(a) For the purposes of developing or assisting in the development of any regulation or enforcing this chapter, any owner or operator of any underground storage tank, and any owner of a facility, shall, upon the request of any duly designated officer or employee of the State, furnish information relating to such tanks or contents and permit such person at all reasonable times and in accordance with § 6024 of this title, to have access to, and to copy all records relating to such tanks and to conduct such monitoring as such officer or employee deems necessary. For the purposes of developing or assisting in the development of any regulation or enforcing this chapter, such officer or employee is authorized:

(1) Designate the data which such owner or operator believes is entitled to protection under Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act [Chapter 100 of Title 29]; and

(2) To inspect and obtain samples from any person of such regulated substances and to conduct monitoring of the tanks, contents or surrounding soils. Each such inspection shall be commenced and completed with reasonable promptness.

(b) In submitting data under this chapter, a person required to provide such data may:

(1) Designate the data which such owner or operator believes is entitled to protection under Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act [Chapter 100 of Title 29]; and

(2) Submit such designated data separately from other data submitted under this chapter.

(c) The Department, its contractors and agents, may enter a facility, at reasonable times, upon giving the owner, operator, or real property owner, verbal notice, to investigate if a release has occurred from an underground storage tank system. This includes but is not limited to performing release detection activities as well as sampling soils and groundwater to evaluate whether a release of a regulated substance has occurred.

(d) The Department, its contractors and agents, may enter a facility, at reasonable times, upon giving the owner, operator, or real property owner, written notice, to remove regulated substances from underground storage tanks that are suspected of leaking, or that have been out of service for longer than 12 months, to perform sampling of soil and groundwater to determine the nature and extent of a confirmed release, to determine the need for corrective action, and to perform corrective action.

(e) The Department is authorized to petition the Superior Court for an order for access to real property, to investigate the possibility of underground migration of released regulated substances, from an underground storage tank or facility, to the real property, to control or contain released regulated substances that may be on the real property, and to undertake corrective action on the real property. The Superior Court shall schedule a hearing on the petition, giving due consideration to the immediacy of the facts presented in the petition. The Department shall give the owners of record of the real property notice of the hearing on the petition at least 10 days before the hearing, by hand delivery, by certified U.S. mail to the real property owner’s last known address, or by leaving the notice at the real property. The notice shall be in writing and shall contain a copy of the petition, a description of the real property to be accessed, the actions proposed and expected to be taken by the Department, and the date, time and location of the hearing. For good cause shown, the Superior Court shall grant the petition and order access to the real property in furtherance of the purpose of this chapter and for protection of the environment, for specified actions and goals, and on such terms and conditions, as may be supported by the facts and circumstances presented. This section shall not be construed as impairing in any way the authority of the Department and real property owners from entering into voluntary agreements for access at any time. The liability of responsible parties for costs incurred by the Department includes costs incurred by the Department on real property covered by an order issued under this section.

(f) If the Department determines that an emergency exists that requires immediate action to protect public health, safety, welfare, or the environment, and the owner, operator, or property owner is unwilling, unavailable, or unable to take such immediate action, the Department is authorized to enter upon a facility and adjacent or related real property and take any immediate action necessary to abate the emergency.

65 Del. Laws, c. 161, § 1; 79 Del. Laws, c. 440, § 6.