BILL NUMBER: AB 1329 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 27, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 7, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 24, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Sections 25135.9, 25161, 25162, and 25178
Section 25162 of, and to add Sections
25135.11 and 25150.9 Section 25180.2 to, the
Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1329, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Hazardous waste:
environmental justice. waste.
(1) Existing law requires the California Environmental Protection
Agency to develop a strategy for identifying and addressing any gaps
in existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the
achievement of environmental justice, as defined, and requires each
board, department, and office within the agency to review its
programs, policies, and activities and identify and address any gaps
in its existing programs, policies, or activities that may impede the
achievement of environmental justice.
Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control
to prepare and adopt a state hazardous waste management plan by
November 30, 1991, and to revise the plan at least once every 3
years. The state plan is required to be prepared in conjunction with,
and take into account, certain local hazardous waste management
plans.
This bill would instead require the department to prepare and
adopt, by January 1, 2016, a state hazardous waste management plan to
address the matter of environmental justice in the management of
hazardous waste and to serve as a comprehensive and enforceable
planning document for the state. The bill would specify the elements
required to be included in the plan and would require the plan to be
reviewed and revised, as specified. The bill would require the
Director of Toxic Substances Control to approve the plan and to
submit the plan to specified committees of the Legislature.
The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to
ensure that minority populations and low-income populations are not
disproportionately impacted by the adverse human health, social,
economic, and environmental effects of the hazardous waste managed
pursuant to the hazardous waste control law. Since a violation of the
regulations adopted pursuant to the hazardous waste control law is a
crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The
bill would allow a person to commence a civil action on that person's
own behalf against a person who is alleged to be in violation of
those regulations or alleging a failure by the department to perform
an act or duty pursuant to specified provisions.
(2) Existing law requires the department to post certain
information on or before January 1 of each odd-numbered year on its
Internet Web site.
This bill would revise the information required to be posted and
would require the information to be searchable and translated into
Spanish.
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances
Control to enforce the standards in the hazardous waste control laws
and the regulations adopted to implement those laws. A violation of
the hazardous waste control laws is a crime.
This bill would require the department to prioritize an
enforcement action affecting communities that have been identified by
the California Environmental Protection Agency as being the most
impacted environmental justice communities.
(3)
(2) Existing law prohibits a person from transporting
hazardous waste, as specified, if the final destination of the
transported hazardous waste is in a state other than this state or in
a territory of the United States, unless the facility is issued a
permit pursuant to the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
of 1976 or the facility is authorized by the state to accept that
waste. Existing law requires the department to develop a
specified database regarding hazardous waste shipped in and out of
state.
This bill would instead prohibit a person from transporting
hazardous waste, as specified, if the final destination of the
transported hazardous waste is a domestic facility outside the
jurisdiction of the state unless certain conditions apply to the
facility, including whether the facility is subject to a cooperative
agreement, as specified. The bill would revise the
information required to be included in the department's database with
regard to hazardous waste shipped in and out of the state's
jurisdiction. By expanding the scope of a crime, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(4)
(3) 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. Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) All hazardous waste landfill facilities and the majority of
other types of hazardous waste facilities in the state are located in
or near low-income Latino communities. The siting and operation of
the state's hazardous waste facilities near low-income Latino
communities disparately and adversely affects those communities, in
violation of both Section 11135 of the Government Code and Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000d and following).
(b) Under Section 11135 of the Government Code and Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act, the Department of Toxic Substances Control has a
responsibility to prevent racial discrimination in the siting and
operation of hazardous waste disposal facilities.
(c) California needs a statewide hazardous waste disposal and
management plan to promote environmental justice, thereby protecting
the civil rights of minority residents in the communities targeted
for hazardous waste disposal facilities and other types of hazardous
waste management facilities.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) California's public health and environmental protection
programs, policies, and activities should be conducted in a manner
that promotes equity and affords fair treatment, accessibility, and
protection for all residents, regardless of race, age, culture,
income, or geographic location.
