BILL NUMBER: AB 1620 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 27, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wieckowski
FEBRUARY 8, 2012
An act to amend Section 25123.5 25110.11
of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1620, as amended, Wieckowski. Hazardous waste:
treatment. contained gaseous material.
Under existing law, "contained gaseous material
" is regulated by the Department of Toxic Substances
Control as a hazardous waste. Existing law defines contained gaseous
material as any gas that is contained in an enclosed cylinder or
other enclosed container. Existing law exempts from the definition of
contained gaseous material any exhaust gas,
flue gas, or other vapor stream, regardless of the source,
that is controlled by a permitted or exempted air pollution control
device.
This bill would instead exempt from the definition of "contained
gaseous material" any exhaust or flue gas, or other vapor stream, or
any air or exhaust gas stream that is filtered or otherwise processed
to remove particulates, dusts, or other air pollutants, regardless
of the source.
Existing law defines the term "treatment" for purposes of the
hazardous waste control laws and excludes certain activities
conducted either onsite in accordance with the requirements of the
hazardous waste control law or conducted in accordance with the
conditions issued pursuant to a permit issued by the Department of
Toxic Substances Control. Existing law prohibits the owner or
operator of a hazardous waste treatment facility from treating
hazardous waste at the facility, unless the operator or operations
hold a hazardous waste facilities permit or other grant of
authorization from the department.
This bill would additionally exclude from the definition of the
term "treatment," the separation of air and particulate matter by
physical means and the compaction of compatible waste by physical
means to reduce volume if the process does not increase the risk of
fire or cause the release of hazardous gaseous emissions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25110.11 of the
Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
25110.11. (a) "Contained gaseous material,"
for purposes of subdivision (a) of Section 25124 or any other
provision of this chapter, means any gas that is contained in an
enclosed cylinder or other enclosed container. "Contained
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of
this section, "contained gaseous material" does not
include any exhaust gas, or flue gas,
or other vapor stream, or any air or exhaust gas stream that is
filtered or otherwise processed to remove particulates, dusts, or
other air pollutants, regardless of the source , that
is abated or controlled by an air pollution control device that is
permitted by an air pollution control district or air quality
management district, or which is specially exempted from those permit
requirements .
SECTION 1. Section 25123.5 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
25123.5. (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c),
"treatment" means a method, technique, or process that is not
otherwise excluded from the definition of treatment by this chapter
and that is designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological
character or composition of a hazardous waste or a material contained
therein, or that removes or reduces its harmful properties or
characteristics for any purpose.
(b) (1) "Treatment" does not include any of the activities listed
in paragraph (2), if one of the following requirements is met:
(A) The activity is conducted onsite in accordance with the
requirements of this chapter and the department's regulations adopted
pursuant to this chapter governing the generation and accumulation
of hazardous waste.
(B) The activity is conducted in accordance with the conditions
specified in a permit issued by the department for the storage of
hazardous waste.
(2) The activities subject to the exemption specified in paragraph
(1) include all of the following:
(A) Sieving or filtering liquid hazardous waste to remove solid
fractions, without added heat, chemicals, or pressure, as the waste
is added to or removed from a storage or accumulation tank or
container. For purposes of this subparagraph, sieving or filtering
does not include adsorption, reverse osmosis, or ultrafiltration.
(B) Phase separation of hazardous waste during storage or
accumulation in tanks or containers, if the separation is unaided by
the addition of heat or chemicals. If the phase separation occurs at
a commercial offsite permitted storage facility, all phases of the
hazardous waste shall be managed as hazardous waste after separation.
(C) Combining two or more hazardous waste streams that are not
incompatible into a single tank or container if both of the following
conditions apply:
(i) The waste streams are being combined solely for the purpose of
consolidated accumulation or storage or consolidated offsite
shipment, and they are not being combined to meet a fuel
specification or to otherwise be chemically or physically prepared to
be treated, burned for energy value, or incinerated.
(ii) The combined waste stream is managed in compliance with the
most stringent of the regulatory requirements applicable to each
individual waste stream.
(D) Evaporation of water from hazardous wastes in tanks or
containers, such as breathing and evaporation through vents and
floating roofs, without the addition of pressure, chemicals, or heat,
other than sunlight or ambient room lighting or heating.
(E) Separation of air and particulate matter by physical means.
(F) Compaction of compatible waste by physical means to reduce
volume if the process does not increase the risk of fire or cause the
release of hazardous gaseous emissions.
(3) This subdivision does not apply to an activity for which a
hazardous waste facilities permit for treatment is required under the
federal act.
(c) "Treatment" does not include the combination of glutaraldehyde
or orthophthalaldehyde, which is used by medical facilities to
disinfect medical devices, with formulations containing glycine as
the sole active chemical, if the process is carried out onsite.