(a) The department has exclusive regulatory authority over all hazardous waste generation, transportation, storage, treatment and disposal and other management practices in the state, and shall, from time to time, investigate and monitor sources of generation, transportation, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. However, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the authority of the Alabama Department of Public Health to regulate wastes containing radioactive materials under Chapter 14 of this title.

(b) In exercising such exclusive authority, the department shall provide sufficient personnel with training in hazardous waste management and a minimum of a bachelor's degree in the sciences or engineering to comprehensively monitor all commercial sites for the disposal of hazardous wastes. Such personnel shall be hired by the director and shall be members of the department's staff.

(1) For the purposes of this section, a commercial site for the disposal of hazardous waste is defined as one receiving hazardous waste not generated on site for disposal and to which a fee is paid for such disposal.

(2) The personnel shall primarily be responsible for the monitoring of landfill and disposal programs at such sites, but their responsibilities shall include the monitoring and inspection of all activities related to such on site programs whether on site or off site. These responsibilities shall include but not be limited to monitoring of transportation near the site, monitoring of testing procedures, monitoring of the unloading of wastes, monitoring of waste storage, monitoring of waste disposal and monitoring of on site and off site areas of known or suspected contamination.

(3) To finance such monitoring operations, there is hereby levied on the operators of such sites a fee of $1.00 per ton on all waste received for disposal at such sites which fee shall be payable to the department by certified or cashier check or via electronic transfer each month. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no fee set forth in Section 22-27-17 shall be applicable to such sites. Any proceeds from such fees over and above those necessary to adequately provide for such monitoring operations may be used by the department for general operation.

(c) The director, or any employee of the department designated by the director, may administer oaths to witnesses and may conduct hearings and investigations, and the director may sign and issue subpoenas requiring persons to appear before him or her, the department or any employee of the department designated by the director to give testimony or produce papers, books, accounts, payrolls, documents (including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, electronic readings and other data compilations from which information can be obtained, translated, if necessary, by the person subpoenaed, through detection devices into reasonably usable form), records or tangible things and the department through its designated employees, shall have the power to serve the subpoenas upon such person either personally or by sending a copy of such subpoena through the United States mail, postage prepaid, which mail shall be registered or certified with return receipt attached, such service being complete when the registered or certified mail shall be delivered to the person and such receipt returned to the department, or its designated employee, signed by the person sought to be subpoenaed. Obedience to a subpoena issued by the director may be enforced by application to any judge of the circuit court of the county in which the subpoena was issued or to the judge of any circuit court in which such person subpoenaed resides in the same manner as is provided by law for the grand jury of a county to enforce its subpoenas and with the same penalty as provided therefor for the failure of any person failing or refusing to comply with such subpoena. The fees of witnesses for attendance and travel shall be the same as fees of witnesses before courts of record and shall be paid from the funds of the board.