BILL NUMBER: AB 291	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wieckowski

                        FEBRUARY 8, 2011

   An act to amend Section 25503.5 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to hazardous materials.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 291, as introduced, Wieckowski. Hazardous materials: business
plans.
    (1) Existing law requires a business that handles a hazardous
material to adopt a business plan for response to the release of
hazardous materials, and to annually submit an inventory to the local
administering agency if the business handles a specified amount of
hazardous materials at any one time during the reporting year.
   This bill would additionally require a business to adopt the plan
or inventory for specified lesser or greater amounts of various
classes of hazardous materials if the hazardous materials meets
certain requirements. The administering agency would be required to
make findings regarding the regulation of certain of these hazardous
materials in consultation with the local fire chief. The bill would
impose a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon
administering agencies with regard to business plans.
   (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 25503.5 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   25503.5.  (a) (1) A business, except as provided in subdivisions
(b), (c), and (d), shall establish and implement a business plan for
emergency response to a release or threatened release of a hazardous
material in accordance with the standards prescribed in the
regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25503, if the business
handles a hazardous material or a mixture containing a hazardous
material that has a quantity at any one time during the reporting
year that is any of the following:
   (A)  Equal   Except as provided in
subparagraphs (B) to (E), inclusive, equal  to, or greater than,
a total weight of 500 pounds or a total volume of 55 gallons.

   (B) Equal to, or greater than, 200 cubic feet at standard
temperature and pressure, if the substance is compressed gas.
 
