BILL NUMBER: AB 1715	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Smyth

                        FEBRUARY 16, 2012

   An act to amend Section  25280   25297.1
 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to underground storage
tanks.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1715, as amended, Smyth. Underground storage tanks  : loca
  l oversight programs  .
   Existing law generally regulates the storage of hazardous
substances in underground storage tanks, including requiring
underground storage tanks that are used to store hazardous substances
to meet certain requirements.  The State Water Resources Control
Board is required to develop and implement a local oversight program
for the abatement of, and oversight of the abatement of,
unauthorized releases of hazardous substances from underground
storage tanks by local agencies that apply for this authority. The
local agency's cleanup, abatement, or other actions under that
program are required to be consistent with procedures adopted by the
board and be based upon cleanup standards specified by the board or a
California regional water quality control board. 
   This bill would  make a technical, nonsubstantive change
to a statement of Legislative intent regarding this program.
  require the board to recommend to the Legislature
appropriate standards and measurements for judging a local agency's
compliance with those cleanup standards. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    Section 25297.1 of the  
Health and Safety Code   is amended to read: 
   25297.1.  (a) In addition to the authority granted to the board
pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water
Code and to the department pursuant to Chapter 6.8 (commencing with
Section 25300), the board, in cooperation with the department, shall
develop and implement a local oversight program for the abatement of,
and oversight of the abatement of, unauthorized releases of
hazardous substances from underground storage tanks by local
agencies. In implementing the local oversight program, the agreement
specified in subdivision (b) shall be between the board and the local
agency. The board shall select local agencies for participation in
the program from among those local agencies that apply to the board,
giving first priority to those local agencies that have demonstrated
prior experience in cleanup, abatement, or other actions necessary to
remedy the effects of unauthorized releases of hazardous substances
from underground storage tanks. The board shall select only those
local agencies that have implemented this chapter and that, except as
provided in Section 25404.5, have begun to collect and transmit to
the board the surcharge or fees pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 25287.
   (b)  (1)    In implementing the local oversight
program described in subdivision (a), the board may enter into an
agreement with any local agency to perform, or cause to be performed,
any cleanup, abatement, or other action necessary to remedy the
effects of a release of hazardous substances from an underground
storage tank with respect to which the local agency has enforcement
authority pursuant to this section. The board may not enter into an
agreement with a local agency for soil contamination cleanup or for
groundwater contamination cleanup unless the board determines that
the local agency has a demonstrated capability to oversee or perform
the cleanup.  The 
    (2)     The  implementation of the
cleanup, abatement, or other action shall be consistent with
procedures adopted by the board pursuant to subdivision (d) and shall
be based upon cleanup standards specified by the board or regional
board. 
   (3) The board shall recommend to the Legislature appropriate
standards and measurements for judging a local agency's compliance
with the cleanup standards specified pursuant to paragraph (2). 

