Don't Let the Government Rule Your Carwash
Operators should master the rules and regulations of government agencies

By Steven E. Schillinger, REA

Part I
Most carwash owners and operators do their best to provide their employees with a safe workplace. Few, if any, would intentionally disregard safety or environmental regulations at the cost of the well-being of their workers or community.

Problems arise, however, because carwash owners find it difficult to follow the barrage of constantly changing regulations issued by government agencies. Trying to run a carwash while simultaneously keeping abreast of OSHA, EPA, DOT, IRS, etc., and their endless series of acronyms--SARA, RCRA, HazCom, VOC, MSDS--sometimes makes operators feel like they're playing regulatory Scrabble and losing.

The goals of regulatory agencies are different. Many regulations overlap in areas such as emergency preparedness, pollutant releases and worker safety. For instance, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) concern is to protect human health and the environment. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) concern is protecting the health and safety of the worker in the workplace. Owners, however, are responsible for sometimes more than 100 different agencies and thousands of regulations.

Compliance requirements

Carwashes engaging in activities that can degrade the environment or endanger workers are required to establish, maintain and improve their environmental and safety-management programs. To be effective, enviro-safety management must be based on a multimedia approach that enables carwash managers to assess the financial, operational and management benefits of taking such an integrated approach to environmental, health and safety activities.

The multimedia requirements address all environmental (air, water and waste) and safety (workers and public) media at once. They include proper waste and material-handling management and systematic monitoring and record keeping. They also include an accurate evaluation of whether a unit or structure requires an environmental permit, plan approval or registration--and, if so--the type of required permit or notification. The requirements also tell you what, if any, exemptions from permitting or approval requirements exist. Knowing this information is beneficial not only for environmental compliance and worker safety but also for facility operations.

The coverage of OSHA law embodies a crossover into EPA laws. The mutual laws cover two criteria: work activities and ecological areas. The activities covered relate to environmental and safety actions in and around the workplace.

Who must comply?

Most environmental, health and safety rules are centered around OSHA. The multimedia laws are intended to ensure that anyone or anything exposed to a chemical in the course of routine work or during an emergency is aware of its properties. Therefore:

• Any carwash whose employees use or handle hazardous chemicals must adhere to the Hazard Communication Standards (HazCom Right-to-Know) law. This includes not only product manufacturers, but also non-manufacturing carwash operations and distributors of hazardous chemicals.
• All manufacturers who have followed labeling procedures since 1985 must now provide downstream users (their customers) with information on the hazardous chemicals in the items they produce, including types of hazards (for example, inhalation or contact with skin or eyes) and means of protecting against those hazards.

Any company that produces hazardous chemicals as a by-product must determine the hazards of these products and provide labels and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for subsequent handlers.

Even if employees only handle sealed chemical containers, the HazCom Standard requires that the labels on the container remain intact, that MSDSs are available, and that employees are trained to protect themselves in the event of exposure.

Government enforcement tools

The increasing use of automated electronic systems in carwash operations is now recognized as a source of evidence in civil cases. Forensic experts at the EPA's office of criminal enforcement, National Enforcement Investigations Center (NEIC), are working with others in law enforcement to develop techniques for gathering and analyzing electronic evidence that will ensure that violators will not succeed in hiding behind the veil of cyberspace.

On the civil and administrative enforcement side, state and federal governments have a number of effective enforcement tools available. First, under certain statutes, the EPA and other empowered governmental entities may assess administrative penalties for a party's failure to comply with regulatory requirements based on their own records.

Second, the EPA may issue administrative orders directing immediate compliance, the assessment of civil penalties or both. In some instances, the administrative order provisions afford the recipient a public hearing, including the opportunity to introduce evidence and examine witnesses, with some discovery. Others permit the recipient to submit written comments prior to the order taking effect. If the recipient of the order fails to act, a civil lawsuit to enforce the order or recover penalties may be filed.

Third, an agency may file a civil lawsuit requesting injunctive relief. If a request for an injunction is granted, a judge will order a party to undertake or cease certain activities to comply with the applicable law.

