BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1188|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1188
Author: Ruskin (D)
Amended: 10/14/09 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 9/8/09
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Ashburn
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-1, 9/11/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Denham, Hancock, Leno, Price,
Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Cox
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Underground Storage Tank Clean Up Fund
SOURCE : California Independent Oil Marketers
Association
DIGEST : This bill makes various changes to the
Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Act of 1989, including the
temporary increase of a petroleum storage fee, the priority
of allocations made from the School District Account,
reimbursement to claimants to cover "carry over costs," and
other changes to the Act.
CONTINUED
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Senate Floor Amendments of 10/14/09: (1) provide that the
adjusted fee shall remain in effect until January 1, 2012,
instead of until December 31, 2012, (2) require encumbered
funds remaining in the School District Account on July 1,
2012, to instead be liquidated, as required under current
law, and (3) make a technical amendment.
ANALYSIS : 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.
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 State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
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.
This bill:
1.Temporarily increases the mil from 1.4 mils to 2 mils per
gallon through January 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
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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.
Comments
According to the California Independent Oil Marketers
Association, 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 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.
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.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 1161 (Lowenthal) Chapter 616, Statutes of 2008, extended
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 10/14/09)
California Independent Oil Marketers Association (source)
Sierra Club California
Environmental Health Directors Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Gaines
TSM:nl 10/14/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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