than one police and fire department might respond to an emergency, agreements designating primary emergency authority to a specific police and a specific fire department, and agreements with any others to provide support to the primary emergency authority;

(iii) Agreements with state emergency response teams, emergency response contractors, and equipment suppliers; and

(iv) Arrangements to familiarize local hospitals with the properties of hazardous waste handled at the facility and the types of injuries or illnesses which could result from fires, explosions, or releases at the facility.

(2) Where state or local authorities decline to enter into such arrangements, the hazardous secondary material generator or an intermediate or reclamation facility operating under a verified recycler variance under § 260.31(d) must document the refusal in the operating record.

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