What constitutes a spill of hazardous materials?

A spill of hazardous materials is defined as a release into the environment that occurs unintentionally and is not part of the material’s intended use. This definition highlights that spills are typically accidental and can pose risks to human health and the environment. The focus is on the unintended nature of the release and its potential consequences.

In contrast, a controlled release for testing does not qualify as a spill because it is deliberate and managed, aimed at evaluating the safety or effectiveness of a material under specific circumstances. An accident that is cleaned immediately doesn't necessarily constitute a spill unless the hazardous material was released into the environment in a way that poses a risk, regardless of how quickly it was addressed. Similarly, storage failure implies that a problem occurred in the containment or holding of materials but does not inherently reflect a release into the environment. The focus of the definition centers on unintended releases, which is why the second answer is the correct one.