(b) To that end, the California Environmental Protection Agency
has worked for a decade to develop and implement an environmental
justice initiative that ensures fair and equitable environmental
policies for all residents.
(c) Through that initiative, the California Environmental
Protection Agency has worked to identify those communities that are
most impacted by pollution and environmental contamination.
(d) California needs to provide the greatest level of attention
and protection to those communities that are at the greatest risk
from those impacts.
SEC. 2. Section 25180.2 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
25180.2. The department shall prioritize an enforcement action
authorized by this chapter affecting communities that have been
identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency as being
the most impacted environmental justice communities.
SEC. 2. Section 25135.9 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
25135.9. (a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "Environmental justice" means the fair treatment of people of
all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development,
adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies.
(2) "Hazardous waste landfill facility" means a hazardous waste
facility that disposes of hazardous waste to land, as specified in
Section 25174.1.
(b) The department shall, pursuant to this section and in
accordance with the requirements of subdivision (d) of Section 25170,
prepare and adopt a hazardous waste management plan that would
address matters of environmental justice in the management of the
state's hazardous waste. The state's hazardous waste management plan
adopted pursuant to this section shall serve as a comprehensive and
enforceable planning document for the state to ensure that minority
populations and low-income populations are not disproportionately
impacted by the adverse human health, social, economic, and
environmental effects of hazardous waste management, including
disposal.
(c) The state hazardous waste management plan shall be prepared
and adopted by the department on or before January 1, 2016, shall be
reviewed annually, and shall be revised to reflect new information at
least once every three years.
(d) In preparing and adopting the state hazardous waste management
plan, and in revising the plan thereafter, the department shall do
all of the following:
(1) Publish the draft plan or the revised plan in English and
Spanish and make it available to the public for review and comment at
least three months before final adoption.
(2) Conduct workshops and at least six public hearings on the
plan or the draft revised plan, one in the southern part of the
state, one in the central part of the state, one in the northern part
of the state, and one in each community that hosts a hazardous waste
landfill facility, to solicit the views of the public, local
government, regional councils of governments, and interested parties.
(3) Include in the final state hazardous waste management plan
and in revisions of the plan, a summary of the comments received and
the department's responses to those comments.
(e) The state hazardous waste management plan, and each revision
of the plan, shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the
following elements:
(1) An analysis of the hazardous waste streams produced in the
state, an accounting of the volumes of hazardous waste produced in
each county and region of the state, by type of waste, and estimates
of the expected rates of hazardous waste production, by type of
waste, during the next five years.
(2) An inventory of existing and planned hazardous waste
facilities that handle, treat, recycle, dispose, or otherwise manage
hazardous wastes produced in the state, which shall include all of
the following:
(A) The racial and socioeconomic composition of populations within
one-half-mile, one-mile, and five-mile radii around each existing or
planned hazardous waste facility.
(B) A description of each facility and a full and complete summary
of the facilities' compliance history, including, but not limited
to, the enforcement actions taken by the department or any other
state department or board that is within the California Environmental
Protection Agency, and the penalties imposed pursuant to those
enforcement actions.
(C) A determination of the capacity of each existing or planned
hazardous waste facility to handle, treat, recycle, dispose, or
otherwise manage the waste streams it is authorized to handle, treat,
recycle, dispose, or otherwise manage.
(D) A description of the current progress and status of each
planned hazardous waste facility in achieving operational status,
including a timetable for becoming operational.
(3) An assessment of the need for additional hazardous waste
facilities to manage the volumes of hazardous waste currently
produced or which are expected to be produced during the next 20
years.
(4) An identification of the areas or regions of the state where
new or expanded capacity to manage hazardous wastes are needed and
the types of facilities that should be sited and constructed.
(5) A description of the enforceable policies, programs,
incentives, requirements, prohibitions, or other measures necessary
to eliminate the disproportionate impact of hazardous waste
management, including disposal, on low-income and minority
populations, which may include specific measures to reduce the amount
of hazardous waste generated within the state.
