BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1329|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1329
Author: V. Manuel Pérez (D), et al.
Amended: 6/27/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 8-1, 7/3/13
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Calderon, Corbett, Hancock, Jackson, Leno,
Pavley
NOES: Fuller
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-24, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Hazardous waste
SOURCE : Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
DIGEST : This bill makes specified findings regarding the
importance of environmental justice and requires the Department
of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to prioritize enforcement
activities in environmental justice communities as identified by
the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research to be
the coordinating agency in State government for environmental
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justice programs.
2.Requires the Cal/EPA to develop a model environmental justice
mission statement for boards, departments, and offices within
Cal/EPA.
3.Requires, pursuant to the federal Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA), any person who owns or operates a
facility, where hazardous waste is treated, stored, or
disposed, to have an RCRA hazardous waste permit issued by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
4.Requires any person who stores, transports, treats or disposes
of hazardous waste as described in the Hazardous Waste Control
Law to obtain a permit or a grant of authorization from DTSC.
5.Requires DTSC to establish standards and regulations for the
management of hazardous wastes to protect against the hazards
to public health, domestic livestock, wildlife and the
environment.
6.Prohibits a person from transporting hazardous waste, as
specified, if the final destination of the transported
hazardous waste is in a state other than California or in a
territory of the United States, unless the facility is issued
a permit pursuant to RCRA or the facility is authorized by the
State to accept that waste.
This bill:
1.Makes specified findings regarding the importance of
environmental justice.
2.Requires DTSC to prioritize enforcement activities in
environmental justice communities as identified by Cal/EPA.
3.Prohibits 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.
Background
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Permitting hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal
facilities . DTSC is responsible for the review of RCRA and
non-RCRA hazardous waste permit applications to ensure safe
design and operation; issuance/denial of operating permits;
issuance of postclosure permits; approval/denial of permit
modifications; issuance/denial of emergency permits; review and
approval of closure plans; provide closure oversight of approved
closure plans; issuance/denial of variances; provide assistance
to regulated industry on permitting matters; and provide for
public involvement.
There are currently 118 DTSC permitted hazardous waste
facilities in California. These facilities include: 44 storage
sites, 43 treatment facilities, 3 disposal sites, and 28
postclosure sites.
Environmental justice . Environmental justice refers to the fair
treatment of people of all races, cultures, and income with
respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of
environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment
implies that no person, or group of people, should bear a
disproportionate share of negative environmental impacts such as
exposure to air pollutants, hazardous facilities, and other
forms of environmental pollution.
A number of factors exist in identifying an environmental
justice issue. Factors include a concentration of environmental
hazards in an affected area because of the lack of public
participation, a lack of adequate protection under health and
environmental laws, and unusual vulnerability of a community to
hazards. Examples of environmental justice problems include
inadequate stormwater protection in a predominately minority
populated section of a city compared to systems in other parts
of the city, siting a landfill in a community with an
over-concentration of other hazards, placement of a highway
through a low-income and minority community.
Criticism of DTSC hazardous waste facility permitting process .
A report entitled "Golden Wasteland," prepared by a consumer
advocacy organization, issued in February of 2013, was critical
of DTSC's hazardous waste permitting and enforcement process.
According to the report, DTSC settles cases out of court with
facility operators, levies ineffective fines and fails to
develop and refer cases for prosecution. It was asserted that
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the DTSC often awards permits without environmental review, and
it has not revoked the permit of a serial violator of
environmental laws in more than 15 years.
DTSC external peer review of permit reforms . DTSC has
undertaken a review of permitting and enforcement processes for
hazardous waste facilities. To do this, DTSC has contracted for
an outside program evaluation that will provide a review of the
DTSC permit process to develop a standardized process with
decision criteria and corresponding standards of performance.
The DTSC process will review and assess the current timeliness
of decisions, and evaluate the adequacy of program staffing. It
will make recommendations for process improvement. DTSC
anticipates recommendations through the review process for
permit process changes by June of 2013.
California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool .
Cal/EPA and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
released two public review drafts of the California Communities
Environmental Health Screening Tool on July 30, 2012 and January
3, 2013. This tool presents the nation's first comprehensive
screening methodology to identify California communities that
are disproportionately burdened by multiple sources of pollution
and presents the statewide results of the analysis using the
screening tool.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/12/13)
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (source)
Asemblea de Poder Popular de Gonzales
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
BlueGreen Alliance
Breast Cancer Action
Breast Cancer Fund
California Civil Rights Coalition
California Coastal Protection Network
California Environmental Justice Alliance
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
CCoMPRESS
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice
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Central California Environmental Justice Network
Central Valley Air Quality Coalition
CHANGE Coalition
Clean Water Action
Comite Civico Del Valle
Committee for a Better Arvin
Committee for a Better Arvin
Committee for a Better Shafter
Communications Workers of America
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
Communities for a Better Environment
Concerned Community Members & Parents of Redwood Elementary
School
Consumer Watchdog
El Pueblo para el Aire y Agua Limpio
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Health Coalition
Environmental Health Coalition
Equal Justice Society
Fresno Metro Ministry
Friends of the Northern San Jacinto Valley
Global Community Monitor
Grayson Neighborhood Council
Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice
Greenfield Walking Group
Mentone Area Community Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Numerous Individual Letters
Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles
Planning and Conservation League
PODER
Public Advocates
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Students for Economic and Environmental Justice
The Family Treehouse
Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
UC Berkeley School of Law Student Group
Valley Improvement Projects
West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs
West County Toxics Coalition
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Wild Equity Institute
Youth United for Community Action
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Low-income
communities are disproportionately home to the state's hazardous
disposal facilities. While these facilities sometimes bring
jobs to disenfranchised areas, they also place those communities
at risk for the accidental releases of toxic waste, including
ground water and air contamination. These risks become all the
more serious when disposal facilities are allowed to continue
operating on expired permits or even expand despite not
instituting a corrective action previously ordered by the state.
AB 1329 will address these issues by reforming the hazardous
waste facilities permitting process and by requiring the state
to develop an action plan for avoiding economic and racial
disparities in the siting of hazardous disposal facilities."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-24, 05/30/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong,
Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
Pérez
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth
Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell, Nestande, Olsen,
Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Holden, Vacancy
RM:nl 8/13/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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