BILL NUMBER: AB 25	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 15, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 13, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 2, 2009

INTRODUCED BY    Assembly   Members
  Gilmore     and
Logue   Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic
Materials 
    (   Coauthor:  
Assembly Member   Chesbro   )


                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

    An act to amend Section 13385 of the Water Code, relating
to water quality.   An act to amend Section 25205.16 of
the Health   and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 25, as amended,  Gilmore   Committee on
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials  .  Water
discharges: mandatory minimum civil penalties.  
Hazardous waste: identification number certification system. 

   Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control
to impose an annual verification fee upon certain hazardous waste
generators, transporters, and facility operators and requires the
department to establish an identification number certification system
to verify the accuracy of information. Existing law provides for the
suspension of an identification number of a generator, transporter,
or facility operator who does not comply with certain requirements.
 
   This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2011, to revise
the identification number certification system to provide a method
for an immediate reactivation of a suspended identification number of
a hazardous waste generator and would require the department to
charge a fee for the reactivation, to be deposited in the Hazardous
Waste Control Account, for expenditure by the department, upon
appropriation by the Legislature.  
   The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.  
   Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and
the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste
discharge requirements in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act
and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. The act, with
certain exceptions, imposes a mandatory minimum penalty of $3,000 for
each serious waste discharge violation or for certain other
described violations if those violations occur 4 or more times in any
period of 6 consecutive months. For these purposes, a "serious
violation" is defined to include a failure to file a certain
discharge monitoring report for each complete period of 30 days
following the deadline for submitting the report if certain
conditions are met.  
   Civil liability may be imposed administratively by the state board
or a regional board or those boards may request the Attorney General
to petition the superior court to impose the liability. 

   The act authorizes the state board or a regional board, in lieu of
assessing all or a portion of the mandatory minimum penalties
against a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) that serves a small
community, to elect to require that POTW to spend an equivalent
amount towards the completion of a compliance project. The act
defines a POTW that serves a small community to mean, in pertinent
part, a POTW serving a community of 10,000 persons or fewer.
 
   This bill would expand that definition to include a POTW serving a
community of 20,000 persons or fewer. The bill also would authorize
the state board or a regional board, in lieu of assessing all or a
portion of the mandatory minimum penalties against a public school
district, as defined, to elect to require the public school district
to spend an equivalent amount towards the completion of a compliance
project meeting prescribed requirements. 
   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this act, to
ensure that all hazardous waste is collected by a registered
hazardous waste transporter as expeditiously as possible in full
compliance with all of California's hazardous waste laws and
regulations.  
   (b) The Legislature recognizes that a large number of hazardous
waste generator identification numbers are suspended each year due to
the failure of the generator to recertify the generator's
information with the Department of Toxic Substances Control Board.
 
   (c) It is imperative that the Department of Toxic Substances
Control Board develop a reactivation process for generator
identification numbers as soon as possible to ensure that the
hazardous waste laws and regulations are fully complied with by all
generators. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 25205.16 of the   Health
and Safety Code   is amended to read: 
   25205.16.  (a)  (1)  The department may impose an annual
verification fee upon all generators, transporters, and facility
operators with 50 or more employees that possess a valid
identification number issued either by the department or by the
Environmental Protection Agency. The fee charged shall be one hundred
fifty dollars ($150) for each generator, transporter, and facility
operator with 50 or more employees, but less than 75 employees; one
hundred seventy-five dollars ($175) for each generator, transporter,
and facility operator with 75 or more employees, but less than 100
employees; two hundred dollars ($200) for each generator,
transporter, and facility operator with 100 or more employees, but
less than 250 employees; two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225) for
each generator, transporter, and facility operator with 250 or more
employees, but less than 500 employees; two hundred fifty dollars
($250) for each generator, transporter, and facility operator with
500 or more employees. However, no generator, transporter, or
facility operator shall be assessed fees pursuant to this section
that exceed, in total, five thousand dollars ($5,000).
   (2)  The generator, transporter, or facility operator subject to
the fee shall submit payment of the fee within 30 days from the date
of receiving a notice of assessment from the department. The notice
shall be sent once during each fiscal year to each holder of a valid
identification number. The fee imposed by this section shall be
deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account and be available for
expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature. For purposes of
this section,  "employee" shall have the same meaning set
forth in   the number of employees that are employed by
a generator, transporter, or facility operator shall be calculated
using the same method set forth in subdivision (e) of  Section
25205.6.
   (b) The department shall establish an identification number
certification system to biennially verify the accuracy of information
related to generators, transporters, and facilities authorized to
treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste. However, if the number
of identification numbers issued since the previous certification
exceeds 20 percent of the active identification numbers, the
department may implement an annual certification. Each entity issued
an identification number shall provide or verify the information
specified in paragraphs (1) to (9), inclusive, when requested by the
department. The system shall include the provision or verification of
all of the following information:
   (1)  The name, mailing address, facsimile number, fictitious
business name, federal employer number, State Board of Equalization
identification number, SIC code, electronic mail address, if
available, and telephone number of the firm or organization engaged
in hazardous waste activities.
   (2)  The name, mailing address, facsimile number, and telephone
number of the owner of the firm or organization.
   (3)  The name, title, mailing address, facsimile number, and
telephone number of a contact person for the firm or organization.
   (4)  The identification number assigned to the firm or
organization.
   (5)  The site location address or description associated with the
firm or organization's identification number provided in paragraph
(4).
   (6)  The number of employees of the firm or organization.
   (7)  If the firm or organization is a generator, a statement of
whether the generator produces RCRA hazardous waste or non-RCRA
hazardous waste.
   (8)  An identification of any of the following hazardous waste
activities in which the firm or organization is engaged:
   (A)  Generation.
   (B)  Transportation.
   (C)  Onsite treatment, storage, or disposal.
   (9)  The waste codes associated with the four largest hazardous
waste streams, by volume, of the firm or organization. The federal
waste code shall be verified for RCRA hazardous waste and the
California waste code shall be verified for non-RCRA hazardous waste.

   (c)   Any   A  generator, transporter,
and facility operator who fails to comply with this section, or who
fails to provide information required by the department to verify the
accuracy of hazardous waste activity data, shall be subject to
suspension of any and all identification numbers assigned to the
generator, transporter, or facility operator and to any other
authorized enforcement action. 
   (d) (1) On or before July 1, 2011, the department shall revise the
identification number certification system established pursuant to
this section to provide a method for the immediate reactivation of a
suspended identification number of a hazardous waste generator by
means of a wireless communication device to reactivate the suspended
identification number.  
   (2) The department shall establish and charge a fee for the
reactivation of an identification number pursuant to paragraph (1) to
cover the full administrative costs associated with the
implementation of that provision. The fee imposed by this subdivision
shall be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account and be
available for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for
those costs. 
   SEC. 3.    This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
 
   In order to ensure that the hazardous waste laws and regulations
are fully complied with as soon as possible, thereby protecting the
public health and safety and the environment, it is necessary that
this act take effect immediately.  All matter omitted in this
version of the bill appears in the bill as amended in the Assembly
January 13, 2010. (JR11)