BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 738
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:   April 14, 2009

           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
            AB 738 (Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee) - As  
                           Introduced:  February 26, 2009
           
           SUBJECT:  Hazardous materials:  brownfield cleanup:  loan or  
          grant program.

           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control  
          (DTSC) to administer a loan and grant program initially  
          capitalized by federal funds received under the Small Business  
          Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2001  
          (federal act).

           EXISTING LAW:   Authorizes DTSC to provide loans for the purposes  
          of brownfields cleanup.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  This bill authorizes the expenditure of federal  
          brownfields clean-up funds.

           COMMENTS  :

           1)Purpose  .  This bill is sponsored by the Environmental Safety  
            and Toxic Materials Committee to clarify DTSC's authority to  
            administer a loan and grant program capitalized with federal  
            money provided under the 2001 federal act.  Currently, the  
            program can be implemented upon receipt of a federal grant  
            authorizing DTSC to administer the program.  This bill will  
            clarify DTSC's authority to administer the program upon  
            receipt of funds.
           
             Brownfields are real property, the expansion, redevelopment,  
            or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or  
            potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or  
            contaminant.  Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties  
            takes development pressures off of undeveloped land and open  
            land, and both improves and protects the environment.

           2)Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization  
            Act  .  The President signed H.R. 2869 into law on January 11,  
            2002, which created the Small Business Liability Relief and  
            Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2001 (federal act).  The  
            federal act provides both liability relief and grants to small  








                                                                  AB 738
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            businesses for brownfields cleanup and reuse.  Grants are  
            provided to states with brownfields programs to implement  
            response actions.  In 2006, DTSC obtained $3 million from the  
            U.S. EPA to capitalize a revolving loan program for  
            brownfields site clean-up.

           3)Legislative History  :

             a)   AB 1338 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 760, Statutes of  
               2008), created the Revolving Loans Fund, the funds of which  
               DTSC must expend in accordance with federal law for loans  
               and subgrants for response actions to eligible brownfields  
               sites.

             b)   AB 3077 (ESTM Committee), 2008, was identical to this  
               bill and passed out of the ESTM Committee on a unanimous  
               vote, out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a  
               unanimous vote and off the Assembly floor 78 - 0.



































                                                                  AB 738
                                                                  Page 3


           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support
           
          American Federation of Federal, State and Municipal Employees  
          (AFSME)

           Opposition
           
          None on file.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)  
          319-3965