South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL › Subchapter 61-92 - UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK CONTROL REGULATIONS › Part 280 - TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUIREMENTS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS (UST) › Subpart H - FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY › Section 61-92.280.H.98 - SURETY BOND

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
(a) An owner or
				  operator may satisfy the requirements of Section 280.93 by obtaining a surety
				  bond that conforms to the requirements of this section. The surety company
				  issuing the bond must be among those listed as acceptable sureties on federal
				  bonds in the latest Circular 570 of the U.S. Department of the
				  Treasury.
(b) The surety bond must
				  be worded as follows, except that instructions in brackets must be replaced
				  with the relevant information and the brackets deleted:
PERFORMANCE BOND
Date bond executed: ____________
Period of coverage: _____________
Principal:
[legal name and business address of
					 owner or operator]
Type of organization:
[insert "individual",
					 "joint venture", "partnership", or "corporation"]
State of incorporation (if applicable):
					 __________________________________________
Surety(ies):
[name(s) and business
					 address(es)]
___________________________________
Scope of Coverage: [List the number of tanks at each
					 facility and the name(s) and address(es) of the facility(ies) where the tanks
					 are located. If more than one instrument is used to assure different tanks at
					 any one facility, for each tank covered by this instrument, list the tank
					 identification number provided in the notification submitted pursuant to
					 R.61-92.280.22, and the name and address of the facility. List the coverage
					 guaranteed by the bond:
"taking corrective action" and/or "compensating third
					 parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by" either "sudden
					 accidental releases" or "nonsudden accidental releases" or "accidental
					 releases" "arising from operating the underground storage tank"].
Penal sums of bond: Per occurrence $ ________
Annual aggregate $ ________
Surety's bond number: ___________
Know All Persons by These Presents, that we, the Principal
					 and Surety(ies), hereto are firmly bound to the Department, in the above penal
					 sums for the payment of which we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors,
					 administrators, successors, and assigns jointly and severally; provided that,
					 where the Surety(ies) are corporations acting as co-sureties, we, the Sureties,
					 bind ourselves in such sums jointly and severally only for the purpose of
					 allowing a joint action or actions against any or all of us, and for all other
					 purposes each Surety binds itself, jointly and severally with the Principal,
					 for the payment of such sums only as is set forth opposite the name of such
					 Surety, but if no limit of liability is indicated, the limit of liability shall
					 be the full amount of the penal sums.
Whereas said Principal is required under Subtitle I of the
					 Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended, and the State Underground Petroleum
					 Environmental Response Bank Act, as amended, to provide financial assurance for
					 [insert: "taking corrective action" and/or "compensating third parties for
					 bodily injury and property damage caused by" either "sudden accidental
					 releases" or "nonsudden accidental releases" or "accidental releases"; if
					 coverage is different for different tanks or locations, indicate the type of
					 coverage applicable to each tank or location] arising from operating the
					 underground storage tanks identified above, and
Whereas said Principal shall establish a standby trust fund
					 as is required when a surety bond is used to provide such financial
					 assurance;
Now, therefore, the conditions of the obligation are such
					 that if the Principal shall faithfully ["take corrective action, in accordance
					 with R.61-92.280, Subpart F and the Department's instructions for," and/or
					 "compensate injured third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused
					 by" either "sudden accidental releases" or "nonsudden accidental releases" or
					 "accidental releases"] arising from operating the tank(s) identified above, or
					 if the Principal shall provide alternate financial assurance, as specified in
					 R.61-92.280, Subpart H, within 120 days after the date the notice of
					 cancellation is received by the Principal from the Surety(ies), then this
					 obligation shall be null and void; otherwise it is to remain in full force and
					 effect.
Such obligation does not apply to any of the
					 following:
(a) Any obligation of
				  [insert owner or operator] under a workers' compensation, disability benefits,
				  or unemployment compensation law or other similar law;
(b) Bodily injury to an employee of [insert
				  owner or operator] arising from, and in the course of, employment by [insert
				  owner or operator];
(c) Bodily
				  injury or property damage arising from the ownership, maintenance, use, or
				  entrustment to others of any aircraft, motor vehicle, or watercraft;
(d) Property damage to any property owned,
				  rented, loaned to, in the care, custody, or control of, or occupied by [insert
				  owner or operator] that is not the direct result of a release from a petroleum
				  underground storage tank;
(e)
				  Bodily injury or property damage for which [insert owner or operator] is
				  obligated to pay damages by reason of the assumption of liability in a contract
				  or agreement other than a contract or agreement entered into to meet the
				  requirements of R.61-92.280.93.
The Surety(ies) shall become liable on this bond obligation
					 only when the Principal has failed to fulfill the conditions described
					 above.
Upon notification by the Department that the Principal has
					 failed to ["take corrective action, in accordance with R.61-92.280, Subpart F
					 and the Department's instructions," and/or "compensate injured third parties"]
					 as guaranteed by this bond, the Surety(ies) shall either perform ["corrective
					 action in accordance with R.61-92.280 and the Department's instructions,"
					 and/or "third-party liability compensation"] or place funds in an amount up to
					 the annual aggregate penal sum into the standby trust fund as directed by the
					 Department under R.61-92 280.112.
Upon notification by the Department that the Principal has
					 failed to provide alternate financial assurance within 60 days after the date
					 the notice of cancellation is received by the Principal from the Surety(ies)
					 and that the Department has determined or suspects that a release has occurred,
					 the Surety(ies) shall place funds in an amount not exceeding the annual
					 aggregate penal sum into the standby trust fund as directed by the Department
					 under R.61-92.280.112.
The Surety(ies) hereby waive(s) notification of amendments
					 to applicable laws, statutes, rules, and regulations and agrees that no such
					 amendment shall in any way alleviate its (their) obligation on this
					 bond.
The liability of the Surety(ies) shall not be discharged by
					 any payment or succession of payments hereunder, unless and until such payment
					 or payments shall amount in the annual aggregate to the penal sum shown on the
					 face of the bond, but in no event shall the obligation of the Surety(ies)
					 hereunder exceed the amount of said annual aggregate penal sum.
The Surety(ies) may cancel the bond by sending notice of
					 cancellation by certified mail to the Principal, provided, however, that
					 cancellation shall not occur during the 120 days beginning on the date of
					 receipt of the notice of cancellation by the Principal, as evidenced by the
					 return receipt.
The Principal may terminate this bond by sending written
					 notice to the Surety(ies).
In Witness Thereof, the Principal and Surety(ies) have
					 executed this Bond and have affixed their seals on the date set forth
					 above.
The persons whose signatures appear below hereby certify
					 that they are authorized to execute this surety bond on behalf of the Principal
					 and Surety(ies) and that the wording of this surety bond is identical to the
					 wording specified in R.61-92.280.98(b) as such regulations were constituted on
					 the date this bond was executed.