(6) A statement of goals, objectives, and policies currently in
effect, or in the process of development, that address environmental
justice in the siting and operation of hazardous waste facilities and
the management of hazardous wastes during the next five years.
(7) A schedule of enforceable actions, including specific dates,
for carrying out state, regional, and local actions to implement the
state hazardous waste management plan.
(f) The director shall approve a hazardous waste management plan
prepared in accordance with this section and shall submit the
approved plan to the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and
Toxic Materials and the Assembly Committee on Budget.
SEC. 3. Section 25135.11 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
25135.11. (a) (1) A person may commence a civil action on that
person's own behalf against a person who is alleged to be in
violation of the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 25150.9.
(2) A person may commence a civil action on that person's own
behalf alleging a failure by the department to perform an act or duty
required under Section 25135.9 or 25150.9 and that is not otherwise
a discretionary act or duty.
(b) The superior court shall have jurisdiction to enforce a
regulation specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), or to order
the department to perform an act or duty specified in paragraph (2)
of subdivision (a), and to apply any appropriate civil penalties.
(c) In an action brought pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), the inquiry shall extend to the question of whether the
department has proceeded without, or in excess of, its jurisdiction,
and whether there was any prejudicial abuse of discretion. The court
shall find that an abuse of discretion has been established if the
department has not proceeded in the manner required by law, if the
act or duty is not supported by the department's findings, or if the
department's findings are not supported by the evidence. If it is
claimed that the findings are not supported by the evidence, the
court shall find that an abuse of discretion is established if the
court determines that the findings are not supported by the weight of
the evidence.
SEC. 4. Section 25150.9 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
25150.9. Upon the approval of the state hazardous waste
management plan pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 25135.9, the
department shall adopt regulations to implement the plan to ensure
that minority populations and low-income populations are not
disproportionately impacted by the adverse health, social, economic,
and environmental effects of the hazardous waste managed pursuant to
this chapter.
SEC. 5. Section 25161 of the Health and Safety
Code is amended to read:
25161. (a) The department may adopt and enforce those
regulations, regarding a uniform program for hazardous waste
transportation, that are necessary and appropriate to achieve
consistency with the findings made by the Federal Highway
Administration and the federal Department of Transportation pursuant
to Chapter 51 (commencing with Section 5101) of Title 49 of the
United States Code.
(b) The department shall adopt and enforce all rules and
regulations that are necessary and appropriate to accomplish the
purposes of Section 25160.
(c) The department shall develop a database that tracks all
hazardous waste shipped in and out of the state's jurisdiction for
handling, treatment, storage, disposal, or any combination thereof,
which includes all of the following information:
(1) The jurisdiction receiving the waste.
(2) Month and year of shipment.
(3) Type of hazardous waste shipped.
(4) The manner in which the hazardous waste was handled at its
final destination, such as incineration, treatment, recycling, land
disposal, or a combination thereof.
(d) The department shall include in the biennial report specified
in Section 25178 all of the following information:
(1) The total volume in tons of hazardous waste generated in the
state and shipped offsite for handling, treatment, storage, disposal,
or any combination thereof.
(2) The total volume in tons of hazardous waste generated in the
state and shipped in and out of the state for handling, treatment,
storage, disposal, or any combination thereof, including all of the
following information:
(A) The jurisdiction receiving the hazardous waste.
(B) Month and year of shipment.
(C) Type of hazardous waste shipped.
(D) The manner in which the hazardous waste was handled at its
final destination, such as incineration, treatment, recycling, land
disposal, or a combination thereof.
SEC. 6. SEC. 3. Section 25162 of the
Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
25162. (a) A person shall not transport hazardous waste on the
highways of this state, or deliver to a railroad or vessel hazardous
waste for transport if the final destination of the transported
hazardous waste is a domestic facility outside the jurisdiction of
the state, unless one of the following applies:
(1) The facility has been issued a permit pursuant to subsection
(c) or (g), or has been granted authority to operate pursuant to
subsection (e) of Section 3005 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
6925) by either of the following:
(A) The United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(B) The state in which the facility is located, if the state has
authorization to operate a hazardous waste program pursuant to
Section 3006 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6926).