   (c) The board shall provide funding to a local agency that enters
into an agreement pursuant to subdivision (b) for the reasonable
costs incurred by the local agency in overseeing any cleanup,
abatement, or other action taken by a responsible party to remedy the
effects of unauthorized releases from underground storage tanks.
   (d) The board shall adopt administrative and technical procedures,
as part of the state policy for water quality control adopted
pursuant to Section 13140 of the Water Code, for cleanup and
abatement actions taken pursuant to this section. The procedures
shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Guidelines as to which sites may be assigned to the local
agency.
   (2) The content of the agreements which may be entered into by the
board and the local agency.
   (3) Procedures by which a responsible party may petition the board
or a regional board for review, pursuant to Article 2 (commencing
with Section 13320) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Water Code, or
pursuant to Chapter 9.2 (commencing with Section 2250) of Division 3
of Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor
regulation, as applicable, of actions or decisions of the local
agency in implementing the cleanup, abatement, or other action.
   (4) Protocols for assessing and recovering money from responsible
parties for any reasonable and necessary costs incurred by the local
agency in implementing this section, as specified in subdivision (i),
unless the cleanup or abatement action is subject to subdivision (d)
of Section 25296.10.
   (5) Quantifiable measures to evaluate the outcome of a pilot
program established pursuant to this section.
   (e) Any agreement between the regional board and a local agency to
carry out a local oversight program pursuant to this section shall
require both of the following:
   (1) The local agency shall establish and maintain accurate
accounting records of all costs it incurs pursuant to this section
and shall periodically make these records available to the board. The
Controller may annually audit these records to verify the hourly
oversight costs charged by a local agency. The board shall reimburse
the Controller for the cost of the audits of a local agency's records
conducted pursuant to this section.
   (2) The board and the department shall make reasonable efforts to
recover costs incurred pursuant to this section from responsible
parties, and may pursue any available legal remedy for this purpose.
   (f) The board shall develop a system for maintaining a database
for tracking expenditures of funds pursuant to this section, and
shall make this data available to the Legislature upon request.
   (g) (1) Sections 25355.5 and 25356 do not apply to expenditures
from the Toxic Substances Control Account for oversight of abatement
of releases from underground storage tanks as part of the local
oversight program established pursuant to this section.
   (2) A local agency that enters into an agreement pursuant to
subdivision (b) shall notify the responsible party, for any site
subject to a cleanup, abatement, or other action taken pursuant to
the local oversight program established pursuant to this section,
that the responsible party is liable for not more than 150 percent of
the total amount of site-specific oversight costs actually incurred
by the local agency.
   (h) Any aggrieved person may petition the board or regional board
for review of the action or failure to act of a local agency that
enters into an agreement pursuant to subdivision (b), at a site
subject to cleanup, abatement, or other action conducted as part of
the local oversight program established pursuant to this section, in
accordance with the procedures adopted by the board or regional board
pursuant to subdivision (d).
   (i) (1) For purposes of this section, site-specific oversight
costs include only the costs of the following activities, when
carried out by the staff of a local agency or the local agency's
authorized representative, that are either technical program staff or
their immediate supervisors:
   (A) Responsible party identification and notification.
   (B) Site visits.
   (C) Sampling activities.
   (D) Meetings with responsible parties or responsible party
consultants.
   (E) Meetings with the regional board or with other affected
agencies regarding a specific site.
   (F) Review of reports, workplans, preliminary assessments,
remedial action plans, or postremedial monitoring.
   (G) Development of enforcement actions against a responsible
party.
   (H) Issuance of a closure document.
   (2) The responsible party is liable for the site-specific
oversight costs, calculated pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4),
incurred by a local agency, in overseeing any cleanup, abatement, or
other action taken pursuant to this section to remedy an unauthorized
release from an underground storage tank.
   (3) Notwithstanding the requirements of any other provision of
law, the amount of liability of a responsible party for the oversight
costs incurred by the local agency and by the board and regional
boards in overseeing any action pursuant to this section shall be
calculated as an amount not more than 150 percent of the total amount
of the site-specific oversight costs actually incurred by the local
agency and shall not include the direct or indirect costs incurred by
the board or regional boards.
   (4) (A) The total amount of oversight costs for which a local
agency may be reimbursed shall not exceed one hundred fifteen dollars
($115) per hour, multiplied by the total number of site-specific
hours performed by the local agency.
   (B) The total amount of the costs per site for administration and
technical assistance to local agencies by the board and the regional
board entering into agreements pursuant to subdivision (b) shall not
exceed a combined total of thirty-five dollars ($35) for each hour of
site-specific oversight. The board shall base its costs on the total
hours of site-specific oversight work performed by all participating
local agencies. The regional board shall base its costs on the total
number of hours of site-specific oversight costs attributable to the
local agency that received regional board assistance.
   (C) The amounts specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) are base
rates for the 1990-91 fiscal year. Commencing July 1, 1991, and for
each fiscal year thereafter, the board shall adjust the base rates
annually to reflect increases or decreases in the cost of living
during the prior fiscal year, as measured by the implicit price
deflator for state and local government purchases of goods and
services, as published by the United States Department of Commerce or
by a successor agency of the federal government.
   (5) In recovering costs from responsible parties for costs
incurred under this section, the local agency shall prorate any costs
identifiable as startup costs over the expected number of cases that
the local agency will oversee during a 10-year period. A responsible
party who has been assessed startup costs for the cleanup of any
unauthorized release that, as of January 1, 1991, is the subject of
oversight by a local agency, shall receive an adjustment by the local
agency in the form of a credit, for the purposes of cost recovery.
Startup costs include all of the following expenses:
   (A) Small tools, safety clothing, cameras, sampling equipment, and
other similar articles necessary to investigate or document
pollution.
   (B) Office furniture.
   (C) Staff assistance needed to develop computer tracking of
financial and site-specific records.
   (D) Training and setup costs for the first six months of the local
agency program.
   (6) This subdivision does not apply to costs that are required to
be recovered pursuant to Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 25385)
of Chapter 6.8. 
   (j) (1) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), the board may
enter into an agreement with a local agency and the Santa Clara
Valley Water District to implement the local oversight program in
Santa Clara County.  
   (2) Paragraph (1) shall remain operative only until June 30, 2005.
 
   (3) The 
    (j)     The  inoperation of 
former  paragraph (1)  of this subdivision, as it read on
January 1, 2012,  does not affect the validity of any action
taken by the Santa Clara Valley Water District before June 30, 2005,
and does not provide a defense for an owner, operator, or other
responsible party who fails to comply with that action. 
   (k) If the board enters into an agreement with a local agency and
the Santa Clara Valley Water District to implement the local
oversight program in Santa Clara County, pursuant to subdivision (j),
the board may provide funding to the Santa Clara Valley Water
District pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 25299.51 for
oversight costs incurred by the district on and after July 1, 2002,
to June 30, 2005.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 25280 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
   25280.  (a)  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1)  Substances hazardous to the public health and safety and to
the environment are stored prior to use or disposal in thousands of
underground locations in the state.
   (2)  Underground tanks used for the storage of hazardous
substances and wastes are potential sources of contamination of the
ground and underlying aquifers, and may pose other dangers to public
health and the environment.
   (3)  In several known cases, underground storage of hazardous
substances, including, but not limited to, industrial solvents,
petroleum products, and other materials, has resulted in undetected
and uncontrolled releases of hazardous substances into the ground.
These releases have contaminated public drinking water supplies and
created a potential threat to the public health and to the waters of
the state.
   (4)  The Legislature has previously enacted laws regulating the
management of hazardous wastes, including statutes providing the
means to clean up releases of hazardous substances into the
environment when the public health, domestic livestock, wildlife, and
the environment are endangered. Current laws do not specifically
govern the construction, maintenance, testing, and use of underground
tanks used for the storage of hazardous substances, or the
short-term storage of hazardous wastes prior to disposal, for the
purposes of protecting the public health and the environment.
   (5)  The protection of the public from releases of hazardous
substances is an issue of statewide concern.
   (b)  The Legislature therefore declares that it is in the public
interest to establish a continuing program for the purpose of
preventing contamination from, and improper storage of, hazardous
substances stored underground. It is the intent of the Legislature,
in enacting this chapter, to establish orderly procedures that will
ensure that newly constructed underground storage tanks meet
appropriate standards and that existing tanks be properly maintained,
inspected, tested, and upgraded so that the health, property, and
resources of the people of the state will be protected.