BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1188
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1188
AUTHOR: Ruskin
AMENDED: September 2, 2009
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: September 8,
2009
URGENCY: Yes CONSULTANT: Caroll
Mortensen
SUBJECT : UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK CLEANUP FUND
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Act of 1989:
1)Establishes the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund for
the deposit of fees collected pursuant to Section 25299.43.
(Section 25299.50 Health and Safety Code.)
2)Authorizes expenditures from the Fund for purposes
consistent with the chapter, specifically the clean up of
unauthorized releases from underground storage tanks.
3)Establishes a fee of 1.4 mils per gallon of motor vehicle
fuel that the owner of an underground storage tank must pay
for each gallon of petroleum that is stored in an
underground tank.
4)Directs the Water Board to adopt a ranking system to
prioritize the payment of claims made against the Fund.
5)Requires that claims are paid according to the priority
assigned to each class and not according to when it was
filed.
6)"Sunsets" the program in the year 2016.
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This bill :
1) Temporarily increases the mil from 1.4 mils to 2 mils per
gallon through December 1, 2012.
2) States that the $10 million for the School District Account
shall be allocated before the remaining allocations per #4
above.
3) Requires SWRCB to, within 90 days of the completion of an
audit of the Fund, post the results of the audit on its
website.
4) Allows claimants who have approved but unpaid, claims to
get reimbursed for costs related to obtaining other
financing to cover "carrying costs" as defined.
5) Defines "carrying costs" as the interest expense incurred
by a claimant to acquire money to pay costs approved for
reimbursement but payment is delayed due to lack of funds.
6) Sets parameters for the payment of the "carrying costs".
7) Adds to the current definition of "project tank" to include
tanks upgraded to comply with the Enhanced Vapor Recovery
Phase II regulations.
8) Makes a clarifying change to the grant awards process for
the grants allowed pursuant to AB 96 (Ruskin) Chapter 69,
Statutes of 2009.
9) Contains an urgency clause.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the sponsor, there is an
over-expenditure of the Fund of approximately $80 million
and payments for costs already incurred have been
suspended. This has caused extreme hardship on the small
business owners and consulting firms that performed the
work to clean up leaking tanks but have yet to be
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reimbursed for their efforts. They state that hundreds of
small businesses are in danger of going bankrupt if a
solution is not found. This bill will generate the revenue
needed to un-suspend the backlogged claims and get the
program running again.
2) UST reforms underway . The SWRCB is working with
stakeholders to make improvements in administration of the
fund. There is a program and fiscal audit of the UST fund
and program being planned. The SWRCB is holding meetings
and has developed a task force to coordinate these efforts.
3) Related Legislation . SB 1161 (Lowenthal) Chapter 616,
Statutes of 2008 extended the sunset date for the UST fund
to and allocated funding to brownfield cleanups.
AB 2729 (Ruskin), as it relates to USTs, allocated $10
million to schools and revises the priority ranking used by
the SWRCB by prioritizing large school districts, above
otherwise un-ranked tank owners and operators to receive
financial awards for claims submitted to the SWRCB for UST
remediation costs.
SOURCE : California Independent Oil Marketers
Association
SUPPORT : None on File
OPPOSITION : None on File