Wis. Admin. Code Department of Natural Resources NR 706.05

Current through October 28, 2024
Section NR 706.05 - General requirements for responsible parties
(1) DISCHARGE NOTIFICATION.
(a) Unless the discharge is specifically exempted under s. NR 706.07, persons who cause the discharge to the environment of a hazardous substance or who possess or control a hazardous substance which is discharged to the environment shall immediately notify the department of the discharge. Discharges to the environment may include recent discharges, historic discharges, and discharges caused by the long-term application of a substance. A hazardous substance that is "discharged" into a secondary containment structure, that is completely contained and can be recovered with no discharge to the environment, is not subject to the discharge notification requirements in s. 292.11(2), Stats.

Note: The department believes that the dictionary definition of "immediately", i.e. "occurring at once; next in line," does not lend itself to quantification. An across-the-board time-period can't be specified. In uncomplicated hazardous substance discharge situations, responsible parties are expected to provide notice to the department within a matter of a few minutes after they learned of the discharge. In other situations, especially where emergency action of some kind is being taken by the responsible party or where the responsible party does not have access to a telephone, notification may not be possible for several hours, but would still be considered "immediate" if promptly given.

(b) Hazardous substance discharges shall be immediately reported to the department by telephoning the department-designated 24-hour hotline telephone number. The department may allow alternate notification procedures on a case-by-case basis.

Note: Use of the department-designated 24-hour hotline is for notification of spills. The hotline operated by the division of emergency management in cooperation with the department can be reached at 1-800-943-0003.

Note: If a notification of a natural gas discharge is made to the National Response Center in compliance with 49 C.F.R. § 191.5 (Code of Federal Regulations) it is not necessary to report under this chapter. The department does not require natural gas discharges which are not reportable to the National Response Center to be reported to the Department. The department will receive natural gas discharge notifications through the National Response Center.

(bm) Hazardous substance discharges discovered through soil, water or other analyses may be reported by telefaxing a completed discharge notification form provided by the department, or by alternate notification procedures approved by the department. Laboratory results shall be included with the completed discharge notification form.

Note: Use of the discharge notification form is intended only for notification of discharges typically found through tank closure assessment, phase II environmental assessments, or by other discoveries through soil, water or other media analysis. The discharge notification form can be obtained and submitted through the RR Program Submittal Portal at the following web address: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Brownfields/Submittal.html.

(c) The notification required by this subsection shall contain the following information to the extent practicable or applicable:
1. Name, address, and telephone number of the person reporting the discharge.
2. Name, address, and telephone number of the discharger, or owner and operator of the UST system and any other potentially responsible persons.
3. Date, time, and duration of the discharge.
3m. Location of the discharge including street address, county, town, city or village, if appropriate, quarter-quarter section, township, range, geographic position obtained in accordance with the requirements of s. NR 716.15 (5) (d), and legal description of lot, if located in a platted area.

Note: The provisions in s. NR 716.15 (5) (d) require that all geographic position data shall be obtained and submitted to the department in accordance with the following requirements:

1) for properties that are not more than 200 feet wide or long, a single point geographic position shall be obtained at least 40 feet within the boundaries of the property, or as close to the center of the property as possible if the property is less than 80 feet wide or long. For properties that are more than 200 feet wide or long, coordinates describing the approximate location of the property's boundaries, forming a polygon, shall be obtained: and
2) geographic position data shall be originally collected in Wisconsin Transverse Mercator `91 or projected onto Wisconsin Transverse Mercator `91.
4. Identity, physical state, and quantity of the material discharged.
5. Physical, chemical, hazardous, and toxicological characteristics of the substance.
6. Cause of the discharge.
7. Immediate actions being taken and the name of the contractor or other person performing the action.
8. Source, speed of movement, and destination or probable destination of the discharged hazardous substance.
9. Actual or potential impacts to human health or the environment, including actual or potential impacts to drinking water supplies.
10. Weather conditions existing at the scene, including presence of precipitation and wind direction and velocity.
11. Other agencies on-scene during the discharge incident.
(2) CONTAINMENT, CLEANUP, DISPOSAL, AND RESTORATION. Responsible parties shall comply with the requirements of chs. NR 700 to 754 for response actions to discharges of hazardous substances.

Wis. Admin. Code Department of Natural Resources NR 706.05

Cr. Register, February, 1997, No. 494, eff. 3-1-97; CR 12-023: am. (title), (1) (a), (b), cr. (1) (bm), am. (1) (c) (intro.), 3., cr. (1) (c) 3m., am. (1) (c) 11., (2) Register October 2013 No. 694, eff. 11-1-13.
Amended by, correction in (1) (bm) (Note) made under s. 13.92 (4) (b), Stats., Register March 2020 No. 771, eff. 10/1/2022