TITLE 318 DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

There have been an average of 435 illegal drug labs discovered annually in dwellings in Indiana from 1999 through 2008. Of these properties, an average of 138 were discovered in rental properties, all of which are assumed to be owned by small businesses. The remainder occurred in owner-occupied housing.

Potentially affected small businesses in Indiana listed by NAICS category:

531110: Lessors of Residential Buildings and Dwellings

721110: Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels

721191: Bed-and-Breakfast Inns

721310: Rooming and Boarding Houses

There are currently 39 qualified inspectors listed with the department to clean up illegal drug labs. These inspectors are employed by 16 businesses, all of which are small businesses. Business liability insurance is normally obtained by employers, which indicates the cost savings will accrue to these 16 businesses.

562910: Remediation and clean up of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil, or ground water

The department estimates that approximately 154 small businesses will actually be affected by the proposed rule.

This rule does not impose any new reporting, record keeping, or administrative requirements. This rule removes two requirements to report planned cleanups to local health departments. The estimated cost savings of this change is limited. Since the effective date of the rule, there has been an average of approximately three cleanups per month, or 36 per year, statewide. At an average of one hour per report at an average rate of $25 per hour, this change would save about $900 per year. However, most contractors provide this information during their interaction with the local health department, so the actual cost savings will be considerably less.

318 IAC 1-5-1.3: Adds a requirement to test contaminated property before decontamination. Most contractors require up-front testing now to determine the actual extent of the cleaning required. While the requirement may result in increased cost for some property owners, other property owners will realize a cost savings. When the initial testing shows that the property meets the final levels without cleaning, the initial testing can be used as the final confirmation testing. When initial testing shows the contamination is limited to a portion of the property instead of the entire property, then only the part of the property that fails must be cleaned. In either case, the cost to the property owner would be reduced. The department is not aware of any way to determine if a property is actually contaminated without testing.

318 IAC 1-5-5.3: Adds a decontamination procedure that is consistent with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new "Voluntary Guidelines for Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup", August 2009.

318 IAC 1-5-5.5: Adds a procedure for handling rough or porous surfaces without testing to help minimize costs.

318 IAC 1-5-6.2: Adds a sampling procedure consistent with the new EPA guidelines that replaces ASTM D 6661-01 and ASTM D 5756-02. This procedure eliminates carpet sampling and is not expected to increase costs of testing.

318 IAC 1-5-9.5: Adds an explanation of how to certify disposal of a mobile home. The existing rule did not specifically deal with mobile homes that have little value and are not worth cleaning. This provision is designed to adequately document the disposal for local health departments and future purchasers without requiring unnecessary work.

The following less intrusive or less costly alternative methods were incorporated into the rule:

A. This rule reduces the scope of the article to properties that are "dwellings". The primary justification of the rule is to prevent risk to human health. IDEM is aware of no more than a handful of vehicles, storage lockers or other nondwelling properties that were cleaned up or disposed of under this article. A side effect of the existing rule was to push local health departments into requiring cleanups of vehicles and other properties that they would not normally get involved with. This rule would reduce the scope of the rule to its original intent and the original intent of the enabling statute (IC 13-14-1-15).

B. The rule now defines "supervision by a qualified inspector" giving contractors and property owners a clearer understanding of what work property owners can do themselves. IDEM expects this definition to encourage contractors to work closely with property owners to help reduce cleanup costs.

C. Requirement for qualified inspectors to maintain $3 million in pollution prevention insurance coverage was dropped. The department felt this coverage was unnecessary since it is in addition to the $1 million in professional liability insurance that was retained. IDEM is not aware of any claims against either coverage since the effective date of the rule.

D. The rule removes requirements to notify the local health department, IDEM, and ISDH before cleanup or demolition. Few contractors have notified IDEM as required, and this has not proven to cause problems. Local health departments are notified of cleanups and demolitions in conjunction with their orders, independent of this rule. These requirements did not add to the effectiveness of the rule and would be eliminated.

DIN: 20100120-IR-318090671EIA

Composed: May 06,2024 11:15:28AM EDT

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