The department shall establish an Infectious Waste Contingency Fund to ensure the availability of funds for response actions necessary at permitted infectious waste treatment facilities and necessary from accidents in the transportation of infectious waste and to defray the cost of governmental response actions associated with infectious waste. After funding of the Infectious Waste Program Fund, as provided for in Section 44-93-165, the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund must be financed by the remaining fees imposed pursuant to Section 44-93-160. The fees credited to the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund must be allocated as follows: an amount equal to two-thirds of the fees must be deposited into the fund and an amount equal to one-third of the fees must be held in a separate and distinct account within the fund for the purpose of being returned to each county in which the fee imposed by Section 44-93-160 is collected. When the amount of fees held in the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund meets or exceeds three hundred fifty thousand dollars, all fees remaining after funding the Infectious Waste Program Fund must be placed in the account established for counties and distributed as provided for in this section. When the balance in the Infectious Waste Contingency Fund reaches $250,000 or less, all fees remaining after funding the Infectious Waste Program Fund must be retained by the contingency fund until the fund reaches $350,000. Interest earned by the funds must be credited to the general fund of the State. Proceeds of the county account returned to a county pursuant to this section must be released by the State Treasurer upon the written request of a majority of the legislative delegation of the recipient county.

HISTORY: 1989 Act No. 134, Section 1; 1990 Act No. 612, Part II, Section 6B; 1992 Act No. 501, Part II Section 20A; 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 30C; 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, Section 103.