(2) The facility is authorized by the state in which it is
located, pursuant to the applicable laws or regulations of that
state, to accept the transported hazardous waste for transfer,
handling, recycling, storage, treatment, or disposal.
(3) The facility is subject to a cooperative agreement executed
pursuant to Section 25198.3.
(b) A person shall not transport hazardous waste on the highways
of this state, or deliver to a railroad or vessel hazardous waste for
transport, if the final destination of the transported hazardous
waste is a facility that is located on a site that has been listed on
the National Priorities List established pursuant to Section 105 of
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act of 1980, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9605(a)(8)(B)).
(c) A person who knowingly transports or causes the transportation
of, or who reasonably should have known that the person was causing
the transportation of, hazardous waste in violation of subdivision
(a) or (b) shall, upon conviction, be subject to the penalties
specified in subdivision (a) of Section 25191.
(d) A person who knowingly delivers, or arranges the delivery of,
hazardous waste to another person for transport in violation of
subdivision (a) or (b) shall, upon conviction, be subject to the
penalties specified in subdivision (a) of Section 25191.
(e) A person shall not transport hazardous waste that is subject
to the requirements of Section 3017 of the federal act (42 U.S.C.
Sec. 6938) on the highways of this state or deliver to a railroad or
vessel any of this hazardous waste for transport, if the final
destination of the transported hazardous waste is a foreign country,
unless the shipment is in compliance with the applicable regulations
adopted pursuant to Section 25150.2 and either of the following
conditions is met:
(1) A copy of the foreign country's written consent to receive the
hazardous waste, or a copy of the EPA Acknowledgement of Consent, as
defined in Section 262.51 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, is attached to the manifest required by this article.
(2) The hazardous waste shipment is in compliance with the terms
of an international agreement between the United States and the
receiving foreign country, as provided in subsection (f) of Section
3017 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6938 (f)).
(f) A person who knowingly violates, or who reasonably should have
known that the person was violating, subdivision (e) shall, upon
conviction, be subject to the penalties specified in subdivision (a)
of Section 25191.
SEC. 7. Section 25178 of the Health and Safety
Code is amended to read:
25178. On or before January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
department shall post on its Internet Web site and translate into
Spanish, at a minimum, all of the following:
(a) The status of the regulatory and program developments required
pursuant to legislative mandates.
(b) The status of the hazardous waste facilities permit program,
that shall include all of the following information:
(1) A description of the final hazardous waste facilities permit
applications received.
(2) A searchable list of final hazardous waste facilities permits
issued to date.
(3) A searchable list of final hazardous waste facilities permits
yet to be issued.
(4) A complete description of the reasons why the final hazardous
waste facilities permits yet to be issued have not been issued.
(c) The status of the hazardous waste facilities siting program.
(d) The status of the hazardous waste abandoned sites program.
(e) A searchable list of enforcement actions taken by the
department pursuant to this chapter and other enforcement actions
relating to hazardous waste management. The list shall specify
whether the violations have been corrected and shall include Internet
Web links to inspection reports, draft orders, final orders, and
enforcement actions taken by other agencies.
(f) A searchable list of significant noncomplying operations.
(g) Summary data on annual quantities and types of hazardous waste
generated, transported, treated, stored, and disposed.
(h) Summary data regarding the onsite and offsite disposition of
hazardous waste.
(i) Research activity initiated by the department.
(j) Regulatory action by other agencies relating to hazardous
waste management.
(k) A revised listing of recyclable materials showing any
additions or deletions to the list prepared pursuant to Section 25175
that have occurred since the last report.
(l) Any other data considered pertinent by the department to
hazardous waste management.
(m) The information specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25161,
paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 25197.1, subdivision (c)
of Section 25354, and Section 25334.7.
(n) A status report on the cleanup of the McColl Hazardous Waste
Disposal Site in Orange County.
SEC. 8. The provisions of this act are
severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held
invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or
applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision
or application.
SEC. 9. SEC. 4. 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.