Fourth, the "Superfund" law under CERCLA permits the government to file a lawsuit to recover costs incurred for response activities, including investigation and cleanup, from liable parties on a strict liability basis. Private parties may also file cost recovery actions against other parties seeking contribution toward costs incurred for response activities.

Finally, almost anyone may file a citizen's suit to enforce certain environmental or safety provisions. Citizen suits permit enforcement where a lack of technical ability has held back a more diligently prosecuted state or federal action.

Federal, state and local administrating agencies are adopting the Internal Revenue Service approach to regulatory compliance--they simply ask you to certify that you are in compliance and provide credible information that you feel supports that claim.

For a list of resources, including environmental hotlines, OSHA Web sites, and association and society information, visit www.moderncarcare.com.

Steven Schillinger is a registered environmental engineer in the state of California. He is the founder of PIRK RecordKeeping, a licensed compliance management company serving thousands of nationwide businesses subject to environmental pollution and worker safety regulations. For more information, email Schillinger at sespirk@earthlink.net or visit www.PIRKnet.com

Look for part two of this series on preparing for government inspection in the March issue of Modern Car Care.

Carwash Permit Requirements

City

Building and Construction Permit: Required for all new, retrofit and remodeling construction, including change of occupancy.

Burglar Alarm Permit: A permit may be required for those carwashes having a burglar alarm or security system.

Business License (Business Tax Certificate): Required for carwashes doing business within city limits or unincorporated counties located outside of city limits.

Certificate of Disclosure of Hazardous Substances and Business Plan: Must be filed if handling or storing at minimum 55 gallons, 200 cubic feet, or 500 pounds of hazardous substances.

Conditional-Use Permit/Alcohol Sales: Required for retail alcoholic beverage sales.

Fire Department Permit/Fire Protection: All carwashes subject to annual inspection of facility.

Hazardous Materials/Waste Management: Permits in accordance with periodic plans, inspections and reports are required for carwashes handling, storing or generating hazardous materials as follows:

• Hazardous waste/generator treatment plan. Certificates and authority of licensed waste haulers.
• Underground storage tank monitoring plan. Certificate of 1998 upgrade/compliance and testing.
• Hazardous materials release (Emergency Response) plan. Emergency evacuation wall map must be displayed.
• Accidental release prevention (inspection) plan. Lab analysis (EPA protocol) and assessment certificates.
• Above-ground tank Spill Prevention and Control Countermeasures (SPCC) plan.
• Hazardous material management (chemical inventory) plan including approved site map for safety/hazard equip.

Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit: Required by most carwashes discharging wastewater to the sewer system. Certain areas may be regulated by the county department of public works.

Land-Use Permit: Zone change, variance, conditional-use permit.

Storage Tank Permit: Carwashes are required to submit periodic certification documents for underground/ aboveground storage tanks permits to fire department, EPA and/or regional water quality control board.

Zoning Approval: Permitted uses, development regulations, and design review, sign permit, parking regulations.

County

Business Personal Property: Property used in the operation of a carwash such as machinery, equipment and trade fixtures is taxable and subject to assessment. Carwash operations need to file a Business Property Statement annually with the assessor declaring property on hand as of Jan. 1 of each year. Generally those carwashes with personal property and fixtures with a cost less than $100,000 are not required to file a property statement.

Fictitious Name Filing (DBA): Required if fictitious name is used.

Public Health Operating License: Required of carwashes providing food, ice or soft drinks.

Weights and Measures: Carwashes using scales, fuel pumps, electronic or manual price lookup scanner devices, taximeters or other measuring devices must ensure proper calibration and pass inspections.

Regional

Permit to Operate: Stationary sources of air emissions from specific types of equipment, industrial processes, gasoline and solvents and some consumer products, must be permitted.

Best Available Control Technology (BACT) Best Management Practices: Carwashes are required to maintain and submit periodic reports of air and water pollution quantities (i.e., VOC, HAP, pH, particulate emissions) in accordance with permit requirements and pollution prevention/containment measures for specific types of equipment, industrial processes, gasoline, oils and solvents and some consumer products.

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