   (B) The threshold planning quantity, under both of the following
conditions:  
   (i) The hazardous material is an extremely hazardous substance, as
defined in Section 355.61 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.  
   (ii) The threshold planning quantity for that extremely hazardous
substance listed in Appendices A and B of Part 355 (commencing with
Section 355.1) of Subchapter J of Chapter I of Title 40 of the Code
of Federal Regulations is less than 500 pounds.  
   (C) A total weight of 10,000 pounds, if the hazardous material is
a solid or liquid substance that is classified as a hazard for
purposes of Section 5194 of Title 8 of the California Code of
Regulations solely as an irritant or sensitizer, unless the
administering agency finds, and provides notice to the business
handling the product, that the handling of lesser quantities of that
hazardous material requires the submission of a business plan, or any
portion thereof, in response to public health, safety, or
environmental concerns.  
   (D) (i) A total of 6,000 cubic feet, if the hazardous material is
a gas at standard temperature and pressure and is classified as a
hazard for the purposes of Section 5194 of Title 8 of the California
Code of Regulations solely as a compressed gas, unless the
administering agency finds, and provides notice to the business
handling the product, that the handling of lesser quantities of that
hazardous material requires the submission of a business plan, or any
portion thereof, in response to public health, safety, or
environmental concerns.  
   (ii) The hazardous materials subject to this subparagraph include
a gas for which the only health and physical hazards are simple
asphyxiation and the release of pressure.  
   (iii) The hazardous materials subject to this subparagraph do not
include gases in a cryogenic state.  
   (C) 
    (E)    If the substance is a radioactive
material, it is handled in quantities for which an emergency plan is
required to be adopted pursuant to Part 30 (commencing with Section
30.1), Part 40 (commencing with Section 40.1), or Part 70 (commencing
with Section 70.1), of Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, or pursuant to any regulations adopted by the state in
accordance with those regulations.
   (2) In meeting the requirements of this subdivision, a business
may, if it elects to do so, use the format adopted pursuant to
Section 25503.4. 
   (3) The administering agency shall make the findings required by
subparagraphs (C) and (D) of paragraph (1) in consultation with the
local fire chief. 
   (b) (1) Oxygen, nitrogen, and nitrous oxide, ordinarily maintained
by a physician, dentist, podiatrist, veterinarian, or pharmacist, at
his or her office or place of business, stored at each office or
place of business in quantities of not more than 1,000 cubic feet of
each material at any one time, are exempt from this section and from
Section 25505. The administering agency may require a one-time
inventory of these materials for a fee not to exceed fifty dollars
($50) to pay for the costs incurred by the agency in processing the
inventory forms.
   (2) (A) Lubricating oil is exempt from this section and Sections
25505 and 25509, for a single business facility, if the total volume
of each type of lubricating oil handled at that facility does not
exceed 55 gallons and the total volume of all types of lubricating
oil handled at that facility does not exceed 275 gallons, at any one
time.
   (B) For purposes of this paragraph, "lubricating oil" means any
oil intended for use in an internal combustion crankcase, or the
transmission, gearbox, differential, or hydraulic system of an
automobile, bus, truck, vessel, airplane, heavy equipment, or other
machinery powered by an internal combustion or electric powered
engine. "Lubricating oil" does not include used oil, as defined in
subdivision (a) of Section 25250.1.
   (c) (1) Hazardous material contained solely in a consumer product
for direct distribution to, and use by, the general public is exempt
from the business plan requirements of this  chapter
  article  unless the administering agency has
found, and has provided notice to the business handling the product,
that the handling of certain quantities of the product requires the
submission of a business plan, or any portion thereof, in response to
public health, safety, or environmental concerns.
   (2) In addition to the authority specified in paragraph (4), the
administering agency may, in exceptional circumstances, following
notice and public hearing, exempt from the inventory provisions of
this  chapter   article  any hazardous
substance specified in subdivision  (p)   (q)
 of Section 25501 if the administering agency finds that the
hazardous substance would not pose a present or potential danger to
the environment or to human health and safety if the hazardous
substance was released into the environment. The administering agency
shall specify in writing the basis for granting any exemption under
this paragraph. The administering agency shall send a notice to the
agency within five days from the effective date of any exemption
granted pursuant to this paragraph.
   (3) The administering agency, upon application by a handler, may
exempt the handler, under conditions that the administering agency
determines to be proper, from any portion of the business plan, upon
a written finding that the exemption would not pose a significant
present or potential hazard to human health or safety or to the
environment or affect the ability of the administering agency and
emergency rescue personnel to effectively respond to the release of a
hazardous material, and that there are unusual circumstances
justifying the exemption. The administering agency shall specify in
writing the basis for any exemption under this paragraph.
   (4) The administering agency, upon application by a handler, may
exempt a hazardous material from the inventory provisions of this
 chapter   article  upon proof that the
material does not pose a significant present or potential hazard to
human health and safety or to the environment if released into the
workplace or environment. The administering agency shall specify in
writing the basis for any exemption under this paragraph.
   (5) An administering agency shall exempt a business operating a
farm for purposes of cultivating the soil or raising or harvesting
any agricultural or horticultural commodity from filing the
information in the business plan required by subdivisions (b) and (c)
of Section 25504 if all of the following requirements are met:
   (A) The handler annually provides the inventory of information
required by Section 25509 to the county agricultural commissioner
before January 1 of each year.
   (B) Each building in which hazardous materials subject to this
 chapter   article  are stored is posted
with signs, in accordance with regulations that the agency shall
adopt, that provide notice of the storage of any of the following:
   (i) Pesticides.
   (ii) Petroleum fuels and oil.
   (iii) Types of fertilizers.
   (C) Each county agricultural commissioner forwards the inventory
to the administering agency within 30 days from the date of receipt
of the inventory.
   (6) The administering agency shall exempt a business operating an
unstaffed remote facility located in an isolated sparsely populated
area from the hazardous materials business plan and inventory
requirements of this article if the facility is not otherwise subject
to the requirements of applicable federal law, and all of the
following requirements are met:
   (A) The types and quantities of materials onsite are limited to
one or more of the following:
   (i) Five hundred standard cubic feet of compressed inert gases
(asphyxiation and pressure hazards only).
   (ii) Five hundred gallons of combustible liquid used as a fuel
source.
   (iii) Two hundred gallons of corrosive liquids used as
electrolytes in closed containers.
   (iv) Five hundred gallons of lubricating and hydraulic fluids.
   (v) One thousand two hundred gallons of flammable gas used as a
fuel source.
   (B) The facility is secured and not accessible to the public.
   (C) Warning signs are posted and maintained for hazardous
materials pursuant to the California Fire Code.
   (D) A one-time notification and inventory are provided to the
administering agency along with a processing fee in lieu of the
existing fee. The fee shall not exceed the actual cost of processing
the notification and inventory, including a verification inspection,
if necessary.
   (E) If the information contained in the initial notification or
inventory changes and the time period of the change is longer than 30
days, the notification or inventory shall be resubmitted within 30
days to the administering agency to reflect the change, along with a
processing fee, in lieu of the existing fee, that does not exceed the
actual cost of processing the amended notification or inventory,
including a verification inspection, if necessary.
   (F) The administering agency shall forward a copy of the
notification and inventory to those agencies that share
responsibility for emergency response.
   (G) The administering agency may require an unstaffed remote
facility to submit a hazardous materials business plan and inventory
in accordance with this article if the agency finds that special
circumstances exist such that development and maintenance of the
business plan and inventory are necessary to protect public health
and safety and the environment.
   (d)  Onpremise   On-premise  use,
storage, or both, of propane in an amount not to exceed 300 gallons
that is for the sole purpose of heating the employee working areas
within that business is exempt from this section, unless the
administering agency finds, and provides notice to the business
handling the propane, that the handling of the on-premise propane
requires the submission of a business plan, or any portion thereof,
in response to public health, safety, or environmental concerns.
   (e) The administering agency shall provide all information
obtained from completed inventory forms, upon request, to emergency
rescue personnel on a 24-hour basis.
   (f) The administering agency shall adopt procedures to provide for
public input when approving any applications submitted pursuant to
paragraph (3) or (4) of subdivision (c).
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.