BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1674
                                                                  Page 1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1674 (Saldana)
          As Amended  August 11, 2010
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |68-4 |(May 13, 2010)  |SENATE: |32-3 |(August 23,    |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2010)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    E.S. & T.M.  

           SUMMARY  :   Provides exemptions for specified underground  
          petroleum storage tanks (UST) from current construction and  
          monitoring requirements.

           The Senate amendments  provide an exemption from the UST  
          construction and monitoring requirements for USTs located in a  
          below-grade structure and connected to an emergency generator  
          tank system.  
           
           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Requires all USTs installed after April 1, 2003 to be  
            double-contained, both primary and secondary containment to be  
            "product tight" (impervious to the liquid and vapor phases of  
            the substance stored); water intrusion to be prevented,  
            secondary containment to meet specified volumetric  
            requirements.  Requires the tank to have a continuous leak  
            monitoring system, pressurized piping to be equipped with leak  
            detection and the tank to be tested using enhanced leak  
            detection before it is placed into use.

          2)Provides exemption from underground tank design, installation  
            and operation requirements for tanks if all exterior surfaces,  
            including connected piping and the floor directly beneath the  
            tank can be monitored by direct viewing.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY,  the bill would make various technical  
          changes to existing law pertaining to USTs and aboveground  
          storage tanks (ASTs) including:  
           
          1)Exempts from certain UST design and construction requirements  
            those USTs for which exterior surfaces of the UST can be  
            visually monitored (such as those that are in concrete vaults)  








                                                                  AB 1674
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            and where the USTs meet other regulatory requirements.

          2)Eliminates a provision of current law that allows the State  
            Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to object to a local  
            agency decision as to whether a tank meets UST regulatory  
            requirements.

          3)Makes various technical changes to existing law pertaining to  
            ASTs, including deleting the authorization for a local Unified  
            Program Agency (UPA) to waive a local AST regulatory fee on  
            state or local government agencies.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, this bill may result in annual costs to state  
          agencies.  State agencies operate ASTs and this bill deletes  
          local agencies' ability to waive fees on such state agencies.   
          The actual cost of this bill depends on:  1) the number of ASTs  
          operated by state agencies; and, 2) the amount of fees local  
          agencies charge those state agencies that the local agencies  
          otherwise would have waived.

           COMMENTS  :

          1)Need for the bill.  According to the sponsors of the bill, the  
            California Health Officers Association, AB 1674 will address  
            enforcement issues involving fuel storage tanks.   
            Specifically, the bill clarifies that vaulted tanks are not  
            mandated to meet every requirement placed on USTs installed  
            after July 1, 2004.  Certain requirements, such as pressure  
            monitoring between the soil and the exterior walls of the  
            tanks, are not applicable to tanks that are below-grade but  
            not buried in the ground.

            The bill makes a technical amendment to the Above Ground  
            Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) to include CUPA oversight of  
            above ground petroleum storage in federal facilities.  This  
            change will enable the collection of fees that will provide  
            cost recovery for APSA program implementation.

            According to the California Council for Environmental and  
            Economic Balance telecommunication and other utilities are  
            required by federal law to maintain back-up electrical power  
            generating systems to ensure that services are not interrupted  
            in the event that grid power is unavailable.  In many  
            instances, these systems are located in the basements of  








                                                                  AB 1674
                                                                  Page 3

            buildings housing vital equipment. Typically, these systems  
            are powered by diesel engines that have small attached fuel  
            tanks that may be manually inspected to assure that the escape  
            of petroleum.

           2)UST design standards  .  Federal and state laws and regulations  
            set standards for UST system design, construction,  
            installation and notification; upgrading of existing UST  
            systems, general operating requirements, release detection;  
            reporting and investigation; corrective action and  
            out-of-service and closed UST systems.  Those standards were  
            enacted to reduce the risk of water contamination by petroleum  
            products and hazardous and toxic additives such as MTBE that  
            can leak from USTs.  
           
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Robert Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)  
          319-3965 


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