(a) In addition to any other fees assessed by law, there is levied a remedial action fee on the generation and management of hazardous waste. The amounts of the fees are to be set for different categories of activities in a rule promulgated by the underground storage tanks and solid waste disposal control board; however, none of the fees may exceed the following maximum amounts:

(1) Annual fees on the generation of hazardous waste: thirty-three thousand dollars ($33,000); and

(2) Additional fees on the off-site shipment of hazardous waste, including the shipment of the waste to Tennessee facilities from out of state: seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000).

(b) For the purposes of determining the amount of hazardous waste subject to the fees levied under subsection (a), the following shall be excluded:

(1) Waste which is exempted from regulation or otherwise exempted from assessment of fees in rules adopted by the board including, but not limited to, Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 0400-12-01-.02(1)(d)(3), Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 0400-12-01-.01(3)(c), Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 0400-12-01-.02(1)(a) and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 0400-12-01-.04(1)(a)(4)(ii);

(2) Waste which is discharged directly to any publicly owned treatment works or any wastewater treatment facility permitted pursuant to § 402 of the federal Clean Water Act, codified in 33 U.S.C. § 1342, as amended (P.L. No. 92-500), or the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act, compiled in title 69, chapter 3. However, hazardous wastewater shipped off-site to a commercial facility which discharges to a publicly owned treatment works or a permitted wastewater treatment facility is not excluded from the original generator's waste volume;

(3) Sludge from publicly owned treatment works located in the state;

(4) Bottom boiler ash and flyash from incinerators which process solely municipal waste;

(5) Hazardous wastes generated from remediation or corrective actions required by the Tennessee Hazardous Waste Management Acts of 1977 and 1983, compiled in part 1 of this chapter; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), compiled in 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et seq.; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, compiled in 42 U.S.C. § 9601 et seq.;

(6) Hazardous waste or hazardous waste sludges produced as a result of on-site treatment of hazardous waste. However, if the waste itself is excluded, the sludge resulting from treatment of such waste cannot be excluded;

(7) Wastes which have been recycled on-site or transported off-site to be recycled, as “recycled” is defined at 40 CFR 261.2, including, but not limited to, fuel blending, solvent recovery and metals recovery;

(8) Hazardous waste resulting from a spill of hazardous waste or other material which, when spilled, becomes a hazardous waste; and

(9) Hazardous wastes resulting from the removal and associated cleanup of an underground storage tank that previously contained a hazardous waste or other material which when discarded, leaked or spilled becomes a hazardous waste.

(c) The board shall adopt rules and regulations governing the collection of fees levied under this section, and the records to be maintained in accordance with this part. The rules and regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.

(d) The payment of fees levied under this section shall be made to the department and deposited solely to the credit of the hazardous waste remedial action fund created in § 68-212-204.

(e) For each fiscal year, there is appropriated from the state's general fund to the hazardous waste remedial action fund the sum of at least one million dollars ($1,000,000). This contribution must be paid to this fund in total in a new recurring appropriation each year, and shall not include any funds contributed in previous years which have not been expended. Despite any other law to the contrary, if the general assembly fails to authorize this appropriation in any given fiscal year, the maximum generator fee in that fiscal year shall be seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) calculated at the rate of fourteen cents (14¢) per kilogram, the maximum off-site shipment fee shall be seven dollars ($7.00) per ton for hazardous waste, there shall be no fee for hazardous wastewaters, and the maximum transporter fee shall be two hundred seventy-five dollars ($275).

(f) At no time shall the maximum unobligated balance in the hazardous waste remedial action fund exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000). Fees shall be adjusted downward so that this level is not exceeded.