BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1190|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1190
Author: Bloom (D)
Amended: 7/1/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 6/26/13 (FAIL)
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Calderon, Fuller
NOES: Corbett, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Jackson, Pavley
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/18/14
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Fuller, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-3, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Hazardous waste: transportation
SOURCE : California Council for Environmental and Economic
Balance
DIGEST : This bill exempts up to 5,000 gallons of wastewater
transported by public utilities in a single shipment from a
remote site to a consolidation site from hazardous waste
transport requirements in specified emergency situations.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
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to regulate hazardous waste generation, transportation,
treatment, storage, and disposal pursuant to both the federal
Resources Conservation and Recovery Act rules and additional
state requirements.
2.Requires shipments of hazardous waste to be accompanied by a
hazardous waste manifest and transported by a hazardous waste
hauler registered by the DTSC.
3.Exempts shipments of hazardous waste from the manifest and
registered hauler requirements if the waste is transported
from a "remote site" to a "consolidation site," as defined,
operated by the generator; the transport of the waste is not
federally regulated; and, the generator meets specified
requirements relating to personnel, training, transport
vehicles, liability, shipping papers, and packaging.
4.Provides an exemption for that public utility, local publicly
owned utilities and municipal utility districts that may
transport up to 1,600 gallons of hazardous wastewater pumped
from utility vaults and up to 500 gallons of other liquid
hazardous wastes.
This bill:
1.Exempts, from the limit for the transportation of hazardous
waste in a single shipment, a generator who is a public
utility, local publicly owned utility, or municipal utility
district transporting up to 5,000 gallons of hazardous
wastewater from the dewatering of a utility vault in an
emergency situation, as defined.
2.Defines, for purposes of this bill, "emergency situation" to
mean that utility vault dewatering necessitates immediate
response to avoid endangerment to human health, public safety,
or the environment, under one or more of the following
circumstances:
A. A vehicle hits a utility pole or stationary utility
equipment and knocks down a transformer that spills oil on
a public area.
B. A spill occurs at or near a vault rendering the contents
potentially hazardous and crews need to remove the liquid
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to decontaminate the vault and to access critical equipment
to avoid a service outage.
C. A spill occurs at or near a vault that renders the
contents potentially hazardous and rainwater flowing into
the vault threatens to cause an overflow that will spill
into the surrounding area.
D. Groundwater intrusion threatens the electrical equipment
inside the vault and the reliability of the electrical
system.
E. Heavy rain events, due to the rate of rainfall,
threatens the cables and equipment inside the vault.
1.Requires a generator transporting hazardous waste, as
specified, to only collect the waste from one utility vault
and prohibits the consolidation of hazardous waste from
multiple sites.
Background
Hazardous Waste Transportation . According to DTSC, a hazardous
waste manifest must accompany most hazardous waste that is
shipped off site. The Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest is the
shipping document that travels with hazardous waste from the
point of generation, through transportation, to the final
treatment, storage, and disposal facility. Each party in the
chain of shipping, including the generator, signs and keeps one
of the manifest copies, creating a "cradle-to-grave" tracking of
the hazardous waste. Hazardous waste that is transported
off-site on public highways must be moved to an authorized
treatment, storage, or disposal facility by a registered
hazardous waste transporter in an inspected and certified
vehicle, using a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest.
When the remote site hazardous waste manifest and transport
exemption was originally enacted, it was intended to facilitate
the safe collection and transportation of small amounts of
hazardous waste generated in remote locations to a consolidation
site.
Classifying and Regulating Hazardous Wastes . California has
broader and more specific definitions for waste than the federal
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requirements. In addition to the listed and characteristic
wastes under the federal rules and California's non-Resources
Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous wastes, the state also
adds extremely hazardous wastes and special wastes. California
has not adopted all of the federal waste and hazardous waste
exclusions, which makes its waste determination rules stricter
than the federal requirements. Wastes can be considered
hazardous if they are either listed or if they are a mixture of
a listed hazardous waste and other wastes.
Despite California's stricter regulation of hazardous waste,
there remain potentially significant gaps in regulation,
primarily due to the fact that so little is known about toxicity
of so many waste streams. Moreover, since the determination of
toxicity is left to vague criteria (e.g., the hazardous waste
"exhibits" a characteristic of toxicity), the state is operating
within a context of considerable uncertainty.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/14)
California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance
(source)
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Municipal Utilities Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the California Fire Chiefs
Association, "An increase in the allowable volume of
contaminated water from underground substructures from 1,600 to
5,000 gallons per load would benefit the public in the following
ways: Shorten restoration times for emergency utility
operations; prevent further contamination or potential release
of contaminants in flooded vaults during a storm event; decrease
fuel consumption; reduce vehicle miles traveled and diesel
emissions from hauling multiple loads with smaller rank trucks
or partial loads; and decrease response time to evacuate water
from vaults reducing lane closure times and decrease street
traffic during routine work and emergencies."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-3, 5/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Buchanan,
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Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Conway, Cooley, Dahle,
Daly, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez,
Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NOES: V. Manuel Pérez, Skinner, Stone
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Brown, Chesbro, Dickinson, Holden,
Lowenthal, Muratsuchi, Vacancy
RM:nl 7/2/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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