2023 New Hampshire Revised Statutes › Title L - Water Management and Protection › Chapter 485-A - Water Pollution and Waste Disposal › Section 485-A:14 - Prohibited Acts.

485-A:14 Prohibited Acts. –
I. The lawful owner of any petroleum-powered vehicle or petroleum container that becomes partially or completely submerged in the surface waters of the state shall remove the vehicle or container from the water within 48 hours or as soon thereafter as safety and weather conditions permit. Petroleum-powered vehicles include, but are not limited to, cars, trucks, motorcycles, snowmobiles, motorized boats, off highway recreational vehicles, all terrain vehicles, construction equipment, trains, and airplanes. Petroleum containers include, but are not limited to, drums, barrels, tanks, pails, cans, jugs, or equipment which contains oil.
II. The lawful owner of the submerged vehicle or container shall notify the department of environmental services in accordance with RSA 146-A, and the department shall investigate any possible contamination and ensure the safe removal of the vehicle or container from the body of water involved. Any partially or completely submerged vehicle or petroleum container shall be presumed to be discharging oil into the surface waters of the state and shall be subject to the reporting, removal, and strict liability requirements of RSA 146-A.
III. The lawful owner of a vehicle shall notify the department of safety, division of state police, if any person is injured or killed in an incident involving a submerged vehicle.
IV. If the owner refuses or fails to remove a submerged vehicle or container as required by paragraph I, or if no owner can be identified, the department of environmental services may contract for the removal of the vehicle or container in question. The owner of the submerged vehicle or container shall be strictly liable for the costs of removing the vehicle or container and the costs of the investigation, containment, cleanup, removal, and corrective measures associated with the discharge. The cost shall be recoverable by the state in an action of debt brought by the attorney general in the name of the state. If the owner of the vehicle or container has been identified, the contractor who removes the vehicle or container shall impound the recovered vehicle or container, at the expense of the owner. No contractor shall release the vehicle or container to the owner until informed by the department that all costs incurred by the state have been paid by the owner of the vehicle or container or that the impounded vehicle or container otherwise may be released. Upon receiving approval from the department to release the impounded vehicle or container, the contractor shall dispose of the impounded vehicle or container in accordance with RSA 262:36-a. If no owner can be identified after reasonable efforts, the contractor who removes the vehicle or container shall deliver the vehicle or container to an appropriate salvage yard. Neither the state nor the contractor shall be liable for such delivery of the vehicle or container to anyone subsequently claiming ownership of the vehicle or container.
V. (a) Any person who fails to remove a submerged or partially submerged vehicle or container, as required by paragraph I, shall be guilty of a violation. Agents of the department of safety, division of state police, or any police officer of the municipality in which the vehicle or container is submerged may issue citations for a violation of this section and issue fines of $500 for each day the vehicle remains in the water. No citation or fine so issued shall preclude the department of environmental services from taking action pursuant to subparagraph (b).
(b) The department of environmental services may take action against any person who fails to remove a submerged or partially submerged vehicle or container, as required by paragraph I, in accordance with RSA 485-A:22. No action initiated by the department of environmental services under RSA 485-A:22 shall preclude the issuance of citations and fines pursuant to subparagraph (a).
VI. Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, any person who knowingly fails to remove a submerged or partially submerged vehicle or container, as required by paragraph I, shall be guilty of a class B felony if the surface water is the source, or a tributary to a source, from which the domestic water supply of a city, town, or village is taken, in whole or in part.
Source.
1989, 339:1. 1996, 228:108. 2006, 254:4. 2009, 190:1. 2011, 224:271, 272, eff. July 1, 2011. 2014, 141:1, eff. Aug. 15, 2014.